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 Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky in its early years. In 1968, the parish had the honour of hosting Major Archbishop Josyf Cardinal Slipyj during one of his tours of Canada.

Solidly constructed of brick, steel, and concrete, the church is surmounted by a beautifully decorated silver dome. Its 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 have been added over the years by Theodore Baran and Fr. H. Metzger, C.Ss.R. The sacristy preserves a venerated icon of the Mother of God of Perpetual Help, blessed by Pope Benedict XV and an exact copy of the icon kept by the Redemptorist Fathers in Rome.

A shrine and grotto dedicated to the Mother of God stand in the parish yard, and the parish hall and cultural centre are located nearby. The church was built under the direction 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 established an orphanage and day school.

Ukrainian settlers began arriving in the Yorkton area around 1902. They were ministered to by the Belgian Redemptorist Fathers, including Rev. Achille Delaere, C.Ss.R., founder of the Yorkton Mission. His tireless work and adoption of the Ukrainian Rite in 1906 ensured that the Ukrainian Catholic Church survived and thrived in the area. After the establishment of a parish in 1910, a monastery was built in 1913, followed by the construction of the striking church in 1914. From Yorkton, the Redemptorist Fathers oversaw a vast district and operated a printing press to support religious and cultural education. After more than a century, the Redemptorists withdrew from the district in 2023. The parish is now served by priests of the Eparchy of Saskatoon.

St. Mary’s has fostered numerous vocations over the years and is the seat of the Yorkton-Ituna Pastoral District. Affiliated parishes include Ituna, Melville, and Wadena. Other parishes served within this district are Beaverdale, Calder, Bobulynci, Insinger, Whitesand, and Willowbrook.

The information presented here is drawn in part from the work of Anna Maria Kowcz-Baran, Ukrainian Catholic Churches of Saskatchewan, published in 1977. This monumental historical survey is available for purchase at the Musée Ukraina Museum for $20.00.