Greek Orthodox community devastated by church blaze

[Helen56]

Greek Orthodox community devastated by church blaze

Montreal's Greek Orthodox community is vowing to rebuild after a devastating fire swept through one of its most important – and most beautiful – churches Monday night.

At about 8 p.m., after the evening services, a blaze broke out in the Koimisis Tis Theotokou (Dormition of the Virgin Mary) in Park Extension.

montreal.ctvnews.ca

For the second time in the past 30 years, a focal point of the Greek community of Montreal has perished in flames.

montrealgazette.com

 

[All4Christ]

Lord have mercy!

 

[ArmyMatt]

Lord have mercy!

I saw on facebook the image of an icon of Christ where the glass was melted off, but the wooden icon was completely untouched by the fire. even in something like this, God shows His love for us!

 

[~Anastasia~]

I saw that photo. Within the same day or so, another Church burned. I think it was in Tennessee?

Lord have mercy on the parishioners and priests!

 

[Lukaris]

Lord, have mercy!

 

[buzuxi02]

Lord Have Mercy. Its a difficult process to rebuild. A large GOA parish caught fire about 2 years ago by me, the church has had scaffolding outside and its stained glass windows removed for over 6 months now. Its a slow expensive process.

the only icon that survived:
http://www.saint-demetrios.com/Data/Sites/1/st.nikiforos.jpg

 

[buzuxi02]

Lord have mercy!

I saw on facebook the image of an icon of Christ where the glass was melted off, but the wooden icon was completely untouched by the fire. even in something like this, God shows His love for us!

Matt, Kylissa:

The icon is from the church in Montreal? There is footage on youtube of the fire, its was a major inferno hard to believe anything could survive. Do you have a link I would like to see.


https://youtu.be/fWnnG4cbNyE

 

[Anhelyna]

Lord have mercy !



It's now a year since the UGCC Church of St Elias in Brampton burned down and there much was lost.

They are still in temporary accommodation and will be for a long time as they re-build. It's a terrible experience for all involved.
Here is a little about that fire http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/04/05/crews_battling_fire_at_brampton_church.html

 

[buzuxi02]

those wooden pillars is all thats left?

With all these fires I hope the churches don't switch over to electric lamps. But when things like this happen both insurance companies and fire code regulations kick in.

 

[Anhelyna]

those wooden pillars is all thats left?

With all these fires I hope the churches don't switch over to electric lamps. But when things like this happen both insurance companies and fire code regulations kick in.

Yes , Buzuxi - that is all that was left of St Elias ! The Community there , I'm sure, were devastated but they have been absolutely resolute that St Elias will be rebuilt and things are progressing.

The loss of their Church can indeed take the heart out of the Community - it's hard for them to cope - there's a sense of mourning and it takes a strong Priest and the clergy to help the people start to move forward to rebuild instead of , as so often happens , apportioning blame for the disaster.

I hope and pray that this time the Greek Community can start to look forward and pull together as a community which unites to rebuild their Church

 

[Helen56]

I’m still so emotional. It holds so many memories!

My sisters & brother where baptized in the church that was burned in 1986, Agia Triada (Holy Trinity).

So I was baptized in this church Koimisis Tis Theotokou (Dormition of the Virgin Mary) or (Panagitsa) in June 1986.
My sister got married there in 2006. My nephew & niece got baptized there.
We would go almost every August 14/15 for the Dormition of the Theotokos.

I really pray it gets rebuild!

 

[Wryetui]

Lord have mercy!

This shatters my heart into pieces Why are things like this happening? I don't understand... The miracle with the icon softened my sorrow a little bit, but still...

 

[George95]

Lord have mercy!

I saw on facebook the image of an icon of Christ where the glass was melted off, but the wooden icon was completely untouched by the fire. even in something like this, God shows His love for us!

That one was in Knoxville at Saint George's.

 

[gzt]

Lord have mercy !



It's now a year since the UGCC Church of St Elias in Brampton burned down and there much was lost.

They are still in temporary accommodation and will be for a long time as they re-build. It's a terrible experience for all involved.
Here is a little about that fire Blaze destroys iconic Ukrainian Catholic church in Brampton | Toronto Star

They were a beautiful church, they had so many videos on youtube. Very traditional in all the best ways.

 

[buzuxi02]

These things are very sad. Traumatic for the parishioners and its a hard long process to rebuild our style of churches. Unlike plain jane edifices, our churches are the last vestiges of arcitectural wonders. Unlike todays boring glass and metal structures which are decorated with mass produced framed wall hangings, we are the last to adorn our buildings with frescos and ornate vessels. The financial and emotional investment to rebuild is huge.