The 100^th anniversary celebration of the foundation of St. Onuphrius Church in Foam Lake, Saskatchewan, took place on June  27, 2010.

Considering that the parish is almost 800 km from Edmonton, and considering that there are relatively few parishioners, on this day there were gathered more than 110 believers from the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan, who took part in the festal celebrations of the parish.

The Pontifical Divine Liturgy and festive Moleben was conducted by His Grace Bishop Job, Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in Canada.

Before entering the temple of the Lord, he was greeted by the Vice-President Katy Bonar with bread and salt, and the granddaughter of Douglas Bonar (Secretary-Treasurer of the Parish), Mikayla, who presented him with flowers.  The rector, Father Igor Kisil, greeted Bishop Job inside the Church.

The co-servers at the service were the parish priest, Fr. Igor Kisil and priest, Fr. George Sergeev (Rector of the Orthodox V Parishes).

The beauty of the Divine Liturgy and Moleben was enhanced by the mellifluous singing of a church choir under the direction of Zenovia Duch.

At the end of the Divine Liturgy, Bishop Job greeted all the parishioners and guests on the occasion of the patronal feast of St. Onuphrius the Great and on the 100^th anniversary of the foundation of the church.  He wished all people present God’s abundant mercies, the blessing of our Holy Venerable Father Onuphrius, the Patron Saint of the Parish, and thanked them for keeping the faith of their forefathers and for their love of Holy Orthodoxy.

On behalf of the parishioners and guests, Fr. Igor Kisil thanked Bishop Job for his holy prayers, his archpastoral blessing, and for his visit to the parish.  Fr. Igor prayerfully wished His Grace bountiful health in his archpastoral service and many years of life.

After the veneration of the cross and anointing with holy oil, a Moleben with the small blessing of water was conducted outdoors at the place where the first temple originally stood.  This was followed by a festal procession around the church.  “Many Years” was then sung.

After that, a Memorial prayer (Litia) was served  for the departed founders and parishioners of St. Onuphrius, and  “Memory Eternal” was then sung.

Then a group picture was taken on the church grounds.

Following this, a festive anniversary banquet and jubilee program was held at Sunset Hall in Foam Lake, SK.

After the prayer, “Our Father” was sung and the meal was blessed, Steven Holowaty, the master of ceremonies, declared the jubilee festivities “open” and introduced the head table to all those present.  After the meal, the festive jubilee program took place.

Bishop Job presented a Patriarchal Gramota (certificate of merit) to the church board and the parishioners of St. Onuphrius Church on the occasion of the celebration of the 100^th Anniversary of the founding of their parish, and in recognition of their hard work and zealous efforts toward the consolidation of Holy Orthodoxy in Canada.  His Grace Bishop Job conveyed to the gathering congratulations and the blessing of His Holiness Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, and thanked the President, church board and the parishioners  for organizing and preparing everything for the jubilee.

A few parishioners on the occasion of centenary of the parish were personally awarded with Archpastoral Gramotas, which were presented by Bishop Job.

Then Steven Holowaty, Master of Ceremonies, gave a brief history of the parish and also read out  a congratulatory messages from the Premier of Saskatchewan, Honourable Brad Wall and Minister of Social Services,  MLA for Kelvington-Wadena, Saskatchewan, Honourable June Draude.

Congratulatory messages were then delivered by the Secretary of the Patriarchal Parishes in Canada and President of St. Barbara’s Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Edmonton, Roman Lopushinsky; President of the Orthodox V Association, Kim Lopushinsky; President of the Orthodox IX Parishes and President of St. Mary’s Church in Nisku, David Borys.

On the occasion of the 100^th Anniversary of St. Onuphrius  Parish Mr. Roman Lopushinsky presented to the congregation the jubilee plaque on the  behalf of the parishioners of the Patriarchal Parishes in Canada.  Also a jubilee plaque was presented by Mr. Kim Lopushinsky on the behalf of the parishioners of Orthodox V parishes.  Mr. David Borys presented to St. Onuphrius Church in Foam Lake the icon of the Mother of God of Pochaev on behalf of the parishioners of the Orthodox IX Parishes.

The  parishioner of Holy Dornition Church in MacNutt, Anne Shewchuk and Steven Holowaty, Master of Ceremonies, shared their  memories of the St. Onuphrius parish.

Then Douglas Bonar, Secretary-Treasurer of the Parish, in his congratulatory message sincerely greeted the gathering with the 100^th Anniversary of St. Onuphrius Church and thanked them for their coming and participation in this great memorable event (the message was read out by Steven Holowaty, Master of Ceremonies).

At the end of the Congratulatory speeches, the parish priest, Fr. Igor Kisil, expressed his gratitude to Vladyka Job, the clergymen, the President, the church board, the cantor Zenovia Duch and church choir, and to the Parishioners and guests.  In his speech he said:

“On behalf of everyone, I want to thank His Grace Bishop Job, Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in Canada and our ruling Bishop, for his spiritual guidance and wise leadership, and for his holy prayers for all of us. Also, a very big thank you to Reverend George Sergeev, for his prayers and assistance today.  A special thanks to the church board of St. Onuphrius Church, the Anniversary Committee, the Sisterhood, to all parishioners, donors, assistants and to all who helped put together this joyous celebration.

Also, I would like to express my personal thanks to Secretary-Treasurer Douglas Bonar, for all his efforts, energies and hard work in preparing for a beautiful and memorable day in our church.

A special appreciation to the lifelong member of our parish, Katy Bonar, for her dedication to this church throughout the years, where she has not only cared for the church building and cemetery, but has consistently shown kindness and gracious hospitality to all the clergy who have served here.

I would like to extend my personal gratitude to Mrs. Zenovia Duch and the members of the church choir  for  their angelic singing today, which uplifts us spiritually with its beautiful music.

I express special thanks to all those who have prepared a truly delicious meal.

I thank all of you who have made cordial speeches here today, and who have addressed sincere greetings to us.

Many thanks to all our guests who came from different parishes and places (from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and British Columbia) to participate in our celebration and for making the effort to travel so far to be with us today.

Last, but not least, many thanks to Steven Holowaty, Master of Ceremonies, for preparing a history of our parish and leading the program of today’s celebration.

And finally, my dear brothers and sisters, to you, and to your families, I wish good health and success in everything and many joys and spiritual consolations on this festive day and all the days of our lives.  Thank you all again and remain in God’s loving care.

Then a festive concert consisting of several old Ukrainian songs was performed by the church choir under the direction of Mrs. Duch.

The banquet ended with the singing of a closing prayer, Bishop Job’s blessing, and the singing of “Many Years” by all parishioners and guests. Following this, a time of fellowship and reminiscing was shared.

It was a beautiful celebration that lifted the spirits of all gathered.  I want to thank you all for coming and helping us celebrate this, our 100^th Anniversary.  We honour our forefathers for their contribution to the life of our church.