† Holy Resurrection Russian Orthodox Sobor, Vancouver

By Sub-Deacon Dennis Stepanyak

Your Beatitude, the most Reverend Bishops, Reverend Fathers, all parishioners of the Holy Resurrection Church.

From the bottom of my heart I would like to congratulate all of you with the 75 Anniversary of our church. This church became a home to me two and a half years ago when we came to Canada from Ukraine. My family is form the Western region of Ukraine where Orthodoxy in the last few years is outlawed and it is even prosecuted. We were always ready to stand behind our Faith when Uniates surrounded our Church in Lviv and when local authorities were trying to give it away to other religious formations. All that brought up in us the spirit of active faith and willingness to stand up for it.

When the time came to leave Ukraine we were very worried. Worried not only because of coming to an unknown country but also because we did not expect to find a real and strong Orthodox Faith, on the American continent. And then we came to Vancouver. After praying and asking God to direct us to the right pass, we opened a telephone book and the first address of the Orthodox Church that we found we took as God’s will. We were very surprised and amazed when we came to the Holly Resurrection Church because we saw a church very similar to our church in Lviv and to churches back home. My mother was crying for the whole service because we felt right at home, as if there wasn’t a 11 thousand kilometers difference. After the services, parishioners had lunch and coffee. In our country, we did not have anything like that so it was new and strange to us. Now, we cannot imagine how it would be without these get-togethers in the lower hall and communication with other Orthodox.

At the Holy Resurrection Church, we have found our new family and friends. Communication with them is joyful and pleasant for us. Finally, we felt that Canada became our new home and now it is impossible to imagine our life without the Church. For our family the Church is the center of our life. All our hopes, worries and joys, we bring here and we always find a response to our feelings. For us immigrants, the church is very often the only place where we can find understanding and good advise. The church becomes a second home, where you can receive emotional and spiritual support.

I would like to express the warmest words of gratefulness to father Andrey for being responsive and supportive to everyone. For him there are no small things, he always finds time for each of us. We are grateful to all parishioners of our church for creating such warm surroundings and feelings of home in the church. I also would like to thank father Steven, and my friends the altar servers, Constantine Somow, Daniel de Broder, Deni Lassard and others for their support and friendship.

I am very happy that his Reverence Vladika Seraphim has blessed me to be a reader. With God’s help I will try to grow spiritually and give all my abilities to God, people and church.

I also would like to tell you how I became a convinced Orthodox. For people from the system where we grew up, religion was not something natural. We were told that only old and uneducated people believe in God. Despite this, our souls were attracted to the church; we felt a rush of warm and unusual feelings during church services. Everybody has a unique way to come to God and real faith is a big gift form God that has to be asked for. For a very long time, we did not receive this gift and were turning to God only during hard times. Life in our family drastically changed after my parents had a church wedding and we became closer to the Church. The road to God was opened for us after that. In 1996, I went with the Archbishop of Lviv and Galych to the Holy Land. The experience that I gained there strengthened my faith and convinced me that the Orthodox Faith is the only right and soul-saving Faith. I will not repeat about all the things that hundreds of pilgrims and I saw and experienced there but I would like to say that if you have an opportunity – visit The Holy Land. You will come back full of spiritual happiness and you will strengthen your faith.

This feast is very symbolic for our church – 75 years ago this church was founded. Since that time it overcame difficulties; acquire dedicated parishioners. Today it is renewed and beautiful, ready to give spiritual guidance to new generations of Orthodox Christians. This feast is also symbolic to us, young people. Because we have to continue the work that was started 75 years ago, we have to be more active in church life and be good and responsible followers of the Orthodox faith. Try to learn more about Orthodoxy and try to help others to discover Orthodoxy.

I would like to address to young people of our church the words of German Orthodox priest – llya Esber: “The church without young people – is a despairing church. Youth is our strength.”

Many years to the Holy Resurrection Parish!