Alexander Ivanovitch Chomicz

Alexander Ivanovitch Chomicz (1909-2001)

Alexander may be spelt Aleksander, Aleksandr, Alexandr, Alexandre.

Ivanovitch may be spelt Ivanovich, Iwanowych.

Chomicz may be spelt Chomich, Khomich, Khomitch, Homich.

— Edited from an article by Michael Sergeievitch Woinowsky-Krieger of Montréal, Québec, published in the “Canadian Orthodox Messenger” (Spring, 2002).

Early life of Alexander Ivanovitch Chomicz

Alexander Ivanovitch Chomicz was born on 14 September, 1909. At this writing, it is not known precisely where Alexander Ivanovitch Chomicz was born, and the names of his parents are also not known.

Nevertheless, by the nature of his life, and the time of his birth, it seems quite likely that Alexander Ivanovitch was born and raised not very far from the Pochaiv Lavra in the Volyn (Volhynia) region of the Russian Empire. It is also very probable that he had personal experience of the life and worship at the lavra. After World War 1 (1914-1918) and the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, this region passed first to the temporarily independent Ukraine, and then to Poland. During World War II (1939-1945), this region was controlled by the Nazi German armed forces, and at the end of the war, the territory was absorbed by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

Exile, 1940s

During World War II, and especially towards the end of it, many who were Ukrainian and Russian were either encouraged to move or forced to move into Germany itself. There they became forced-labourers for the Nazi German government.

It is very likely that Alexander Ivanovitch endured this hardship with many thousands of others. It was commonplace, then, that such displaced persons became stateless, and if they found themselves in the “right place at the right time”, they could become eligible for re-settlement somewhere else in the world. Many moved to Canada. Baron Cecil von Hahn in Canada was a facilitator or the immigration of many such people.

Emigration to Canada, 1950s ; life in Montréal

It was during this period of time (in the late 1940s and the 1950s) that Mr. Alexander I Chomicz arrived in Montréal, Québec, and that he found the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul. He was mentioned by Mrs. Olga Lawes Melikoff in her history of that parish as having been amongst the earlier arrivals in the 1950s. In her writing, she spelt his name “Homich” (which itself is expressive of the great variety of spellings in English of non-English names). The spelling also gives a clear indication about how to pronounce the surname in both Russian and English. In French, the result would be somewhat different.

There is evidence that when Alexander Chomicz arrived in Montréal, at least some of the time, he was working as a cook.

Service in Saints Peter and Paul’s Cathedral : more than 40 years of training readers

As Michael S Woinowsky-Krieger wrote, Alexander Ivanovitch Chomicz was one of those parishioners whom one could easily not know anything about. “He was an unnoticeable, discrete and humble person, and his duties and responsibilities in the parish did not draw any attention (nor did he require any). But, throughout more than four decades, he served the parish, and served it well, as a reader – “psalomshtchik” as it is known in Russian – as singer, and as teacher”. He did his work with unflagging dedication and attention.

Saints Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Cathedral

Already in Ukraine and in Germany, where he lived during the 1940s and 1950s, Mr Chomicz had been active on the “kliros” (the place for the choir near the iconostas), where he put his wonderful talents to work by teaching choir music and reading in the Old Church Slavonic language.

When he arrived in Montréal in the late 1950s, Alexander Ivanovitch became a “psalomshtchik” (psalm-reader or “reader”) at Saints Peter and Paul’s Cathedral, where he assisted the choir director (“regent”) Alexander A Kaminski, and he substituted for him in his absence.

Here, as in Europe, Alexander Ivanovitch continued to teach singing and reading. It is impossible to say exactly how many persons studied with him over the years. Michael Woinowsky-Krieger recalled that “once, as we were sitting in his kitchen and talking over a cup of tea, he showed me his notebook where he wrote the name and date of birth of each of his students. I did not begin counting, so extensive was the list. He continuously looked for, and found, new students. He was very attentive to each one of them, and he put considerable effort into teaching them to sing and to read. He knew and understood that there can never be too many singers and readers – the Church always needs them. This was the purpose for his life-long efforts : to serve the Church”.

Michael Sergeievitch added :

Those who attended Church services on Sundays saw what I saw during the 1970s and 1980s,
when I would come from Quebec City to services in Montreal, along with my parents three
or four times a year. The choir singers gathered in the choir-loft, with Mr. Kaminski at his post ;
and there, on the side, stood an elderly gentleman in dark glasses, sometimes leaning on his
cane. Upon the exclamation, ‘Blessed is our God’, Mr. Chomicz would read the Third Hour,
and that is pretty much all that was heard from him for the rest of the service, since the
choir took over for the remainder.

On the Feast of Pascha, when in the first years I would serve in the Altar, or in the later
years when I would join the choir with my brother and try to sing, Mr. Chomicz would
give me a chocolate egg as a present. I thanked him, although I did not know nor
understand who he was at that time.

Fifteen to twenty years later, after finishing my master degree studies in Quebec City,
I moved to Montreal for work and I began attending church services on a regular basis.
There, I saw an entirely different picture, a more complete picture, one which was
contemplated by those who attended church on weekdays and Saturday evenings.

Archbishop Sylvester (Haruns), our long-time rector who also headed our diocese
for nearly thirty years, was serving in the Altar, joined by the priests. On the 'kliros'
stood Alexander Ivanovitch Chomicz, supervising the entire reading and choir singing
duties. Sometimes there were six of us but, more often than not, a quartet gathered
to sing under his direction. He handed out his music books (they were difficult to read,
as they were written in his later years, when he was already tiring), and we sang and
read in turns. He often had to use a magnifying glass as his sight faded, but he always
managed to find the right page in the books.

Alexander Ivanovitch was a very gentle and pleasant person. He loved to joke, to tell
stories, to philosophise, and he was very attentive to his conversant. You simply liked
being around him, somewhat like around your grandfather, and it was impossible to
turn him down when, on occasion, he would ask a favour. He loved to invite you over
to his place, always offering you something — a cup of tea with cake, or fried cabbage,
or something else. It was pleasant to sit down with him, and it was difficult to get away.
Of course, Mr. Chomicz had a very special character, and each person would look at him in
his or her own way. Although he walked bent over and leaning on his cane he would
occasionally stop, stand straight and, waving his hand, energetically voice his opinion
on an issue which stirred him inside. He was a simple man, yet he had his flashes of
wisdom. Some students would consistently arrive late at the service ; he would tell
them : ‘I have a good trick for you so you arrive on time : leave home earlier !’ To those
who arrive late in Spring because they ‘forgot to change their watches’, he answered :
‘Why don’t you arrive an hour early in Fall when the clocks go back one hour ?’
Mr.Chomicz was also stubborn ; but who amongst us is not ? He was a real Christian,
open and sincere. He would never say something while thinking the opposite.
If we had a run-in during the service, all was forgotten by the time we sang the
last ‘Amen’.

It happened on occasion that I sang an entire service alone with him. In a certain way,
these are the services I cherish the most. Sometimes he would lead ; at other times I
would ; and, without a word or direction, we sang the service, with no interruption of
hiccup, in a relaxing and prayerful way.

No matter what day or what service, no matter what the weather or transportation conditions
were (strong winds, scorching heat, freezing rain, snow drifts, no bus service), Alexander
Ivanovitch was always on time. When I arrived to Church straight from work, my first
glance was to the kliros, and there he always stood, ready.

Vladyka Sylvester had great respect for Mr. Chomicz, and he was grateful for his efforts.
It was obvious to see, and clearly, the feeling was mutual. Although one was a bishop
and the other a layman, both understood very well each other’s role and duty and,
together, they carried out their duties and prayed together with and for the parish.
During the course of five years when I observed this relationship, I recall only a single
instance where Vladyka pointed out a mistake, and yet it was well known how Vladyka
strictly followed the ‘oustav’ [‘typikon’]. At the annual parish
meetings, when Vladyka Sylvester recalled the multitude of services held during the past
year (the number exceeded two hundred), he always pointed out how Alexander Ivanovitch
Chomicz had not missed a single service.

Mr. Chomicz lived a frugal life, but he knew how to take care of himself. He knew even better
how to take care of others, especially those who worked on the 'kliros' or who served in the
Altar. A week before Great Lent, he would buy boxes of chocolate and wine, and he would
especially look for herring. He would prepare it 'à la russe' and, on the Sunday before
Great Lent started, he would offer some to the clergy, to choir members and to other parishioners.

I will never forget the time when I visited him in the hospital last year, where he was recovering
from pneumonia, and it moved me to tears. As I entered his room and saw him lying in bed,
weak and with the oxygen tube in his nose, I asked him how he was, and his first words were :
‘Misha, I prepared some chocolate boxes. Please hand them out’. This is how he was, not a single
complaint about his health, about his solitude, only concern for others. On his 90th birthday,
he had served dinner to the entire parish in the church hall. He was already making plans
for his 95th birthday.

In his last years, his health continued to decline, and it became increasingly difficult for him to move around, because his back and knees were ailing. He had been very much hoping that his relatives could immigrate to Canada and take care of him ; and for this reason, he steadfastly refused to move to a senior citizens’ home. Sadly, he did not outlast the immigration process.

Repose, 2001

On Tuesday, 11 December, 2001, Alexander Ivanovitch Chomicz fell asleep in the Lord. He was 92 years old.

On Sunday, 16 December, 2001, at 6:00 p.m., a Panikhida (memorial service) was offered.

On Monday, 17 December, 2001, following the Divine Liturgy for the departed at 9:00 a.m., the Funeral Service for the Burial of a Lay-person (“otpivanie”) was held for Alexander Ivanovitch Chomicz at Saints Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Sobor in Montréal, Québec.

After the funeral obsequies, his body was transported to the Saint Seraphim Russian Orthodox Cemetery in Rawdon, Québec, and his body was interred in that cemetery. The arrangements for the funeral services were entrusted to Blythe Bernier Funeral Home.

Reflections

With the repose of Alexander I Chomicz, the parish of Saints Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Montréal, Québec, suffered a great loss. This was not only because of the immense contribution that he had made to parish life amongst the singers and readers, but also because of the significance of his personal example of how to live as an Orthodox Christian.

His thoroughly Orthodox Christian example of how to live our lives was passed on simply by his way of life, much more than by any words. He had a profound and positive effect on many others because he simply lived the life of one who loves Christ. He, who was constantly and lovingly attending services and serving as a reader, selflessly and carefully taught a new generation of readers how to read in Slavonic and how to understand the order of services. One may say that he lived in the manner of the exhortation of Saint Herman of Alaska : “From this day, from this hour, from this minute, let us love God above all else and do His Holy will”.

It was sad to see how few people were able to gather and pay their last respects to a person who gave his entire life to the Church and who served the parish so well and with such dedication for such a long period of time. There is some consolation, however, that the Church prescribes "panikhidas" (memorial services) on the ninth and fortieth days of repose. By God’s Grace, these days, in Alexander Ivanovitch Chomicz’s case, coincided with two well-celebrated Church Feasts where many faithful gathered : Saint Nicholas (19 December, O.S.), and the Great Feast of Theophany.

Let us all be particularly fervent in our prayers to God that He give rest to the soul of his newly-departed servant Alexander and make his memory to be eternal !

Reference

‘Our elders in the faith - Memory Eternal - Alexander Ivanovitch Chomicz 14 September 1909-11 December 2001’ in “Canadian Orthodox Messenger” (Spring, 2002), pp. 7-8.

Additional information :

Melikoff, Olga Lawes, “Parish Life” (2007)

Saints Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Sobor, Montreal, Quebec

OCA listing and history of Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Sobor

Archdiocese of Canada web-site

Orthodoxwiki article about the Archdiocese of Canada

Orthodox Church in America web-site

Orthodoxwiki article about The Orthodox Church in America

Orthodoxwiki article about the minor order of being a "Reader"

Archbishop Nikon (de Grève)

Archbishop Sylvester (Haruns)

Metropolitan Leonty (Turkevich)