All Serbian Saints Church, Mississauga
All Serbian Saints Church, Mississauga
The All Serbian Saints Church and School Congregation, with three parishes, covers the territory of Mississauga and nearby towns. The parishes are the Second Toronto Parish, Third Toronto Parish and Fifth Toronto Parish. Next to the church is the Serbian Centre, a building that is one of the main gathering places of the Serbian community in Canada.
Fr. Dejan Obradovic was born on August 2, 1971 in Kragujevac, to father Radoslav and mother Ljiljana (nee Petrovic). He finished elementary school in 1986. That same year, with the blessing of the Bishop of Sumadija, Dr. Sava, he enrolled in the Theological Seminary of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Prizren. He completed the five-year seminary in 1991, and with the blessing of his Bishop Sava, he enrolled in the Faculty of Theology in Belgrade. His departure to serve a year of military service interrupted his further studies. The following year, in 1992, he learned the technique of iconography and fresco painting from iconographer Miloje Milinkovic, who that year completed the painting of the Cathedral Church in Kragujevac. In the fall of 1993, Bishop Sava sent him to Libertyville, Illinois for further studies. He graduated in 1997. The following year he married Marija née Domanovic. He was ordained a deacon on November 21, 1998, and a day later he was ordained a presbyter by Bishop Sava. He was appointed parish priest of Vinograd in Kragujevac on January 1, 1999, and the following year, 2000, he spent in Canada, where he was appointed parish priest of Niagara Falls by Bishop Georgije of Canada. He served at the Church of Saint Sava in Toronto from 2018 to 2019, when he was appointed parish priest of the All Serbian Saints Church in Mississauga.
Fr. Milojko Dimitric
Parish: Second Toronto Parish
Phone number: (289) 887 3803
Email: svestenik.hamilton@gmail.com
Fr. Milojko Dimitric was born on October 16, 1965 in the village of Joseva, Loznica, to father Ljubomir and mother Zivka. After completing his primary education in his hometown, and with the blessing of the late Bishop of Sabac and Valjevo Jovan, he enrolled in the Seminary in Sremski Karlovci, which he successfully completed in 1986. After completing his military service, he was ordained by the late Bishop of Zica Stefan to the rank of deacon on April 28, 1988, and was ordained to the rank of priest a day later in the Zica Monastery. He was appointed the first parish priest in Brezna, near Gornji Milanovac, where he served for ten years. Together with the faithful, he built the new Saint Petka Church in Kostunici in this parish and renovated the Saint Dimitrije Church and the parish house in Brezna. For all this, Bishop Stefan awarded him the dignity of protonamesnik, and in 1998, due to the needs of the service, he transferred him to the position of parish priest in Vrnjacka Banja. In Vrnjacka Banja, he passed the theological professional exam (Theological Institute) and became a catechist, where, in addition to his ministry, he also taught religious education in elementary school. With the blessing of Bishop Hrizostom of Zica, in 2006 he transferred to the clergy of the Diocese of Canada, where Bishop of Canada Georgije appointed him to the position of parish priest at the Church of St. Sava in London. For his zeal for the church and devotion to his ministry, Bishop Georgije awarded him the rank of protopresbyter on February 6, 2009. Due to the needs of the service and with the blessing of Bishop Georgije, in July 2012 he was appointed parish priest of West Hamilton at the Cathedral Church of the Holy Father Nicholas in Hamilton. He is married to his wife Svetlana and has four children: Marica, Ivana, Isidor and Djurdjina.
Fr. Zlatibor Djurasevic
Parish: Third Toronto Parish
Phone number: (647) 745 1345
Email: zlatibordj@gmail.com
Fr. Zlatibor Djurasevic was born on November 23, 1961 in Câmpia (Lugovet in Serbian), Banat region, in the Diocese of Timisoara, and was raised in the Orthodox spirit by his father Radovan and mother Jelena (née Radosavljevic). He spent his childhood with his family in the village of Câmpia, near Bela Crkva in Banat. At the end of 1989, with his wife Aurelia, a Romanian of the Orthodox faith, and their four-year-old son Radovan, he went to Serbia, where their second son, Srbislav, was born in 1990. Since August 20, 1990, he has lived in Canada, first in Kitchener. In 1994, with the blessing of the Bishop of Canada Georgije, he enrolled in the Faculty of Theology in Libertyville and graduated with honors in 1999. He was ordained to the rank of deacon at the Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Milton by Bishop Georgije on February 7, 1999. He was ordained to the rank of presbyter at the Church of the Holy Trinity in Regina on February 11, 2001. Until December 1, 2001, he served the parish of the Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Milton, when he was appointed to the newly formed parish of East Kitchener at the Church of the Holy Trinity in Kitchener. He served in this parish until March 1, 2005, when he was appointed by Bishop Georgije to the vacant parish in the city of Oakville at the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul.
Conceptual design of the church
Construction of the church began on June 6, 1983, when the Saint Sava Church and School Congregation in Toronto purchased the property and nearby building, which was soon renamed the Serbian Centre. The main designer of the church was the eminent architect from Belgrade, Predrag "Pedja" Ristic. Since Ristic did not receive a permit to work in Canada, Toronto architect Milutin Kopsa was awarded the contract to design the church on January 17, 1993. The foundation stone was consecrated and laid by Serbian Patriarch Pavle, during his visit to Canada on June 14, 1994. The foundation of the new church was consecrated by Bishop of Canada Georgije on November 26, 1995. Construction of the church resumed only in 1999. Construction was completed on April 22, 2002. The church is built in the Byzantine style, traditional for Orthodox churches. It has three choir boxes and a handmade iconostasis made in one of the most famous painting studios in Belgrade. The foundation of the church is a cross in a square with a single dome above the central part of the church.
The church was consecrated on June 15, 2002 by the Bishop of Canada Georgije with the concurrence of Metropolitan of Zagreb and Ljubljana Jovan (Pavlovic), Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral Amfilohije (Radovic), Bishop of New Gracanica Longin (Krco), Bishop of Britain and Scandinavia Dositej (Motika), Bishop of Central Europe Konstantin (Djokic), Bishop of Braničevo Ignatije (Midic), Bishop of Zahumlje and Herzegovina Grigorije (Duric), Greek Metropolitan Sotirios (Athanassoulas), Ukrainian Bishop Yuriy, OCA Bishop Seraphim (Storheim) and with the presence of the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Miodrag Perisic, the Minister of Religions Vojislav Milovanovic, as well as the head of the Karadjordjevic dynasty Crown Prince Alexander and his spouse Crown Princess Katherine.
With the hierarchical blessing of Bishop Georgije of Canada, the first issue of the parish magazine Sabornik was published in December 2008 under the editorship of Fr. Prvoslav Puric.
On the tenth anniversary of the construction of the church, on April 22, 2012, at the Holy Hierarchical Liturgy led by Serbian Patriarch Irinej, accompanied by Bishop Georgije of Canada, Bishop Dositej of Britain and Scandinavia, and three other bishops of other Orthodox dioceses in Canada, the frescoes in the church were consecrated. The frescoes were painted by three fresco painters from Belgrade under the leadership of iconographer and fresco painter Dragomir "Dragan" Marunic. The second Bishop of Canada, Mitrofan, was enthroned in this church on September 18, 2016.
On July 31, 2022, a monument by Ljiljana Otasevic was erected and consecrated in the church gate, dedicated to the generations of Serbs who have preserved their Serbian heritage and tradition in Canada for more than a hundred years. The All Serbian Saints Church and the Saint Sava Church in Toronto formed one Church and School Congregation until their independence in 2023.
History of the Serbian Centre
Directly next to the church is the Serbian Centre, a building that was originally used as a school when it was built in 1921. The architects of the building were Charles Wellington Smith and Percival Ross Wright of Toronto. The building is a rare example of Romanesque Revival in this part of Canada. The building was sold in 1962 to the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, which used the building until 1982. It has been owned by the Diocese of Canada since June 6, 1983. The building was renovated from 1984 to 1985 to include a temporary chapel on the lower level. Services were held in this chapel until the construction of the All Serbian Saints Church. The first annual assembly of the Diocese of Canada was held in the Serbian Centre on February 2, 1985.
On October 20, 1992, Serbian Patriarch Pavle celebrated the Holy Hierarchical Liturgy in the chapel of the Serbian Centre. Along with numerous clergy, members of the delegation of the Serbian Orthodox Church that concelebrated were: Metropolitan Amfilohije of Montenegro and the Littoral, Metropolitan Christopher (Kovacevich) of Midwestern America, Metropolitan Irinej (Kovacevic) of New Gracanica, Bishop Stefan (Boca) of Zica, Bishop Irinej (Gavrilovic) of Nis, Bishop Georgije of Canada, and Bishop Mitrofan of Eastern America.
The Serbian Centre building has been listed as a heritage monument since March 2024.
