Our Faith
We are Catholics of the Byzantine Rite, one of the eastern rites of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church of the Nicene Creed and we are under the jurisdiction of the Pope of Rome.
OUR LITURGICAL TRADITIONS
Our Divine Liturgy is derived from Jesus Christ through St. James the first Bishop of Jerusalem.
The liturgy was later shortened by St. Basil the Great and St. John Chrysostom, the Patriarch of Constanople.
The Divine Liturgy is substantially unchanged since the fourth century.
We have had no modern liturgical innovations.
OUR CULTURAL TRADITIONS
We are part of the great and glorious Slavic race of people who have occupied Eastern and Central Europe since antiquity. Slavs are the largest ethnic group in Europe and they have intermarried with many other peoples.
The word "Slav" means "glory" and we certainly do have a glorious history! The Slavic people formed the eastern wall of defense for all of Europe. Wave after wave of barbarian invaders came from the east and it was the Slavs that they attacked.
As late as 1683, the Muslims attempted to capture Vienna and were repulsed by Slavic cavalry and foot soldiers, who formed the core of the defenders.
It was Pope John Paul II, a Slav, who with President Ronald Reagan brought about the dissolution of the Soviet empire in 1991.
Because the Slavs occupied central Europe, they were almost equally divided between the centers of power in the old Roman Empire. This political division into Latin and Byzantine Slavs persists to this day. Sts. Cyrill and Methodius converted the Slavs to Christianity and also originated the cyrillic alphabet. Many of the oldest documents in the Latin Slav countries were written in cyrillic, testifying to the original unity of all Slavic peoples.
OUR LITURGICAL TRADITIONS
Our Divine Liturgy is derived from Jesus Christ through St. James the first Bishop of Jerusalem.
The liturgy was later shortened by St. Basil the Great and St. John Chrysostom, the Patriarch of Constanople.
The Divine Liturgy is substantially unchanged since the fourth century.
We have had no modern liturgical innovations.
OUR CULTURAL TRADITIONS
We are part of the great and glorious Slavic race of people who have occupied Eastern and Central Europe since antiquity. Slavs are the largest ethnic group in Europe and they have intermarried with many other peoples.
The word "Slav" means "glory" and we certainly do have a glorious history! The Slavic people formed the eastern wall of defense for all of Europe. Wave after wave of barbarian invaders came from the east and it was the Slavs that they attacked.
As late as 1683, the Muslims attempted to capture Vienna and were repulsed by Slavic cavalry and foot soldiers, who formed the core of the defenders.
It was Pope John Paul II, a Slav, who with President Ronald Reagan brought about the dissolution of the Soviet empire in 1991.
Because the Slavs occupied central Europe, they were almost equally divided between the centers of power in the old Roman Empire. This political division into Latin and Byzantine Slavs persists to this day. Sts. Cyrill and Methodius converted the Slavs to Christianity and also originated the cyrillic alphabet. Many of the oldest documents in the Latin Slav countries were written in cyrillic, testifying to the original unity of all Slavic peoples.