A 100 YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF HOLY SPIRIT CATHOLIC CHURCH
Larysa Zariczniak
Hamilton, Ontario
In 1916 several Ukrainian families sat around a table and decided to form a parish. That parish was called Holy Spirit Ukrainian Catholic Church and in October 2016 it is celebrating its 100 year anniversary.
While this is a time for celebration, the new priest at Holy Spirit, Father Andrija Petresin, also wants to remind everyone of the hardships the parish has faced over its 100 year existence. In 1916 there were several hundred families that were active participants in the religious and national life of the Ukrainian community in Hamilton, and since then that number has ebbed and flowed. The original church was built by the first wave of Ukrainians to Canada, while the second, more modern church was built by the post-war Ukrainians. These Ukrainians were traumatized by the war itself, by their own personal experiences of that war, but were familiar with Ukrainian organizational skills from their time in the DP camps. This influenced their passion for their parish which was a link to their homeland - a homeland many would never see again. In 1965, these Ukrainians organized themselves and broke ground on Hamilton’s only Ukrainian Catholic primary school. Thousands of students attended classes from kindergarten to grade 8 and many still have fond memories of the St. Nicholas concerts, First Holy Communions, and graduations.
But the core of the school was always the church. Father Petresin notes that being the pastor of Holy Spirit is “very busy, lots of work to be done…and it’s very patriotic.” This is a big change for the young priest who served for many years in northern Ontario in a parish that was only English speaking and had “nothing to do with the Ukrainian national spirit.” He is so well liked by his Hamiltonian parishioners that they protested his planned move to a church in Sarnia and he is now their permanent spiritual leader. He leads a flock of about 200 families.
With the closure of the school in 2013 however, the parish has had difficulties with the maintenance costs associated with a no longer used school building.
They are looking for leasers, and in the meantime have kept that school spirit alive during weekly Ukrainian school lessons. Father Petresin continued, “We have about 40 kids and I teach catechism every Saturday…and some kids are from other parishes and we have young people which gives me hope for a better future.”
However, problems that are seen across Canada are also evident in Hamilton - not enough people in the pews on Sundays. Father Petresin thinks that working and coming together “actually builds the community and I’m trying my best but…it’s the people who should be more involved because this is their parish. I was assigned to lead the people but this is the people’s parish.” Father Petresin also understands the modern problems of balancing work and family as he himself is a father of two. But he insists that “if everyone dedicates as much as they can, the parish can grow.”
The parish is as special as the people that make it and the women at Holy Spirit are slowly reinvigorating their parish back to being a local community fixture. The women who voluntarily work week after week on the fresh perogies and cabbage rolls are a determined bunch. They have already had some press worthy fans and they are worth all the attention they get. In one week they can make up to 3000 perogies and a 1000 cabbage rolls that are then sold to the public (you can order them at: 905-545-2914 or come by the church every Friday). Time making the delicious Ukrainian food staples is spent talking, gossiping, stuffing cabbage leaves and rolling out the dough for the perogies. Father Petresin and his wife are a constant fixture during these extreme food producing marathons.
Father Petresin has a positive outlook on the future of his parish, “Considering that this is a Ukrainian traditional church I think we have a bright future with new immigrants and with more people in this modern time who turn back to their family traditions.” As long as the parish is willing to work, there is work to be done, including trying to get the school building and church hall active again. Father Petresin emphasizes that new immigrants are also very welcome to the church and that he has a special insight into their ordeals as he himself is an immigrant. He came from the former Yugoslavia, studied in Rome, and became ordained in Ottawa, and insists that he “doesn’t have a problem communicating with new immigrants. This parish is a bit of home for them because everything is done in the way it was taught and how they prayed back home. So, once they come I don’t have to do much to keep them.”
Everyone was welcomed to the 100 year celebrations in Hamilton which included a pub night and Holy Spirit School reunion on October 15, 2016, a celebratory divine liturgy on October 16, 2016 followed by an anniversary banquet.
Special thanks to the Murmylyk family for the archival photos.
