Province of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus (Canada)
PROVINCIA SANCTISSIMI CORDIS IESU IN CANADA
Sedes Provincialis:
BASILIAN FATHERS
737 Bannerman Avenue
Winnipeg, MB. R2X 1J9 – CANADA
Tell.: (+1-204) 586-4721; 582-6695
The Basilian Order’s work in Canada began with the arrival of the first Basilian Fathers to Edmonton (present-day Alberta) on October 31, 1902. The Basilians who came in the early years were the following: in 1902, Fr. Platonid Filas (from 1904 Protohegumen of the Galician Province), Fr. Sozont Dydyk, Fr. Antin Strotsky (until 1905) and Br. Yeremiya Yanishevsky; in 1903, the missionaries Fr. Matey Hura and Fr. Naucratius Kryzhanovsky; in 1905, Fr. Ivan Tymochko († 1909) and Fr. Athanasius Fylypiv; and in 1909, the student Vasyliy Ladyka (ordained in 1912), who later became Archbishop and Metropolitan of Canada. The early “Basilian Five” conducted very difficult missionary and pastoral work over 20 years (1902-1922), which bore blessed fruit, and lay the foundation for the continued flourishing of the Basilian Order in Canada.
The next period (1922-1933) was characterized by an increase in the number of Basilians and expansion of the scope of their activities, the foundation and construction of monasteries, the opening in 1922 of a novitiate and in 1925, a House of Studies, at Mundare, for the nurturing of young vocations, and the establishment, also at Mundare, of a publishing house. Owing to this growth and the arrival of new resources from Galicia (10 more priests and 5 brothers came in 1922-1933), on February 24, 1932, the Mission in Canada was transformed into an autonomous American-Canadian Province, the leadership of which was entrusted to Fr. Naucratius Kryzhanovsky, aided by the Provincial curia. The Order’s first monastery in Canada, located at Mundare, became the Provincial Motherhouse and the mission center for the UGCC in North America. In 1932, the first graduate of the Mundare novitiate, Fr. Theodosius Dobko, was ordained. After him, every year, the ranks of the Basilians filled with new priests, who worked tirelessly for the good of the people and the development of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in North America.
In 1934-1938, the Province had some 90 members; in 1942 – 119; and in 1944-1945 – 124. After World War II, the Province welcomed newly arriving Religious from other provinces, particularly Galicia. They entered actively into the work of the apostolate conducted by the Order in Canada, including its pastoral, missionary, educational, scholarly and publishing activities.
In 1947-1948, the Basilian American-Canadian Province numbered 153 members (81 priests, 34 students, and 38 brothers) and it became necessary to divide the Province into two separate entities. On July 23, 1948, two new provinces were created: the American Province of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, with its seat in New York, and the Canadian Province of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, with its seat in Edmonton. Later, with the establishment of the Metropolitanate of Canada in 1958, the Provincial seat was moved to Winnipeg. The Canadian Province was officially granted new legal status as “The Order of Saint Basil the Great in Canada”. After the division into two provinces, some of the Religious entered into the American Province; therefore, in 1949, the Canadian Province numbered 96 members (39 priests, 27 students, and 30 brothers).
The next period, from 1952 to 2000, can be seen as a time of stability for the Province. The Basilians successfully carried on pastoral work, serving the parishes entrusted to them and the surrounding faithful, offering missions and retreats, guiding various church organizations and institutions, conducting cultural-national work among the UGCC faithful and supporting the apostolate of the printed word.
After 2000, despite new challenges associated with the decline of vocations and the aging of the Religious, the Province continued fulfilling its apostolate in Canada by welcoming Religious from other provinces, particularly from Ukraine. This Religious carried on the work of their predecessors in the spiritual realm, labouring diligently, through God’s grace and by His word, prayer and fasting, for the glory of God and salvation of His people. They laboured in harmony with Christ’s commandments of love and the rules of the Basilian Order.
At the outset of 2020, the Canadian Province has houses and residences in Edmonton, Mundare, Ottawa, Vancouver, Vegreville and Winnipeg. Edmonton is the site of the House of Studies, while the novitiate is located in Glen Cove (USA). Currently, the Province consists of 19 Religious, including seven who have come from the Province of the Most Holy Saviour in Ukraine and one from the Province of Saint Joseph in Brazil.