On November 26, 1931, twenty-five years will have passed since the organization of the St. Nicholas Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church of Chicago. The anniversary of this event is of great importance to the Ukrainian people of the United States from a nationalistic as well as a religious standpoint; for the history of the Ukrainian people has been preserved by their Church in the United States.

About fifty years ago the Ukrainian people--a totally disorganized group--immigrated to the United States and to other countries of the New World. Very few of these immigrants intended to settle permanently in this strange land. They came for the purpose of making money--and after they had made enough money they intended to return to their native land. But they stayed 2on, and presently their desire to return home was forgotten in their joy at having found this land of plenty.

To satisfy their religious needs they attended the Russian Orthodox and the Polish churches which had been established here for some time. These first Ukrainian immigrants became very attached to these churches. Through the agitation of the Russian Orthodox and Polish priests the Ukrainians began to call themselves Rusini (Russians)--and to assimilate the customs of this group. It was not until later, when the immigration of the Lithuanians from eastern Galicia had increased, that the Ukrainian Greek Catholic parishes began to organize and to build their own churches. Within these churches our people formed groups whose duty it was to preserve the particular customs and traditions of their native land. A historian who undertakes to write the history of our people in either the United States or in Canada should first consult the Ukrainian Churches, for only there will he find the necessary material for his work.

The Organization of the Ukrainian Greek Churches in Chicago

In 1905, the city of Chicago and the surrounding territory contained a few score of Ukrainian inhabitants--immigrants from eastern Galicia. Among them was the family of Jacob Olenec, to which a son, Michael Olenec, who now is operating a drugstore on Chicago Avenue, was born August 16, 1905. The baptism of their son presented a problem to the Olenec family. The father learned of a Greek Catholic Church on the South Side of Chicago at 4949 South Seeley Street, whose pastor, Father Victor Kowalitsky, and parishioners were natives of the Carpathian Ukraine. Mr. Jacob Olenec asked Father Kowalitsky to baptize his son and also invited the Father to attend the baptismal party. During the celebration at Mr. Olenec's home, Father Kowalitsky advised the guests to organize their own church. The assembled guests accepted Father Kowalitsky's advice and decided to call a meeting for this purpose in the near future.

According to the parochial books the first meeting was held on December 31, 41905, at 939 North Robey Street (now Damen Avenue). This meeting was opened by Father Kowalitsky with the Lord's Prayer, and he spoke to the assemblage on the need for organizing their own church. He also told them that for eight thousand dollars they could buy a church on Bicker-dike Street from the Danish people. At this meeting it was resolved to purchase this church. Twelve church officers were elected at once.

First Church Committee

The first church committee was composed of the following persons: Father Victor Kowalitsky, president; John Tzihon, vice-president; Peter Winiarsky, treasurer; and Dr. Vladimir Sieminovich, secretary.

The trustees were: Attorney Stephen Yanovich, Michael Zyma, John Shved, Carl Dziak, Nicholas Labant, Stephen Horansky, Jacob Olenec, Basil Biskup.

The following men were elected as collectors: Anton Molochnyk, Andrew Kymak, 5Stephen Horansky, Andrew Cherepa, Nicholas Kozuba, Basil Biskup, John Kregel, and Jacob Olenec.

At this meeting thirty-three persons volunteered contributions totaling five hundred dollars for the organizing fund. Six people offered to lend money for the purchase of the church; toward this fund Mr. Jacob Olenec gave five hundred dollars. The Union Bank lent them five thousand dollars which was secured by a first mortgage. The remaining two thousand, secured by a second mortgage, was borrowed from John Shved and Peter Winiarsky (each of whom lent a thousand dollars).

There were fifty-one people present at the first mass, each of whom contributed one dollar.

At the meeting mentioned above it was also resolved that the committee hold a meeting at 7 P.M., January 2, 1906, at the office of Fritz Frantzena, 6292 Milwaukee Avenue. At this time they planned to sign the contract for the purchase of the church and to make a five-hundred-dollar down payment with the promise to pay the remaining sum after a period of twenty days.

The minutes of the first meeting were signed by the following: Father Victor Kowalitsky, Michael Zyma, John Tzihon, and Dr. Vladimir Sieminovich.

At the first meeting (December 31, 1905) it was decided to name the church St. Nicholas, and to sign it over to our bishop who was to come to America.

On January 28, 1906, the newly organized Ukrainian Church on Bickerdike Street held its first mass, which was celebrated by Father Kowalitsky. The altar on which the first mass was celebrated was donated by the Magyar Roman Catholic Church of Burnside.

After the first services, news of the newly organized Ukrainian Church of 7the Greek rite spread rapidly among our fellow Ukrainians and the parish began to increase.

Pastors of the Church

The first priest to serve as pastor of the St. Nicholas Church was Father Victor Kowalitsky, as we have mentioned. It was not an easy task for the first pastor to lead the newly organized parish; it was necessary to devote much work and energy to providing the church with the necessary equipment, for the income was very small. The parochial books of that time show that the income for the first six months of 1907 was $1,469.08.

Father Kowalitsky was pastor of the St. Nicholas Church for approximately a year and a half. He left the parish on the Saturday before Palm Sunday in 1907. After him came Father L. Besaha who was pastor of the parish only a few months; the parochial books record the name of Father Besaha at the 8yearly meeting of July 7, 1907, and by the following meeting, which was held on October 13, 1907, he had gone. (This meeting was opened by Basil Kowalsky, who was appointed as a delegate to New York to greet Bishop Ortynsky.)

After the departure of Father Besaha, Father Nicholas Strutynsky became pastor (he is now priest of a Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Detroit, Michigan). Father Strutynsky presided over the parochial meeting held November 17, 1907. At this meeting it was resolved to pay the cathedraticum to the Ukranian Bishop Ortynsky, the bishop who had just arrived from Eastern Galicia. This order was issued by Pope Pius himself.

Father Strutynsky was pastor of the St. Nicholas Church for nearly fourteen years, and during his pastorate the parish grew visibly. At this time many Ukrainian people began coming to the United States from the old country; the Ukrainian group in this country was steadily growing larger.

Then Father Strutynsky suggested the plan of building a new church in a different locality, and this was carried out.

In 1921 Father Strutynsky went to another parish; in his place came Father Constantine Kyrylo, who remained here one year. After him (in 1922) came Father Basil Stetsiuk who began working energetically to advance the work of his predecessors, but this did not last long for Father Stetsiuk's work was terminated by his tragic death.

In 1923 Father Philemon Tarnawsky was appointed pastor of this church where he remains to this very day and where, with God's grace, he leads this parish.

Since the organization of the St. Nicholas Church the following priests have served as assistant pastors: Father Michael Kuzmak (now pastor of the St. Mary's Ukrainian Church on the South Side of Chicago), Father Merenkiw, Father Leo Van, and Father Michael Kindey.

After the death of Father Stetsiuk and until the coming of Father Tarnawsky, 10Father Denis Giretsky served as visiting pastor.

The Building of A New Church

In order that the plan to build a new church might be carried out, it was first necessary to purchase the land. In 1912 Mr. Basil Kowalsky found the lots--a large tract of land at Oakley Boulevard and Rice Streets--which the parish bought, and where they began building the new church.

The building plans were drawn up by I. G. Stienbach, and the construction work was carried out by M. Ryan (both residents of this city).

On November 27, 1913, the cornerstone was blessed by Bishop Ortynsky. At this ceremony the church made a clear profit of $507.86. The church was erected in 1914.

The first mass in the newly built church was held Christmas Day, January 7, 111915.

The newly built St. Nicholas Church is an enormous temple; no Ukrainian church in the United States or Canada can compare with it.

The church, a wooden structure, is designed in the Galician-Ukrainian style. It is painted in the Byzantine style with the Slavic stylistic motives of Kiev and Novogorod.

The edifice contains nine pictures. There is a painting in the upper apse (the presbytery), and in the apsidal recess there is a reproduction of the celebrated "Immovable Wall" of the St. Sophia of Kiev and the monumental Holy Virgin, "Oranta" (the Praying Virgin). In the lower compartment there is the magnificent representation of the "Eucharist," an ancient motif borrowed from the same St. Sophia of Kiev. The painting represents our Lord administering Holy Communion to the Apostles.

Above the apse, in the "triumphal arc," there is a large painting depicting 12"Deisus" (the Supplicant). In the middle is the figure of our Lord with the open Gospel in his left hand. To the right of His image rests the Holy Virgin, and to the left is St. John the Baptist, both with heads lowered in prayer. Behind the Holy Virgin stands St. Nicholas, the Patron of the Church; and behind the figure of John is the Martyred St. Josephat. Both Saints maintain an attitude of prayer for their faithful people.

Within the northern arc is a large painting of the Pentecost, a reproduction of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles.

On the southern arc is a large painting representing the Assumption of the Holy Virgin in the Novogorod style of the fourteenth century. In the four corners under the apsidal are four Evangelists and their symbols resting on thrones.

The stained-glass windows are decorated with beautiful mosaics. In the large window over the choir loft is the traditional picture of Judgment 13Day. The window in the north wall contains a picture of the Birth of Christ. In the south window is a large picture of the Transfiguration of our Lord. In the eight small double windows are beautiful pictures of saints facing the altar.

This is the first time stained glass has been used as a medium for Byzantine art.

The main altar, the tabernacle altar, and the two side altars, are made of white Italian marble with Byzantine mosaics.

All of the sketches for the ornamentation of the windows and altars were planned and drawn by Father Gleb Werchowsky. The painting and most of the decorating was executed by our Chicago Ukranian artist, Mr. Theodore Katamay.

The stained-glass windows were constructed by a Chicago firm, the "Munich Studios".

The St. Nicholas Ukrainian Church embraces nearly eight hundred Ukrainian families who support it materially and physically. There are approximately five hundred families who are faithful parishioners and about three hundred of these are grouped near the church, thereby confining their spiritual and national needs.

The church also provides an evening school where several hundred Ukrainian children who attend a public school during the day are being taught to read and write the Ukrainian Language. The school is conducted by the Sisters of the Basilian Order and Mr. Dmytro Atamanets.

There are many societies within the church. One of the most zealous church societies is the adult Apostolic Prayer Society (which was confirmed by the diocese director, the late Father Zahar Orun, on May 3, 1916); there are four juvenile branches of the Apostolic Prayer Society (two of girls, and 15two of boys, all of which were organized in 1924). There are also: Mary's Company (organized in 1927), the Sisterhood of the Immaculate Conception (the latest to be organized), St. Stephen Society (organized in 1908), and the St. Nicholas Society (organized in 1906), branches of the Ukrainian National Association; the St. George Society, the Markiyan Shashkevich Society, a branch of the Providence Association (a benevolent organization); and the St. Vladimir Society, a branch of the Ukrainian Workingmen's Association.

Many of the parishioners belong to the United Hetman Organization and the Sitch Red Cross. The church has its own singing society, the Lysenko Chorus, which is directed by Dmytro Atamanets.

Ever since the establishment of the St. Nicholas Church the parishioners have taken an active part in Ukrainian National affairs, and have contributed considerably to the relief of their native country.

The Ukrainian committee collected eight thousand dollars during the time of 16the Ukrainian liberation conflict to be donated as a "National Loan". Not long ago there was a collection of one thousand dollars for the so-called "Needy Fund," which provides aid for our native country. There have been many contributions to the "native school" of the old country; not long ago, at the time of the visit of the "native school" delegate, Mr. Yasinchuk, a donation of thirteen hundred dollars was collected. There have also been many collections for Ukrainian invalids in Europe.

Every year the parish, either separately or in conjunction with other societies, observes traditional national Ukrainian holidays, and holds exhibitions and important religious and patriotic festivities which reveal the national spirit.

The organization of church societies at the St. Nicholas Church added much to the strengthening and uplifting of the religious spirit among our parishioners, and at the same time created moral discipline among them. They also made the group more conscious of their national obligation, always 17to aid the native cause.

Our societies have exercised a definite influence on the young Lithuanians who are natives of this country: youth that attends its own church, hears its own mass, speaks its own language, and sings in its own choir.

Ukrainian Night School

The night school at the St. Nicholas Parish is very important to the children who attend public day schools where they do not acquire any religious training. They are given this training in the parochial night school. Besides this they learn to speak and to write their own language, and to understand the history and geography of their native land. In this way we are filling the hearts and souls of our young with the desire to love their own. During the last nine years approximately three hundred students have received diplomas from the Ukrainian Parochial School. In 1925 the order of Basilian Sisters came to teach the students. The parish also 18maintains two separate schools where about eighty children attend classes.

The Lysenko Chorus of St. Nicholas Church

The Lysenko chorus is a singing and dramatic society, which, in addition to performing the functions of the church, gives plays, concerts, and other cultural entertainments. All this takes place in the hall of the St. Nicholas Church. The Lysenko was organized in 1907. Its founders were Father Nicholas Strutynsky and Michael Kostiuk, who became the first leader of the chorus. At that time many Ukrainian people, especially the young Ukrainian businessmen, assisted in the organization and development of this society.

During the leadership of Michael Kostiuk the chorus took part in a contest of choruses at Riverview Park; the chorus sang two songs: "Vulitzia" (Street) and "Hulyali" (Danced).

In 1917 Basil Kotziubinsky was engaged as leader of the chorus. He led 19the group for three years and presented many plays and concerts for the Ukrainian colony in Chicago.

In 1920--1922, Theodore Hoptiak and the late Natalia Hruniewetska led the chorus.

Father Basil Stetsiuk, who personally was a great lover of music and who sang very well himself, was appointed pastor of the church in 1922. From the very beginning of his pastorate he attempted to broaden the scope of the chorus and to direct its singing activities into the field of higher art. Through him the chorus was divided into two parts--male and mixed. The male chorus was led by Father Stetsiuk himself, and the mixed by Mr. Hoptiak. In this year both choruses appeared at the World's Exhibition at the Municipal Pier in Chicago. This concert was heard by about ten thousand people and was written up in all the American newspapers of Chicago.

In 1922 the church officers asked Mr. Dmytro Atamanets to lead their 20chorus. He accepted and is still successfully leading this chorus.

In Europe Mr. Dmytro Atamanets took an active part as an actor-singer in Stadnyks-Lviw Ukrainian Theatre; later, after his arrival in this country he worked as director of a chorus in Detroit, Michigan. After accepting the leadership of the Lysenko chorus Mr. Atamanets displayed his organizing ability in his endeavor to raise the status of the chorus. The progress of the Lysenko chorus received great commendation in the city of Chicago as well as in other cities.

The Lysenko Singing Society gives annual concerts to celebrate Schevchenko, November holiday, and other national holidays. They have presented a series of concerts on the radio. The chorus appears to be the cultural fire of the Ukrainian parish, where the Ukrainian group can always find cultural activity to warm its aesthetic sensibilities--for they love their own native art. The patriotic work of the Lysenko Singing Society and its leader, Mr. Dmytro Atamanets, is highly appreciated by the parish. We are 21glad to have among us such an active nationalistic organization.