The name Shishkovitzi is derived from the village of Shyshkivtsi, Bukowina, in Western Ukraine, where some of the founders of this church emigrated from at the end of the 19th century. In 1903 local settlers arranged for forty acres of land to be set aside by the Hrehirczuk homestead in preparation for the construction of a church. Logs were cut the following year and volunteers began working on the sanctuary in 1905. Shingles for the roof were obtained from a Chipman grocery store in exchange for eggs supplied by members of the congregation.
After the Second World War it became increasingly obvious that the original church was inadequate for the needs of the community. In 1953 a fundraising campaign was inaugurated, and a new sanctuary was finally completed on the church property a decade later.
In 1965, the first Shishkovitzi church was relocated to the Shandro Historical Museum and Village on Secondary Highway 857, north of Willingdon. The cross from the dome was kept as a memorial and placed as a marker on the site of the original church. Andrew Firchuk built the iconostasis in the new church, which preserved the chandelier from the first St. Mary’s and many of its treasures brought over from the Old Country, including the chalice, the cross on the altar table and an icon depicting the Grave of the Blessed Virgin.
Among the unmarked graves in the cemetery adjacent to the church is that of pioneer Stefan Diduch (1839–1911), whose immigration to Canada in 1899 helped to inspire a famous short story entitled “The Stone Cross,” by the renowned Ukrainian author, Vasyl Stefanyk.
See HERE for more information and a detailed history of this parish.
Play Memory Eternal Chants
GPS Co-ordinates: 53.620809, -112.558324
Affiliation: Patriarchial Parishes of Russian Orthodox Church in Canada
