History
By the blessing of His Eminence Peter, Archbishop of Chicago and Mid-America, the mission of Holy Martyrs Faith, Hope, Love and Their Mother Sophia was established in the Northwest of Chicagoland on September 5, 2023.
In the day of feast of Saints Faith, Hope, Love and Their Mother Sophia, September 30, 2023, Rev. Fr. Antony Alekseyenko serviced the moleleben (prayer) and led the first parish meeting. The mission was established and its original vision to build an Orthodox Church and open a cemetery in the Northwest of Chicagoland was re-affirmed.
The history of the mission goes back to the summer of 2020. A group of faithful Orthodox believers founded St. Nicholas of Myra Orthodox Church on July 12, 2020, the feast day of St. Paul and St. Peter. On this day, the first liturgy was serviced in a tent on a farm in Woodstock, Il. People came every Sunday to the liturgy on the farm for the rest of the summer. They were drawn by the Christian joy and love and one could say the believers “were of one heart and one soul” (Acts 4:32). And they had a vision to build its own Orthodox temple.
As the fall was drawing near, one of the church members graciously offered his personal property to the church. The parish temporarily moved to the building with great joy and gratitude to God. Alter gates, candle stands, and many other church items were donated to the church. One of the donations was an icon with the relics of St. Nicholas which signified the favor and protection of the parish by the Saint himself. The parish has been growing little by little. On the Easter night of 2022, for the first time there was not enough room for everyone in the dining hall for the blessing by the holy water.
Now, the St. Nicholas parish is no longer under the jurisdiction of the diocese of Chicago and Mid-America. The separation was sorrowful, nevertheless there was no regret or offense as the faithful, who founded the parish, labored for the glory of God with gladness and simplicity of heart.
