Memory Lane History Lesson

This church was a minute away from my grandparents house and this is the story that I found about it when I got home:

In the fall of 1930 the Russian Orthodox church moved from Spadina Avenue to a new building at 4 Glen Morris Street. The new Christ the Saviour Russian Orthodox Cathedral became the hub of Russian Orthodox church life in Toronto-with choirs, dance groups, children's orchestras, youth concerts and youth cultural groups, and sisterhoods-cadets and hussar officers from the Russian Imperial Guard of old Russia held grand balls there. Every Sunday after liturgy, downstairs in the church hall the faithful would congregate around the Russian classical library over "chai" (tea-time) with delicious food like "piroshki", "pelmeni" and "borscht" cooked by the sisterhood. It was a time of joyous fellowship. Lectures and talks with heated discussions on what was going on in Russia were inevitable.

The former minister of education to the last tsar, Nicholas II, had become a member of the parish, and on April 6 1933 at 8:30 p.m. Count N.P. Ignatieff and his son Count Nicholas Ignatieff gave a lecture on ''Russia-Yesterday, Russia-Today" at the reference library on the corner of St. George and College Streets. This was the father of Dr. George Ignatieff, the present chancellor of the University of Toronto and Canada's former ambassador to the United Nations. Dr. George Ignatieff and Madame Ignatieff are still faithful parishioners to this day. A theatre at the University of Toronto is named after George Ignatieff. (Yes, these are the relatives of Michael Ignatief current interim leader for Liberal party and George is his dad).

The sisterhood at Christ the Saviour Russian Orthodox Cathedral held bazaars with folk crafts and Russian foods. Good community relations resulted with the other Christians in Toronto, especially the Anglicans. Anglican Bishop Wilkinson was a great friend to the Russian Orthodox in Toronto. He is fondly remembered. March 9, 1941 saw the arrival of Father John Diachina-a very personable, strong, loving man who helped everyone, especially newcomers arriving from Europe suffering the scars of world war and of persecution in the Soviet Union because of their Orthodox faith. Father Diachina helped them get settled and find work. He was loved by all, and no one can ever forget Father John coming to bless their home on the holy day of "Yordan"-the feast of Christ's baptism in the River Jordan. Easter at Christ the Saviour on Glen Morris was magnificent with throngs of people spilling out onto the streets at midnight when the priests would joyfully shout that ''Christ is risen," and the faithful would respond, "Indeed he is risen." Russian Orthodox farmers from northern Ontario would make their yearly pilgrimage to the church for the blessing of their Easter breads and willow baskets. In the summer of 1948, the sister of Tsar Nicholas II- Grand-Duchess Olga Alexandrovna-arrived from Denmark. She and her family became members of the parish. Grand Duchess Olga, with her gracious and warm smile, was honoured many times at the annual Toronto Russian Cadets' Ball. Today the Russian children' s school still bears her name. At her funeral in Toronto on November 24, 1960, wreaths were sent by the king and queen of Denmark, the king of Norway and England' s Queen Elizabeth; imperial guardsmen from the 12th Hussars Ahtyrsky Regiment were the pallbearers; the Grand Duchess' friend, Bishop John of San Francisco, sprinkled Russian earth on her grave. Through the zealous efforts of Father John Diachina, Christ the Saviour parish moved from 4 Glen Morris Street to its present location at 823 Manning Avenue in the summer of 1966.