Welcome . . .
At St. Mary's, we encourage participation in worship services through congregational singing. Please feel free to join your voice with ours in prayer. The Divine Liturgy is a Eucharistic celebration. The tradition of the Church is that only Orthodox Christians who have prepared themselves may receive Holy Communion. If you are not of the Orthodox faith, you are invited to share in some of the blessed bread which will be distributed by the Priest after the service. We appreciate the need for children to also experience the Divine Services and are quite tolerant of the usual noise that accompanies their presence.

Our Mission & Objectives . . .
The mission of St. Mary's, is to commit one another and ourselves to Christ Our God.
We accomplish this by serving the spiritual needs of Orthodox Christians, converts, those of interfaith marriages and the unchurched living in the Calgary area. Our liturgical services are a warm, intimate, and meaningful experience of the Orthodox faith celebrated in English and Romanian as a tribute to the founding ancestry of Saint Mary's. We also attempt to serve in the "language of the people", so if you have a preferred language for weddings, baptisms and memorial services please contact Father Michael in advance to prepare in time…all this and with congregational participation as well! Join us!

A Faithful People . . .
community of Romanian people who had settled in the Calgary area established St. Mary's Church in 1969. The community remains within the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of North America, for over 30 years, which has been under the Omaphor of His Eminence Archbishop Nathaniel Popp over the last 20+ years.
Today our community is comprised of people representing a combination of those original families together with people who stem from the indigenous ethnicities of the Orthodox family as well as many others who have chosen to join the Orthodox Church. Our community is open to any and all people who seek to embrace what has been called the "Ark of Salvation": the Holy Orthodox Church

Our Family . . .
Our community is a gathering faithful Christians sharing worship, fellowship and the love of God. We are a small and intimate group, with open arms to welcome another into the fold. Weekly Services include Divine Liturgy on Sundays at 10 a.m. preceded by Matins at 9:15 a.m. Vespers are held on Saturday evenings at 6 p.m. During periods of the year, usually coinciding with Lenten times, Saturday Vespers are preceded by a discussion group centred on the joys and challenges of living a Christian life. These discussion groups as well as Feast Day Services will be announced as necessary. A vibrant religious education program for children takes place after Holy Communion. After the service, we hope you will join us downstairs in the hall for refreshments and Christian Orthodox fellowship.

People Support . . .

Our community underwrites and supports a Wednesday and Saturday Street Kitchen, which has been a leading participant in the feeding of the street people that no one else, will deal with. These are street people in need who which not even Social Services can or will help in the Calgary downtown areas.

We also, very discretely, supply food hampers and clothes for newly arrived immigrants in need, especially those with children. As we can, we even supply furniture and other household items.

Our Future . . .

For almost 35 years, St. Mary's Church has moved from place to place finding some permanence at a couple of converted houses. Starting as early as the 1930's our Romanian forefathers began the journey towards Salvation through the church. Services were held in a variety of homes and halls and borrowed churches, during which time in 1969 the faithful were formally united as Saint Mary's Romanian Orthodox Parish. Eventually the traveling stopped at a converted duplex which was used for a few years as he church building, until Saint Mary's found it's current home at 3511 3rd Avenue S.W. Because of our Spiritual growth and by the Movement of the Holy Spirit, the faithful of Saint Mary's eventually arrived at our current location where we again open our doors and arms to everyone of every background who has the desire to hear “the Good News”. St. Mary's Romanian Orthodox Church looks to the future of Gospel Good News, trusting in the love of God the Father, and the Blessing of His Son our Saviour, and the strength of the most Holy Spirit, through the intercessions of His Holy Mother.