ETERNAL MEMORY! VIČNAJA PAMJAT’! ALL SOULS SATURDAY “The Holy Fathers were convinced that the commemoration of the departed by alms and sacrifices (Divine Liturgies) brings great comfort and benefit to them.” (SYNAXARION FOR MEAT-FARE SATURDAY) O Church, equally observed in … Continue reading

Back to school
Glory to Jesus Christ!
On Oct. 11, Father Vasyl Symyon celebrated the Divine Liturgy at Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio for the faculty, staff, and students.
I was blessed to have partaken in my campus’ first Divine Liturgy in years.
My name is Chad Durante, a current student here at Franciscan University of Steubenville and vice president of Franciscan University of Steubenville’s Byzantine Club, which has 20 members.
The club and its members have been spreading awareness of the East on campus since it was formed in 2015, long before I entered college.
In part of sharing the beauty of the East was the desire to bring Divine Liturgy to campus.
Thankfully, after a failed attempt last semester due to the pandemic, the club was able to bring the cornerstone of Byzantine Catholicism to our campus. Franciscan University is a truly Catholic institution filled with students desiring to discover the true universality of the Church.
Many of my close friends love to discover different forms of the Mass and even different rites within the Church like the Byzantine Rite.
This led to an amazing turnout of over 200 students and faculty attending the Divine Liturgy. Continue reading

A Vatican Christmas
VATICAN CITY — Although the Vatican knows Christmas may be very different this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it already has chosen its stamps and the Nativity scene and tree that will stand in St. Peter’s Square.
The larger-than-life-sized ceramic figures in the Nativity scene will come from a high school in Castelli, a town in the ceramic-producing region of Teramo, northeast of Rome, the Vatican announced Oct. 30.
The F.A. Grue Institute, a high school focused on art, will send only a handful of the 54 sculptures that students and teachers crafted for the scene between 1965 and 1975, the Vatican said. In addition to the Holy Family, an angel and the three kings, there will be a bagpipe player, a panpipe player, a shepherdess and a little girl carrying a doll.
The scene will be displayed next to a towering spruce tree from Slovenia.
The tree, which is almost 92 feet tall, will come from an area outside the town of Kocevje, the Vatican said.
“This year, more than ever, the staging of the traditional space dedicated to Christmas in St. Peter’s Square is meant to be a sign of hope and trust for the whole world,” the Vatican statement said. “It expresses the certainty that Jesus comes among his people to save and console them.”
The Nativity scene will be unveiled, and the tree will be lighted Dec. 11, the Vatican said.
The Vatican also revealed the design for its 2020 Christmas stamps, which celebrate the birth of Jesus Continue reading

CHRISTMAS GREETINGS 2020
Christ is Born! Glorify Him!
Dear People,
We are called to celebrate the Birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ during
2020, the year of the worldwide pandemic of the Covid 19 virus. God has given us his Child born in the manger as the greatest gift of all time. It is through the gift of his son that we are given strength and hope to survive the losses and overcome all evil and darkness of the past year.
During the past year, we have become painfully aware of the most important parts of life that we often take for granted. The 1946 “It’s a Wonderful Life” Christmas classic movie with Jimmy Stewart captures the way he was made aware of the importance of his life, something he took for granted. It was filmed when Jimmy Stewart and the world were returning to normal after the dark time of the Second World War. Besides being on television, it is showing in theaters again.
Continue reading

Nativity Scene a Reminder of Hope amid Suffering, Pope says
VATICAN CITY — The image of baby Jesus nestled in the manger is a much-needed reminder during the pandemic that God gives the world the gift of hope in troubled times, Pope Francis said.
Meeting with delegations from Castelli in Italy’s Abruzzo region and from Kocevje, Slovenia — responsible, respectively, for the Nativity scene and Christmas tree in St. Peter’s Square — the pope said that Christmas “reminds us that Jesus is our peace, our joy, our strength, our comfort.”
“But, to receive these gifts of grace, we need to feel small, poor and humble like the characters of the Nativity scene. Even in this Christmas, amid the suffering of the pandemic, Jesus — small and defenseless — is the ‘sign’ that God gives to the world,” he said Dec. 11. Continue reading
Prayer, crying out to God is only source of salvation, pope says
VATICAN CITY — The purpose of crying out to the Lord in prayer is not to get used to suffering, but to remember that God, and not humankind, is the only source of salvation and consolation, Pope Francis said. Continue reading
“Eucharist” means “thanksgiving”
Here we are ready to celebrate Thanksgiving, one of the original and early religious feasts that came through our founders of this country who were from the Reform Movement and were very grateful for all that they received and experienced when they moved to this country.
It has continued to be a religious feast of sorts, at least a reminder, always, to be thankful to our Higher Power, to our God, who has provided so much for us in this blessed land. Continue reading
Changing the subject
You may have noticed a slight change on the cover of The ByzantineCatholic World
from previous months.
On the masthead — now inset on the letter “O” in “World” — is the onion dome of the Byzantine Catholic Seminary of SS. Cyril and Methodius. After transferring files to a new computer in the office, I found the former masthead to be a bit “fuzzy” so Archbishop William Skurla and I decided to design a new one. It’s one small change in a year of change. Continue reading
Getting close to Heaven
Parishioner Dave Kormanik arranged for the roofing contractor to take Father Ivan Rusyn up in a crane — 127 feet high — Nov. 10 to bless the domes, crosses, and roof of St. Mary in Windber, Pa. Continue reading
The power of being called a child of God
I want to begin with a memory I have from my teenage years. Our family had a little ice cream store in the front part of our house and one day, a teenage boy and myself, — both around 15 or 16 years old — were in the store. Continue reading
A thankful heart
Perhaps there is no better-known character in prose fiction than Ebenezer Scrooge of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” Continue reading
ETERNAL MEMORY – Father Julian M. Gnall, Captain USN Retired
Father Julian Michael Gnall, priest of the Eparchy of Phoenix and retired chaplain of the United States Navy, fell asleep in the Lord on Nov. 7 in San Diego, Calif. Continue reading
Christmas Memories: Clergy, Religious of the Archeparchy of Pittsburgh Share Their Personal Christmas Memories
Each year on Christmas Eve, I post one of my favorite“Calvin and Hobbes” comic strips on social media.
It was originally published in newspapers on Dec. 24, 1989, and features Calvin and his stuffed animal tiger — Continue reading
Christmas Memories: Clergy, Religious of the Archeparchy of Pittsburgh Share Their Personal Christmas Memories
A very long time ago during the 1930s, before extensive, creative and extravagant Christmas decorating of house and lawn, our family home got a lot of attention. Continue reading
Christmas Memories: Clergy, Religious of the Archeparchy of Pittsburgh Share Their Personal Christmas Memories
In the mid-1960s, I was a young Sister teaching at St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic School in Bridgeport, Conn. Continue reading
CHRISTMAS 2020: Christmas Memories
Christmas is a time of remembering. I usually don’t share my personal memories, because they are personal…and I think maybe no one will be able to Continue reading
A Good End to 2020
I’m certain that everyone in the world is ready to say “goodbye” to 2020, but this pandemic has not stopped SS. Peter and Paul parishioners from continuing to do the Lord’s work.
Continue reading
Eternal Memory
Late in the evening of December 8, 2020, Sister Fabian entered into the embrace of the Heavenly Father. It was a feast day that was particularly dear to Sister, celebrating Mary, the Mother of God. Surely, Sister Fabian was welcomed … Continue reading
The Challenge Of Love
Christ is born! Glorify Him!
Happy New Year to each and every one of you!
Today is special for the Sisters because we are called the Sisters of St. Basil the Great and this is his Feast. He died on Jan. 1, 379 A.D. Continue reading
Time Enough at Last
One thing I accomplished in 2020 was completing a 1,000 – piece puzzle I received from my parents for Christmas in 2019.
Continue reading
WORLD NEWS (Catholic News Service)
Read the latest world news as reported by Catholic News Service. With headquarters in Washington, offices in New York and Rome, and correspondents around the world, CNS provides the most comprehensive coverage of the church today.
- ‘9 Days for Life’ novena for the protection of human life set for Jan. 21-29
- Gomez: As Rev. King urged, meet forces of hate, ignorance ‘with power of love’
- ‘For the love of God, send us oxygen,’ plead bishops in Brazil’s Amazon
- Pope: King’s ‘vision of harmony, equality for all’ remains timely
- Rev. King relied on faith, prayer to fight racism, Virginia bishop says
- Heavy security in D.C., ongoing pandemic mean March for Life will be virtual
- COVID-19 and ecumenism: Pandemic prompts prayer, action
- The Marksman
- ‘Words can be kisses,’ but also ‘swords,’ pope writes in new book
- Children’s book chronicling saints’ lives shows they were ‘relentlessly human’
- ‘We need the Lord to cast out demon of division in our nation,’ cardinal says
- Catholic advocates welcome treaty banning nuclear weapons coming into force
- Bedside care: Rome priest chronicles ministering while sick with COVID-19
- Papal trip to Argentina, Uruguay still on the table, pope tells ambassador
- U.S. church aid to seminary helps continue work of slain Salvadoran rector
- UPDATE: Daily podcast that leads listeners through Bible’s narrative is No. 1 in U.S.