www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West Orthodox Churches in Transcarpathia

Since I am Orthodox,and I enjoy linking to information about my Greek Catholic brothers and sisters in the 'old country', I thought I would share this link of photos from the Orthodox in the region. I suspect that the exteriors of their churches have varied in the tradtional Hapsburgh-era designs in order to differentiate them from a distance from those of the Greek Catholics. Some of the old interior shots should remind many of you, Orthodox or Greek Catholic of many parishes across the Northeast USA, particularly in Pennsylvania and New Jersey! http://www.taday.ru/text/1245036.html

I am grateful for someone posting Orthodox pictures from the region. My Greek Catholic brothers there have done a good job in so-doing and I have had a hard time finding comparable Orthodox internet items. Thanks again!

This also includes the first pictures that I have seen of the upper church of the Holy Cross Cathedral in Uzhrorod. Fr. Dymytry Sydor, one of the leaders of the Rusyn movement in the district, has been trying to raise funds to finish this for the past decade. As you can see the icon screen is quite improvised and clearly temporary. From what I saw some years ago of his renderings of the interior, he plans a style more in line with the region's traditions. However, he is caught among the many factions in Transcarpathia, both political and religious, and the last Bishop (UOC-MP) there was more in the 'Russian' tradition, so we will have to wait and see how this plays out. Perhaps the delays in finishing the interior are part of a 'game' of waiting things out?

Anyway, the interiors evoke any number of parishes here in the states, including my home of St. Michael's in Binghamton, NY, St. John the Baptist Orthodox Churches of both Perth Amboy, NJ and Bridgeport,
PA. St. Michael's Orthodox Church, St. Clair, PA and numerous others.

For example:

St. Michael's Orthodox Church, Binghamton: http://www.flickr.com/photos/27563686@N03/5397858915/ St. John's Orthodox Church Perth Amboy: http://sjacrod.com/
St. John's Orthodox Church Bridgeport, CT: http://www.flickr.com/photos/48269944@N05/4426045200/in/set-72157623602467542/
St. Michael's Orthodox Church, St. Clair, PA: https://www.byzcath.org/forums/ubbt...%20ACROD%20St%20Clair%20Interior%201.jpg

Likewise, the interiors are hardly distinguishable from my ancestral villages' Greek Catholic churches of Cigelka and Stebnik, Slovakia.

Cigelka: SS. Cosmos and Damian: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Church_Sv.Kozma_a_Danian-Altar,Cigelka(Slovakia).jpg ( Interestingly, my grandfather's baptismal name was Damian, after the temple in the village.)

Stebnik: St. Paraskevia:
http://www.saris.eu.sk/stebnik/sk/greckokatolicka-cerkov.html ( My mother in law was baptized Paraska (Paraskevia) by her mother who worked for the priest in Stebnik prior to coming the America.)

Quite lovely. I sent the article on to my daughter, whose honors project at University of Pennsylvania involves the influence of religion on culture and politics in western and eastern Ukraine.

I was intrigued by the overhead shot of the Holy Table. It's huge. I know Ruthenians, both Catholic and Orthodox, in this country, like big tables (I always thought it was some baba's kitchen table requisitioned for the purpose), but this one is also big enough to accommodate a host of concelebrants, in contrast to the more usual cubes used by the Russians and Greeks. Any reason for this?

I don't know, if I remember I will ask around. Not that anyone remembers today! (All of my dad's generation of ACROD priests have passed on, perhaps there are still some left in the BCC?)

These churches are quite beautiful; the dominant blue color on church exteriors is quite different from what we are used to seeing.
I see what you mean about the Russification style; it's very evident. Hopefully this transition is in the past.

Is that Our Lady of Lourdes in the Chapel at the Crossroads?

^Sure looked like it to me...I suspect the Orthodox come there with flowers singing Likuj Maria - just like their Greek Catholic cousins. Boze moj, I hope the Lord forgives us all.

It is done with love. Surely God is smiling...perhaps it is our quibbling which makes Him laugh.

S'nami Boh

Syncretism lives!

I don't think that you understand my point here and elsewhere on this board. For centuries the peoples of the Carpathians and Tatras in what is now modern Slovakia and Ukraine have been caught between the Russian bear and the geo-political forces of the West - including those of the Roman Church. The overriding preoccupation of these peoples was to live their lives, honor their Church and keep their traditions - and most essentially to be left alone. And relatively left alone they were until the Industrial Revolution, the political upheavals of 1848 in Europe and the Second 100 Years' War which followed.

That being said, in spite of 'realpolitik' and in spite of many pressures beyond their control, the Greek Catholics and those who returned to Orthodoxy have persevered, each in his own way.

I plead guilty to any charge of being perpetually saddened by the historical reality that my ancestors had to endure and the divisions in faith, home and community those realities caused, and cause them to this day, to endure.

I plead guilty to any charge that I admire and attempt to honor the shared cultural and religious patrimony which the Rusyns, the Gallicians, the Lemkos and the Ukrainians were able to preserve over centuries of oppression from both the east and the west.

I plead guilty as well to any charge that I applaud any and all cooperation between Orthodox and Greek Catholics possessed of a strong heart and a kind soul meant to strengthen those traditions and perpetuate them, as shown by the life long efforts of many Orthodox and Greek Catholic priests, scholars and hierarchs (such as the late Archbishop Vsevelod and Metropolitan Nicholas and Metropolitans Judson and Basil) in their efforts to find some common ground with their Greek Catholic counterparts.


That being said, I object to your claim that my beliefs, as well as those of the many pious Greek Catholics here who share them as articulated above, are apparently evidence of Syncretism.

I am Orthodox. I know that my Church has not deviated from the doctrines and teachings of the one Church and that my Church's eccelsisology has not been altered by the development of the second millenium's Papacy. I believe that Florence was a political as well as religious failure. I certainly reject any of the doctrinal developments of the recent Councils of the Church of Rome, most particularly those of Vatican I.

I certainly do not hold to any belief that my Greek Catholic friends, relatives and neighbors share my faith or that we are able to be one and commune together in the Divine Liturgy.

That being said, I do respect my brothers and sisters who are Greek Catholic and who have found the means in their souls and hearts to remain true to the east, while accepting the universality of the Church of Rome according to her teachings. When the time to choose came, my parents and grandparents' consciences could allow them to do that and they took the route back to Orthodoxy - for that I am grateful.

Finally, each and every day, I pray that we may all be guided by the Holy Spirit and that our Churches many find the way to resolve those small, yet persistent differences which divide us in doctrine and prevent us from con-celebrating.

I hope I made myself clear. I have many tough questions that I would pose to Greek Catholic posters if this were an Orthodox Board, as it is not, I am a guest here and I will refrain from doing so in this forum.

However, none of this is 'Syncretism' and I do resent the charge. Thanks for listening.

Pose away. It is through considering the tough questions that we refine our own thoughts. Iron must first go through fire to come out as steel.

I am so sorry, my brother. I did not mean my little comment in a negative way, nor was I being sarcastic. I respect, honor and admire the thought and sensitivity of your posts. My wife is from Russia, and I sent the wonderful link you posted to her e-mail for her enjoyment. I was simply trying to add my two cents worth to the posts about the image of Our Lady. I think syncretism can be viewed as a positive thing if taken in the right spirit.

In the crypt underneath the apse of the cathedral at Chartre there is a column which is all that is left of the church built there by Charlemagne in the 9th century. Near this column is a very deep cistern. I had the privilege many years ago, at the invitation of the sexton, to look into the deep clear waters of the spring below. The Romans had dedicated this spring to a pagan goddess and built there a temple. Christians of the 4th century rededicated this temple to the honor of Our Lady - Notre Dame de Chartres! Building on what has gone before and on what others do is natural and normal, and in a world ever shrinking in size, inevitable. As we live and move and interweave our lives with one another, I wonder if those old divisions east, west, north and south even mean anything anymore. In any case, I meant no offense at all, and may the rich traditions of eastern and western Christianity long endure even if they blend together once in a while. Pace e Bene!

Sorry, those of us who share my feelings, and there are many, get attacked by the ultra-zealous Orthodox 'traditionalists' that we tend to get thin-skinned! No offense taken! S'bohom!

Panyatna. In Maine,if you're not thick skinned,you get very cold. Keep posting. I enjoy your fresh thoughts.

The recently renovated page of the Orthodox Eparchy of Mukačevo has a series of videos that give some action to the photos on the previously linked site.

http://www.m-eparchy.org.ua/videogalereya/filmi-nashoyi-eparhiyi.html

One can note that, much like a Protestant view of Christian history, the videos (like the one about the St. Nicholas Monastery) jump from the time of the Unia to the 1940s, glossing over the history during those years with only a sentence or two.

However, the videos are quite enjoyable overall.

Fr. David

My wife and I went to Uzhhorod today for the feast of blessed Theodor Romzha. We ended up being late because whoever responded to my email about the time of the liturgy was off by 15 minutes, and apparently the main one was tonight... oh well... My son received communion for the third time in his life, so we were glad for that!

This was our first time across the border in 8 months, after suffering from a 5 hour wait to get back into Slovakia last time thanks to EU border check incompetence. Since then we had noticed peeping up behind the first hill into Ukraine some gold towers, which we see every time we are driving east on the highway to our village. So today we satisfied most of our curiosity as to what they were!

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While this was taken from the Ukranian side, this is basically the view I have ever time I'm driving to our village. The church with a "?" is the one we didn't see in person, so I still don't know what it is.

First the photos of the newest Orthodox church in Uzhhorod. It did not have proper windows or interior, so we didn't get out of the car to look around.
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I felt like I was in an American subdivision-- both churches are in a neighborhood of completely new construction.
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A few from the nearby Greek Catholic church, which is perhaps 300 meters away.

We got out at the Greek Catholic church, which, judging from icons on the bulletin board of the chapel to the right, might be dedicated to Theodore Rhomza. As we were about to leave a worker was approaching. I guess he heard us talking in English and taking photographs and only gave me a slight nod of the head, until I greeted him with "Slava Isusu Christu"-- suddenly his face lit up and I got a warm hand-shake as well as being told that the church was open and I could go inside!
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The copper towers of the GC church aren't very visible from Slovakia, but those gold ones of the Orthodox sure are. It is nice to see something other than the communist statue that otherwise dominates our view into Ukraine from Slovakia:
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David, my friend,

I saw this last week and intended to reply, then got waylaid.
We are all guests here - you, me, the lot of us - everyone but our host, friend, and brother, John.

Never hesitate to post a tough question because it isn't an 'Orthodox' board - it's also not a 'Catholic' board. As I've posted many times over the years, it's unique in its existence as an Eastern Christian board - forum - site - whatever, call it what you will. My personal preference remains "community".

Tough questions - aimed at either Catholics or Orthodox - are always acceptable. The sole standard that is applied, as I've said many times, is that of charity and civility - not a concern with the vast majority of our members and not something that can be said of most online fora that engage or claim to welcome both sides of the Christian East.

Many years,

Neil

Andrew,

Thanks for the photos - both beautiful temples.

Is the GC church in the process of reconstruction? (I'm guessing that it will replace the small white building to the side - which I presume is the chapel that you referenced.)

Many years,

Neil

The GC is also being built. Just the inside got done before the outside, whereas the orthodox church it seems like they'll finish the exterior before doing the interior. I peeked in the white chapel as well, and now it seems to be used as a parish hall, but was clearly built first as a chapel. Much of the surrounding neighborhood is still being built, it was clearly just fields before then. Like I said, when I moved here last year, there was no sign of either of the churches.

I do really want to find out what the other church, further in the distance is. But that will have to wait till the next day we can take spending hours at the border crossing. In our village we feel really like we are in the middle-of-nowhere, when in fact three miles away is a pretty large city!

Thank you for this link, the google translation is 'rough', but sort of understandable anyway!