Sts. Cyril and Methodius Byzantine Catholic Church in Cary, NC

St Nicholas pays a visit!

Join us tonight to celebrate this feast! Vespers Divine Liturgy at 6 pm Thursday Dec 7th

The Conception by Righteous Anna of the Theotokos

Celebrated for many centuries under a variety of titles, the Feast widely known in the Eastern Church as the Feast of the Conception by St. Anna is celebrated in the Roman Church as the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. This Feast commemorates Saint Anna’s conception of Mary, the Mother of God. The writings of the early Church tell us that Mary’s parents, the righteous Joachim and Anna, prayed earnestly for a child. Joachim was of the tribe of Judah and a descendant of King David. Anna was the daughter of the priest Matthan. Anna’s sister, Zoia, was the mother of Elizabeth (who became the mother of forerunner of Christ John the Baptist). Anna, however, was childless.

Anna and Joachim had lived devoutly in marriage for fifty years. They gave a third of their income to the poor and a third to the Temple in Jerusalem. Still, they were scorned for being without offspring. With heavy hearts, they prayed that God would bless them with a child to comfort them in their old age. The Almighty God answered their prayers by allowing Anna to conceive a child who would be the Mother of God’s own Son, Jesus Christ.

Divine Liturgy Nov 22, 2023

Divine Liturgy Entrance of the Theotokos

Our parishioner Dan Pope!

EWTN Global Catholic Television Network: Catholic News, TV, Radio | EWTN EWTN is a global, Catholic Television, Catholic Radio, and Catholic News Network that provides catholic programming and news coverage from around the world.

Join us on today at 1:45PM EST (12:45pm CST *please make note of your time zone) for a livestream of the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy with Episcopal Ordination and Enthronement of Fr. Robert Pipta as the Sixth Bishop of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Parma!

If you cannot join, your prayers for this joyous moment for the Eparchy of Parma are appreciated! https://www.jedtv.com/st-nicholas-byzantine.html?bfplayvid=723066

Blessed Theodore G. Romzha – Bishop Martyr
Feast Day: October 31

“I love you, O Lord, my strength; You are my stronghold and my refuge!” (Psalm 18: 2-3)

These were the words which Bishop Theodore G. Romzha, the Apostolic Administrator of the Mukachevo Eparchy (1944-1947), chose as the motto for his episcopal ministry. He was born in a devout family of many children. From the young age he had the desire to become a priest and as a seminarian he was sent to Rome to study and was ordained a priest there by Bishop Alexander (Evreinov) on Christmas Day, 1936. After he served briefly as a pastor in several Transcarpathian parishes he was assigned as professor of philosophy at the Eparchial Seminary in Uzhhorod in 1939.

These were difficult years for the Church in Transcarpathia as it experienced the invasions first by Hungary, then direct rule form N**i Germany and lastly the Soviet Red Army. On September 24th, 1944, at the young age of 33, he was consecrated bishop at the cathedral of Uzhhorod by Bishop Miklos (Dudas) and appointed apostolic administrator of the Eparchy of Mukachevo. During this time, he ministered tirelessly to the faithful of the Eparchy, defending them from Soviet aggression and preparing them for the persecution to come. His ministry to the faithful met with many roadblocks, but he managed to find a way around them. This angered the Communist officials who now began looking for ways to kill the young, energetic and popular bishop.

Towards the end of October 1947 an opportunity presented itself. On the way home from a parish visitation, Bishop Romzha’s horse drawn carriage was purposely rammed by a Soviet military truck and pushed off the side of the road. The soldiers, who were dressed as civilians, jumped from the truck and beat the bishop and his companions. Soon after the brutal assault began a civilian truck came upon the scene and the assailants fled. Bishop Theodore and his companions were taken to Uzhhorod where they were hospitalized. Bishop Theodore was making good progress when, late on the night of October 31st, a new relief nurse was assigned to care for him. A little after midnight Bishop Theodore was found dead. The relief nurse mysteriously disappeared. The nurse poisoned Bishop Theodore with an injection of curare provided by the head of NKVD Laboratory Grigory Mairanovsky. The murder was ordered personally by Nikita Khrushchev.

Bishop Theodore Romzha was beatified by St. John Paul II on June 27th, 2001. His relics are enshrined at Holy Cross Byzantine Catholic Cathedral in Uzhhorod, Transcarpathian region of Ukraine.