St. Mary's Russian Orthodox Church, Benld, Illinois

St Mary's Russian Orthodox Church
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39°05′43″N89°48′16″W / 39.0952018°N 89.8045055°W / 39.0952018; -89.8045055
Location	304 N 4th St, Benld, Illinois
Country	United States
Denomination	Russian Orthodox
Website	https://www.facebook.com/HolyDormitionBenldIllinois/
History
Founded	March 3, 1907 [1]
Founder(s)	Andrew Sesenko [1]
Administration
Diocese	American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese

St. Mary's Russian Orthodox Church was a church in Benld, Illinois until 2010. Opened in 1907 ^[1] by Carpatho-Rusyn immigrants, ^[2] it was converted to the Holy Dormition Monastery in 2010. ^[3] The church was founded to serve the immigrant mining community. ^{[4] [5]} The church is located on Route 66. ^{[3] [6]}

History

Coal miner Andrew Sosenko founded the church in 1907 after moving to Benld to work in the coal fields in Macoupin County. ^[1] He contacted Father Michael Potochny of Streator, Illinois as well as priests in Pennsylvania for support opening the church. ^{[7] [8]}

St. Mary’s original 40 parishioners raised $950 to build their first church. The church was blessed by Czar Nicholas II and the Patriarch of Moscow, who gave the parish holy relics of the saints and icons from Russia. ^[9]

One July 27, 1915, the feast day of St. Vladimir, the church and all its contents were destroyed by fire. ^[1] The parish rebuilt the church using brick. ^[9] Local Rusyn priest Father Nikita Gress assisted in repainting icons. ^[8]

The church provided services to Slavic immigrants in the area. Many of these immigrants were coal miners. ^[9]

Other southern Illinois villages with Orthodox churches included the towns of Royalton, IL, ^[10] Buckner, Dowell, and Grand Tower. ^{[9] [11]}

A nearby cemetery was affiliated with the church. Many of the early Slavic immigrants who attended the church are buried there. ^[12]

References

1. Duncan, Mary (Feb 19, 1972). "How St. Mary's Came To Benld". Alton Evening Telegraph. p. 7.
2. >Smith, David (July 1978). The Russians of Buckner (Master of Arts thesis). Southern Illinois University. OCLC   8044617.
3. Debra Landis (2010-01-24). "Benld's Russian Orthodox cathedral to become monastery".
4. Alliband, Terry (1980). "Expressions: Folkways in Southern Illinois". The Eastern Orthodox Community In Royalton. Southern Illinois University Carbondale. p. 8.
5. "Benld Family Picnic Sunday". Alton Evening Telegraph. Aug 12, 1972. p. 16.
6. "Benld". TheRoute-66.com.
7. A History of Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Cathedral of Chicago, 1892-1992. Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Cathedral. 1992. ISBN   978-0963274304.
8. "Holy Dormition history". Holy Dormition. Archived from the original on 15 Aug 2015.
9. ""Shadows of the Motherland"". Archived from the original on February 26, 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2010.
10. "Royalton Churches". Archived from the original on March 22, 2020.
11. Brian Duneal. "Muddy's Russian Orthodox Church may soon be a memory" (PDF).
12. "Holy Dormition (Russian Orthodox Catholic)". illinoisgenweb.