In 2026, St. Patrick Parish will be celebrating the 160th anniversary of the dedication of our church. As we prepare for this anniversary the Finance Council, with the approval of the Archdiocese, will undertake a restoration of the interior of the church in 2025. This restoration will include repainting the ceiling and walls, repairing the cracked plaster, refinishing the pews, and replacing the tile flooring. In addition to these major works, other repairs and improvements will be made to ensure the church with its heritage status and historical beauty will continue to be a place of worship for generations to come.
Several years ago, I had the opportunity to meet a team of Ukrainian iconographers when I was visiting my friend, the parish priest at the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Eucharist in New Westminster (Vancouver), BC. The iconographers were at the cathedral to paint the interior of the dome of that church. As I watched them carefully and skillfully write the icon of Christ Pantocrator (Christ, Ruler of All) in the dome, I was amazed at, even awestruck by their skill, dexterity, and proficiency in painting (or writing as is the proper word to use with respect to icons) above their heads and on the curved and vaulted surface. It was as though I was watching Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling.
I knew then and there that if these men could come to St. Patrick’s in Fallowfield they could create something of similar beauty our church and our worship space would be transformed. The following year, the iconographers and my friend came to Ottawa and seeing our church and admiring the beauty of the art and architecture, began drafting a conceptual proposal of what the central part of the ceiling could look like. That was in 2021; and now with the planned restoration of the interior of the church in preparation for our 160th anniversary, two iconographers will be coming to our parish in early November to make further preparations for their proposed work on the ceiling.
Serhii Kolodka, trained in writing icons and a graduate of the School of Fine Arts, both in Lviv, Ukraine, is excited to come to our parish and to share his considerable skill in transforming our worship space with art, icons, and images of our faith. Serhii has sent us two large print copies of the original proposal for what our church ceiling could look like. The photo highlighted above is the original conceptual proposal prepared in 2021.
The proposal presents 12 triangular panels and a central rose with five circles (from which the largest ceiling light fixture hangs). This proposal shows apostles, evangelists, and angels in the triangular sections, and in the circles pictorial monograms of Christ. The final composition for the panels is yet to be decided. As well we await the approval of the Archbishop and diocesan leadership as to the appropriateness of such art work as proposed for the ceiling of the church. It is my hope that we will receive these approvals because I am sure that this work will be a source of inspiration, contemplation, and prayerful reflection for all who worship in our church.
