Historical Pictures of St. Mary's
We would like to thank those parish members who have shared these pictures. If anyone has any older pictures of the church and parish events they would like to share please contact the webmaster.
(9 images)
Installation of our Dome
From 1937 to 1997 St. Mary's Church had a cedar shake steeple instead of the traditional Orthodox dome.
In April of 1997 we were blessed to have our Orthodox dome installed.
Here are a few pictures from that special day.
(6 images)
Years go by and memories fade. The following history has been revealed by Peter Massrouha and Helen Corombos. If, by chance, names are not included that should have been, we apologize.
Picture yourself back in 1934, 1935 and 1936. You are an immigrant to this beautiful country, yet you miss your weekly worship of our Lord Jesus Christ in the tradition you were taught by your parents. You want to worship in an Eastern Orthodox House of God, yet there is no church within traveling distance of Iron Mountain…
You gather together your family, sometimes with other families to pay reverence to our Saviour, who stood by your side as you traveled to America, a strange yet electrifying country in which only a handful of people speak your native language. Worshiping at home partially satisfied your needs, but what about gathering together with others of your faith — “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am in the midst of them.”
Times were rough, money was difficult to come by let alone save, but save they did — salesmanship helped also — coffee normally selling for 5 cents a cup was offered at 10 cents with all proceeds going to what is now “Our Beloved St. Mary’s”.
Abe Khoury’s wife, Mary, and Sadie George, sister of Fadel George, embarked on a mission to procure their own Eastern Orthodox Church along with the combined forces of a small group of families: Mike and Sadie Abraham, Jake and Nora Jacobs, Abe and Tazeh Jacobs, Abe and Nazira Jacobs, Fadel and Mary George, Steve and Bessie Papas, John and Helen Corombos, George and Marika Corombos, Chris and Mary Anegon, Art and Penelope Mitchell, Mr. and Mrs. Rudy Rapaich, and numerous others.
By 1936, the amount raised from social gatherings and donations grew to $387.00. Somehow this money was entrusted to a priest from Spring Valley, Illinois, who was passing through. Perhaps communications were lacking because the priest took the money with him when he returned to Illinois. As some will remember, Fadel George worked for the railroad and obtained a free pass for his sister, Sadie, to journey to Spring Valley, Illinois, where she successfully collected the money and returned home determined more than ever to expedite the founding of an Orthodox Church.
Our little church was purchased for $600.00 from a Lutheran Bishop in Escanaba, Michigan in 1937. 50 years later, in 1987, we celebrated our Golden Anniversary with His Grace Bishop Antoun presiding. Most certainly Our Lord gathered his flock and paved the way so those of Orthodox Faith could worship as our Forefathers had, Proudly, Sincerely, and Faithfully. Therefore, it is with Pride and Love we dedicate this church — firstly, to our Forefathers who have made this history possible, secondly, to those who now follow in their footsteps, and finally to those who will follow in our footsteps and keep the Faith that has been established in our “Miracle Church”.
We thank God for the progress HE obviously spearheaded for the small but powerful St. Mary’s Orthodox Church.
"Sometimes called the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Orthodox Church is the first Christian Church, the Church founded by the Lord Jesus Christ and described in the pages of the New Testament. Her history can be traced in unbroken continuity all the way back to Christ and His Twelve Apostles. For twenty centuries, she has continued in her undiminished and unaltered faith and practice. Today her apostolic doctrine, worship, and structure remain intact. The Orthodox Church maintains that the Church is the living Body of Jesus Christ."
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America.
Saint Gregory the Theologian, Archbishop of Constantinople, a great Father and teacher of the Church, was born into a Christian family of eminent lineage in the year 329, at Arianzos (not far from the city of Cappadocian Nazianzos). His father, also named Gregory (January 1), was Bishop of…
Saint Moses, Archbishop of Novgorod (1325-1330, 1352-1359), in the world Metrophanes, was born at Novgorod. In his youth he secretly left his home and entered Tver’s Otroch monastery, where he became a monk. His parents found him, and at their insistence he transferred to a monastery near…
The Holy Martyr Felicitas with her Seven Sons, Januarius, Felix, Philip, Silvanus, Alexander, Vitalius and Marcial. Saint Felicitas was born of a rich Roman family. She boldly confessed before the emperor and civil authorities that she was a Christian. The pagan priests said that she was insulting…
Saint Publius of Syria was born in the city of Zeugma on the Euphrates and was a senator. Renouncing the world, he gave away his possessions, became a monk, and lived an ascetical life in a cave on a mountain in the Syrian wilderness. Saint Publius founded two monasteries: one for Greeks, and…
Saint Mares the Singer lived in a hut in fasting and prayer for thirty-seven years in the village of Homeron, not far from the city of Cyrrhus in Syria. He ate rough food, and wore clothes made from the hide of wild goats. He was handsome, and had a pleasant singing voice. Saint Mares reposed in…
The “Assuage my Sorrows” Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos was glorified at Moscow by many miracles in the second half of the eighteenth century, particularly during a plague in 1771. The icon had been brought to Moscow by Cossacks in 1640 in the reign of Tsar Michael (1613-1645), and…
The “Unexpected Joy” Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, is painted in this way: in a room is an icon of the Mother of God, and beneath it a youth is kneeling at prayer. The tradition about the healing of some youth from a bodily affliction through this holy icon is recorded in the book of…
The holy Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev was the first bishop to be tortured and slain by the Communists at the time of the Russian Revolution. Basil Nikephorovich Bogoyavlensky was born in the province of Tambov of pious parents on January 1, 1848. His father, a priest, was later murdered. The…
The holy New Martyr Auxentius was born in 1690 in the diocese of Vellas, part of the Metropolitan district of Ioannina in Greece. When he was a young man, he moved to Constantinople with his parents and became a furrier. Later, he left his trade and went to work on the ships, leading a sinful life…
Saint Anatole (Zertsalov) was born with the name Alexis in the village of Bobolya on March 24, 1824. His father, Moses Kopev, was a deacon, and his mother’s name was Anna. The parents were exceptionally devout Christians who hoped that their children would enter the monastic life. Their only…
No information available at this time.
Bishop Gabriel (Kikodze) was born November 15, 1825, in the village of Bachvi, in the western Georgian district of Ozurgeti in Guria. His father was the priest Maxime Kikodze. From 1840 to 1845, Gabriel (Gerasime in the world) studied in Tbilisi and at the theological seminaries in Pskov and Saint…
Saint Vetranion (or Bretanion) lived during the IV century, and was the Bishop of Tomis, (now Constanța, Romania) in the Province of Scythia Minor.1 Little is known about his life except that he came from Cappadocia, and was elected to the See of Tomis about the year 360.2 He confessed the…
