St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church stands on President Street in Passaic, New Jersey, a short walk from the Clifton border. Founded in 1910 by immigrants from the Zakarpattia region of Ukraine and served by 29 pastors since, it is one of only four remaining Ukrainian Catholic day schools in the country and one of the longest-running Ukrainian Greek Catholic parishes in northern New Jersey. The parish keeps the Byzantine-Slavic Christian tradition alive through English and Ukrainian Divine Liturgies, the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate in its school, and a working pyrohy kitchen whose dumplings continue to underwrite much of parish life.
An Eastern Catholic Church in Full Communion with Rome
St. Nicholas is an Eastern, or Byzantine, rite Catholic parish in full communion with the Holy See of Rome. The Ukrainian Catholic Church traces its roots to 988, when Prince Volodymyr of Kyiv made the Byzantine-Slavic Christian tradition the national religion of Ukraine. In 1596 the Union of Brest brought the Ukrainian hierarchy into communion with the Bishop of Rome while preserving the traditional Eastern rite of the Kievan Church, and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church began its long institutional life. Today it is the largest Eastern Catholic Church, with more than five million faithful worldwide.
Several practices mark Ukrainian Catholic worship as distinct from Roman Catholic worship. The faithful cross themselves from right to left, rather than left to right. Holy Communion is always given by a priest directly into the mouths of communicants using a spoon. Married men may be ordained as priests or deacons, while unmarried clergy may not marry and widowed clergy may not remarry. The Divine Liturgies of St. John Chrysostom and St. Basil the Great, celebrated here in place of the Roman Mass, differ in form from the rite reformed by the Second Vatican Council. The Creed is recited in its original form without the Filioque, the added words "and the Son." All Catholics in good standing may receive Holy Communion in Ukrainian Catholic churches.
The Ukrainian Catholic Church in the United States is led by His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Major Archbishop of Kyiv-Galicia, with a Metropolitan Archeparchial see in Philadelphia and three Eparchies in Stamford, Connecticut; Chicago, Illinois; and Parma, Ohio. St. Nicholas belongs to the Philadelphia Archeparchy.
From a Hall in Clifton to a Parish on Van Buren Street, 1909 to 1910
St. Nicholas was organized on July 30, 1909, when nine men, most of them former members of the St. Nicholas Brotherhood of the Apostles Ss. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church, met to found a Ukrainian Catholic parish. The founders were Alexander Pelak, Aftanaz Gadzejka, Alexander Chowanec, Constantine Petryk, Flavian Kuzmiak, Paul Barna, Ambroze Zilich, John Shafran, and Adam Yaschyshak. They sought spiritual direction from Bishop Soter Ortynsky, the first Ukrainian Greek Catholic bishop in the United States, who assigned Rev. Oleksa Prystay to the new community.
Rev. Prystay had been commissioned by the Bishop of Lviv to build churches for the faithful in Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey. He arrived in Clifton in July 1909 and soon gathered thirty families and fifteen single men and women from the surrounding Paterson and Singac areas, raising thirty dollars in the first donations. The parish grew quickly. By March 1910 it counted 221 families and 345 single men and women.
The first Divine Liturgy was celebrated by a Rev. Kudsiu in a hall on Lakeview Avenue in Clifton. The congregation then purchased three lots on Van Buren Street in Passaic, signed a building contract on September 14, 1910, and broke ground five days later. When the builder proved unable to complete the work, Rev. Prystay stepped in as contractor himself. The foundation was blessed on October 8, 1910, and on November 27, 1910, Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky, attending a Eucharistic Congress in Montreal, came to Passaic at the parish's invitation and blessed the cornerstone of the new church.
Four Waves of Immigrants
Over more than a century the parish has absorbed four waves of Ukrainian immigration, each leaving its mark on the life of the church. The first wave, between 1879 and 1914, came from the Zakarpattia region with the promise of work in the coal mines, on farms, and in industrial factories. The Lemky, from the westernmost part of Ukraine, and later Galicians and Bukovynians followed.
After the Second World War, between 1946 and 1952, displaced persons from a war-torn Europe poured into the parish. Many had fled Soviet rule and came with a fierce determination to show the world that Ukraine was a separate and distinct culture deserving of its own borders. The church became their haven and the center of their community, and many civic organizations were born in these years to support love and respect for the Ukrainian nation.
The third wave, in the 1960s, brought Ukrainians who had been forcibly assimilated into the Polish nation, carrying a quiet blend of humility and confidence. The fourth wave began in 1991 with Ukrainian independence, bringing a generation that had been excluded from global affairs under communism into the fast pace of American life.
Building the Present Church, 1963 to 1972
By the 1960s the parish had outgrown the Van Buren Street church. In 1963 the original building was sold to another Christian immigrant congregation, and the parish worshipped for eighteen months in the school auditorium on President Street. Two adjacent homes were purchased, the architect Apollonius Osadsa drew plans for a much larger church, and a groundbreaking was held in the summer of 1968. On Christmas Eve, December 24, 1969, the first Divine Liturgy was celebrated in the new, still-incomplete building, and on May 21, 1972, Bishop Basil Losten blessed and dedicated the structure that houses the parish today.
That same decade, in 1964, the former Daughters of Miriam Home for the Aged, across from the existing school, was purchased and refurbished for the lower grades. In the autumn of 1976, Patriarch Joseph Slipyj, head of the worldwide Ukrainian Catholic Church then based in Rome, paid a pastoral visit, and a Studite monastery was established on the church property. Rev. Rafael Turkoniak, a Studite monk and ordained priest, arrived from Rome as assistant pastor in 1978. The Studite Brothers completed the interior of the monastic building and prepared the icons for the new iconostasis, which was installed in 1979.
Rev. Walter Bilynsky, pastor from November 1948 until May 1982, had earlier overseen a wave of post-war expansion. Two multi-dwelling houses were purchased to house assistant pastors and to convert into a convent for the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate, the religious teachers of the school. By the end of his tenure the parish had finally paid off its debts. The 75th Jubilee was marked in 1985 with a Pontifical Divine Liturgy and a gala banquet at the Westmount Country Club in Woodland Park, attended by Patriarch Josyf, Archimandrite Lubomyr Husar, Bishop Rodiemer of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson, and civic dignitaries from Clifton, Passaic, and the surrounding area. After Ukrainian independence in 1991, the Studite monastery relocated to Lviv. Beginning in 2001, the parish has been served by priests from the native homeland, including Rev. Paul Repela (2001 to 2003), Rev. Ihor Royik (2003 to 2007), and the current pastor, Rev. Andriy Dudkevych, who arrived with his family in September 2007.
Wartime Devotion and the Ladies Auxiliary
The Second World War drew 380 sons and daughters of the parish into the armed forces. Each Monday evening, parishioners gathered to pray the Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus for the safety of those in service and for the end of hostilities. Ten of those enlisted were killed, and their names are enshrined on a plaque in the church vestibule: Stanislaus Winiarski, John Harboy, Joseph Bortnichak, Anthony Minko, Nicholas Capowski, Paul Pochmursky, Stephen Kucha, Anthony Hrubec, John Bulyn, and Peter Yaciniak. Throughout the war the Ladies Auxiliary, founded in 1939 by Mrs. Ann Skapiak, Mrs. Margaret Fortuna, Mrs. Maria Maik, Mrs. Rose Leciston, Mrs. Julie Retkwa, and Miss Helen Ressetar, kept a perpetual vigil lamp burning before the altar. After the war, the auxiliary hosted a "Welcome Home" banquet in June 1946 that remains vivid in the memory of the parish's oldest members.
Divine Liturgy in English and Ukrainian
Two Divine Liturgies are celebrated on most Sundays at St. Nicholas: an English liturgy at 8:30 AM and a Ukrainian liturgy at 10:30 AM. Saturday brings two Ukrainian Divine Liturgies, at 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM, the evening service serving as the vigil. On weekdays, Divine Liturgy is celebrated Tuesday through Friday at 7:00 AM, shifting to 8:00 AM during the summer. Holy Days are marked at 9:00 AM, with a Vesper with Litia at 6:30 PM on the eve of Holy Days.
Confessions are heard regularly before all Divine Liturgies on Saturday evening, Sundays, and Holy Days. Couples preparing for marriage meet with Fr. Andriy at least six months in advance, attend the Pre Cana courses scheduled within the deanery, and finalize all the legal and pastoral details of the upcoming wedding. The parish's sacramental life includes the seven Holy Mysteries of the Eastern Church: Baptism, Chrismation, Eucharist, Repentance, Holy Anointing, Marriage, and Orders.
Meet the Pastor: Rev. Andriy Dudkevych
Fr. Andriy was born July 17, 1971, in the village of Kupchyntsi in the Kozivsky District of the Ternopil region, in a priestly family. In 1989 he passed the entrance exams to the Ivano-Frankivsk Spiritual Catechetical Institute, and in 1994 he was accepted by Bishop Michael Koltun to the Zboriv diocese. He married Polivchak Mary, the daughter of a priest from the village of Potutory in the Berezhany district, with the bishop's blessing in July 1994. On November 10, 1994, on the feast of the Holy Martyr Paraskeva Pyatnytsia, he was ordained a deacon by Bishop Koltun, and on September 21, 1995, at the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Zboriv, he was ordained to the priesthood and assigned to the parish in the village of Hai-Roototsky in the Zalozetsky Deanery of the Ternopil Diocese. A son, Ivan, was born in January 1997. The family arrived in America in 2003 and was admitted to the Philadelphia Archdiocese for pastoral ministry by Metropolitan Stefan Soroka. A daughter, Marta-Maria, was born on August 23, 2008.
Fr. Andriy is supported by a team of lay and religious leaders. The parish school principal is Sr. Eliane Ilnitski, SSMI. The Sunday Catechism coordinator is Sr. Cecelia Sworin, SSMI. Two cantors lead the singing at the liturgies: Anatoly Dolyk at the Ukrainian liturgy and Jerome Mykietyn at the English liturgy. Orest Rusynko serves as Parish Festival Director.
St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic School
St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic School, located at 223 President Street, is one of only four remaining Ukrainian Catholic day schools within the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of the United States. Construction on a three-story brick schoolhouse at 212 President Street began in the autumn of 1921 under Rev. Oleksa Prystay. Although originally intended as a day school, the building functioned for years as an evening school, since child labor laws did not yet exist and children as young as seven labored long hours to supplement the family income. Secular teachers and the pastor taught the children Ukrainian culture, music, and Eastern Catholic worship traditions.
The Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate, an order founded in Zhuzhel, Ukraine, in 1892 and sent to Canada in 1902 to begin work among the Ukrainian people, arrived at St. Nicholas in June 1939. The first thirty-nine children received their First Solemn Communion on Pentecost Sunday the following May. Today the school educates children from kindergarten through grade 8. The Sisters Servants continue to teach, joined by lay teachers who form the backbone of the daily program. The school is supported financially by the parish through the annual Alumni Appeal, a Monte Carlo Casino Night, the Annual Beefsteak Dinner, and the pyrohy kitchen, whose weekly profits and holiday bread sales are dedicated entirely to the school.
Eastern Christian Formation on Sundays
Parish children who attend public school gather for the Eastern Christian Formation (ECF) program each Sunday from 9:30 to 10:25 AM. Using the God With Us catechetical series, the program covers the Liturgical year, Eastern Rite prayers, the saints, the structure and priorities of church life, and the hierarchy and clergy. Children preparing for First Solemn Communion take part in a two-year course of study, and they continue in the program through high school after receiving the sacrament. Registration takes place on the last day of the school year. The coordinator, Sr. Cecelia Sworin, SSMI, can be reached at 58 Holdsworth Court, Passaic, NJ 07055, telephone (973) 778-0208.
Parish Organizations: From the Sodality Girls to the Pyrohy Kitchen
The Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, known affectionately as the "Sodality Girls at SNUCS," is open to girls in grades 3 through 8. Revived in 2013, the sodality meets monthly for an hour after school, and members are inducted on the Feast of the Presentation of Mary in the Temple. Through prayer, charitable outreach, decorating the church for Christmas, Great Friday, and Easter, and intercessory work for the sick and homebound, the sodalists aim to grow in personal sanctification and bring Christ to the world in the spirit of Mary the Theotokos.
The Altar Servers sodality is open to all young boys and men of the parish. After a two-day, two-hour training course, candidates are inducted before Divine Liturgy when they receive their dalmatic and the privilege of serving at the Liturgy. The servers are present at the Sunday Liturgies, Molebens, Feast Day celebrations, and processions.
The League of Ukrainian Catholics of America, founded in 1933 in Chicago by the late Metropolitan Ambrose Senyshyn as an extension of the Church in mission to the Ukrainian Catholic community, chartered its Garden State Council in 1984 and the St. Nicholas Chapter in 2015. The League promotes Ukrainian Catholic spirituality and education, supports parishes in the Byzantine tradition, builds community, and fosters the canonization process of the Servant of God Metropolitan Andrij Sheptytsky.
St. Nicholas Seniors, founded in 1983 by Rev. Hlib Lonchyna and Mrs. Anne Skapiak, brings together retired parishioners for fellowship. The club meets on the second Tuesday of every month, in both English and Ukrainian.
The Varenyky/Pyrohy Kitchen, run by a dedicated group of women, has been a working kitchen since the early years of the parish. Open Tuesday from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM and Wednesday through Friday from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM, the kitchen makes and sells pyrohy weekly and bakes traditional breads like paskas and babkas at Christmas and Easter. The kitchen's reputation draws customers from the surrounding three counties, and the proceeds continue to provide substantial income for the parish and school.
Hall for Rent, Outreach Drives, and Ukrainian Festival
The St. Nicholas Parish Hall, located at 212 President Street directly across from the church, is available for weekend evening rentals from 7:00 PM to 1:00 AM. Air-conditioned and handicapped accessible, the hall accommodates up to 230 people, includes use of a stage, round tables, chairs, and a kitchen refrigerator, and offers parking on the premises and on the street. It is a popular venue for baptism, communion, and confirmation receptions, graduations, birthdays, anniversaries, baby and wedding showers, quinceaneras, meetings, and educational programs.
The parish regularly runs an Annual Coat Drive for Ukraine and an Annual "Giving Christmas Tree" drive for children in Ukraine. A Ukrainian Festival, sponsored by St. Nicholas, has long been a feature of the parish calendar, drawing the wider community together. The Sodality Girls support the parish through holiday projects for the sick and homebound.
What the Parish Believes
The parish confesses the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, the Symbol of Faith recited at every Divine Liturgy: belief in one God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth; in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten not made, one in being with the Father, through whom all things were made, who for us and for our salvation came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man; who for our sake was crucified under Pontius Pilate, suffered, died, and was buried, who rose again on the third day, ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right of the Father, who will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. The parish confesses belief in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father, in one holy catholic and apostolic Church, in one baptism for the forgiveness of sins, in the resurrection of the dead, and in the life of the world to come.
Beyond the Creed, the parish teaches the Ten Commandments and the seven Holy Mysteries of the Eastern Church: Baptism, Chrismation, Eucharist, Repentance, Holy Anointing, Marriage, and Orders. The Catechism of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, Christ Our Pascha, guides the parish's teaching and sacramental life. In the Eastern tradition, the three Mysteries of Initiation, Baptism, Chrismation, and Holy Eucharist, are celebrated together as a single, united action of God's grace. Pastoral care for the sick and homebound is offered through Holy Anointing and the Eucharist, with the pastor available by phone for emergencies.