Major Celebrations

Khram or Praznyk. This is the day of the saint or the church holiday after whom or after which the church is named. For example, the Praznyk of a church named after Sts. Peter and Paul, such as the one in Dickie Bush, Alberta, would be on July 12. The Khram of a church called Holy Trinity, such as the one in Sturgis, Saskatchewan was on June 16 in 2019. In those cases where only one service is conducted in a church, it is typically on Khram or Praznyk. A tradition of returning to one’s home parish for Khram or Praznyk can be observed across the prairies. People can come from as far away as San Francisco in the United States. Such distant journeys are typically once-in-a-lifetime events. Shorter journeys, such as from an urban center to an ancestral church, are routine. On the day of the Khram or Praznyk, church congregations swell to large numbers and many churches gather enough money during such events to survive the rest of the year.