Philip Ruh, O.M.I. (born Philip Roux; ; 6 August 1883 – 24 October 1962) was

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

and church architect. Although he was educated as a Belgian Oblate (

Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) is a missionary religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816, by Eugène de Mazenod, a French priest later recognized as a Catholic saint. The congregation wa ...

), he is remembered for his work in Canada with the

Eastern Catholic The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also known as the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous ('' sui iuris'') particular churches of ...

Ukrainian Canadian Ukrainian Canadians are Canadian citizens of Ukrainian descent or Ukrainian-born people who immigrated to Canada. In the late 19th century, the first Ukrainian immigrants arrived in the east coast of Canada. They were primarily farmers and l ...

community building over forty

Byzantine Rite The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, is a liturgical rite that is identified with the wide range of cultural, devotional, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Chri ...

churches and several

grotto A grotto or grot is a natural or artificial cave or covered recess. Naturally occurring grottoes are often small caves near water that are usually flooded or often flooded at high tide. Sometimes, artificial grottoes are used as garden fea ...

s in a unique architectural style that mixed

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, Latin, and modern Canadian influences. The style is often called prairie cathedral, which is a common nickname for several of his churches, even though only two of them are properly cathedrals. The Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception in the

Rural Municipality of Springfield Springfield is a rural municipality (RM) in Manitoba, Canada. It stretches from urban industrial development on the eastern boundary of the city of Winnipeg, through urban, rural residential, agricultural and natural landscapes, to the Agassiz ...

, Manitoba was designated a

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada () are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being of national historic significance. Parks C ...

in 1996 as being one of Ruh's most accomplished works. Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Resurrection in Dauphin, Manitoba, was likewise designed a National Historic Site in 1997.

Priesthood

Ruh was born in Bickenholtz, Alsace-Lorraine

hen part of the German Empire Hen commonly refers to a female animal: a female chicken, other galliformes, gallinaceous bird, any type of bird in general, or a lobster. It is also a slang term for a woman. Hen, HEN or Hens may also refer to: Places Norway *Hen, Buskerud, a ...

to poor parents. When he wasn't at school, he worked in the fields. In his autobiography written two years before his death, he wrote, "There was no time for play except on Sundays after Mass." After leaving school, he worked in the fields until deciding to become a priest. He joined the priesthood in the Oblates order in 1898 and he moved to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

for training. After completing his

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

, he studied for another six years in Germany. Then he was sent to be the Oblate

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

to the Ukrainian Catholic immigrants in Canada. Ruh knew nothing about Ukrainians except that they were a Slavic nation. He received additional training in the Ukrainian language and the

Eastern Rite Eastern Rite or Eastern liturgical rite may refer to: * a liturgical rite used in Eastern Christianity: ** liturgical rites of the Eastern Orthodox Church, which mainly use the Byzantine liturgical rites ** liturgical rites of the Oriental Orthodox ...

. Ruh had his first experience in architecture when he received an assignment to design a path up a hill and a play field for schoolchildren. Ruh received two more years of training before he was sent to Canada; he arrived in April 1913. There were few clergy for almost 250,000 Ukrainians. Ruh arrived at his new home at the village of Stry, north of the

North Saskatchewan River The North Saskatchewan River is a glacier-fed river that flows from the Canadian Rockies continental divide east to central Saskatchewan, where it joins with the South Saskatchewan River to make up the Saskatchewan River. Its water flows event ...

. He remained there until his death at St. Boniface, Manitoba, aged 79.

Works

File:St Georges.jpg, St. George Cathedral, Saskatoon File:Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception.jpg, Church of the Immaculate Conception, Cooks Creek File:Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Resurrection 4.jpg, Church of the Resurrection, Dauphin File:Saint Josaphat Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral Edmonton Alberta Canada 02A.jpg, St. Josaphat Cathedral, Edmonton, AB; designed 1938, completed 1947 Sts. Cyril and Methodius Ukrainian Catholic Church, St. Catharines (02).jpg, Sts. Cyril and Methodius Ukrainian Catholic Church, St. Catharines, Ontario Holy Eucharist Ukrainian Catholic Church Winnipeg.jpg, Holy Eucharist Ukrainian Catholic Church, Winnipeg, Manitoba *Mountain Road Church of St. Mary's

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

1920s the largest wooden church in Western Canada (burnt 1966); *Church of the Blessed Mary Virgin,

Portage la Prairie Portage la Prairie () is a small city in the Central Plains Region of Manitoba, Canada. In 2016, the population was 13,304 and the land area was . Portage la Prairie is approximately west of Winnipeg, along the Trans-Canada Highway (exactly ...

(built 1929 and demolished 1983); *Holy Ascension

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

(1929); *St Basil the Great

Regina, Saskatchewan Regina ( ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province, and is a commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. As of the 2021 Canadian census, ...

(1928). *Church of the Immaculate Conception, Cook's Creek,

1930s. *Blessed Virgin Mary, 103 Mountain Rd, Grimsby, Ontario 1940s. (Closed in 2010.) *St. Cyril & Methodius, St. Catharine's, Ontario 1940s.

References

External

Saskatchewan Gen Web Project

"Philip Ruh"
at

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; ) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with financial support by the federal Department of Canadian Heritage and Society of Com ...

Manitoba Historical Society / Dictionary of Manitoba Biography
* Jim Christy, Pete Skov: ''Prairie cathedrals. Philip Ruh was a tireless missionary who adorned the western landscape with ornat Ukrainian churches.''

Canadian Geographic ''Canadian Geographic'' is a magazine published by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, (RCGS) based in Ottawa, Ontario. History and profile After the Society was founded in 1929, the magazine was established the next year in May 1930 unde ...

, November–December 1996, pp 68 – 76 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruh, Philip 1883 births 1962 deaths People from Moselle (department) People from Alsace-Lorraine Eastern Catholic priests Canadian members of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church 20th-century Canadian architects German emigrants to Canada 20th-century Christian clergy Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate