Holy Trinity Church, Montreal
Address: 349 Melville Avenue, Westmount QC, H3Z 2J7
Priest: Fr. Vladimir Vranic
Email: svestenik@svetatrojica.ca
Fr. Vladimir Vranic was born in 1978 in Sarajevo to the late Fr. Perisa Vranic and Jelena Vranic (née Njagric), a music professor. He started elementary school in Sarajevo and finished in Belgrade. He started secondary theological school in Belgrade in 1993. He completed the first year and, after receiving a scholarship from the Hilandar Monastery, continued his education at the Antonijada Church Academy in Karyes (Mount Athos, Greece) from 1994 to 1997. He continued his education in the United States: first, undergraduate studies at the St. Sava Theological Faculty in Libertyville (Illinois) in the period from 1998-2002, and then postgraduate studies at the St. Vladimir Orthodox Theological Academy in New York from 2004 to 2006. He was ordained to the rank of deacon in April 2006 and to the rank of presbyter in September of the same year, by the hand of Metropolitan Christopher (Kovacevich) of blessed memory. By the decision of His Eminence Metropolitan of Canada Dr. Mitrofan in August 2024, Fr. Vladimir was appointed parish priest of Montreal at the Holy Trinity Church.
The establishment of the Parish and the Church and School Congregation in Montreal, as an organized community of parishioners, was preceded by spontaneous gatherings and meetings of Serbs to celebrate Christmas, Easter, Saint Sava and welcome the Serbian New Year together. The first services were held in other Orthodox and non-Orthodox churches, as well as in ordinary halls. The establishment of the Church and School Congregation began with the arrival of the first Serbian priest in Montreal in early 1954. On January 2, 1954, the young hieromonk Justinian (Ilkic) was appointed parish priest of Montreal. On February 6, 1954, the Founding Assembly was held in the hall of the Ukrainian Church, at which the Church and School Congregation was constituted and the first administration was elected.
The year 1960 was very significant in the life and work of the Church and School Congregation. The arrival of Fr. Dimitrije Najdanovic represented an important turning point in the life of Serbs in Montreal. On June 23, 1961, a building on De Bullion Street was purchased and converted into a holy temple. Immediately upon taking possession of the building, everyone selflessly set to work – architects to plan, carpenters to arrange the carpentry work, painters to paint, artists to paint icons. The first Holy Liturgy in the first Serbian Church of the Holy Trinity in Montreal was held on September 10, 1961. The feeling of ownership, freedom, and better and easier opportunities conditioned and facilitated work and other activities. The reorganized Circle of Serbian Sisters, which was founded much earlier, in 1930, now continued its work more actively. The Milan Rakic Church Choir enriched the Sunday services with its singing. For a time, there was a chess section, as well as a theater group. In 1963, the Stevan Jorgovic Memorial Library was founded. The Sunday church school also began to operate, and folklore was also cultivated. With the completion of the work on the iconostasis and icons, the Holy Trinity Church acquired the form and appearance of an Orthodox church. The consecration took place on September 6, 1964. The year 1964 was marked by the arrival of a large number of Serbs in Montreal. Both from the purchase to the consecration of the church, and the following year was characterized by active and fruitful work. Due to the increasing number of believers and increasingly diverse activities, the church and home became too small, so at the meeting of the Board of Directors, the members present mentioned that they were considering organizing a fund to raise money for the construction of a new church.
The decisive acceptance of Dr. Dragutin "Drago" Papic as the president of the Building Committee, with Dr. Dimitrije Pivnicki president of the Church and School Congregation, made it possible to move more decisively from modest premises towards finding a new, adequate space that would become the pride of this parish and our community. This was achieved by purchasing the Presbyterian church in 1976 with the parish house in Westmount – an ancient and enviable neighborhood of the Island of Montreal. The church building was built in 1900 according to the design of the famous Canadian architect Edward Maxwell. The magnificent event of the consecration of the holy church was performed on the feast of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke, October 31, 1976, by the late Bishop of Eastern America and Canada Dr. Sava (Vukovic). In the following years, under almost the same composition of members of the Church and School Congregation, there were successes in the decoration and improvement of the church with an enriched iconostasis and two more large icons of Saint Sava and Saint Basil of Ostrog, then the church hall and kitchen, as well as the parish house.
