Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish – Lac la Biche (Craigend)

Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Lac la Biche (Craigend) grew out of several mission communities that were served by Basilian missionaries in the 1910s and 1930s. In the Lake Belleview and Lake Eliza missions, Fr. Basil Ladyka and Fr. Naucratius Kryzanowsky established small chapels and cemeteries around 1917–1919, and later Fr. Ambrose Wynnyk began visiting in 1935 to serve families in homes and at mission sites. The Lake Eliza mission began with Ukrainian settlers arriving in 1912, and the first Divine Liturgy there was celebrated in the home of Mykola Markovskyi on June 18, 1917.

The community also faced division in the late 1910s when communist influence entered from the Drumheller district, leading some families away from the church while others preserved their faith. In Lake Belleview, Mr Berezhansky donated 2 acres for the church in 1938, and by 1940, religion classes were being held for 54 children during the summer. The Lake Geneva mission, 16 km from Mannville, served about 30 Ukrainian families, held its first service in 1937 at Bloomington School, and purchased 3 acres for a church and cemetery in 1940.