Memory Eternal! Vicnaja Pam'yatʹ!

It is with a heavy heart that I pass along the news of the falling asleep in the Lord of Metropolitan Basil Schott, Archbishop of the Byzantine Catholic Metropolia of Pittsburgh (July 9, 2002 – June 10, 2010). Metropolitan Basil died 3:45 a.m. on Thursday, June 10th, 2010 at UPMC Passavant Hospital in Pittsburgh from cancer that he had been diagnosed with last year.

Metropolitan Basil was born in Freeland, Luzerne County, Pennsylvainia and ordained to the priesthood in 1965. Metropolitan Basil was appointed Metropolitan Archbishop of Pittsburgh on May 3, 2002 by Pope John Paul II and was enthroned as Metropolitan Archbishop of the 'Byzantine Catholic Church in America' on July 9th, 2002.

The Byzantine Catholic Church is the American sister church of the one formed in 1649 in the Carpathians, as a result of the merging of the existing Orthodox Church with Roman Catholic Church of the then ruling Austro-Hungarian empire. Carpatho-Rusyn members are still the majority of this church, but this is decreasing as the church expands in the USA.

The arrangements are as follows:

Wednesday, June 16:

• 1:00 p.m. reception of the Archbishop’s body at the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist, Munhall, PA


• 7:00 p.m. Funeral Service for a Priest - Part I

Thursday, June 17:

• 1:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Archbishop to lie in state.


• 7:00 p.m. Funeral Service for a Priest - Part II

Friday, June 18:

• 10:00 a.m. Funeral Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist, Munhall, PA


• Internment: Mount Saint Macrina, Uniontown, PA

In blessed repose, grant, O Lord, eternal rest to your departed servant, the high priest Metropolitan Basil, and remember him forever.

Memory Eternal! Vicnaja Pam'yatʹ!

Walls in a Carpatho-Rusyn Orthodox Church in Mukačevo streams myrrh

The walls of a church dedicated to the Icon of the Mother of God “The Joy of All Who Sorrow” in Mukačevo in Carpatho-Rusyn streamed myrrh. This happened right before a fire broke out in a neighbouring church under construction. According to the rector of the parish, Fr Nikolai, parishioners first noticed drops of myrrh on a wall with frescoes of the Mother of God, the Saviour, and St John the Baptist in the summer of 2008. A visiting Archbishop also confirmed that this phenomenon was myrrh, the website Gazeta.ua reported on Friday. “Subsequently, myrrh exuded from a neighbouring wall, but it was weaker. We could not understand what this might mean. A month later, our new church burnt down. The appearance of the myrrh was a warning, for the new building caught on fire on 28 September 2008”, Fr Nikolai related. He told us that, because of the fire, the unfinished church in honour of All Saints was heavily damaged from the inside. The community suffered a loss of more than 1.8 million roubles (60,826 USD 42,298 Euros 37,386 UK Pounds). However, drops of myrrh began to emerge on the walls afterwards, especially before major holidays. The clergy do not collect the myrrh, and, Fr Nikolai told us, then, the moisture is absorbed into the wall. “Many people come here. They believe in the miraculous power of the monastery. Miracles have occurred here. In May 2009, near the icon of the Mother of God, dried lilies began to bloom. They bloomed for two weeks”, he said.

15 January 2010
Interfax-Religion
http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=33753

Carpatho-Rusyn Day

The Carpatho-Rusyn Consortium of North America, a coalition of six cultural organizations representing the Rusyn people, has designated October 26 as Carpatho-Rusyn Day in the United States and Canada. The Consortium is asking its constituent organizations, and civic bodies in those countries, to commemorate and celebrate, at their discretion and in an appropriate manner, the history and culture of Carpatho-Rusyns on or near this date. The designation comes after a decision by the World Council of Rusyns, in which the Consortium participates, for Rusyn organizations in each country in which they live to choose an appropriate date on which Rusyns will be recognized at a national level. October 26 was chosen for the United States and Canada to commemorate a gathering at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1918 at which Carpatho-Rusyns were recognized for the first time as a distinct nationality by the member nationalities of the Mid-European Union as well as by the United States government.

To learn more about this event or additional information you can view the Carpatho-Rusyn Consortium of North America's website at: http://www.rusynmedia.org/consortium/index.html

Carpatho-Rusyns be counted on the 2010 U.S. Census

U.S. Census 2010: How to Be Counted As a Rusyn

On March 1 all Americans will begin to receive their census forms—and it’s important that you and your family members get counted as Carpatho-Rusyn. If we indicate our Rusyn ethnicity on the census, and the number of us counted as Carpatho-Rusyn increases since the last census, this increases our chances as a community to access federal funding and other programs that can support our culture in the United States. So when you get your Census form, go to Question No. 9, check White (or your race) THEN fill in the words CARPATHO-RUSYN in the blocks provided under Some Other Race.


While this may seem odd, this is the instruction we were given by the Census Bureau when we asked the question for how to capture our ethnicity on the form. So, be counted on your census form—and tell all your friends, neighbors, church fellows and family who are Carpatho-Rusyn to fill it out too.

If you write in Slavic, Lemko, Carpatho-Russian or Ruthenian there is no guarantee you will be counted as Carpatho-Rusyn.

NOTE: This is the official position of the Carpatho-Rusyn Consortium of North America and its constituent organizations on how U.S. residents should fill out the 2010 Census to indicate Carpatho-Rusyn ancestry. To learn more about the Carpatho-Rusyn Consortium of North America visit their website at: http://www.rusynmedia.org/consortium/

Blessed Nativity!

Video of a Traditional Rusyn Christmas in Zakarpattya.

December 25 (Gregorian Calendar) & January 7 (Julian Calendar)

Christos Razdajetsja! - Slavite Jeho!
Christ is Born! - Glorify Him!

Carpatho-Rusyn Saint Alexis Toth

Holy Father & Confessor Alexis of Wilkes-Barre - Father Alexis (Georgievich Toth) of Wilkes-Barre was a missionary priest, sent from his homeland in (Eperjes, now Presov in Zepes county) Slovakia as a Uniate, who, in order to serve and protect his flock in the United States in a hostile Latin environment, recognized the need to lead them in a return to their Orthodox Christian heritage. His feast day is celebrated on May 7th.

By this action Father Alexis Toth gained the distinction of being the first Uniate Greek Rite Catholic priest in America to lead his people in reunion with the Orthodox Church. Having been sent originally to America to be a missionary to the immigrants, Father Alexis, in his new role, was to fulfill his destiny as the missionary leading his people back to the Orthodox Church.

In December 1892 he evangelized the immigrants in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, preaching and enlightening them about their social and religious future in America. In 1902, he received the parish of St. John the Baptist in Mayfield, Pennsylvania, into the Orthodox fold. Elevated to the rank of protopresbyter, he was in the forefront, over the years until his death, of receiving parishes from the Unia into Orthodoxy. Through his efforts over 20,000 Carpatho-Russian and Galician uniates were re-united with the Orthodox Church.

Andy Warhol Movie "I am from nowhere" 2002

I am from Nowhere : Director: Georg Misch Genre: Documentary Produced In: 2002

Synopsis: Since 1952 countless films, documentaries, and reports have been made on the subject of Miková, the small village in Eastern Slovakia with a population of one hundred and fifty where the family of Andy Warhol stemmed from. Focusing on his relatives who still live there I am from Nowhere investigates the fuss the media made about them, thus reflecting on filming as well as being filmed, on media-fame, and on Warhol's legendary 15 minutes thereof. But this is a film even more about the dreams and hopes of the people there, about the universal human dream of a better life, and about an "American Dream" which quite unexpectedly turns out to be nightmarish.

This movie can be viewed in its entirety at the following link:
http://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/1595/I-am-from-Nowhere