About Our Lady of Perpetual Help [Chaldean] · Orangevale, California
Our Lady of Perpetual Help is a Chaldean Catholic (East Syriac Rite) parish located at 7625 Hazel Avenue in Orangevale, California, serving the Chaldean and Assyrian Catholic faithful of the greater Sacramento area. The parish belongs to the Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of Saint Peter the Apostle (San Diego), an Eastern Catholic eparchy that covers the western United States, even though the church sits geographically within the territory of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento. The community gathers each Sunday for the Divine Liturgy celebrated in Chaldean (Aramaic), Arabic, and English under the pastoral care of Fr. Lucian Babaka.
- Established
- 2011
- Patron
- Our Lady of Perpetual Help (the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Perpetual Help)
- Rector
- Fr. Lucian Babaka
- Diocese
- Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of Saint Peter the Apostle (San Diego) — geographically located within the territory of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento
Why belong here
Our Lady of Perpetual Help offers Sacramento-area Chaldean and Assyrian Catholics — and anyone drawn to the East Syriac tradition — a place to worship in their own heritage language, Aramaic (alongside Arabic and English), every Sunday morning. It is a small, family-built community where laity and clergy prayed their way from a dream in 1984 to a consecrated church in 2011, and where children are catechized in both faith and Chaldean identity. Visitors are welcomed into a parish that maintains the Chaldean Rite of the Catholic Church in full communion with Rome while preserving the Aramaic liturgical language spoken by Jesus and the apostles.
Mass times at Our Lady of Perpetual Help [Chaldean]
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Available before or after Mass
Parish Identity and Eparchy
Our Lady of Perpetual Help is a Chaldean Catholic (East Syriac Rite) parish serving the Chaldean and Assyrian faithful of the greater Sacramento area from 7625 Hazel Avenue in Orangevale, California. Although geographically located within the territory of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento, the parish canonically belongs to the Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of Saint Peter the Apostle, an Eastern Catholic eparchy immediately subject to the Holy See that covers the western United States. This dual reality — Eastern-rite identity in a Latin-rite geographic setting — shapes the parish's distinctive liturgical life, celebrated in Chaldean (Aramaic), Arabic, and English.
- Rite: Chaldean / East Syriac
- Eparchy: Saint Peter the Apostle (San Diego)
- Geographic area: Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento
- Languages: Chaldean (Aramaic), Arabic, English
History: From a Dream in 1984 to a Consecrated Church in 2011
Chaldean and Assyrian Catholics had been attending liturgies at Roman Catholic parishes in the Diocese of Sacramento for more than thirty years before they had a church of their own. The first formal step came in 1984, when Tom Simon Nofaley was ordained a subdeacon and began dreaming of a dedicated Chaldean church. In 1995, Tom moved to Sacramento from Detroit after a serious illness and, encouraged by Fr. Kamal Bidawid, committed to building a parish. Originally planned under the patronage of the fourth-century Chaldean martyr St. Simon Barsabe, the project was renamed Our Lady of Perpetual Help at Fr. Bidawid's prompting — a decision the community credits with the chain of 'miracles' that followed, including the eventual $1.5 million sale of an earlier El Dorado Hills property.
- 1984 — Tom Simon Nofaley ordained subdeacon; dream of a Chaldean church begins
- Mid-1990s — community purchases property in El Dorado Hills for $157,000
- On advice of Fr. Kamal Bidawid, church renamed 'Our Lady of Perpetual Help'
- Bishop Sarhad Yawsip Jammo encourages sale of El Dorado Hills property; it sells for $1.5 million
- March 2011 — Our Lady of Perpetual Help consecrated in Orangevale
- Construction supported by donated labor from mostly non-Chaldean/non-Catholic workers, who prayed at start and end of each workday
Sacramental Life
The parish celebrates the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church according to Chaldean (East Syriac) rite. In the Chaldean tradition, the sacraments of initiation — Baptism and Confirmation — are ordinarily conferred together in one celebration, with first Holy Communion received at the age of reason (around seven). Confession is available to parishioners before or after Mass. Online Mass from the parish is posted on the parish's Facebook page (OurLadyOfPerpetualHelpChurchSacramento/videos).
- Baptism and Confirmation (typically conferred together in one liturgy)
- First Holy Communion at the age of reason
- Penance / Reconciliation — available before or after Mass
- Anointing of the Sick
- Holy Orders and Matrimony through the parish and eparchy
Ministries and Parish Life
Beyond the Sunday liturgy, Our Lady of Perpetual Help sustains a small but active parish life shaped around passing the Chaldean Catholic faith and identity to the next generation. The parish website highlights a Youth Ministry, a Kids Catechism program, and a Fellowship Hall that hosts parish meals and gatherings — the same kind of communal meals that followed the April 2011 visit of Fr. Michael Barota and the choir and deacons of St. Matthew Church in Ceres.
- Youth Ministry
- Kids Catechism (children's faith formation)
- Fellowship Hall — parish meals and community gatherings
Clergy and Pastoral Leadership
The parish is currently served by Fr. Lucian Babaka as pastor, as listed on the Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of Saint Peter the Apostle clergy roster and on the eparchy's parish page for Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Fr. Kamal Bidawid is the priest who long celebrated liturgies for the Sacramento Chaldean community, encouraged Tom Simon to build the church, suggested the name 'Our Lady of Perpetual Help,' and served as administrator of the parish in its early years. Subdeacon Tom Simon Nofaley has been a lay leader of the Chaldean community in Sacramento for decades and the principal builder of the parish.
- Fr. Lucian Babaka — current Pastor
- Fr. Kamal Bidawid — longtime celebrant and former administrator
- Tom Simon Nofaley — subdeacon, parish builder and lay leader
Contact and Visiting
Parishioners and visitors can reach the parish office by phone or email, follow Sunday liturgy on the parish Facebook page (where online Mass videos are posted), and connect via the parish Instagram. Online donations and the parish photo gallery are linked from the official website.
- Parish phone: 916-990-0150
- Church office: 916-293-9528
- Email: [email protected]
- Facebook: OurLadyOfPerpetualHelpChurchSacramento (with online Mass videos)
- Instagram: @olphinsac
- Official website: http://www.ourladyofperpetualhelpchurch.com/
The Chaldean Catholic Tradition
The Chaldean Catholic Church is one of the twenty-three Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with Rome. Its faithful trace their origins to the ancient Christian communities of Mesopotamia, and its liturgical language is Aramaic — the language spoken by Jesus and the apostles. Worldwide, Chaldean Catholics number more than one million, with the greatest concentration in Iraq. The term 'Chaldean' was adopted as the official designation for these Catholics by Rome in 1445, when Pope Eugene IV accepted the conversion of the Chaldean community in Cyprus. The 'Assyrian' and 'Chaldean' names are still widely used to describe the same people; in religious terms, 'Chaldean' applies to Catholics in communion with Rome, while 'Assyrian' historically referred to the followers of Nestorius.
- One of the Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with Rome
- Liturgical rite: Chaldean / East Syriac
- Liturgical language: Aramaic
- World membership: over one million Chaldean Catholics, mostly in Iraq
Parish Feast and Devotion
Our Lady of Perpetual Help takes its name from the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Perpetual Help, an ancient devotion associated with the famous Byzantine icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (also known as Our Lady of the Passion). The feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is celebrated on June 27, a date universally observed in the Roman calendar and a popular devotion among Eastern Catholics as well.
- Patron: Our Lady of Perpetual Help
- Feast day: June 27
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Fr. Kamal Bidawid
Longtime priest who celebrated liturgies for the Sacramento Chaldean community; encouraged the building of the church and suggested the name 'Our Lady of Perpetual Help'; served as administrator after the 2011 consecration.
- Fr. Lucian Babaka
Current pastor; listed on the Eparchy of St. Peter the Apostle clergy roster as Pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Orangevale, CA.