The Protection of the Holy Virgin Mary Orthodox Church | |
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37°52′55″N89°06′37″W / 37.881885268598715°N 89.11035301933485°W | |
Location | 112 N. Fairdale Street, Royalton, IL |
Country | United States |
Denomination | Russian Orthodox |
Website | https://www.phvm.org/ |
History | |
Founded | 1914 |
Founder(s) | Frank Derbak, [1] John August and Paul Andrews [2] |
Dedication | 1915 [3] |
Past bishop(s) | Rev. Michael Vyacheslavov |
Architecture | |
Groundbreaking | October 14, 1914 [2] |
Construction cost | $2,200 (1914) [3] |
Administration | |
Diocese | American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese |
Clergy | |
Rector | Rev. John Pawelchak |
The Protection of the Holy Virgin Mary Orthodox Church in Royalton, IL is one of the only remaining Russian Orthodox churches in southern Illinois. [4] [5] [6] The church was founded by eastern European immigrants, including Rusyns, [3] [7] [5] [8] Ukrainians, Polish, Latvians, and Russians, [9] many of whom worked in local coal mines [10] [11] [12] The three principal founders were Frank Derbak, [1] John August and Paul Andrews, with supporting founders Ivan Matichin, Ivan Drozd, Ivan Shender and Ivan Lapko. [13] Ground was broken on October 14, 1914, the same day as the Feast of the Protection of the Theotokos. [3] It was built to mimic the construction of the now-closed St. Ioasaph's in Muddy. [14] [15] Each parishioners family was asked to give $25 at the start of construction and was asked to give another $25 when the construction was finished. [16]
The church opened to parishioners in late 1915. [2] [3]
On October 27, 1914, there was an explosion at the nearby Royalton North No. 1 Mine, killing over 100 miners. [17] Thirteen of the miners who were killed in the disaster were members of the church. [16] [18] There is a memorial at the church, and many of the miners were buried in a cemetery dedicated to the disaster. [19] The mining company donated land north of Royalaton to bury the miners, and became St. Mary’s Russian Orthodox Cemetery. [5] [12] Each year, on October 27 a panachida is celebrated in remembrance of the thirteen parishioners who were killed. [13]
The nearby village of Dowell also had a Russian Orthodox Church, Saints Peter and Paul, but it has since closed. A memorial to the closed Dowell church is located in at the Holy Protection church. [20] [16]
Other southern Illinois villages with Orthodox churches included St. Mary's Russian Orthodox Church in Benld, Buckner, and Grand Tower. [5] [21]
The church is a Byzantine-style domed church with a white and gold interior. [10] The church contains traditional Orthodox iconography, some by the hand of the iconographer Alexander Sokolov, as well as a grotto with a mosaic of the Theotokos. [13]
Next to the church is located a church hall and rectory.