Wroxton, Saskatchewan

Gerald Yaholnitsky’s grandfather came to Canada in 1897 as an educated Orthodox Church Canter. When he passed away, Gerald’s father and uncle took over the cantering job and, in 1960, Gerald himself took over. He cantors in the Canora and Yorkton area, following Fr. Mel Slashinky as he performs his duties in the vast area west of Yorkton.

Gerald says that, as he accompanies Fr. Mel, they often see unique church practices. The parishioners in the area of Esterhazy, for example, wanted not only their houses blessed after Yordan, but also their cars. Some even asked Fr. Mel to bless their cattle and their land. According to Gerald, these are all new practices, brought from Ukraine by recent immigrants who are coming to Saskatchewan to work in the potash mines. In the past, the blessing of cars, cattle, and fields by a priest was not a common in the area served by Father Mel. The recent immigrants both bring new practices and influence Ukrainians whose families have been in the Esterhazy area for many generations. As people hear about these traditions, they want to adopt them.

Wroxton had once been a prosperous town with a big John Deere dealership.  As farming services, the dealership included, moved to bigger towns like Yorkton, the church could no longer be sustained. The St. Elias Church was already closed when we visited in 2015.  Some of the windows were broken and pigeons had made their way inside.  It is striking that one nested on the frame of an icon where Christ the Saviour is releasing a dove, creating a dove-above-the-dove image.  Attempts to sell the St. Elias church were not successful and it was boarded up in 2018.