The church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, commonly called St. Mary’s, was built in 1914 and substantially enlarged in 1954. It was blessed by Blessed Bishop Nykyta Budka in 1914 and visited by the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky in its early days. In 1968, it was honoured to host Major Archbishop, Josyf Cardinal Slipyj during one of his tours of Canada.
Solidly built of brick, steel and concrete, the church is surmounted by a beautifully decorated silver dome. St. Mary’s interior was decorated by Stepan Meush, a celebrated artist, between 1939 and 1941.
The church was substantially enlarged and redecorated in 1954 and in 1964 the giant apsidal icon of the Mother of God of Perpetual Help was commissioned and installed by the artist, Igor Suhacev. Additional paintings were added to the church over the years by Theodore Baran and Fr. H. Metzger, C.Ss.R. In the sacristy, the venerated icon of the Mother of God of Perpetual Help has been preserved. This holy icon was blessed by Pope Benedict XV and is an exact copy of its namesake kept by the Redemptorist Fathers in Rome.
A shrine and grotto to the Mother of God stands in the parish yard and the parish hall and cultural centre is a short distance away.
The church was built under the directorship of Rev. Achille Delaere, C.Ss.R., and Yorkton quickly became a spiritual and cultural centre in the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canada. The Sister Servants of Mary Immaculate arrived in Yorkton in 1915 and quickly set about opening an orphanage and a day school.
Ukrainian settlers began to arrive in the Yorkton area around 1902. They were attended to by the Belgian Redemptorist Fathers who came to Canada to serve as missionaries to the new settlers from eastern Europe. Rev. Achille Delaere, C.Ss.R., founder of what was long called the Yorkton Mission, was among the most prolific of these early missionaries. His adoption of the Ukrainian Rite in 1906 and his tireless work among the settlers ensured that the Ukrainian Catholic Church survived and thrived in the area. After the establishment of a parish in Yorkton in 1910, a monastery was built in 1913. By 1914, there was enough energy in the community to build the striking church that we see today.
From Yorkton, the Redemptorist Fathers oversaw a vast district. They also ran a printing press which was a vital tool for religious and cultural education. After more than a century, the Redemptorists withdrew from the district in 2023. Since then, it has been served by priests of the Eparchy of Saskatoon.
St. Mary’s has been blessed to produce numerous vocations over the years.
It is the seat of the Yorkton-Ituna Pastoral District with affiliated parishes at Ituna, Melville, Wadena. Other parishes that have are served within this district include Beaverdale, Calder, Bobulynci, Insinger, Whitesand, and Willowbrook.
The information provided here is taken in part from the work of Anna Maria Kowcz-Baran, Ukrainian Catholic Churches of Saskatchewan, published in 1977. This monumental historical survey can be found for sale at the Musée Ukraina Museum for $20.00.