Miss Ella Dabovich, daughter of Mrs. L. Dabovich, and Theodore Pashkovsky were married last evening at the Russian Eastern Orthodox Church, 11715 Powell Street, the Rev. Sebastian Dabovich, uncle of the bride, officiating.
The ceremony was extremely picturesque, the groom’s immediate connection with the church making it an occasion of more than usual solemnity. Mr. Pashkovsky is a reader at the church, and now that he has taken unto himself a wife will soon be ordained a priest, for according to the laws of the Eastern church no unmarried man may be invested with ministerial functions.1 At the expressed wish of the Bishop the ceremony was conducted with the utmost simplicity. As the church is undergoing repairs, the ceremony was celebrated in the Episcopal parlors. There were no floral decorations, but the altar was bright with the light of countless wax tapers. The ceremony was extremely impressive. Three times the young couple drank of the blessed wine, three times did they march around the altar and thrice exchange rings while the groomsmen held the golden crowns over their respective heads.
The bride was attended by Miss Julia Metropolsky, who acted as maid of honor, and Miss Irene Radovich, who officiated as bridesmaid. Little Lydia Dabovich preceded the bridal procession, holding aloft the Holy Picture.
George A. Dabovich, brother of the bride, and Paul Grebechevsky officiated as groomsmen, and Fabian Hildebrandt and Achine Zubovsky acted as ushers.
The bride wore a dainty gown of white organdie trimmed with white satin ribbons and Valenciennes lace. Her veil was fastened with a diamond sunburst, the gift of the Bishop.
Miss Metropolsky and little Miss Dabovich were attired in dainty white gowns of organdie over white silk. Miss Irene Radovich wore a modish Nile green silk gown. All the attendants carried bouquets of bride roses.
After the ceremony the invited guests, thirty in number, repaired to future home of the newly wedded pair, 1926 Leavenworth Street, where the bridal supper was served.2
This is a digital edition of Beacon from the Bay: The Collected Works of Saint Sebastian Dabovich of Jackson and San Francisco, a several-month-long project to catalogue the out-of-print works of Saint Sebastian Dabovich, the first American-born Orthodox priest.
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Publisher’s Note: While it is most common for an Orthodox priest to be a married man, there is no law preventing ordination of an unmarried man, as seen by the countless unmarried priest-monks, such as Saint Sebastian himself. As the writer of this article was not Orthodox, he misunderstood common Orthodox practice.
Publisher’s Note: This article was originally published in The San Francisco Call, Tuesday, November 9, 1897, pp. 9.