Remembering Grandpa

May 23rd 2015 marks the 40th anniversary of the passing of Prof John E Petach, KSG.

After the All Souls divine liturgy there will be a panachida for Prof Petach

Spam....not the proccessed meat kind.

Lately there has been a rash of spam e-marketing comments showing up on this blog. I have decided for the indeterminate future to block comments to hopefully dissuade the "anonymous" spammers. I may re open comments but only to verified accounts and no longer allow  anonymous comments.

Catching up on events

Back in December, I had a wonderful Divine Liturgy with Bishop Milan Shashik of Uzhgorod, Ukraine while he was visiting in Perth Amboy, NJ. Of the time I was there there are only three pictures with me in them and of those one came out blurry...oh well.

And the new Metropolitan is....

Bishop William Skurla, of Passaic.
http://www.eparchyofpassaic.com/bishop.htm 

I had guessed it would be him a while back for several reasons. Primarily because he is the most senior of the four current bishops in eparchial ordination. More telling though is that our current "synod" of merely four bishops, always votes for one of its own and seems to always choose the most "Latin minded" for their short list in order to placate Rome.
Ultimately, this does a grave disservice to the Ruthenian Metropolia in that we continue to have ever weaker Metropolitans guiding an already rudderless church and it diffuses the once rich heritage our church enjoyed by introducing non Rusyn elements into our liturgics and worship.

It does also seem that the decision was waited on until after the passing of Bishop Andrew, who even after retirement was still a strong force.

Being a younger Metropolitan, we will be sure to endure many years of rudderless leadership.I had hoped that a more vostochnik Metropolitan would have been selected.

Mnohaja L'ita Vladyka William!

Eternal Memory, Vladyka Andrew.

Retired Bishop Andrew of the Pittsburgh Metropolia fell asleep in the lord on Dec 8th after being in a car accident. He was serving as the priest for St Nicholas Byzantine Catholic church in Perth Amboy, NJ.

St Nicholas parish was the home of my grandfather, who had met Bishop Andrew (as a priest) in the 1960's.

Sister Churches Wait for New Metropolitan

Both the Byzantine Catholic Church in America (BCCA) and the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Church (ACROD) are awaiting the selection and elevation of a new Metropolitan. The two churches which are cloesly related are in similar situations following the repose of their respective Metropolitans, Basil of the BCCA and Nicholas of the ACROD.

This situation leaves both churches leaderless in a time of fragility.

Let us pray that the situations are resolved soon.

Various internet streaming video and audio of Divine Liturgies

All are primarily 9:00am EST/6:00am PST Sunday


http://www.ustream.tv/channel/holy-ghost-church
http://www.acrod.org/organizations/cathedral/live (also have archived video)
http://wedo810.com/ (some programs archived)

Pascha, again I say Pascha!

Христос Воскресе! Воистину Воскресе!

Hristos a înviat! Adevărat a înviat!

Χριστός Ανέστη! Αληθώς ανέστη!

Kristus vstal z mŕtvych! Naozaj bol vzkriesený!

Христос Воскрес! Воістину Воскрес!

The Feast of Feasts, the resurrection of our Lord is here!
This is the day the Lord has made, let us be glad and rejoice in it!

Vichnaja pamjat, vladyka Nikolai

Tomorrow is the parastas/ great panachida for (American Carpatho Russian Orthodox Diocese) ACROD Metropolitan Nicholas. I dearly wish I could be there in Perth Amboy. Not only because I had a tiny slice of time to speak one on one with this great man, but also because of his connection to my grandfather, Prof. John Petach, and by association, to the same church, the Byzantine Catholic Metropolia of Pittsburgh.

Christos Razdajestsja! Slavite Jeho!

Христос народився!
Христос родился!
Hristos se naşte!

The season that marks the coming of the end of slavery to death is at hand, for with the birth of Christ the beginning of a new covenant arrives, one that will later be punctuated by His resurrection!

1. Give ear all you distant lands,
for God is with us. (1)
2. You mighty ones, submit yourselves,
for God is with us. (2)
3. If you strengthen yourselves again, again you will be defeated,
for God is with us. (1)
4. Form a plan, but the Lord will thwart it,
for God is with us. (2)
5. Whatever word you speak will not stand even among yourselves,
for God is with us. (1)
6. We will not fear what you fear nor shall we be dismayed,
for God is with us. (2)
7. Hallow the Lord our God and He will be your fear,
for God is with us. (1)
8. If you trust in Him, He will be your refuge,
for God is with us. (2)
9. We will hope in Him and by Him will we be saved,
for God is with us. (1)
10. Here am I with the children God has given me,
for God is with us. (2)
11. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light,
for God is with us. (1)
12. Upon you who dwelt in the shadow of death a light has shone,
for God is with us. (1)
13. For a child is born to us; a son is given to us,
for God is with us.(2)
14. Upon His shoulder dominion rests,
for God is with us. (1)
15. Of His peace there is no end,
for God is with us. (2)
16. They call Him Angel of Great Counsel,
for God is with us. (1)
17. Wonderful Counselor,
for God is with us. (2)
18. Mighty God, Master, Prince of Peace,
for God is with us. (1)
19. Father of the age to come,
for God is with us. (2)
20. Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
for God is with us. (1)
21. Now and ever and forever. Amen,
for God is with us. (2)

I added some new links to my list...

Among then a funny, yet somehow sad look at what the western Catholic and Protestant churches have experimented with in the way of liturgical vestments. It is not another blog of mine, rather that of someone else who seems to have an eye for finding those garish liturgical vestments. :-)

http://badvestments.blogspot.com/

Our future Metropolitan......

I worry about the Ruthenian Byzantine Catholic Church, more commonly known in the US as the Byzantine Catholic Church, Sui Juris. If the past pattern of selecting and elevating bishops who later become Metropolitans, our next Metropolitan would be Bishop William by virtue of seniority of elevation to the eparchial position.

Sadly, it seems that experience, orthodox views, and the will of the laity are not criteria for selecting the leader of our church. The Synod, consisting of three current bishops and one bishop emeritus, make the critical spiritual decision for all the Ruthenian Byzantine Catholics in the Pittsburgh Metropolia. Kind of a scary thought that these four men have such awesome power and that the choice they make will more likely than not be based upon which religious order (Fransican) the candidate is a member of rather than their positions regarding orthodoxy in Eastern Catholicism.

+Metropolitan Basil M. Schott+

Friday was the funeral for Metropolitan Basil who passed away a week before.
Video is from: www.stnickbyz.com posted on Youtube.
More pictures are available on the St Nicholas Byzantine page on Facebook.

This is the day the Lord has made, let us be glad and rejoice in it!

Христос Воскресе!
Hristos a înviat!
Cristo ha resucitado!

Christ is Risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and to those in the tombs, He granted life!

Some video of the Romainian Divine Liturgy

In mid December, the first regular Divine Liturgy for the Romaian Greek Catholic mission (Eparchy of Canton, OH) celebrated at the Ruthenian Cathedral of St. Mary (Eparchy of Van Nuys, CA).

Manhattan Delaration Link

St Mary Romanian Catholic mission will be at the Cathedral of St Mary

starting Nov 15, 2009 the Romanian Catholic mission parish of St Mary in los Angeles will be celebrating Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of St. Mary in Sherman Oaks, CA at 11:30 A.m.

Regarding the alleged less than 1 hour RDL liturgies

Today, a simple divine liturgy for the leave-taking of the feast of the birth of the Theotokos; Divine liturgy consisted of Fr. and myself as cantor. Liturgy was just under 1 hour due to no homily. I didn't rush anything nor did Fr. That said, how then, can a full congregational DL be under an hour with a homily and communion and announcements before the blessing if it takes an hour to celebrate a DL with exactly two people-a priest and cantor (with no homily, communion for one, and no announcements?

Sigh.........

I get into those depressive funks when I think of what our church used to be.... It seems to me that in this modern era our church, the Byzantine Catholic Church (aka the Metropolia of Pittsburgh), had lost its way regarding its past. In short it has worked hard to lose it's past in favor of a culturally neutral (and recently, gender neutral) future. It is bad enough that the Old Church Slavonic is all but banished from liturgical worship, but we also have to contend with an awful gender neutral translation to do it with!!! The over aim of the liturgical and music commission started out with good intentions then took a wrong turn somewhere and wound up with the translation nightmare we are stuck with for the present time. The "new" (actually hundreds of years old) music settings are a welcome return to our heritage, but the gender neutral language is a painful reminder that our bishops are out of step with the current times in regard to returning to orthodoxy in the Eastern Catholic Churches in general.

Memories of St Nicholas, Perth Amboy

A 1950's (?) era photo of the choir at St Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church in Perth Amboy, NJ. Front row center are Fr Julius Grigassy and Prof. John Petach (my grandfather).

This appears to be Pascha at St Nicholas. The pictures are dated as April 15th, 1956. The parish is still active, but with a considerably smaller congregation than in the 1950's. More recently in 2009, the altar was restored to the proper square shape and an iconstas has been installed