Saint Mary the Protectress, Irondequoit
Encyclopedia
St. Mary the Protectress, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, located in Irondequoit, New York
, is an Orthodox
church. The church is located on 3176 St. Paul Boulevard, Irondequoit, New York, USA.
immigrants that settled in the
Rochester, New York
area after the post World War II period.
The parish originally purchased a church building in 1954 and was located on Clinton Street in the inner Rochester, New York
city limits.
blessed the site of where the church was built in 1978, the majority of the construction was guided by the active parish priest Rev. Anatolij Sytnyk.
The church was consecrated October 17, 1982 by Archbishop Mark (Hundiak).
The current pastor is the Very Reverend Ihor Krekhovetsky.
where the current pastor lives. The rectory was built in 1976 and consecrated in 1977.
The church hall is a facility which has held many of the parish events including liturgies until the church was built. It was completed in 1976 but was destroyed by fire in the 1990s and was rebuilt.
By the church there are some dedicated monuments in memory of the Holodomor
of 1932–33 and the Chernobyl disaster
of 1986.
Behind the church hall is a soccer field used by the Ukrainian American Sports Club.
Irondequoit, New York
Irondequoit is a town in Monroe County, New York, USA. As of the 2010 census, the coterminous town-CDP had a total population of 51,692...
, is an Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
church. The church is located on 3176 St. Paul Boulevard, Irondequoit, New York, USA.
Early history
The parish was founded in 1950 by UkrainianUkrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
immigrants that settled in the
Rochester, New York
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
area after the post World War II period.
The parish originally purchased a church building in 1954 and was located on Clinton Street in the inner Rochester, New York
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
city limits.
Current location
In 1970 the parish committee decided to buy 5 acres (20,234.3 m²) parcel of land where the church is now located. Initially the parish built a church hall in 1975 and used the proceeds from the rental of the hall to collect funds for the construction of the church. After the then Metropolitan MstyslavPatriarch Mstyslav (Stepan Skrypnyk)
Patriarch Mstyslav, secular name Stepan Ivanovych Skrypnyk , was a Ukrainian Orthodox Church hierarch.Born in Poltava , Stepan Skrypnyk was the nephew of Symon Petlura, a prominent Ukrainian military and political figure...
blessed the site of where the church was built in 1978, the majority of the construction was guided by the active parish priest Rev. Anatolij Sytnyk.
The church was consecrated October 17, 1982 by Archbishop Mark (Hundiak).
The current pastor is the Very Reverend Ihor Krekhovetsky.
Facilities
On the church grounds is a rectoryRectory
A rectory is the residence, or former residence, of a rector, most often a Christian cleric, but in some cases an academic rector or other person with that title...
where the current pastor lives. The rectory was built in 1976 and consecrated in 1977.
The church hall is a facility which has held many of the parish events including liturgies until the church was built. It was completed in 1976 but was destroyed by fire in the 1990s and was rebuilt.
By the church there are some dedicated monuments in memory of the Holodomor
Holodomor
The Holodomor was a man-made famine in the Ukrainian SSR between 1932 and 1933. During the famine, which is also known as the "terror-famine in Ukraine" and "famine-genocide in Ukraine", millions of Ukrainians died of starvation in a peacetime catastrophe unprecedented in the history of...
of 1932–33 and the Chernobyl disaster
Chernobyl disaster
The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine , which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities in Moscow...
of 1986.
Behind the church hall is a soccer field used by the Ukrainian American Sports Club.