St. Mary’s Byzantine Catholic Church

A Photo-Essay on Carpatho-Rusyns Between East & West

St. Mary’s Byzantine Catholic Church is at the corner of 15th Street and 2nd Avenue in the Gramercy Park section of Manhattan in New York City.

Dedicated in 1962, the edifice of St. Mary’s Byzantine Catholic Church was designed by Brother Cajetan J.B. Baumann, a Franciscan friar-architect who was the first member of a religious order to be named a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. Baumann’s design remains a unique amalgam between conventional Byzantine-Slavonic aesthetics and high modernist architecture. This meeting of tradition and the avant-garde proved rather fitting, as Andy Warhol was a parishioner of St. Mary’s.

The Church as seen from the northeast. To maximize an otherwise limited corner lot, the Church is raised above street level, the Rectory is at street level, and the Social Hall is below street level.

St. Mary’s is a parish of the Byzantine Catholic Church in the United States, known globally as the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church. The Church’s layered identity is evident in its name, as it is Byzantine Rite in Liturgy, in full communion with the Catholic Church, and communally rooted among Ruthenians, the American contingent of which is mostly Carpatho-Rusyn. These layers are primordially tied to the complicated socio-political journey of Central Europe, a region indelibly influenced by the ever-shifting dominions of European empires, nation-states, and ecclesiastical jurisdictions.

The principal facade as seen from the north across 15th Street.

Left: The modern spirelet by Jan Peter Stern, a 50 foot structure welded from two tons of steel, topped with an Eastern (Suppedaneum) Cross. The spirelet is a modern iteration of the onion domes typically crowning Eastern church towers. The bronze bell within is from the original St. Mary’s edifice. Right: The mosaic of St. Mary Our Protector in detail, designed in Byzantine-Slavonic style by Felix Senger of the Conrad Schmitt Studios. Her cloak enfolds St. Andrew, St. Epiphanius, and imploring Christians. In the background are two Catholic churches, one bearing the Latin Cross and one bearing the Eastern Cross.

The catchall term of Ruthenian applies to the broad group of East Slavic peoples that have inhabited the area where the modern borders of Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary meet. As a Ruthenian sub-group, Carpatho-Rusyns hail from Carpathian Ruthenia, an area that before World War I was under the dominions of Great Moravia, Kievan Rus’, Halych-Volhynia, and Ottoman/Royal-Imperial Hungary. The interwar period saw it become part of Czechoslovakia before being integrated after World War II into Ukraine, which it has remained a part of as the Zakarpattia Oblast.

A wide perspective on the Nave of the Church, divided from the Altars of the Sanctuary by the Iconostasis. The ceiling consists of suspended fiber glass domes that are a modern iteration of traditional Byzantine domes. The mosaics and stained glass were also designed by Felix Senger.

Left & Right: The eastern and western walls of the Church, featuring an intentional asymmetry that allows the light passing through the eastern stained glass windows to shine upon the plain western wall.

Slavic Christian development was fundamentally shaped by the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, with Christianity first brought to the Slavs by Byzantine Greek Saints Cyril and Methodius in the 9th Century, who also introduced the Slavonic alphabet that shaped Slavic liturgical language. With the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans and the eventual consolidation of Carpathian Ruthenia into Catholic-majority Hungary, Carpatho-Rusyns and their clerical leadership became socially isolated. As a response to these developments and Jesuit missions in the Counter-Reformation, 63 Carpatho-Rusyn priests swore allegiance to the See of Rome in 1646, known as the Union of Užhorod, which established the Ruthenian Greek Catholic tradition.

A wide perspective on the Iconostasis and Tetrapod before it.

Two perspectives on the Tetrapod, featuring a Crucifix and an icon of St. Mary with Child for veneration by parishioners.

Socio-economic upheavals in the late-19th Century incentivized many Carpatho-Rusyns to immigrate to the United States, where they initially settled in northeastern Pennsylvania. In 1884, Father Ivan Voljanskyj, a priest from the Eparchy of Lviv in Austrian-administered Galicia, was called to the United States and organized the first Greek Catholic parish in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. By 1894, there were 30 Greek Catholic parishes serving over 100,000 parishioners, with sustained parochial expansion into the 20th Century that followed further Carpatho-Rusyn migrations to western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio.

The Holy Doors at the center of the Iconostasis, enclosing the Altar of Sacrifice. The large mosaic of Christ Pantocrator (Christ the Judge) depicts Christ holding a scepter and a Bible bearing the words “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” The three letters in the tri-radiant signify the words “I am Who am” spoken by the Burning Bush to Moses.

The Last Supper in bronze crowning the Iconostasis.

The Holy Doors in detail, featuring the symbols of the four Evangelists in bronze: the Winged Man for Matthew, the Winged Lion for Mark, the Winged Bull for Luke, and the Eagle for John.

The growth and organization of the Greek Catholic community led to tensions between Greek and Latin Catholics as well as between Rusyns themselves. Latin Catholics saw the Byzantine Rite and married priests as a threat to Church traditions, leading them to refuse faculties to the Greek Catholic community, who in turn refused to recognize Latin bishops. Socio-political tensions arising from particular divides within Austria-Hungary led Rusyns from Austrian-administered Galicia to begin identifying as Ukrainian, while Carpatho-Rusyns from Hungarian-administered Carpathian Ruthenia became factionally split between Užhorod (in modern Ukraine) and Prešov (in modern Slovakia).

Two perspectives on the Altar of Sacrifice and Christ Pantocrator within the Sanctuary. The Altar’s 12 columns symbolize the 12 Apostles and the Mensa symbolizes Christ.

The Altar of Sacrifice in detail, featuring a Tabernacle that is a replica of the Church.

Sustained over decades, the ecclesiastical-communal intrigues culminated in tangible and enduring institutional ruptures. In 1889, Father Alexis Toth of the Eparchy of Prešov swore allegiance to the Russian Orthodox Archbishop in San Francisco, eventually drawing over 20,000 parishioners away from the Catholic fold before his passing in 1909. In 1929, the Holy See firmly decreed that all Greek Catholic clergy must be celibate, leading dissenters to form the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese (ACROD), which is directly responsible to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople but supervised by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

Left: The Altar of Preparation on the eastern side of the Sanctuary, featuring a tapestry depicting Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Right: The Deacon’s Altar on the western side of the Sanctuary, featuring a tapestry depicting the Three Marys discovering the empty tomb of Jesus.

In a significant step toward greater recognition of Byzantine Catholics, the Holy See created two American Exarchates in 1924: one for Ukrainians and one for Carpatho-Rusyns, Hungarians, Slovaks, and Croats. The latter was led by inaugural Bishop Basil Takach until 1948 and, in spite of the ACROD split, was a beneficial period of institutional development with the episcopal seat established in the Pittsburgh suburb of Munhall. In 1969, Pope Paul Paul VI established the Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church, so the Eparchy of Munhall was elevated as the Archeparchy of Munhall-Pittsburgh, which was renamed in 1977 as the Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Archeparchy of Pittsburgh.

The eastern third of the Iconostasis in detail. Left: A mosaic of St. Nicholas, often featured iconically in Eastern Rite churches, wearing an Eastern Vestment (Omophorion) and Bishop’s Crown (Miter) as well as carrying a Gospel Book (Evangelion). Right: A mosaic of St. Mary with Child.

The western third of the Iconostasis in detail. Left: Another iteration of Christ Pantocrator, with the fingers of his right hand forming the Christogram ICXC, which are the first and last letters of “Jesus” and “Christ” in Greek. Right: A mosaic of St. Mary Our Protector, patron saint of the Church. In Eastern churches, patron saints are always featured in their titled iteration on the far right of the Iconostasis. Before the mosaic is St. Mary’s Book of Memory.

Whereas the American polity is led by the Metropolia of Pittsburgh, Greek Catholics in Europe are organized via the Eparchy of Mukachevo in Ukraine and the Apostolic Exarchate in the Czech Republic, with both directly subject to the Holy See. All of these bodies are in full communion with Rome, but there is no global synod joining all Ruthenian Greek Catholics. This is because some clerics and parishioners of Mukachevo have wanted the Eparchy to merge with the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.

The stained glass windows flanking the vestibule. Left: The Nativity of Mary, depicting St. Anne holding Mary as a baby. Joachim sits beside Anne, with a Menorah prominently featured in front of him. Right: The Nativity of Jesus, depicting St. Mary with Child surrounded by concentric circles of light. St. Joseph is present and per tradition an ox and donkey are also featured.

The stained glass windows on the northern half of the Nave’s eastern wall. Left: The Baptism of Jesus by St. John the Baptist, with rays from the Holy Spirit beaming down. Right: The Teaching Christ, depicting the Sermon on the Mount.

The parish of St. Mary’s includes the distinctly Hungarian Holy Cross Church and is overseen by the Eparchy of Passaic (New Jersey), which was created in 1963 and presently oversees parishes from Connecticut to Florida. Although St. Mary’s was founded as an ethnic parish, it now consists of diverse parishioners drawn to the spirituality of Eastern Catholicism, holding two English-language Divine Liturgies at St. Mary’s on Sunday and one at Holy Cross on Saturday. Led by Father Edward Cimbala since 2018, St. Mary’s has an engaged young adult study group, is co-organizing a June 2020 trip to Croatia, and welcomes all Catholics who are in a state of Grace to receive Holy Communion.

The stained glass windows on the southern half of the Nave’s eastern wall. Left: The Suffering Christ, depicting the Crucifixion at Golgotha. Right: Christ’s Descent into Hell. In Carpatho-Rusyn tradition, the Resurrection involves Jesus descending into Hell to liberate souls in Purgatory. Christ is framed in a Mandorla, an almond-shaped aureola reserved for the persons of the Blessed Trinity and St. Mary.

Left: The Sending of the Holy Ghost Among the Apostles, situated within the Sanctuary, depicting the Holy Spirit bestowing the gift of tongues upon the Apostles so that they may carry out the Christian mission. Right: The Eastern Cross above the vestibule. ICXC NIKA is “Jesus Christ Conquers” in Greek.

The complex journey of Carpatho-Rusyns between East and West is emblematic of what many smaller, relatively novel communities experience when overlooked and subsumed by the grand turns of history. The struggles of such communities illustrate the universal desire for belonging, especially when tumultuous lives render most attachments fragile, with faith as the only constant. Carpatho-Rusyns are an exemplar of not just the strength of faith in community, but often how faith itself is community.

A reverse perspective on the Nave from its southwestern terminus. All of the windows are formed as a single unit using chunk stained glass, formed from slabs, embedded in concrete. Rather than the traditional appropriation of lead for binding, epoxy resin was utilized as it is stronger.

These photos were taken on a single day utilizing both a wide-angle lens and a standard zoom lens. The photos of the facade were captured just after sunrise to minimize glare and avoid obstructions, while the straight angle photos of the Altar of Sacrifice were taken from in front of the Iconostasis to respect the Altar’s sanctity. Acknowledgment and heartfelt gratitude go to The Reverend Edward Cimbala for graciously approving the production of this photo-essay from initial email contact through to the review of its draft as well as featuring it on the parish website.