Chicago’s Saint George Cathedral celebrates Centennial October 24-25
CHICAGO, IL [MW Diocese Communications] — Archimandrite Vladimir [Wendling] and the faithful of Chicago’s historic Saint George Cathedral will welcome His Grace, Bishop Paul on Sunday, October 25, 2015, as he presides at the Divine Liturgy marking the community’s 100th Anniversary.
The Divine Liturgy will begin at 9:30 a.m., followed by the Centennial Banquet in the cathedral’s main hall at 1:00 p.m. Cocktail Hour will precede the banquet at 12:30 p.m.
The Centennial weekend will open on Saturday, October 24, with the celebration of a Service of Thanksgiving at 3:00 p.m., followed by a Memorial Service honoring all departed members of the community at 3:30 p.m. Great Vespers will be celebrated at 4:00 p.m., after which a complimentary reception will be held at the Erie Café, 536 West Erie Street, Chicago.
The community was incorporated and moved to its present location in 1914. The current temple, a fine example of classic Russian church architecture, was completed and consecrated in 1935, replacing a much smaller wooden structure. It was designated a cathedral during the residence of His Eminence, Metropolitan Benjamin and His Grace, Bishop Theodore in 1943-1946 of the Russian Orthodox Church. Later, the cathedral parish brought itself under the jurisdiction of the Orthodox Church in America.
The cathedral’s exquisite iconostasis, completed and blessed in 1955, is unique in that the icons thereon are faithful reproductions of prototypes found in Kyiv’s 19th century Saint Vladimir’s Cathedral, which had been painted by the noted icongrapher and artist, Victor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov — an early proponent of the “neo-Byzantine school” of iconography.
In recent years, under the leadership of Archimandrite Vladimir, the community has witnessed steady growth, attracting many recent immigrants from central and eastern Europe while continuing its ministry to descendants of the original founders and a substantial number of converts.
