Holy Angels Byzantine Catholic Church sits at 2235 Galahad Road in the Angel Heights neighborhood of San Diego, overlooking Mission Valley and the I-805 corridor in the Serra Mesa area. The wooden church with its recently gilded domes is the visible heart of a small Byzantine Catholic parish that traces its origins to the late 1950s, when families from Eastern European backgrounds settled around San Diego's naval and marine installations. The parish belongs to the Holy Protection of Mary Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Phoenix, itself part of the Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh, which grew out of the Ruthenian (Rusyn Slav) Catholic experience in America. All liturgical services are celebrated in English, and the parish is in full communion with the Bishop of Rome.
The Story of Holy Angels Parish
In the 1950s, San Diego's expanding naval facilities and proximity to a Marine base were drawing Byzantine Catholic families west in search of work and a milder climate. The Reverend Eugene Chromoga, pastor of Saint Mary in Van Nuys (now the cathedral of the eparchy), together with several local families, wrote to the Most Reverend Nicholas Elko, Bishop of Pittsburgh, requesting that a parish be established in San Diego. With the support of the Most Reverend Charles Buddy, Bishop of San Diego, and Mother Emmanuel, Prioress of the Carmelite Monastery in San Diego, who offered the use of her chapel, plans moved forward for a mission.
On June 1, 1958, the Reverend William Levkulic, pastor of Saint Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church in Fontana, celebrated the first Divine Liturgy at the Carmelite Chapel with about 65 faithful present. Father William commuted 125 miles one way from Fontana every other week for the next two years. Within three months he reported to Bishop Elko that the mission had grown from 18 households to 54. He urged the assignment of a resident priest and suggested the patronage of Saint Michael or the Holy Angels.
In May 1960, Bishop Elko raised the mission to parish status and named it Holy Angels. He assigned the Reverend Paul Fetch as the first resident pastor. Father Fetch worked with parishioners to organize the parish and purchased a house adjacent to the monastery to serve as rectory, office, social hall, ethnic food center, and classrooms. Together they began raising funds through baking and kolbasi production.
The Reverend Joseph Radvansky became pastor on August 15, 1969, and site-specific planning for a new church building began in 1971. On December 6, 1973, the Solemn Feast of Saint Nicholas, the parish purchased its current location at a Cal-Trans auction for $33,000. Groundbreaking took place on November 9, 1975; construction began May 3, 1978. The final liturgy at the Carmelite Monastery was celebrated November 5, 1978; the first liturgy in the new church was celebrated November 12, 1978. Bishop Emil Mihalik of Parma blessed the church on February 4, 1979. The location was named Angel Heights. Parishioners responded to the building campaign with bingo, hall rentals, polka dances, ethnic food production, and an annual bazaar.
The Reverend Joseph Ridella became pastor in 1980. By the end of his tenure the parish debt had been retired. The Most Reverend Thomas Dolinay, Bishop of the newly created Eparchy of Van Nuys, celebrated the liturgy marking the parish's Silver Anniversary on November 6, 1983. A house was purchased a few blocks from the church in 1992 to serve as the pastor's residence, and the older rectory was converted into offices, meeting space, and classrooms for religious education.
The Reverend Robert Daigle served as administrator from 1992 to 1994. The Reverend Melvin Rybarczyk, CR, was called to shepherd the parish in 1994 and led the 40th anniversary celebration in 1998. The Reverend Robert Pipta was appointed pastor in 2004. Phase One of a major renovation project began in 2005 under Bishop William Skurla, completing necessary repairs to the church and hall by January 2006. A new rectory adjacent to the property was acquired in 2010. Phase Two, completed in 2016, expanded the hall, gave the church a new facade, and replaced the parking lot. New fencing and landscaping followed in 2017. On September 1, 2019, Fr. James Bankston was appointed Administrator of Holy Angels.
Byzantine Catholic on the West Coast
Holy Angels belongs to the Holy Protection of Mary Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Phoenix, a jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh that covers thirteen western states including Alaska and Hawaii. The metropolitan church grew out of the Greek Catholic immigration of the late nineteenth century, when Carpatho-Ruthenian, Hungarian, Slovak, and Croatian families brought their Byzantine faith to the United States. The Byzantine Catholic Church shares the faith, scripture, and seven sacraments of the Catholic Church while drawing on a religious patrimony shaped in fourth-century Byzantium. Eastern Mediterranean evangelists carried these Greek spiritual traditions northward, and they were adapted in the Slavic regions beginning in the ninth century. The Eparchy of Van Nuys was established for the Western United States in 1981 and was renamed the Holy Protection of Mary Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Phoenix in 2010. The parish considers this part of the country missionary territory for the Byzantine Catholic Church, where small western American parishes continue to worship within a tradition reaching back to the earliest centuries of Christianity while serving faithful of various economic and ethnic backgrounds.
Inside the Liturgy
Byzantine worship at Holy Angels centers on the Divine Liturgy, celebrated each Sunday and on the great holy days. The worship space is filled with icons, the religious images the parish calls "windows into heaven." Icons of the Lord, the saints, and the sacred events of Christian tradition are arranged throughout the building; special attention is given to those that form the icon screen separating the nave from the sanctuary. The holy doors in the middle of that screen represent the gates to the kingdom and draw the faithful into the heavenly mystery rather than separating them from it.
The parish bows and makes the sign of the cross many times during the liturgy as a sign of faith in the Christian Mystery. Where Roman Catholics genuflect, Byzantine Catholics bow deeply and sign themselves whenever entering or leaving the church. Incense is used as a sign of reverence for the sacred place and for the people made in God's image and likeness, and as a sign of purification and preparation for what is about to happen. The smoke is understood as a prayer ascending like spiritual fragrance before the throne of God.
Congregational singing is described as one of the beauties of the liturgy. Services are sung a cappella, with a cantor leading the responses. Scripture readings are usually chanted rather than printed in the booklets; the hymns and prayers are filled with scriptural quotations and imagery along with reflections of the Church's ascetics. Booklets and supplements in the pew help the faithful make the responses. If a worshipper loses their place, looking to a nearby parishioner or simply listening is appropriate.
The Divine Liturgy and Holy Communion
The Divine Liturgy is the greatest form of worship and thanksgiving at Holy Angels. Reception of Holy Communion, the Body and Blood of Christ, is understood as an external sign of the unity of the members of the Catholic Church. Those who have prepared themselves through fasting and moral readiness and who share the Catholic faith, regardless of ritual church (Byzantine Catholic, Roman Catholic, or otherwise), are invited to approach the altar and receive the Divine Eucharist.
The parish teaches a clear sequence for approaching the chalice: bow and cross oneself; say one's first name to the priest if he might not know it; move immediately in front of the priest; stand straight and do not bend the knees; hold the red cloth to the chin with both hands; tilt the head back slightly without closing the eyes; and open the mouth widely without extending the tongue. The priest brings a small spoon to the mouth and gently places the Eucharist in it. There is no need to say "Amen" at this moment; the worshipper waits for the priest to draw his hand away, then closes the mouth, steps aside, bows and crosses oneself, and returns to one's place.
Confessions are heard regularly on Saturdays from 4:00 to 4:45 PM, thirty minutes before every liturgical service, and by appointment. A priest waiting at a front pew near the tetrapod, or an open southern door on the icon screen, signals that he is available; worshippers approach the icon of Christ on the icon screen and wait.
The Daily Round of Prayer
Beyond the Sunday Divine Liturgy, Holy Angels teaches a structured life of prayer built around the Divine Praises of the Byzantine Tradition. The formal prayer of the Church runs through Vespers (evening prayer), Compline (night prayer before sleep), the Midnight Office, Matins (morning prayer), and the brief "Hours" of the day: the First Hour (about 7 AM), the Third Hour (about 9 AM), the Sixth Hour at noon, and the Ninth Hour at about 3 PM. In the Byzantine understanding, the liturgical day begins with Vespers as darkness falls.
Matins is often considered the most beautiful and most complex service of the Byzantine rite. Its central hymn is the Canon, a series of eight poetic odes; in parish practice only a selection of the odes is sung. On Sundays and holy days when Festal Matins is served, a gospel reading is included, after which the faithful come forward to venerate the gospel book and the icon lying on the tetrapod.
The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is celebrated during the Great Fast, the Byzantine Lenten season. The Eucharistic gifts are presanctified, usually at the preceding Sunday's Divine Liturgy, so there is no Anaphora; Holy Communion is distributed as consecrated bread placed in ordinary wine. On each Friday of the Great Fast the parish offers a supper of soup, bread, and salad in the social hall after the 6 PM Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, accompanied by a teaching from Fr. James.
Eastern Christian Formation
Religious education at Holy Angels is called Eastern Christian Formation (ECF). The youth program meets on Sundays following the Divine Liturgy and ends at 11:30 AM. Classes are organized for Pre-K and Kindergarten, Grades 1 to 2, Grades 3 to 5, Grades 6 to 8, and Grades 9 to 12. Teachers are vetted through the Eparchial Safe Environment Program and take part in annual training.
The Byzanteens, the parish youth group, take part in annual youth events. The Myrrh-Bearers gather for women's formation, and Alive in Christ is the parallel program for young men. Adult education programs run locally at different times during the year, and online study is available through the Sts. Cyril and Methodius Seminary. In the fall of 2019 a broader online resource, God with Us Online, was created by the publishing arm of the Eastern Catholic Bishops of the United States.
A Slavic Table: The Ethnic Foods Program
One of the parish's most distinctive works is its ethnic foods operation, prepared using traditional Slavic recipes and sold through the social hall beneath the church. People across Southern California look for the parish's kolbasi, holubky, pirohi, and Easter breads. The operation is a significant fundraiser for the parish and a tangible expression of its Ruthenian and broader Slavic heritage.
The menu includes fresh or smoked kolbasi, mild or spicy, sold by the link for $11; holubky (stuffed cabbages), six per package for $12; kolace sweet rolls in apricot, raspberry, poppy seed, walnut, or prune at $11 each; rozky (crescent rolls) in the same five fillings, a dozen for $8; and pirohi in potato with cheese and onion, sauerkraut, prune, or farmers cheese, a dozen for $8. Smoked ribs are $20 a rack. Easter brings small (one-pound) Paska bread at $5, large (two-pound) loaves at $8, and butter lambs at $5. Oplatky wafers, used at the Christmas Eve supper, are $2 a package.
The social hall is open Monday and Tuesday from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM, Friday and Saturday from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM, and Sunday from 10:30 to 11:30 AM. The hall is closed on major Byzantine holy days, civil holidays, and when no volunteers are available, and is never open on Great and Holy Friday; there are no ethnic foods sales from Pascha (Easter) through Thomas Sunday. The parish asks that customers call ahead at 858-268-3458 to confirm availability and that only cash or checks be used.
The Byzantine Bookshelf
Adjacent to the social hall, the Byzantine Bookshelf offers icons, books, and items for home icon corners. Items not in stock can be ordered by special arrangement, and all donations go into the parish's fundraising account. The shop is open on Sundays from 10:30 to 11:00 AM and by appointment.
A Prayer for the Deliverance of Ukraine
The parish keeps a special prayer for the deliverance of Ukraine in this time of invasion, adapted from the Great Book of Needs. The priest prays that God look down with mercy on the nation, that the humble servants who defend their homeland and its suffering people receive courage and protection, that those who lay down their lives and the innocent civilians killed in the war receive forgiveness of their trespasses and incorruptible crowns at the righteous reckoning, and that the evil plans of the enemy be thwarted. The parish points worshippers to three 501(c)(3) organizations that direct humanitarian aid to Ukraine: Revived Soldiers Ukraine, the United Ukrainian American Relief Committee, and the Ukrainian National Women's League of America.
Becoming a Parishioner
Parishioners of Holy Angels are those who wish to seek the Lord Jesus Christ through his Word and Holy Mysteries, help form a spiritual family based on the Lord's love, accept the teachings of the Catholic Church, acknowledge the legitimate authority of the Pope, Bishop, and Pastor, are willing to grow as Christians through legitimate Byzantine Christian spiritual traditions, attend liturgical services regularly on Sundays and great holy days, and support the work and growth of the Church by sharing their time, talent, and treasure at parochial, eparchial, and global levels.
Registered parishioners receive the benefit of the Holy Mysteries of Initiation (Baptism, Chrismation, and First Divine Eucharist, arranged two months in advance for infants and children and at least nine months in advance for adults); regular confessions; home and hospital visitation by the priest, including the Anointing of the Sick before major surgery; the Crowning in Marriage (which requires at least six months of membership for one of the parties); funerals led by the priest; and the option of requesting liturgy and lamp intentions for living or deceased loved ones, with cards mailed by request. Stewardship envelopes are issued annually to every registered household.
Funerals and Memorials in the Byzantine Tradition
Christian burial is the right of all baptized Christians and includes the prayers of the Church led by a member of the clergy. Funeral services in the church are the right of parishioners who, when able, were committed to the parish through regular attendance and stewardship. Cremation is permitted but not encouraged and is to take place following funeral services in church. Eulogies by the laity are not part of funeral services in the church.
The viewing, often called a wake, may be held in a funeral home or at the parish church. The hands of the deceased are often crossed in the form of an X as customary during prayer. The body is dressed in festive clothes in good condition. In the Byzantine tradition this service is the Parastas and/or the Panachida. It is appropriate to read from the Psalter throughout the viewing.
The funeral is the main prayer for the soul of the deceased. For parishioners, the Divine Liturgy may be celebrated as part of the funeral service. Any displayed photographs of the deceased remain in the narthex. At the cemetery, a brief service is held before the casket is lowered. Christians are traditionally buried facing East so that, at the resurrection, they will arise facing Christ who, according to Scripture, comes from the East.
Memorial services are offered on the third day (often the funeral itself), the ninth day, and the fortieth day (or the Saturday nearest), as well as at the six-month and one-year marks and each subsequent year. When the funeral is held in church, a mercy meal often follows in the social hall, with a meatless (and dairyless) meal offered during fasting seasons.
Visiting Holy Angels
The parish office sits adjacent to the church property at 2235 Galahad Road, San Diego, CA 92123-3931, in the Angel Heights area of Serra Mesa, just north of Interstate 8 and overlooking Mission Valley. Visitors coming from I-805 take the Phyllis Place and Murray Ridge Road exit east, turn right on Encino Avenue, and then right again on Galahad Road; the church is at the end of the street. The parish office can be reached at 858-277-2511, with email PastorHASD@gmail.com. The social hall and ethnic foods line is 858-268-3458. Driving directions are available online, and online giving accepts one-time gifts, weekly tithes, and monthly tithes. The parish shares bulletins and updates on its Facebook page.
Fr. James invites visitors to join the liturgical services and to consider Holy Angels a spiritual home: "If you are searching for a spiritual home, consider Holy Angels Church. We are always honored and blessed to have visitors join us for prayer, worship, and fellowship." The parish's namesake patronal icon, painted by Oleh Skoropadsky, gathers Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, and seven other named angels beneath the gilded domes of Angel Heights.