How "Heaven" looked... before the fire

This magnificent depiction of "Heaven, from below" graced the interior of St. Elias Ukrainian Catholic Church, in Brampton, Ontario (in the Eparchy of Toronto), before the terrible fire of last Easter. The beautiful art and architecture embodied in the church building can never be reproduced exactly, but, thanks be to God, a new temple is expected to ready for consecration in 2016.

Thanks be to God, yes, and thanks also to all who have answered appeals for help with Rebuild Fund. Here is a true story of Heaven-sent support, as recorded by the church's Pastor, Archpriest Roman Galadza.

Those of us who were able to attend the Benefit Concert and Dinner arranged on our behalf by the Ukrainian Orthodox Community of Toronto had a wonderful experience of brotherly love. Some 300 friends of our parish were in attendance. The hall was nicely decorated, the concert by the Canadian Bandurist Capella was delightful and the food excellent. In the course of the evening a number of donors came forward to make the eventual total raised for our Rebuild Fund to approximately $28,000.

And then, the miracle! A Ukrainian philanthropist sent up a note to have the organizers announce his donation in memory of his father, +Illya. The amount -- $250,000! All were stunned. I had to have people assure me I had heard correctly. A quarter of a million dollars given our community by someone who was here just once! – for a wedding!- but that was enough to convince him and his wife that our community is special and deserved his support. Certainly he and his family will be in our grateful prayers for as long as we pray in the new temple!

I have been asked why we are accepting donations to rebuild the temple, since insurance is covering the costs. Actually, we were underinsured. The coverage was not indexed over the past 10 years and we were short at least 25%. Catholic Mutual will be making a lump-sum payout which will enable us to begin rebuilding. If we are very careful, using the resources in our parish, this, plus what was allotted for the contents, might almost be enough to put up the walls. But the contents, the iconography, the books and sacred vessels – without donations from the community, the interior of the church could be quite bare for years to come.

This donation, and the donations being received every day, mostly from outside our parish community, enable us to plan the interior at the same time that the structure is being erected. When our church is consecrated once again (summer of 2016, please God!) we look forward to entering through the doors into an interior that replicates what we once had. Yes, we were insured to replace the structure, but everything inside is still up to us, and our God-sent friends! God bless them!

As Father Galadza says, more help is still needed. Please click here to donate. The St. Elias Church community will thank you (and give you a tax receipt, if you're Canadian) and God will surely bless you!