Living Heritage At
the dawn of Slovak history King Rastislav turned
first to Rome and then to Constantinopole asking
for "such a bishop and teacher who would
explain to us the true Christian faith in our own
language, that other countries also seeing this,
would imitate us." Rastislav desired to
develop the true faith which was already being
preached in his region by monks from Bavaria,
Ireland, Scotland, etc. - but he wanted to
safeguard the identity of his people. The only
way to do this was to make the Christian religion
a part of Slovakias own culture. His wish
was fulfilled when Sts. Cyril and Methodius came
to his country. These two missionaries renewed
the idea of the apostles who very early in the
history of the church understood the principle of
inculturation, which means that the Christian
religion has to become a part of the culture of
the people. Sts. Cyril and Methodius understood
that their missionary work has to serve God and
the people they are working for. That was the
reason why they introduced the " Slovensky
jazyk" (early Slovak language) in the
liturgy and were ready to defend it and even to
suffer for that principle.
The Slovaks eagerly adopted this idea and even
after losing their independence, were able to
survive because they always felt the need of
combining religion and their culture, and found
most of their patriots in the ranks of the
clergy. This was proven even in this century
under communist oppression.
Slovak emigrants brought this heritage of
" for God and Nation", to the New
World. They were poor and had to struggle for
their basic material needs but one of their first
concerns was the need for a Slovak church and a
Slovak school. Slovak emigrants coming to Canada
did the same. Wherever they were able to do so,
they established their own church which became
not only a religious but also cultural centre.
Slovak emigration to Toronto area became
significant in the late 1920s, and in 1929
Slovak Catholic organized a Catholic Parish, but
they were able to officially open a parish only
in 1934, after they received a Slovak priest from
the USA in the person of the late Msgr. Michael
Shuba. Under his direction, they built a church
on the corner of Claremont and Robinson Streets
which at that time was in the heart of the Slovak
community. Little by little, as the Slovaks, as
the Slovaks became more affluent, they moved from
this area to the surrounding suburbs. As more and
more of our parishioners moved to the suburbs,
and the city core became more congested, the lack
of sufficient parking became a major problem.
It became evident that to keep the Parish
viable and vibrant, a move to a new location
where a new church could be built, with all the
required amenities, had to be taken into serious
consideration. Preliminary investigations were
made. A survey of parishioners showed the
majority were in favour of such a move and indeed
many pledge financial support towards this aim.
Approval in principle was received from the
Archdiocese and the search began in earnest.
After the parish celebrated its 50th
Anniversary in 1984, the Pastor Rev. Vincent
Danco, S.J. and the Parish Council undertook the
task of considering a new location.
The search of the new location took a long
time and was concentrated in the western area
because most of the parishioners moved to the
suburbs of Etobicoke and Mississauga. At the same
time the parish was trying to find a buyer for
the old church and it took several years to
resolve these two issues. 1993 saw the issues
favourably resolved and the move was on! After
the last Mass celebrated in the old church on
September 15th, 1993, the parish was
in a temporary limbo. The new church was not
built as yet, but we were helped by the
Dufferin-Peel Separate School Board which gave us
permission to use St. Jude School Gymnasium for
our liturgical services. A private rented house
became the rectory. The fund raising started in
earnest and it progressed steadily. The Parish
Council, Building Committee and many volunteers,
especially members of the Rosary Society, spent
many hours in planning and organizing all kinds
of fund-raising events, i.e. bazaars, bake sales,
Monte Carlo nights, Bingo, etc.
The building plans were made by the Stafford
Haensli Architects Company under the leadership
of an architect of Slovak origin, Mr. Lubo
Dzamba. The final plans and budget were approved
in early 1995 and in the spring of that year
Martinway Contracting Ltd. started to build. The
church was completed by December of 1995 and the
Parish joyously celebrated Christmas Midnight
Mass in Gods new home.
+ Fr. V. Danco, S.J.
PASTOR: Rev. Miroslav Verčimak,
Administrator
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DUCHOVNÝ:
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SUNDAY
MASSES: Saturday: English 5:00 pm
Sunday
English 9:00 am
Slovak 11:00 am
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NEDELNÉ
SV. OME: Sobota: anglická 5:00 pm
Nedela:
anglická 9:00 am
slovenská 11:00 am
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WEEKDAY
MASSES: Monday, Thursday: 8:00 am
Tuesday,
Wednesday, Friday: 7:00 pm
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OME
VO VEDNÉ DNI: Pondelok,
tvrtok: 8:00 am
Utorok,
streda, piatok: 7:00
pm
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CONFESSION: A half hour
before Masses and any other time by request. BAPTISM, WEDDING:
By appointment only
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SPOVEDE: Pol hodiny
pred Omšami a kedykolvek podla dohovoru. KRSTY A
SOBÁE: Podla dohovoru
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Corpus cristi festivities - June 1, 1997
FARNOST SV.
CYRILA A METODA
5255
Thornwood Drive
Mississauga, ON L4Z 3J3
Tel: (905) 712-1200
Fax: (905)712-0974
E-mail: scmchurch@ica.net
All contents copyright © 1997. All rights reserved
Photographs © 1997, Ondro Mihal
All comments should be forwarded to Ondro Mihal at omihal@slovak.com.
Last Update: Feb. 15, 2001
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