01 November 2010

A traditional Slavonic Divine Liturgy at Munster's St. Nicholas Church

With the successful celebration of Carpatho-Rusyn Day at St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church in Munster on Saturday, we can't complete our visit to Northwest Indiana without noting what may be the last regular weekly Church Slavonic Divine Liturgy among Byzantine Catholic churches in the U.S.

Father Frank Korba celebrates the Slavonic liturgy at 8:30 a.m. each Sunday, and the parishioners participate in the true Rusyn manner, singing our traditional prostopinije in congregational style.

It's not 100% Slavonic, but it's pretty close.

St. Nicholas is one of three Byzantine Catholic churches in Northwest Indiana founded by Carpatho-Rusyns.

According to the parish history, St. Nicholas church was not incorporated as a Greek Catholic church in union with Rome until 1922, with the parish history noting that it had both Orthodox and Greek Catholic priests serving there until then.

The original church was located in Hammond, Ind., ultimately moving to Munster in 1962.

Father Korba is an enthusiastic advocate of his Carpatho-Rusyn identity, and has been a generous supporter of the Lake Michigan Chapter of the Carpatho-Rusyn Society.
The interior of St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church in Munster.


2 comments:

  1. My name is Pat House. I was raised in the St. Nicholas Church in Hammond. (Still have my baptism announcement.) At any rate, would you have any idea where I could find records from the original Hammond church? Since many members of my family have passed, I want to locate as many family records as I can with the intention to put them with photos and other documents for the family. How might I find the early records---say 30's through 60's?
    Thank you for any information that you can furnish.

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    Replies
    1. Pat,

      I'm Charlotte Pribish Conjelko, the successor to the Lake Michigan Chapter's deceased first president Tim Cuprisin. Though I've been posting things on the blog for several months after we finally were able to get into it, I had no idea about people posting things on it so I just discovered a whole lot of things I need to respond to--one being your posting about St. Nicholas Church of Hammond.

      The church is now located in Munster. Fr. Frank Korba is the priest there and should have all the records. You can reach him at 219/838-9380. Mention my name when you call. We have become friends via the Lake Michigan Chapter.

      If you would like, I can add you to our emailing list to receive notices about upcoming events. On Sat., Jan. 12 St. Nicholas will be coming to our chapter's gathering at St. Mary's Byzantine Catholic Church in Whiting. I will be posting the flyer on the blog in the next couple of days.

      Take care,
      Charlotte



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