Father Mejac

Scroll down for the Slovenian Original!

After thirteen years of missionary work in 'Tierra del Fuego', Peru and Argentina, the superiors sent me to Canada. I was asked to care for twenty-five groups of our compatriots who have settled in the smaller towns of vast Canada. I was supposed to visit small groups at least twice a year, and larger groups more often, several times and by appointment. When I flew to Toronto in early October 1962, I was given the title of "flying missionary."

Around Christmas, there was a change in my mission. As a superior, Fr. Kopač received a request from Winnipeg that “an independent Slovenian parish should be established there as well. The group of compatriots is already numerous, but new ones are still coming and enthusiasm for the parish is general. ”At the end of the month, it was clear: I will become the pastor of an emerging parish in Winnipeg and a missionary for all compatriots in fifteen cities in western Canada from Port Arthur to Vancouver. ”

On Saturday, January 30, before leaving,  Fr. Kopač, squeezed a hundred Canadian dollar bill into my hand and wished me plenty of God’s blessing. I was going into the unknown and uncertain. I didn't know the city, nor my compatriots. "It'll be fine," I thought. Around noon we landed in Winnipeg, a city of six thousand inhabitants. The sky was clear and the cold thirty degrees below zero. A few compatriots, members of the club, were waiting for me. We had lunch at the modest hotel of our compatriot Koren, and then we already had the first session about where the mass would be the next day, where I would sleep, and similar urgent matters. We contacted the pastor for the Czechs, where our people have visited the most so far and helped him. He allowed us to have Masses at nine, and we should have finished before ten. From there we went to the great parish of the Poles. The pastor kindly received us and gladly agreed to receive me indefinitely. "In this way, I will be able to show the gratitude I owed to my brothers in Warsaw. I was robbed and your comrades helped me with money to get home, "he said in front of everyone. "Well, it's going to be okay," I said to myself as I went to bed.

Sunday. There were about a hundred compatriots at the mass in the Czech church. I remember the first collection - forty-nine and a half dollars. As I was just counting those few banknotes and coins, the chaplain stepped into the room. He said rather humiliatingly, "Do you dare to build a church with such a collection?"

In the first days of February, we bought more than a hundred-year-old Protestant church, which had been closed for several years, with a bank loan for a fairly favorable price. Its interior was so damaged that at a rather tumultuous committee meeting we decided that it needed a complete overhaul. "Let everything fall down, let only the walls and the roof remain," was the conclusion. Despite the cold, we started working immediately. Most of the parishioners employed in construction were unemployed for two months in the winter and had time. Some did the demolishing and taking away, others did the carpentry. What would you say to the fact that three of our carpenters made twenty four-meter church pews, all three altars and a pulpit - all free of charge as their contribution to the church - during the months without work, and later in the evening after their "shift" in a hired German carpentry shop? Only the material and the rent for the space were paid to the owner.

In early March, as once St. Paul did, I went on my first missionary journey to the West. When I returned after three weeks and three days on Holy Wednesday and entered the church, the demolition was already completed. Mud underfoot, roof high above head. The real work has already begun. Everyone was coming, it was especially lively on Saturdays. Neighboring locals looked puzzled watching us when they also saw me with a tool in my hand. Our hotelier brought two cases of beer several times as a gift, for good mood. Women have proven themselves, too. Some painted benches and altars, others cleaned and helped men in any way. In three months, until the end of June, everything was done, both in the church and in the hall below it, and a modest apartment for me in the basement. They did their job really professionally and consciously, as each of them was already experienced in their profession. With the exception of the water supply and heating, we did everything, just about everything, ourselves and for free. No one expected payment. Thus we built the church, and at the same time formed a parish community, closely connected during the work for the community, which still exists and functions today. What else could I say about these wonderful months. Just two examples:

The now deceased doctor  Dr. Fr. Kozin looked with disbelief at our decision to become an independent parish. In June, out of curiosity, he came to see it. In his amazement, he grabbed a hammer and began to help himself in making the confessional. He stayed with us until late at night, then sat on the church doorstep and at the moonlight wrote a check for hundred dollars, which would be at least a thousand dollars today. I called his wife in the morning and wanted to tell her what her husband had done. Well, she just took my word for it. "France came home so happy that he almost shouted between the doors: 'Wife, our church is more beautiful than the Czech or Slovak,' and also told her about the gift.

Another example. The Vicar General of the Diocese and the Pastor of the Archdiocese donated for our church twenty two-and-a-half-centimeter-thick glued wooden boards which were leftover from the restoration of their church. None of the parishioners had a truck to transport these plywood sheets and money was tight.  So one braved himself and asked his Canadian neighbor for a favor. "The truck is free on Sundays and holidays," he replied kindly. We seized the opportunity and took the plywood sheets to our church on Victoria Day on May 23rd. A policeman stopped us in the middle of the road, thinking that we stole the plywood somewhere, because everything was closed there because of the holiday. I had a hard time telling him and convincing him it wasn’t a theft.

When I told the diocese that the renovation of the church would be completed by the end of June and asked for a blessing, they couldn’t believe. The Chancellor himself came to see, but still left in doubt.  On the specific timeline set, everything was finished, beautifully decorated. 

On the day of the solemn blessing of the church, the archbishop praised all the parishioners in his sermon, adding that "the Mother of God of Lourdes also showed her goodness in our church with a great miracle." I saw tears of joy and pride in many eyes. "We're on our own now," they said. I lost a lot of weight in those months ...

At the diocese, they were amazed at our success, but still in doubt if we would really succeed. Therefore, I was not appointed pastor, but temporarily only chaplain of the neighboring parish. Debt in the bank? Maybe ... We repaid it in five years.

We started the operation of our parish. We got to know each other and trusted each other. I visited the parishioners and soon got to know everything: where they live, what they do, what the family situation is like, who they are related to. I even knew their phone numbers by heart in many cases. With the school year, we introduced a two-grade Saturday school, founded the Society of Catholic Women, and joined the extremely strong Canadian Catholic Women’s League. We increased and improved the church choir, male octet and expected new settlers. Unfortunately, the exact opposite happened. Due to the long and extremely harsh winters, Slovenians began to go to warmer places: Vancouver, Toronto, Hamilton and the United States. We lost forty good families in three years.

In late autumn, I went on a circuit missionary journey again, which this time was already known and ready. So I did this twice a year, ten years in a row, until I got asthma. These were not vacations, but the difficult work of searching for and retrieving compatriots who were barely making ends meet  abroad. I happily remember my thirteen years of  what may have seemed as a lonely life, without a cook and a butcher. I was alone for everything, yet it was a worthwhile sacrifice to help others. Even today, after thirty years, they like to call me when they come to visit their homeland. I think the correct saying is, "Be good and love them, and they'll be good to you, too."

Jože Mejač CM

Slovenian Version

Po trinajstih letih misijonarjenja  na Ognjeni zemlji, v  Peruju in Argentini, so me predstojniki poslali v Kanado. Skrbel naj bi za petindvajset skupin naših rojakov, ki so se naselili v manjših mestih širne Kanade. Maloštevilne skupine naj bi obiskoval vsaj dvakrat letno, številnejše pa večkrat in po dogovoru. Ko sem v začetku oktobra 1962 priletel v Toronto,  so mi dali naziv »leteči misijonar«.

Okrog  božiča je glede mojega poslanstva prišlo do spremembe. Gospod Kopač je kot superior prejel iz Winnipega  prošnjo, »naj se  tudi tam ustanovi samostojna slovenska župnija. Skupina rojakov je že sedaj številna,  novi pa še vedno prihajajo in navdušenje za župnijo je splošno.« Konec meseca je bilo jasno: »Postal bom župnik župnije v nastajanju v Winnipegu in misijonar za vse rojake v petnajstih mestih v zahodnem delu Kanade od Port Arthuija do Vancouverja.

V soboto, 30. janurja, mi je g. Kopač pred odhodom stisnil v roko bankovec za sto kanadskih dolarjev in mi zaželel obilo Božjega blagoslova. Odhajal sem v neznano in negotovo. Mesta nisem pomal, rojakov tudi ne. »Bo že kako,« sem si mislil. Okrog poldne smo pristali v Winnipegu, mestu s šesto tisoč prebivalci. Nebo je bilo jasno, mraza pa trideset stopinj pod ničlo.  Nekaj rojakov, odbornikov kluba, me je pričakalo. V skromnem hotelu rojaka Korena smo kosili, potem pa že imeli prvo sejo o tem, kje bo naslednji dan maša, kje bom spal in podobne nujne zadeve. Oglasili smo se pri župniku za Čehe, kamor so naši doslej največ zahajali in mu pomagali. Dovolil nam je mašo ob devetih, končati pa bi morali pred deseto.

Od tam smo šli v veliko żupnijo Poljakov. Żupnik nas je prijazno sprejel in rad pristal na to, da me sprejme za nedoločen čas. »Tako bom lahko pokazal hvależnost, ki jo dolgujem vašim sobratom v Waršavi. Okraden sem bil in vaši sobrațje so mi pomagali z denarjem, da sem prišel domov,« je vpričo vseh povedal. »No, bo že kako š1o,« sem si rekel, ko sem se odpravljal spat.

Nedelja. Pri maši v češki cerkvi je bilo okrog sto rojakov. V spominu mi je ostala prva nabirka - devetinštirideset dolarjev in pol. Ko sem ravno prešteval tistíh nekaj bankovcev in kovance, je stopil v sobo kaplan. Pomilovalno je rekel: »S takšno nabirko si upaš graditi cerkev?«

V prvih dneh februarja smo za dokaj ugodno ceno z bančnim posojilom kupili več kot sto let staro in že nekaj let zaprto protestantsko cerkev. Njena notranjost je bila tako poškodovana, da smo na precej burni seji odbora sklenili, da jo je treba docela prenoviti. »Naj se podre vse, ostanejo naj le zidovi in streha,« je bil sklep. Z delom smo kljub mrazu pričeli takoj. Večina faranov, ki so bili zaposleni v gradbeništvu, je bila pozimi dva meseca brezposelna in so imeli čas. Nekateri so podirali in odvażalí, drugi so se že lotili mizarskih del. Kaj bi rekli k temu, da so trije naši mizarji v mesecih brez dela, kasneje pa ob večernih urah po svojem »šihtu« v najetem nemškem mizarskem podjetju naredili štiriindvajset štirimetrskih cerkvenih klopi, vse tri oltarje in ambon - vse brezplačno kot svoj prispevek cerkvi? Samo material in najemnìno za prostor smo lastniku plačali.  

Sam sem v začetku marca, kakor nekoč sv. Pavel, odšel na prvo misijonsko potovanje na zahod. Ko sem se po treh tednih in treh dneh na veliko sredo vrnil in stopil v cerkev, je bilo rušenje že končano. Pod nogami blato, visoko nad glavo streha. Začelo se je pravo de1o.Vsi so príhajali, ob sobotah je bilo še posebej živahno. Sosedje domačini so začudeno gledali, ko so tudi mene videli z orodjem v roki. Naš hotelir je večkrat kot dar pripeljal po dva zaboja piva, za dobro voljo. Tudi ženske so se izkazale. Nekatere so barvale klopi in oltaije, druge so čistile in kakorkoli pomagale moškim. V treh mesecih, do konca junija, je bilo narejeno vse, tako v cerkvi kakor tudi v dvorani pod njo, pa še skromno stanovanje zame v kleti. Svoje delo so opravljali zares strokovno in zavedno, saj je bil vsak izmed njih že izkušen v svoji stroki.  Z izjemo napeljave vode in ogrevanja smo vse, prav vse, naredili sami in zastonj. Nihče ni pričakoval plačila. Tako smo gradili cerkev, obenem pa oblikovali župnijsko skupnost, tesno povezano med delom za skupnost, ki še danes obstaja in deluje. Kaj vse bi vedel povedati o teh čudovitih mesecih. Samo dva primera:

Sedaj že pokojni zdravnik dr. Fr. Kozin je v začetku z nezaupanjem gledal na našo odločitev o samostojni župniji. V juniju pa je iz radovednosti prišel na ogled. Prevzelo ga je, pograbil je kladivo in začel sam pomagati pri izdelavi spovednice. Do trde noči je ostal z nami, potem pa sedel na cerkveni prag in ob luninem svitu napisal ček za sto dolarjev, kar bi bilo danes vsaj tisoč dolarjev. Zjutraj sem telefoniral njegovi ženi in hotel povedati, kaj je mož storil. Pa mi je kar vzela besedo. »France je prišel tako vesel domov, da je že med vrati skoraj zavpil: »Žena, naša cerkev je lepša kakor češka ali slovaška,« in ji tudi povedal o daru.

Drugi primer. Generalni vikar škofije in župnik velike župnije mi je za našo cerkev podaril petindvajset dva centimetra in pol debelih lepljenih lesenih plošč, ki so njemu ostale pri obnovi cerkve. Nobeden od faranov ni imel tovomjaka za prevoz  teh plošč.V stiski smo bili za denar. Tako se je eden ojunačil in prosil svojega kanadskega soseda za uslugo. »Tovornjak je prost ob nedeljah in praznikih,« mu je dobrohotno odgovoril. Zgrabili smo priložnost in na državni praznik Victoria Day 23. maja peljali plošče k naši cerkvi. Sredi poti nas je ustavi policaj, misleč, da smo jih kje ukradli, saj je zaradi praznika tam bilo vse zaprto. Le s težavo sem mu dopovedal in ga prepričal, da ne gre za tatvino. 

Ko sem na škofiji povedal, da bo prenova cerkve do konca junija gotova in zaprosil za blagoslovitev, kar niso mogli vedeti. Sam kancler je prišel si ogledoval, a še vseeno v dvomu odhajal. Na določeni dan je bilo vse dokončano, lepo okrašeno. Celo dva mlaja sta stala s primernim napisom. 

Na dan slovesne blagoslovitve cerkve je nadškof v pridigi pohvalil vse farane, pa še dodal, »da je Lurška Mati Božja tudi v naši cerkvi pokazala z nemajhnim čudežem svojo dobroto.« Sam sem pa v marsikaterih očeh videl solze veselja in ponosa. »Sedaj smo na svojem,« so govorili. Sam sem v tistih mesecih precej shujšal... 

Na škofiji so bili začudeni nad našim uspehom, a še vedno v dvomu, če bomo res uspeli. Zato me niso imenovali za župnika, ampak začasno le za kaplana sosednje župnije. Dolg v banki? Morda...V petih letih smo ga odplačali.

Začeli smo z rednim delom. Poznali smo se in si zaupali. Obiskoval sem jih in v kratkem spoznal prav vse: kje živijo, kaj delajo, kakšne so družinske razmere, s kom so v sorodu. Celo njihove telefonske številke sem v mnogih primerih znal na pamet. S šolskim letom smo uvedli dvorazredno sobotno šolo, ustanovili Društvo katoliških žena in se vključili v izredno močno kanadsko Katoliško žensko ligo. Povečali in izboljšali smo cerkveni pevski zbor, moški oktet ter pričakovali nove naseljence. Žal se je zgodilo ravno nasprotno. Zaradi dolge in izredno trde zime so Slovenci začeli odhajati v bolj tople kraje: Vancouver, Toronto, Hamilton in v Združene države. V treh letih smo izgubili štirideset dobrih družin.

Pozno jeseni sem spet šel na krožno misijonsko pot, ki paje bila tokrat že poznana in pripravljena. Tako je bilo potem vsako leto po dvakrat, deset let po vrsti, dokler nisem zbolel za astmo. To niso bili izleti, ampak naporno delo iskanja in pridobivanje rojakov, ki so se utapljali v tujini. Z veseljem se spominjam svojih trinajstih let na videz samotnega življenja, celo brez kuharice in mežnarja. Za vse sem bil sam, pa vendar je bilo precej dejavnosti za blagor drugih. Še danes, po tridesetih letih, se radi oglasijo pri meni, ko prihajajo na obisk v domovino. Mislim, da je pravilen rek: "Bodi dober in rad jih imej, pa bodo tudi oni dobri do tebe."

Jože Mejač, CM

November 2021