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St. Sophie Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral |
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Cathédrale orthodoxe ukrainienne Sainte-Sophie |
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| Montréal (Québec)) |
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Patronal Feast Day
An Orthodox church, as a temple, is always dedicated to the memory of a Holy Person or an event in the life of the Virgin Mary or the Lord Jesus. It is the equivalent of the birthday of a person. Consequently, when a new church is built, the parish chooses a day on which to celebrate the ‘birthday’ of its church, and then seeks the blessing of the Bishop, thereby exemplifying the Orthodox tradition of parishioners working in harmony with the hierarchy of the Church.
In the case of our own parish of St. Sophie, the church is not – as one might assume from its name – dedicated to St. Sophia (feast day – Sept. 29) who, together with her daughters, Faith, Hope and Love, was a martyr in the early church history. Rather, St. Sophie parish is dedicated to the birth of the Virgin Mary who was to become the mother of Jesus and who, as such, is honoured for preparing the way for the Wisdom (“sophia” means wisdom in Greek) of God to become incarnate, i.e. for the Wisdom of God to take on human form in the person of Jesus.
And so it is that every September, the cathedral parish of St Sophie celebrates its Patronal Feast Day on a Sunday as close as possible to September 21, which marks the Nativity of the Virgin Mary.
So why did our parish choose to dedicate itself to the Virgin Mary? It would seem that patriotic reasons motivated our founders to name it after St. Sophia in Kyiv, the prime temple of Ukrainian Orthodoxy. In assuming the name of the Kyivan church, the parish church also assumed the patronal feast day of the “mother” church.
Patriotic reasons also motivated our forefathers to model the new temple in Rosemount on a church in Ukraine. In this case they modeled it not on St. Sophia, the church whose name it bears & whose patron saint it celebrates, but rather on the Sobor of St. Volodymyr.
Given that the temple is the manifestation of the parish, participation in the feast day rituals and activities is the way to reaffirm our individual dedication to the parish and to each other as members of a community who share faith, a heritage and a hope for the future. The Liturgy celebrates our faith and the parish dinner offers us the opportunity to mingle and enjoy each other’s company.
When the winds of change play havoc with our social and spiritual bearings, it is comforting to honour our heritage, to strengthen our ties with our friends, and to affirm our faith in the face of an uncertain future. The annual celebration of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary gives the parishioners of St. Sophie the opportunity to do just that.
Irena Gerych
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St. Sophie Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral - Українська Паравславна Катедра Святої Софії