About Holy Dormition · Sybertsville, Pennsylvania
The Holy Dormition Byzantine Franciscan Friary (also referred to as Holy Dormition Monastery) was a Byzantine Catholic Franciscan community situated on a roughly 70-acre property along State Route 93 in Sybertsville, Sugarloaf Township, Pennsylvania — convenient to the highway but set back into quiet grounds that served as a refuge for travelers and pilgrims. As a Brotherhood of St. Francis of Assisi living in the Byzantine (Ruthenian) Catholic tradition, the friars worshipped in the Byzantine liturgical rite while sharing the Franciscan charism of prayer, fraternity, and simplicity. The community's primary service was to the Byzantine Catholic Church, with secondary ministry to Roman Catholic parishes in the Diocese of Scranton. After nearly seventy-five years of continuous service, lack of vocations and financial strain led the friars to formally close the house in late January 2021.
- Established
- 1940s
- Patron
- The Dormition of the Mother of God (the 'Falling Asleep' of the Blessed Virgin Mary)
- Rector
- Rev. Jerome Wolbert, OSF (guardian of the house at the time of closing)
- Diocese
- Ruthenian Diocese of Passaic (Byzantine Catholic); geographically within the territory of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Scranton
Why belong here
The Holy Dormition friars welcomed anyone drawn to Byzantine Catholic spirituality — Ruthenian faithful visiting from Hazleton, Scranton, or further afield, secular Franciscans, and Roman Catholics curious about Eastern liturgy — to pray in their quiet chapel, walk the woodland grounds, or join the Sunday Divine Liturgy in English. The community's open-hearted Franciscan hospitality made the chapel a peaceful refuge from the highway traffic between I-80 and I-81, and its gift shop offered icons, books, and medals to take home. (The friary's regular public liturgical life has now concluded; the canonical Shrine and community life of the nearby St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Church in Hazleton continues much of the Byzantine Catholic ministry once served from Sybertsville.)
Mass times at Holy Dormition
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Friday 3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
- Friday 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
- If no priest is available, a notice was placed on the friary voicemail in advance
About the Holy Dormition Byzantine Franciscan Friary
The Holy Dormition Byzantine Franciscan Friary in Sybertsville was a small monastic community of Byzantine-rite Franciscan friars living on a quiet, roughly 70-acre property along Pennsylvania State Route 93 in Sugarloaf Township, Luzerne County. The friars' mission statement framed them as a Brotherhood of Saint Francis participating in the life of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, 'empowered to joyfully live and preach the Gospel Life,' seeking 'to share the faith heritage of the Byzantine peoples with our Order and the whole Church.' Their primary ministry was to Byzantine Catholics and the wider Franciscan family, but they explicitly opened their hearts to 'all our brothers and sisters of the Catholic faith' and additionally served several Roman Catholic parishes in the Diocese of Scranton. Their charism was a self-described witness that 'God is with us' (a phrase that is itself the meaning of the name 'Emmanuel' and the heartbeat of the Byzantine paschal greeting). The community lived out the Gospel life 'in prayer, fraternity, and simplicity,' and strove to 'respect the image of God in each person we encounter' through peaceful reconciliation of the broken and the suffering with Christ.
- A Brotherhood of St. Francis of Assisi living in the Byzantine (Ruthenian) liturgical tradition
- Primary service: to the Byzantine Catholic Church
- Secondary service: Roman Catholic parishes in the Diocese of Scranton
- Welcoming all Catholic faithful and the wider Franciscan family
History & Origins
The Holy Dormition Friary took shape in the 1940s as one of several Eastern Catholic monastic foundations nurtured by Bishop Daniel Ivancho of the Byzantine-Ruthenian Exarchate of Pittsburgh during his short but transformative episcopacy (1946–1954). According to the official Archeparchy of Pittsburgh history, Ivancho 'encouraged the founding of Eastern monastic communities' — among them a group of Benedictine monks in the Pittsburgh area, Benedictine sisters in Warren, Ohio, and the Franciscan Friars at Holy Dormition in Sybertsville. The Hazleton Standard-Speaker dates the friary's opening to the 1940s; counting to 2021 gives it 'nearly 75 years' of continuous service. What made the foundation remarkable — and the subject of academic study in Drew A. Stuart's 2013 article 'A Synthesis of Traditions: Byzantine Catholics within Two Roman Catholic Religious Orders' in Logos — was its hybrid character: Franciscan religious life rooted in the Latin-rule Order of Friars Minor, but lived in the Byzantine monastic and liturgical tradition, which traditionally organizes religious life house by house under its own typikon rather than by religious order. Stuart's interviews with the Sybertsville community documented a way of life placed 'at the crossroads of some of the major events of the past century,' from the Russian Revolution and Communist persecution of Eastern Catholics to the Second Vatican Council and the post-1991 emergence of underground Eastern Catholic communities in the former Soviet Union. By the early 2020s the community was visibly aging — the average age of the friars had reached 76 — and in late January 2021 the friars announced the closing of the house. A final prayer service of thanksgiving was held on January 31, 2021, the community's furnishings and icons were distributed to other Byzantine and Franciscan missions across the country, much of the 70-acre property was sold, and the remaining friars stayed on a portion of the land through the transition.
- Founded in the 1940s in Sugarloaf Twp., Pennsylvania
- One of the Byzantine monastic foundations linked to Bishop Daniel Ivancho's program in the Pittsburgh Exarchate
- Tied to the broader story of Eastern Catholic monasticism in 20th-century America
- Closed in late January 2021 due to lack of vocations and financial strain
A Byzantine Synthesis Within the Franciscan Order
The friary's distinctive experiment — Eastern Christian monastic spirituality within a Latin-rule Western order — was anchored in the Order of Friars Minor (the Franciscans) but lived under a Byzantine typikon drawn from the desert fathers. The 2013 Logos study compared the Byzantine Franciscans to Latin Franciscans on the one hand and to Athonite monastics on the other, concluding that 'within the lives of those examined here, one finds a synthesis of the Byzantine tradition and the traditions of the particular order without sacrificing the integrity of the former to the demands of the latter.'
- Member of the Order of Friars Minor
- Part of the Secular Franciscan Order (OFS-USA) orbit for Byzantine Franciscans in the world
- Under the canonical authority of the Ruthenian (Byzantine) Diocese of Passaic
- Conventually attached to the Franciscan Assumption BVM Province
Liturgical Schedule (Byzantine Rite)
The friary celebrated the Byzantine Divine Liturgy in English, with one Sunday liturgy and a weekday liturgy most days. The WordPress site's stated schedule was: Sundays at 7:00 a.m., and most Monday-through-Saturday days at 7:45 a.m., with anyone wishing to confirm a particular liturgy day invited to call Br. Gus at (570) 788-1212 ext. 404. As is customary in Byzantine practice, the liturgical calendar also gave a prominent place to the great feasts of the Theotokos — the patron of the friary being her 'Dormition,' celebrated on August 15.
- Sunday Divine Liturgy — 7:00 a.m.
- Most weekdays (Mon–Sat) Divine Liturgy — 7:45 a.m.
- Confirm specific days with Br. Gus, ext. 404
Clergy, Community & Staff
The friary was led by a guardian (the Franciscan equivalent of a superior). At the time of the 2021 closing the guardian was the Rev. Jerome Wolbert, OSF, who also served as pastor of St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Church in nearby Hazleton. Br. Gus was the lay-brother contact for confirming daily liturgy (extension 404). Because the community was small and aging, all pastoral work — including the monastic Divine Liturgy schedule and parish ministry in Hazleton — leaned heavily on a handful of elderly friars, a fact that ultimately drove the decision to close.
- Rev. Jerome Wolbert, OSF — guardian of the house
- Br. Gus — daily liturgy contact, ext. 404
- Average age of resident friars at closing: 76
Visiting the Friary
The WordPress site welcomed casual visitors as well as the regularly devout: 'Holy Dormition Friary in Sybertsville is convenient to the highway, but set back from the road, our quiet chapel is a pleasant refuge from the roar of traffic and business on PA-93 between I-80 and I-81. Many people stop in through the day to pray in the chapel or to walk the beautiful grounds.' Emmaus Hall was available for conferences when pandemic conditions allowed, and the on-site gift shop (open on request) sold icons, books, medals, and more.
- Open chapel for drop-in prayer
- Woodland grounds for walking and quiet reflection
- Gift shop — icons, books, medals (on request)
- Emmaus Hall available for conferences
Contact & Location
Mail and visitors were directed to 712 State Route 93, Sybertsville PA 18251, with telephone (570) 788-1212 (extension 404 for Br. Gus to confirm a liturgy). The general email listed on the site's footer was [email protected]. The friary's WordPress URL was ofmpa.wordpress.com (also referenced in some directories as byzfranciscan.org), and the community maintained a Facebook page under the handle 'byzantine.franciscans.'
- Address: 712 State Hwy 93, Sybertsville PA 18251
- Phone: (570) 788-1212
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: ofmpa.wordpress.com
- Facebook: byzantine.franciscans
Affiliations & Related Franciscan Sites
The friary's site linked out to its wider ecclesial and Franciscan family — the global Order of Friars Minor, the Secular Franciscan Order (OFS-USA), the Assumption BVM Province of the Franciscans, the Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh (the mother church of U.S. Byzantine Catholics), and the Ruthenian Eparchy of Passaic (the Byzantine Catholic diocese with canonical jurisdiction over the Sybertsville community).
- Order of Friars Minor
- Secular Franciscan Order (OFS-USA)
- Assumption BVM Province
- Archeparchy of Pittsburgh (Metropolitan see of Byzantine Catholics in the U.S.)
- Eparchy of Passaic (Ruthenian Byzantine Catholic diocese)
Closing of the Friary (January 2021)
On January 11, 2021 the Hazleton Standard-Speaker reported that the Holy Dormition Monastery in Sugarloaf Township was closing after nearly 75 years of service due to lack of vocations and financial strain. Father Jerome Wolbert noted that the average age of the friars was 76 and that none of the younger friars available were familiar with the Byzantine Rite — and a building campaign alone could not remedy the absence of men to serve there. A final prayer service of thanksgiving was scheduled for January 31, 2021 in the chapel. Sacred items were to be redistributed to churches and missions across the country, burial sites on the 70-acre property were relocated, and much of the property itself was sold (the buyer was undisclosed at the time). The friars continued to live on a portion of the property through the transition.
- Announced: January 11, 2021 (Hazleton Standard-Speaker)
- Reason: aging community (avg. age 76), lack of vocations, financial strain
- Final prayer service: January 31, 2021, 2:00 p.m., in the chapel
- Sacred items redistributed to other Byzantine and Franciscan missions
- Bulk of the 70-acre property sold; friars continued living on a portion