STAR-PENO - ASSUMPTION of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish

Парафія Успіння Матері Божої

Location: NW Sect. 28, T. 56, Pl. 19-4: 8 acres of land, cemetery included, was purchased in 1909. The district of Star was known also as Edna or Beaver Creek. The Ukrainian settlers who populated the area from 1894 came primarily from the villages of Nebyliv and Perehinsk, Kalush region, in Western Ukraine. In 1897 Fr. Nestor Dmytriw, who was a publisher of the Ukrainian newspaper in the U.S.A., “Svoboda”, came to visit Ukrainian settlers in Winnipeg, Stuartburn and Terebovlia (today Valley River close to Dauphin, Manitoba) and Edna-Star in Alberta. Fr. Nestor Dmytriw arrived in Edna-Star on Good Saturday on April 24, 1897. The Resurrection Liturgy on Easter Sunday and Monday he celebrated in Limestone Lake and blessed the paskha food for the large numbers of faithful. On Easter Tuesday Fr. Nestor was in Wostok and held services in the house of Ivan Halka. Day after day he was visiting the whole district. On May 2, 1897, St. Thomas Sunday, Fr. Dmytriw blessed the cemetery and asked the faithful to put a fence on the property designated by the government for religious needs. He asked also to put up a cross. At the same time the first Parish council was chosen (Kost Nemyrsky, Ivan Danchuk, Mykhailo Melnyk, Ivan Sakhman, Mykhailo Pulishy and secretary Mykola Spachynsky) and the first collection for the “Greek-Catholic Church in Beaver Creek” (exactly so!) brought in $5.00.

In August 1897 the new Auxiliary Bishop of St. Albert (from 1912 of Edmonton), Alberta, Emile Joseph Legal, O.M.I. (1849-1920) came for a pastoral visit to the community. He was very supportive and promised to get a Ukrainian priest as soon as possible. In the fall of 1897 Fr. Dmytriw returned to Edna-Star for three weeks. The Roman Catholic Bishop came for the Divine Liturgy of Fr. Dmytriw and offered to pay for the land of the church. By paying for the land he also transferred the title to the St. Albert Diocese. Very soon the Roman Catholic hierarchy realized that the Ukrainian Catholics were very suspicious of them. And Bishop Emile Legal, who tried to do some good, had to recognize that the Ukrainian faithful had had bad experiences with the Polish Catholics in their homeland. So the land title was returned to the Parish trustees, who in turn after a short time of peace left the Ukrainian Catholic Church and joined the Russian Orthodox Church.

During the Christmas season in January 1898 the faithful were visiting the houses with koliada (Christmas carols). This brought the church $42.00. In the spring of the same year the parishioners started to build the church with Fr. Paul Tymkewych and in the fall of 1898 the building was completed. After a short stay Fr. Tymkewych left for the United States, and the faithful were meeting without a priest, singing Utrenia (Matins service), Vechirnia (Vespers) and religious songs. In February 1900 the news arrived that Fr. John Zaklynsky from the United States was available to come as a priest. He arrived on July 20, 1900 and on August 5 th in the presence of many people blessed the new church, the first Ukrainian Catholic church in Canada. Fr. Zaklynsky being very dynamic started to organize other church communities. He settled at the home of Fedor Melnyk, vis-à-vis of the church. Shortly after, the fight for the church started.

Ukrainian Greek Catholics who left their holy faith and joined the Russian orthodoxy started to build a church in Wostok. The services were provided by the Russian clergy Skebitski and to his support they received also Korchinski from Alaska in November 1900. Korchinski also spoke Ukrainian and was a good organizer. He carried “healing water” and in that way attracted much attention. The Russian clergy was paid by the Russian Imperial fund, created after Alaska was sold to the United States. One of the two first settlers to Canada Ivan Pylypiv and others started to find interest in the Russian orthodoxy, that offered clergy free of charge. The final reason for the split was the fact that $74.00 were missing from the treasurer Fedor Melnyk’s accounts. Blamed was Fr. Zaklynsky, who was forced to assign a new Parish executive on December 18, 1900: Pavlo Pasemko, Petro Melnyk, Mykhailo Pidruchny and Mykhailo Melnyk. Then the friends of the orthodoxy declared: “We have the title of the land, we built the church and we cared for it and now we have to back off. Never!” Pylypiv and his associates went to Wostok and on February 1, 1901 renounced their Greek Catholic Church in public and accepted the orthodoxy. Fr. I. Zaklynsky, disappointed with the conflict, went to Manitoba in 1901. Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky of Lviv, Ukraine, sent Fr. Basil Zholdak to investigate the situation in Edna-Star. He celebrated Easter with the faithful in an improvised chapel with a tabernacle (Kyvot) from Ukraine. In the late fall Fr. Zholdak returned from Lviv with three Basilian Fathers and four Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate. Nine days after arrival in Edmonton, Fr. Platonid Filas, OSBM, assigned Fr. Anthony Strotsky to look after the parish. Later other Basilian Fathers were visiting the community. Mykola Tyckowsky donated 2 pieces of his farm land: one for the church and one for the cemetery and in 1909 the good faithful started to build a new church. The spiritual leader Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky, visiting Canada in 1910, personally came to meet the outstanding and heroic community and blessed the cross for the dome. Fr. Naucratius Kryzanowsky, OSBM, looked after the people at this time and took care of the construction of the church. Their second church the parishioners dedicated to the Resurrection of Christ. The church was completed in 1911 and it was blessed by the first Ukrainian Catholic bishop in Canada Nykyta Budka in 1913.

But somebody was not happy that the Ukrainian Catholic community survived the provoked and premeditated split, and on the night before Good Thursday in 1922 burned the church to ashes. Yurij Melnyk found in the ashes only a few pressed icons of Jesus Christ and His Most Holy Mother Mary, the four evangelists and some metallic parts of the Holy Gospel from the altar. The cross, blessed by Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky and which is now attached to the wall of the new church, survived the destruction. The dedicated parishioners did not give up. For the small amount of money received from the insurance company they started to build their third church. S. Malowany, son of Mykola, organized an artistic group (leader was Kasian Letawsky), who performed a Ukrainian drama “Pibralysia”. In 1926, with the donations from their performances and donations of the parishioners, they started to build the church that stands today. L.Checkniat was the contractor. The church was built close to the cemetery on the farm of Tyckowsky. The church is dedicated to the Assumption (in the Eastern church we use the word Dormition – in Ukrainian Uspennia) of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The church was completed in 1927 and in 1930 P. Lypynsky also finished the painting of the church. On the feast day of the church, Bishop Basil Ladyka, OSBM, consecrated the church. On October 9 th, 1938 the first priest from the parish, Fr. Basil Skubleny, OSBM, celebrated his first Divine Liturgy.

The Parish gave our Church two Basilian Fathers: Fr. Basil Skubleny (+1940 in Rome) and Fr. Boniface Malowany who celebrated his first Divine Liturgy in the Parish on July 16, 1961. Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate also had vocations: Sisters Suzanne Kokuruds, Basil Starko, Theophane Malowany, Taida Letawsky, and Veronica, Maria and Theresa Melnyk.

From the beginnings we have the following Eparchial priests: Fr. Nestor Dmytriw (1897), Fr. Paul Tymkewych (1898), Fr. John Zaklynsky (1900-1901).

Starting from 1902 the Basilian Fathers looked after the parish: Fr. Anthony Strotsky (1902-1904), Fr. Platonid Filas (1904), Fr. Athanasius Filipiw (1905-1906), Fr. John Chrysostom Tymochko (1905-1909), Fr. Naucratius Kryzanowsky (1910-1912, 1917-1922 and 1930), Fr. Sozont Dydyk (1915-1917, 1920-1922 and 1926-1929), Fr. Matthew Hura (1916), Fr. Basil Ladyka (1914-1921), Fr. Porphyrius Bodnar (1922), Fr. George Zydan (1926-1927, 1932 and 1942), Fr. Josaphat Tymochko (1929-1931), Fr. Damascene Popovych (1930), Fr. Paul Olinsky (1931), Fr. Mark Romanowych (1933), Fr. Nicon Horechko (1933), Fr. Paul Hewko (1933 and 1936), Fr. Matthew Sianchuk (1934-1936), Fr. Theodozy Dobko (1933-1937), Fr. Lazarus Palenkach (1936-1937), Fr. Neil Savaryn (1937), Fr. Martyrius Vincentaylo (1937-1938, 1942), Fr. Nicholas Kohut (1938-1940), Fr. Ambrose Wynnyk (1943), Fr. Epiphany Paschak (1944-1945), Fr. Gregory Chmilar (1944-1946), Fr. Orest Zaseybida (1945), Fr. Hilarion Adams (1947-1948), Fr. Patrick Paschak (1948, Fr. Volodymyr Shewchuk 1949).

In 1949-1956 Fr. Basil Chopey and from 1957 to 1968 Fr. Peter Iwanec, both Eparchial clergy, were serving the community.