Our parish family welcomes you to the Church of St. Mary. Our church is here to serve all people in hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ and in discovering His presence in our lives.
The Church of St. Mary is a Catholic Church of the Eparchy of Passaic, N.J. It is a Byzantine Church in communion with the Pope of Rome.
The patroness of our Church is Mary, the Mother of God, under the title of her Holy Protection. As a living parish it provides all the services of the Church. The Divine Liturgy (the Eucharist) is celebrated on Sundays at 9:00a.m. Vesper Liturgy is celebrated on Saturdays at 5:00p.m. Baptisms and marriages are celebrated by appointment. Confessions are heard on Saturday from 4:00 to 4:30p.m., or upon request.
Special services are held in different seasons of the Church year, particularly Great Lent. Sick and shut-ins are visited regularly with the Sacrement of Holy Unction and Holy Communion. All services are celebrated in English with a very small amount of Church Slavonic for the sake of tradition.
Our Church seeks to have an active, living conscious faith that is expressed in worship and nurtured through cathechetical ministry. St. Mary's is proud of its complete, professional program of religious education for people of all ages.
Congregational singing, led by a cantor, enhances all our worship services. Music ministry is an important part of the life of our Church.
The pastor is assisted in the administration and direction of the Church by a twelve member advisory council, which meets monthly to discuss the activities and needs of the parish. Our other societies: School of Religious Education, Cantors, Byzantine Catholic Youth Group, Rosary Society, Pirohi Makers, and parish family round out the active social life of our parish.
All parishioners are asked to take an active part in the activities of our Church. Worship and prayer are essential to Christian life and community. Each member is asked to contribute to the church a portion of his or her income to support the life and growth of our community.
St. Mary's Church celebrates Liturgy according to the Byzantine Rite. Her theological traditions and her laws are those of the Byzantine Church which originated in the city of Constantinople, capital city of the Roman Empire from the 325 to 1453.
The Byzantine civilization was one of the most glorious and durable in human history, and the fathers of the Church were able to grow in an understanding of our Lord and His Gospel that was then passed on to many of the nations of Eastern Europe, including Russians, Ukrainians, some Croatians, Hungarians, and Slovaks, the Romanians and others.
When people from these ethnic groups emigrated to the United States, they brought this treasure of faith with them. Our Church membership is open to people of all ethnic backgrounds and races. It is the heir to a faith in God, one in the Holy Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - that is essential in our journey to God. It is both traditional and modern, and emphasizes that through our union with Christ we become God-like and His beloved children.
We believe that God is with us and that in Holy Communion we receive the Body and Blood of Christ, the Son of God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, so that we can sing, "We have received the Holy Spirit".
Our Church is faithful to Jesus' call to bring His Gospel to all peoples... (Matthew 28: 16-20)
All who seek to know and love God are welcome in our Church. Byzantine Catholics who are transferring into the area are most welcome and can join by application to the pastor.
We do not proselytize members of other churches, but will welcome those who do wish to join our Church for reasons recognized by Church law, particularly spiritual welfare.
Those who have been baptized in a Church that is not Catholic can join by taking a series of instructions and by making a profession of faith... and by receiving the Sacrement of Chrismation if it has not previously been received.
We especially welcome back those who have been members of the Catholic Church and wish to renew their faith... and those who have never been a member of a Church but now wish to seek God through faith. Those who have not been baptised can join the church by a series of instructions, called the Catechuminate, and by baptism "in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit".
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