Catholic liturgy, a carved raven and the Indian Residential School Memorial Monument provide lots to ponder at the Canadian Museum of History

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GATINEAU, Que. — It’s night at the museum. What really happens?

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At the Canadian Museum of History (CMH), across the Ottawa River from Parliament Hill, what you would expect — occasional lectures, meetings, dinners. Wedding receptions can be held. And annually — one holy night — the Christian liturgy sings out in the winter darkness.

The magnificent Douglas Cardinal-designed museum opened in 1989, but work on the major exhibitions continued afterward, including the heart of the museum, the Canadian History Hall. This year marks the thirtieth anniversary of the installation of the hall’s largest artifact, St. Onuphrius church. A whole church.

The size of a one-room schoolhouse, it was built near Smoky Lake, northeast of Edmonton, by Ukrainian Catholic immigrants between 1915 and 1928. The CMH dismantled it, transported it to Ottawa, and rebuilt it. The Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canada insisted that it remain a church, not become a literal museum piece. Once a year then, on Jan. 6, local Ukrainian Catholics celebrate the divine liturgy at St. Onuphrius in the CMH. O holy night at the museum!

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