Mrs. Marika Bryniawska Czolij

The daughter of Rev. Canon Wasyl Bryniawsky and Presbytera Jaroslawa (nee Hawryluk), Marika Theresa Bryniawska Czolij was born on 4 September 1937, in the hamlet of Humnyska, near Terebovla (Ternopil Region) in Ukraine. Marika had two brothers – Zenon (Marika) and George (Marian). The Bryniawsky family, like others, fled from the Bolshevik invasion during World War II. The family went to Austria, and then to France in the city of Lille. In 1949, they moved to Montreal, Canada. Here Marika studied at St. Joseph's Teachers College, where she received a Teacher's Diploma and taught at St. Columban School.

In 1957, she married Yaroslaw Czolij, who after 28 years of work as an engineer, in 1984 accepted the position of General Manager of the Caisse populaire Desjardins Ukrainienne de Montréal. They raised two sons: Eugene, a lawyer, married to Anna Tucka, and Fr Bohdan, pastor of the Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Holy Protection in Toronto, married to Tanya Dyczok. Has 9 grandchildren: Melania (Frédéric), Ostap, Stephane, Olenka (Fr Alexander), Ilia, Sophie (Andriy), Ksenia (Liam), Ivan and Eliseus. She also has 7 great-grandchildren: Osanna, Zachary, Julia, Mariana, Theodore, Meletiy and Anastasia.

At the McGill University Conservatory of Music, she studied piano with Professor Luba Zuk. At the Faculty of Music of the Université de Montréal she specialized in composition and conducting. Marika studied solo singing with the famous maestro Dina Maria Naricci from Milan, Italy. She performed mezzo-soprano roles in well-known Italian and German operas at the Marie-Thérèse Paquin Opera Company and at the McGill Opera Workshop. She was a member of the Symphony choir, and then a soloist of the Opéra de Montréal at Place des Arts. She performed as a soloist at Ukraiian, Italian, Spanish and Canadian events and concerts on stage and on television programs in Canada and the United States. At Ukrainian events, she sang works of Ukrainian composers and her own compositions. Her composition “Bondarivna” was very popular.

In 1971, she was responsible for the production of Kyrylo Stetsenko's opera “Iphigenia in Tauris”, where she taught two choirs of girls singing and choreography, while she performed the main role of Iphigenia. In 1972, at the Jubilee celebrations of His Beatitude Josyf Slipyj in Rome, Italy, she sang her composition “Blessed is the man”. She composed music of the Divine Liturgy, the Marriage Ceremony, a Memorial Service and a whole collection of songs for mixed, women's and children's choirs and solo singing, as well as various play scripts for school events.

For over 30 years, she conducted a group of singers who sang at Ukrainian weddings in the city of Montreal. She was the conductor of three church choirs, two organizational choirs (SUM and Prosvita), a student choir and a children's choir. For 42 years, she taught at the Ukrainian School of Montreal Inc. She was responsible for all school events (e.g. performances for St. Nicholas and Shevchenko concerts). Marika worked as a volunteer in the Ukrainian Youth Association SUM for more than 40 years both at summer camps and in the city as a counselor, head counselor, instructor of singing, poetry and various performances of the youth. She was awarded the 3rd Degree Counselor and the 3rd Degree for her work in the field of culture by the National Board of the Ukrainian Youth Association SUM in Canada.

In 1988, she organized a prayer group that prayed the rosary every morning at the Ukrainian Catholic Parish of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary for more than 20 years. For many years, she was present daily at the Divine Liturgy, served as a cantor and received Holy Communion.

Marika Theresa Bryniawska Czolij passed away on 15 December 2023 in Montreal, Canada.

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