About Byzantine Catholic Community of Austin · Austin, Texas
The Byzantine Catholic Community of Austin is the organized worshiping community of the Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh (Ruthenian) for the Austin, Texas, metro area. Founded in 2001, it gathers for the Byzantine Divine Liturgy every Sunday evening and celebrates the major feasts of the Eastern Christian calendar — including Great Lent, Holy Week, Pascha, and Annunciation — with Molebens, Vespers, Typika, and reader services. The community meets at Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church on East 11th Street and offers Byzantine Catholics in Central Texas an Eastern-rite spiritual home within full communion with Rome.
- Established
- 2001
- Rector
- Pastoral oversight: Very Rev. Fr. Elias L. Rafaj, SEOL (pastor of St. Basil the Great Byzantine Catholic Church, Irving, Texas). Regular presider: Fr. Peter Davids (Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter).
- Diocese
- Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh (Ruthenian)
Why belong here
If you are a Byzantine Catholic living in Central Texas — or simply drawn to the ancient Christian liturgical tradition of the East — the Byzantine Catholic Community of Austin is one of the few places in the region where you can worship in full communion with Rome using the Byzantine rite. Weekly Sunday evening Divine Liturgy (or Typika when a priest is unavailable) keeps the community's prayer rhythm regular, while the Great Fast, Holy Week, Pascha, Annunciation, and other major feasts are marked with sung Vespers, Molebens, the Great Canon of Repentance, Royal Hours, and Lenten potlucks. The community is small, lay-led, and warmly hospitable — a rare Eastern-rite spiritual home in the heart of Austin.
Mass times at Byzantine Catholic Community of Austin
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Before the Sunday Divine Liturgy
- By appointment with Fr. Peter Davids
About the Byzantine Catholic Community of Austin
The Byzantine Catholic Community of Austin is the official organized worshiping community of the Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh — the Ruthenian Byzantine Catholic Church in the United States — for the Austin, Texas metro area. It has served Byzantine Catholics in Central Texas since 2001, providing them an Eastern-rite spiritual home within full communion with the Pope of Rome. Week by week, the community prays the Byzantine Divine Liturgy in the heart of East Austin, sharing worship space with the Roman Catholic parish of Holy Cross on East 11th Street.
History and Pastoral Oversight
Established in 2001 under the Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh, the Austin community was created to minister to Byzantine-rite Catholics scattered across Central Texas. Pastoral oversight has long been provided by Very Rev. Fr. Elias L. Rafaj, SEOL, pastor of St. Basil the Great Byzantine Catholic Church in Irving, Texas, who travels to serve this and other mission communities. In more recent years, the regular presider at the Sunday Divine Liturgy has been Fr. Peter Davids, a bi-ritual priest of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter (an Anglican-tradition ordinariate) who also serves as chaplain for the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist in Georgetown.
- Founded in 2001 as the Ruthenian Byzantine mission for Central Texas.
- Pastoral oversight: Very Rev. Fr. Elias L. Rafaj, SEOL (St. Basil the Great, Irving, TX).
- Regular presider: Fr. Peter Davids (Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter).
- Featured in Catholic Review/OSV News (2024) as an example of bi-ritual Eastern-rite ministry.
Worship and Sunday Services
The community gathers every Sunday evening for the Byzantine Divine Liturgy — the Eastern equivalent of the Roman Mass — in English with elements of the Byzantine liturgical tradition (Church Slavonic responses, Byzantine chant). When a priest cannot be present, a Typika (reader service of the Divine Liturgy) is celebrated so the community's weekly prayer never skips a beat. Confessions are heard before the Liturgy or by appointment.
- Sunday Divine Liturgy: 5:00 PM at Holy Cross Catholic Church, 1610 E. 11th St.
- Typika (reader service): held when no priest is available on a given Sunday.
- Reader services: all major feast days of the Byzantine calendar.
- Confessions: before the Divine Liturgy or by appointment with Fr. Peter Davids.
Great Lent, Holy Week, and Pascha
The full Byzantine cycle of Great Lent and Holy Week is observed. Sundays in the Great Fast commemorate key themes — Orthodoxy, St. Gregory Palamas, the Veneration of the Cross, St. John Climacus, and St. Mary of Egypt — and are followed by Vespers and potluck dinners. Mid-week, parishioners gather at the Rhodes home for Lenten Liturgy Classes and a simple supper. Holy Week itself brings the Moleben of the Great Canon of Repentance, the Akathist Hymn, Forgiveness Vespers on Cheesefare Sunday, Vespers for Great and Holy Thursday, and the Ninth Royal Hour and Entombment Vespers of Great and Holy Friday. Pascha — the Resurrection of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ — is celebrated with the Paschal Divine Liturgy and Agape Vespers.
- Sundays of the Great Fast with Divine Liturgy & Sunday Evening Vespers
- Lenten Potluck Dinners
- Lenten Liturgy Classes at the Rhodes home
- Moleben of the Great Canon of Repentance (Service of Prostrations)
- Akathist Hymn (Saturday of the Fifth Week)
- Pysanky (Ukrainian Easter egg) workshop
- Vespers for Great and Holy Thursday; Ninth Royal Hour, Typika & Entombment Vespers for Holy Friday
- Paschal Divine Liturgy and Agape Vespers
Major Feasts and Devotions
Outside of Great Lent and Holy Week, the community gathers for reader services on all the major feasts of the Byzantine calendar, including Vespers for the Annunciation of the Theotokos and other Marian feasts, together with Moleben services in honor of Christ, the Mother of God, and the Saints. The Annunciation often coincides with the Divine Liturgy for Palm Sunday in the Byzantine calendar, and both are celebrated together.
- Annunciation of the Theotokos (Vespers combined with Palm Sunday)
- Sunday of Meat-fare (Commemoration of the Second Coming)
- Sunday of Cheese-fare (Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise)
- Reader services for all major feast days
Holy Mysteries (Sacraments)
The Byzantine Catholic tradition recognizes seven Holy Mysteries (Sacraments): Baptism, Chrismation (Confirmation), Eucharist, Repentance (Confession), Anointing of the Sick, Marriage (Crowning), and Holy Orders. The community provides the Mysteries in their Byzantine form for members and inquirers.
- Repentance (Confession): before the Sunday Divine Liturgy or by appointment with Fr. Peter Davids.
- Marriage (Holy Crowning): contact the rectory / Very Rev. Fr. Elias L. Rafaj.
- Anointing of the Sick: contact the rectory.
- Baptism, Chrismation, and Eucharist: arranged with the clergy.
- Holy Orders: discerned and arranged with the Archeparchy of Pittsburgh.
Community Life and Getting Involved
Like most Byzantine Catholic mission parishes, the Austin community runs on the welcome and hard work of its lay faithful. Hospitality flourishes at Lenten potluck dinners, parish classes hosted in parishioners' homes, the annual pysanky workshop, and shared meals after major feast-day liturgies. Visitors, inquirers, and Eastern-rite Catholics passing through Central Texas are warmly welcomed at the Sunday services.
- Lenten Potluck Dinners after select Sunday Divine Liturgies
- Lenten Liturgy Classes at the Rhodes home
- Pysanky (Ukrainian Easter egg) demonstration during Great Lent
- Hospitality and shared meals after major feast-day liturgies
Location, Contact, and Archeparchy
The community meets at Holy Cross Catholic Church, 1610 E. 11th St., Austin, TX 78702, in East Austin. Upcoming services, schedule changes, and feast-day announcements are posted on the community's official website. Mailing and clergy contact run through the rectory of St. Basil the Great Byzantine Catholic Church in Irving, Texas, where the overseeing pastor, Very Rev. Fr. Elias L. Rafaj, is based. As part of the Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh (Ruthenian), the community is in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church and the Holy See.
- Worship address: Holy Cross Catholic Church, 1610 E. 11th St., Austin, TX 78702
- Website: http://austinbyzantine.org/
- Archeparchy: Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh (Ruthenian), under Metropolitan Archbishop William Skurla
- Overseeing pastor: Very Rev. Fr. Elias L. Rafaj, SEOL (St. Basil the Great, Irving, TX)