About Us
Formation
Our Divine Liturgy
Our Divine Liturgy
This community was formed in 2016 and is growing in Fort Mill South Carolina. Fort Mill is minutes from North Carolina and 25 minutes from Downtown Charlotte.
Our Divine Liturgy
Our Divine Liturgy
Our Divine Liturgy
We Celebrate The Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom - Byzantine (Ruthenian) Rite.
Divine Liturgy Celebrated Weekly on Saturdays since January 2018
During the Great Fast we will celebrate the Divine Liturgy of St Basil.
Upcoming Services
Our Divine Liturgy
Upcoming Services
- Sat Jul 24 Divine Liturgy @ 4 PM @ St. Philip Neri Ministry Center. (building across from the main church). Blessing of cars.
- Sat Jul 31 Divine Liturgy @ 4 PM @ St. Philip Neri Ministry Center.
- Sat Aug 7 Divine Liturgy @ 4 PM @ St. Philip Neri Ministry Center.
JULY 20
Feast of St. Elias (Elijah)
The Merciful Lord sent the prophet to appear before King Ahab, and proposed that two sacrificial altars be built: one for the priests of Baal, and the other for the Prophet Elijah who served the True God.The Prophet Elijah told them to call on their gods to consume the sacrificial animals with fire, and he would call on his. Whichever was first to send fire on the sacrifice would be acknowledged as the true God. The prophets of Baal called out to their idol from morning till evening, but the heavens were silent. Towards evening the holy Prophet Elijah built his sacrificial altar from twelve stones, the number of the tribes of Israel. He placed the sacrifice upon the wood, gave orders to dig a ditch around the altar and commanded that the sacrifice and the wood be soaked with water. When the ditch had filled with water, the prophet turned to God in prayer. Through the prayer of the prophet fire came down from heaven and consumed the sacrifice, the wood, and even the water. The people fell down to the ground, crying out: “Truly, the Lord is God!” Near the end of his life The Lord told him that the next day Elijah would stand in His presence. There was a strong wind that crushed the rocks of the mountain, then an earthquake, and a fire, but the Lord was not in them. The Lord was in “a gentle breeze” (3 Kings 19: 12). Because of his fiery zeal for the Glory of God the Prophet Elijah was taken up alive into Heaven in a fiery chariot.
According to the Tradition of Holy Church, the Prophet Elijah will be the Forerunner of the Dread Second Coming of Christ. He will proclaim the truth of Christ, urge all to repentance, and will be slain by the Antichrist. This will be a sign of the end of the world.
In iconography the Prophet Elijah is depicted ascending to Heaven in a fiery chariot, surrounded with flames, and harnessed to four winged horses. We pray to him for deliverance from drought, and to ask for seasonable weather.
50 Days after Pascha
Pentecost: The Descent of the Holy Spirit
In the Old Testament Pentecost was the feast which occurred fifty days after Passover. As the passover feast celebrated the exodus of the Israelites from the slavery of Egypt, so Pentecost celebrated God’s gift of the ten commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai.
In the new covenant of the Messiah, the passover event takes on its new meaning as the celebration of Christ’s death and resurrection, the “exodus” of men from this sinful world to the Kingdom of God. And in the New Testament as well, the pentecostal feast is fulfilled and made new by the coming of the “new law,” the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Christ.
When the day of Pentecost had come they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed as resting upon each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit . . . (Acts 2.1–4).
The Holy Spirit that Christ had promised to his disciples came on the day of Pentecost (Jn 14.26, 15.26; Lk 24.49; Acts 1.5). The apostles received “the power from on high,” and they began to preach and bear witness to Jesus as the risen Christ, the King and the Lord. This moment has traditionally been called the birthday of the Church.
40 Days After Pascha
Ascension of Our Lord
Jesus did not live with His disciples after His resurrection as He had before His death. Filled with the glory of His divinity, He appeared at different times and places to His people, assuring them that it was He, truly alive in His risen and glorified body.
To them He presented Himself alive after His passion by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days, and speaking of the Kingdom of God (Acts 1.3).
On the fortieth day after His passover, Jesus ascended into heaven to be glorified on the right hand of God (Acts 1.9–11; Mk 16.19; Lk 24.51). The ascension of Christ is His final physical departure from this world after the resurrection. It is the formal completion of His mission in this world as the Messianic Saviour. It is His glorious return to the Father Who had sent Him into the world to accomplish the work that He had given him to do (Jn 17.4–5).
. . . and lifting His hands He blessed them. While blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they returned to Jerusalem with great joy (Lk 24.51–52)
Pascha
Easter Sunday: The Holy Pascha
The feast of Easter is officially called Pascha, the word which means the Passover. It is the new Passover of the new and everlasting covenant foretold by the prophets of old. It is the eternal Passover from death to life and from earth to heaven. It is the Day of the Lord proclaimed by God’s holy prophets, “the day which the Lord has made” for His judgment over all creation, the day of His final and everlasting victory. It is the Day of the Kingdom of God, the day “which has no night” for “its light is the Lamb” (Rev 21.22–25).
More Details about Us
Our Eparchy
This community is forming with the blessing of Bishop Kurt Burnette of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Passaic, New Jersey
Clergy
Our Celebrant is Fr. Vasyl Sokolovych, Adminstrator of SS Cyril and Methodious church in Cary (Raleigh) North Carolina.
About the Byzantine Catholic Church
The Byzantine Catholic Church is an Eastern Church in union with Rome; Carpatho-Rusyn in background and is an American Eastern Church. Our Liturgy blends the colors of our many icons with congregational chant and our fragrant incense in prayer.
The big news
Check out the Eparchial Newsletter. Available online, or in print for only $15 per year.
Come Join Us
We invite you to come and see who we are and what we are all about as part of the Eastern half of the Universal Church.
Sunday Epistle Readings
Jun 27: Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
Jul 4: Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
Jul 11: Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
Jul 18: Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
Jul 25: Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
Aug 1: 11th Sunday after Pentecost
Aug 8: 12th Sunday after Pentecost
Aug 15: 13th Sunday after Pentecost