All Serbian Saints Serbian Orthodox Church (Mississauga)

All Serbian Saints Serbian Orthodox Church (Serbian: Храм сабора српских светитеља) is a Serbian Orthodox church located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is dedicated to all the Serbian saints.

History

The construction of the church began on June 6, 1983 with the purchase of the property and nearby building (previously a school property) located in Applewood Heights. The building was soon renamed the Serbian Centre. The main design of the project was created by Belgrade-based architect Predrag Ristić. Since Ristić was not able to obtain a Canadian work permit, Toronto-based architect Milutin Michael Kopsa was awarded the contract to design the church on January 17, 1993. The foundation stone was blessed and laid by the Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church Pavle during his visit to Canada on June 14, 1994. The foundations of the new church were blessed by the Bishop of Canada Georgije (Đokić) on November 26, 1995. Construction of the church was briefly halted but continued in 1999 and was completed on April 22, 2002. The church is built in the Byzantine style, traditional for Orthodox churches. It has three rows for choirs and a hand-made iconostasis. The main part of the church is a squared cross with only one cupola above the central part of the church. The altar was painted by the iconographer Dragomir "Dragan" Marunić.

The church was consecrated on June 15, 2002 by the Bishop of Canada Georgije with the concurrence of Metropolitan of Zagreb and Ljubljana Jovan (Pavlović), Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral Amfilohije (Radović), Bishop of New Gračanica Longin (Krčo), Bishop of Britain and Scandinavia Dositej (Motika), Bishop of Central Europe Konstantin (Đokić), Bishop of Braničevo Ignatije (Midić), Bishop of Zahumlje and Herzegovina Grigorije (Durić), Greek Metropolitan Sotirios (Athanassoulas), Ukrainian Bishop Yuriy, OCA Bishop Seraphim (Storheim) and with the presence of the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Miodrag Perišić, the Minister of Religions Vojislav Milovanović, as well as the head of the Karađorđević dynasty Crown Prince Alexander and his spouse Crown Princess Katherine.

On the tenth anniversary of the construction of the church, April 22, 2012, at the Holy Hierarchical Liturgy led by Serbian Patriarch Irinej, accompanied by Bishop of Canada Georgije, Bishop of Britain and Scandinavia Dositej, and three other Orthodox bishops in Canada, the frescoes in the church were consecrated. The frescoes were painted by three fresco painters from Belgrade under the direction of Dragomir "Dragan" Marunić.

The second Serbian Orthodox Bishop of Canada, Mitrofan (Kodić), was enthroned in this church on September 18, 2016.

On July 31, 2022, the Serbian Canadian Monument designed by Lilly Otasevic honouring the first Serbian settlers in Ontario was erected and consecrated in the port of the church. The monument is dedicated to the generations of Serbs who preserved the Serbian heritage and tradition in Canada for over a century.

Serbian Centre

Directly next to the church is the Serbian Centre located at 1375 Blundell Road – a building that was originally used as a school when it was built in 1921. The architects of the building were Charles Wellington Smith and Percival Ross Wright of Toronto. The building is a rare example of Romanesque Revival architecture in Ontario. The building was sold in 1962 to the Ministry of Transportation, which used the building until 1982. The Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Canada purchased the building on June 6, 1983.

The building was renovated from 1984 to 1985 to include a temporary chapel on the lower level. Religious services were held in this chapel before completion of the church's construction. Architect Rastko Mišić designed the iconostasis, carpenters Živan Marković and Siniša Gajić constructed it, and it was consecrated by Bishop of Canada Georgije on May 23, 1989.Heritage Property Research Report
/ref> The icons on the iconostasis were painted by Dragomir "Dragan" Marunić. The iconostasis was later moved to the Holy Archangel Gabriel Serbian Orthodox Church in Oak Ridges, Richmond Hill.

On October 20, 1992, Serbian Patriarch Pavle celebrated the Holy Hierarchical Liturgy in the chapel of the Serbian Centre. Along with numerous clergy, the liturgy was concelebrated by several members of the delegation of the Serbian Orthodox Church: Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral Amfilohije (Radović), Metropolitan of Midwestern America Christopher (Kovacevich), Metropolitan of New Gračanica Irinej (Kovačević), Bishop of Žiča Stefan (Boca), Bishop of Niš Irinej (Gavrilović), Bishop of Canada Georgije, and Bishop of Eastern America Mitrofan.

The Serbian Centre building was registered as a cultural heritage monument in March 2024.

See also

* Serbian Orthodox Eparchy of Canada
* Saint Nicholas Serbian Orthodox Cathedral (Hamilton, Ontario)
* Saint Sava Serbian Orthodox Church (Toronto)
* Serbian Canadians

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:All Serbian Saints Serbian Orthodox Church
Churches in Mississauga
Churches completed in 2002
Serbian Orthodox church buildings in Canada
Byzantine Revival architecture in Canada
Church buildings with domes
Serbian-Canadian culture
Eastern Orthodox church buildings in Ontario
21st-century churches in Canada