On Sunday, 28th May 2023, the first Russian Orthodox church in Australia celebrated its 100th anniversary with a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy and concert. Following the Divine Liturgy, a unique bas-relief icon depicting St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and Tsar-Martyr Nicholas II was installed and consecrated in the courtyard of St. Nicholas Cathedral in Brisbane.

The Russian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Kangaroo Point – a suburb of Brisbane – Queensland was founded in 1923 by Protopresbyter Alexander Shabashev (1881-1956). It was here that he purchased a plot with a house, and with the support of local Anglican clergymen, established a parish dedicated to St Nicholas of Myra, making it he first Russian Orthodox church in Australia.

In 1933, parishioners began raising funds for the construction of a new, larger church building. In 1935, the construction of the cathedral began on the site of the former church, which was completed in 1936. The old building was moved and later housed a library and a school. Divine services in the cathedral are performed in Church Slavonic and English.

At the time of the founding of the church, the parishioners wanted to build a memorial church in the name of the murdered Tsar Nicholas II, but at that time he had not yet been canonized. The church was consecrated in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker – the patron saint of the Tsar. When the last Russian Tsar was glorified as a saint by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) in 1981, the parish considered how to emphasize his connection with Australia’s Russian Orthodox community.

In 2016, St. Petersburg iconographers – at the request of parishioners – commissioned the Moscow medal artist Gennady Provotorov, to create a bronze bas-relief icon depicting St. Nicholas of Myra and Tsar-Martyr Nicholas II, holding the St. Nicholas Cathedral in their hands.

© Paul Gilbert. 7 June 2023