100th Anniversary of Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Toronto, ON

The 100th anniversary of the Cathedral was celebrated on Sunday, October 25, 2015. The history of the parish started in 1915 by Russian immigrants who had put together enough money to purchase a small house for celebrating services. The parish had struggled to get by for its first 15 years but by the devotion of our founding parishioners, they were able to purchase a temple in 1930. The parish started to thrive at that point and established a choir, sisterhood, an annual Christmas bazaar and the church school. By 1965, the parish has saved enough to purchase the cathedral and church hall where we are today. By the grace of God and the faithfulness of all those who dedicate their time and effort, the choir, sisterhood and the church school continue to this day.

The hierarchical Divine Liturgy was led by the His Eminence, the Most Reverend Archbishop Irénée. Bishop Mstislav who is the nephew of our long service rector, departed Fr. John Datchina concelebrated with His Eminence. In addition to the Rector of the Cathedral, Fr. Vasyl Kolega and second priest, Fr. Geoffrey Ready, present were Fr. John Jillions, OCA Chancellor, and Fr. Anatoliy Melnyk, Chancellor of the Archdiocese. Several other clergy from the US and Canada were also present. As one of the guests said in his greeting, "Today we celebrate a second Pascha", and indeed, the church was full of celebrating parishioners and guests. It felt as joyous as an Easter service. Following the service, Archbishop Irénée, clergy and laity attended the banquet. The Parish recognized the oldest parishioners of the Cathedral by awarding them a special Jubilee medal dedicating the event. This was followed by performances of the church choir and the children’s choir.

Please click on the photo gallery below.