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I'm going on a pilgramage to NYC. I was wondering if there are any Byzantine Churches that are worth visiting while I'm there. We are looking at St. George Ukrainian Catholic. Thanks and God Bless.

Canisius, even though it is small you should check out St. Michael's Russian Catholic Church in Manhattan (www.stmichaelruscath.org [stmichaelruscath.org]) They have Vespers every Saturday night and before major feast days in addition to the Divine Liturgy.

Yes, St George is worth visiting. But I am prejudice, I graduated from the grammar school.
The new church is quite traditional.

There is also St Varitan's Aremenian Cathedral on 34th street and Second Ave in Manhattan.

St Vartan's is neat, but inside it really doesn't remind me very much of the churches I saw when I was in Armenia. It's pretty Westernized inside. Cool bookstore downstairs, though.

The ROCOR Cathedral on the Upper East Side in the 70s is very nice. A little out of town St Vladimir's up in Crestwood has a very nice chapel with a lively liturgy.

Brendan

Dear Brendan,

In my experience, one may always tell a true servant of God by the way his or her eyes light up at the sight of a good religious book store or kiosk!

When we go visiting churches at Easter-time, my wife says she wants to tie a rope to keep me by her . . .

Alex

Glory to Jesus Christ!

St. Nicholas Cathedral (ROCOR) is actually on E. 97th Street. More spectacular is the ROCOR Cathedral of the Resurrection in Brooklyn.

You may also want to visit: the OCA Cathedral of the Holy Virgin Protection on E. 2nd St.; St. Sava Serbian Orthodox on W. 26th; and the Armenian Orthodox Cathedral on W. 27th.

There are a number of Greek Orthodox churches throughout Manhattan (just look in the phone book) and especially in Astoria, Queens, including St. Markella of Chios, part of the "Hellenic Orthodox Traditionalist Church of America."

Avoid St. Mary BC Church on E. 15th Street: a 1960s, art deco, Roman Catholic-looking building.

In Brooklyn, there is St. Elias BC Church -- a beautiful church, as I recall.

There is also Holy Cross on E. 82nd, a Hungarian Byzantine Catholic church. The building's not much to look at (RC-style) -- but they make great "csirke leves," i.e. chicken soup.

In Christ,
Theophilos

Funny that you should ask! I am compiling a list of Eastern Catholic parishes within the Five Boroughs for a future website. I will post them below.

Of course, I am partial to my own St Michael, which, incidently, is (a New Yorker's) walking distance from both St George's and Holy Protection (OCA).

Actually, St Nicholas on 97th Street is Patriarchal. ROCOR's headquarters is located a very short distance at 93rd and Park Avenue.

Also, St. Mary of Zion Ethiopian Church worships at St John's (31st across from Penn Station).

In January, for the Chair of Unity Octave, Our Lady of Carmel on E 116th hosts an annual "Novena of Rites".

Well, here's my list for what it's worth...

Manhattan:

Emmaus House
2027 Lexington Ave.
New York, NY 10035
Fr. David Kirk
(212) 410-6006
http://www.melkite.org/Emmaus.html

Holy Cross Byzantine Catholic Church
(Hungarian)
323 East 82nd Street,
New York, New York 10028
Tel. (212) 737-1159

St. Ann�s Armenian Catholic Cathedral
110 East 12th Street
New York, New York 10003
Tel.: (212) 477--2030

St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church
22 East 7th Street
New York, New York 10003,
Tel.: (212) 674-1615
Fax: (212) 475-7017
http://brama.com/stgeorge

St. Mary�s Byzantine Catholic Church
(Ruthenian)
246 East 15th ST
New York, NY 10003
Pastor: Rev. Msgr. Raymond M. Misulich, JCL
Assistant: Rev. George Malitz
Phone: 212-677-0516

St. Michael�s Russian Catholic Church
266 Mulberry Street
New York, NY 10012
Tel: 212-226-2644
Pastor: Fr John Soles
Deacon: Christopher Li Greci
Vespers - Saturday, 6 p.m.
Divine Liturgy - Sunday, 11 a.m.
http://www.stmichaelruscath.org

The Bronx:

St. Mary Protectress
1745 Washington Ave., Bronx,, NY 10457 ,
Tel: (212) 731-9392
Fax: (516) 676-7465

Queens:

Annunciation of the B.V.M.
171-21 Underhill Avenue
Fresh Meadows, New York 11365
Administrator: Msgr. George Binkowski
Tel: (718) 939-4116
Fax: (718) 939-3696
Divine Liturgy:
Weekdays: 8:00 AM.
Saturday: 9:00
Sunday: 9:00 AM & 10:30 AM.

Holy Cross Ukrainian Catholic Church
1-12 30th St., Long Island City, New York 11106
Phone: (718) 932-4060
Fax: (718) 726-0686
Fr. Philip Sandrick, OSBM
Fr. Gregory Chmylar, OSBM
Fr. Cyril Iszcukk, OSBM
Divine Liturgy
Weekdays: - 7:45 AM, 8:30 AM (Ukrainian).
Saturday: - 7:45 AM, 8:30 AM (Ukrainian) & 5:00 PM (English).
Sunday: - 8:30 AM, 10:00 AM & 11:30 AM (Ukrainian).
Holy Days of Obligation: 9:30 AM & 7:00 PM (Ukrainian).
Holy Days, other: 8:00 AM & 9:30 AM.

St. Mary Protectress
97-06 87th Street
Ozone Park, New York 11416,
Tel.: (718) 845-5366

Brooklyn:

Holy Ghost Ukrainian Catholic Church
160 N. 5th St., Brooklyn, NY 11211-3203
Phone: (718) 782-9592
School: (718) 782-0664
Fax: 718-599-2905
In case of emergency call: (718) 388-4416
Administration, Fr. Paul Wolensky
Divine Liturgy:
Weekdays: - 9:00 AM.
Saturday: - 5:00 PM.
Sunday: - 10:00 AM

Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Cathedral
113 Remsen St.
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Msgr. Ignace Sadek
Tel: (718) 624-7228
Fax: (718) 624-8034
Divine Liturgy:
Daily Liturgy at 12:00 noon
Holy Days of Obligation at 7:00 PM and 12:00 noon Holy Day
Sunday at 9:00 AM, 11:00 AM
http://www.stmaron.org

St. Elias Byzantine Catholic Church
(Ruthenian)
143 Kent Street
Brooklyn, NY 11222
Tel.: 718-389-3725

St. Mary�s Chapel
(Ruthenian)
197 34th ST
Brooklyn, NY 11232
Administrator: Rev. Msgr. Raymond M. Misulich, JCL
Tel.: 718-389-3725

St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church
256 19th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11215,
Tel: (718) 389-8744

Virgin Mary Greek Melkite Catholic Church
216 Eighth Avenue
Brooklyn, New York 11215-2604
Pastor: Fr. John Faraj
Tel: (718) 788-5454
Fax: (718) 499-7702
http://iea.hccc.edu/vmchurch

Staten Island:

Italian Byzantine Rite Catholic Mission of Our Lady of Grace
Mailing address: 51 Redgrave Avenue
Staten Island, New York 10306-3620 - U.S.A.
Rev. Rt. Rev.Mitred Archimandrite Januarius Izzo, OFM, JCD, Chaplain
Rt. Rev. Mitred Archimandrite Francis Vivona, JCL, Associate Chaplain
V. Rev. Archdeacon John DeMeis, President
Tel: (718) 987-8098
Fax: (718) 987-1781
http://www.byzantines.net/OurLadyofGrace
Every Sunday - 2 p.m.
Our Lady's Chapel
Saint Peter's Church
53 St. Mark's Place
New Brighton
Staten Island, NY 10301

Holy Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Church
288 Vanderbilt Ave., Staten Island, NY 10304
Pastor: V. Rev. Canon Lubomyr Mudry
Tel: (718) 442-2555
Divine Liturgy:
Weekdays: - 9:00 AM or according to the wishes of the donors.
Holy Days Obligatory: - 10:00 AM & 7:00 PM.
Holy Days Not Obligatory: - 9:00 AM.
Sunday: - 9:00 AM (English) & 10:15 AM (Ukrainian)

As has been said, St. Nicholas Cathedral is under the Patriarch of Moscow. And I think you mean the OCA Cathedral of the Transfiguration [oca.org] at 228 N. 12th St. in Brooklyn.

Dave's list is out of date regarding several things, including pastors (understandably so). Also, the St. Mary's Chapel (Byzantine Ruthenian) in Brooklyn has been closed.

St Nicholas' Patriarchal Cathedral is on 97th Street, between Madison and Park, Tsar Nicolai II donated the money to build it. (There is an interesting history at the NYPL on 5th & 42nd)

Of course, NY boasts of several wonderful Orthodox churches..

We look forward to the re-building of St. Nicholas' Greek Orthodox Church. The old church was crushed under the weight of the collapsing World Trade Center. From what I have last seen od the new plans, the new church will be built were my office was at 5 WTC.

I will take St Mary's Chapel off my list and would appreciate any further corrections!


Thanks!

Dave and Lemko:

Thanks for the corrections.

The pastor of St. Mary BC is Fr. Robert Hospodar. The administrator of Holy Cross is Fr. Andor Rakaczki, S.T.D.

In Christ,
Theophilos

Of the Eastern Catholic Chruches, St. Michael's is my favorite and I have had the joy of worshipping there many times.

I disagree that St. Mary's BC is Roman looking (far less than St. Elias, certainly). It is modern, certainly, but modern Byzantine. The RC's try to box us Eastern Christians in too often as something that cannot have modern and traditional forms.

Axios

Interesting links. I am amzed in what I have learned from the Italo-Byzantine site. I am half Italian and find it interesting that their are Italian (Albeit Grecio-Albanian) Greek Catholics in Italy and even the USA.

I am curious about knowing more about this rite and her existance? Are its members mainly Albanian or have they been "Italianized" (Do they, for instance, use Italian or Albanian for the liturgy and do they preffer to think of themselves as Italians of Albanian descent or as Albanians who live in Italy)?

In Christ,

Robert K.

I agree with Axios that, despite its modern interpretation, St. Mary's Ruthenian Church on E. 15th. St. is not a particularly "Romanish" structure. It claims to interpret traditional "Byzantine" architecture and art forms using various "modern" techniques popular in the 1960s. Some may well call it a bad experiment in contemporary design and such an edifice would probably not be seen going up today, some 40 years later (for either Roman or Byzantine churches), but nevertheless, it remains an attempt to render a Byzantine design through the eyes of artists of the mid-twentieth century. Although at first glance, St. Mary's might be seen as "Roman" simply because of its modernity, there are many other Greek Catholic churches built during this period that copied much more faithfully, the style and layout of a Roman Catholic church. Relatedly, St. Mary's parish maintained a rather traditional liturgical life, offering Vespers, Matins and the Divine Liturgy (in Church Slavonic) well into the present era. It is also noted for its accomplished choir, made up of members of the metropolitan region, which rendered excellent liturgical and cultural performances.

Much of St. Mary's can be deemed beautiful from an artistic point of view. Whether or not that fits in with the liturgy and spirituality of the Eastern church is left to personal opinion. Still, the church does contain an iconostasis, mosaics, "onion dome" and other "traditional" features of a Byzantine church. Interestingly, the design was rendered by an internationally acclaimed architect, a German-born Franciscan brother of the OFM - NY Holy Name Province, Br. Cajetan JB Baumann, OFM, who also worked on other churches and ecclesiastical buildings throughout the greater NYC region and the USA as well as in other countries, including the Holy Land. At the time of its building, St. Mary's was considered to be quite the masterpiece of contemporary church design.

Also, it is interesting to note that there was a certain "genius" that went into the design of the St. Mary's complex. Since space is always of utmost concern in NYC, especially Manhattan, care was taken to combine the necessary parish facilities succinctly into a small parcel of land. Therefore, at St. Mary's the church is the topmost facility, extending into the air towards the Manhattan skyline, the rectory, quite a desirable residence, is directly beneath the church, around "street level" and the parish hall is located still more subterranean to the first two structures. It is a sensible and practical design that I've always admired. Formerly, this parcel was the location of a Roman Catholic convent of the "Little Sisters of the Assumption" which was eventually torn down for the construction of the new compound, on a especially coveted "corner location" at Second Ave. and E. 15th. St. When the church was dedicated, there was an historic procession from the old church on E. 13th. St. to the newly constructed edifice, with Bishop Elko carrying the Blessed Sacrament beneath the traditional canopy. Quite a scene for New Yorkers that day, for sure.

It is important, as Axios points out, that we not close ourselves into the attitude that traditional Byzantine art and spirituality cannot be expressed through modern means yet remain faithful to the core of its message, roots and heritage.
We may not all appreciate or care for modern thematic expressions, but it does not automatically mean that in those cases, Eastern priorities are being exchanged for Western or Latin or Roman or whichever ones. If we can allow our traditions to be expressed through the lens of today's artistic capabilities, then we have accomplished the important task of incorporating and integrating our treasured traditions into the context of life as lived by people today. I'm not advocating a personal taste for the extremely modern style as demonstrated by St. Mary's, and in fact, would probably hesitate to approve such architecture myself, but still, the church on 15th. St. proves that contemporary forms of art can indeed express the richness of important historic traditions.

God bless you all.

Fr. Joe

Quite unfortunately, it should be noted, the above is all in the past.