About Saint John the Baptist [Ukrainian] · Maizeville, Pennsylvania
St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church is a small Byzantine (Ukrainian Greek Catholic) parish in the historic "patch town" of Maizeville in Gilberton borough, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1908 by Carpathian immigrants — a successful joint venture between Galician Ukrainians and Carpatho-Rusyns from the Spiš and Šariš counties of present-day Slovakia — the parish today serves a close-knit worshipping community under the Ukrainian Metropolitan Archeparchy of Philadelphia. It is pastored together with neighboring St. Michael the Archangel in Frackville, and its striking interior — with a hand-carved iconostasis, gilded onion domes, and congregational singing that visitors compare to a Carpathian village church — has earned it the affectionate nickname of "a little slice of heaven in the Coal Region."
- Established
- 1908
- Patron
- Saint John the Baptist
- Rector
- Rev. Petro Zvarych
- Diocese
- Ukrainian Metropolitan Archeparchy of Philadelphia (geographically within the territory of the Roman Diocese of Allentown)
Why belong here
St. John the Baptist is a small but deeply devoted Byzantine Catholic community in the heart of the Pennsylvania anthracite coal region, where worshippers still know one another by name and where the congregational singing at the Divine Liturgy has been described by visitors as "downright celestial." The parish offers the full Ukrainian Greek Catholic liturgical tradition in English and Ukrainian — including the great blessing of Jordan Water at Theophany, with the traditional trikiri candles — and welcomes travelers, family, and anyone drawn to the Carpathian spirituality that built these Coal Region churches. If you are passing through or live nearby, you will find an active parish that takes seriously both the preservation of its 1908 heritage and the pastoral care of its people.
Mass times at Saint John the Baptist [Ukrainian]
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Before Liturgy and at specially announced times
History of St. John the Baptist, Maizeville
St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church was founded in 1908 in the small anthracite-coal "patch town" of Maizeville, in Gilberton borough, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. Its founders were Carpathian Catholic immigrants — both Galician Ukrainians and Carpatho-Rusyns from the Spiš and Šariš counties of what is now northeastern Slovakia — who had come to the coal fields in the great wave of late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century immigration. Like many Coal Region Byzantine parishes, St. John's grew out of the same spiritual impulse that built the Mother Church of Ukrainian Catholic life in America at nearby Shenandoah in 1884. In June 2008 the parish celebrated its centennial, an event preceded by a comprehensive interior and exterior restoration: the onion domes were regilded, the interior repainted, the iconostasis cleaned and repainted, the chandelier polished, the pews restored, air conditioning installed, and new carpet laid. The parish also purchased and cleared adjoining row-homes to create a dedicated parish parking lot beside the church.
- Founded 1908 in Maizeville (Gilberton), Schuylkill County, PA
- Founders included Galician Ukrainians and Carpatho-Rusyns from Spiš and Šariš counties
- Centennial observed in June 2008
- Full interior and exterior restoration completed in time for the centennial
- Adjacent row-homes acquired and demolished to build a parish parking lot
Architecture & Sacred Art
St. John's is a small traditional Byzantine Catholic church crowned by gilded onion domes — a silhouette familiar across the Pennsylvania coal region. The centerpiece of its interior is the original iconostasis, the screen of icons that separates the sanctuary from the nave. It was carved by Wasil Wasylenko, an Eastern Ukrainian artist who lived in Shenandoah, and was cleaned and repainted in the years leading up to the parish's 2008 centennial. The Holy Doors at the center of the screen carry the standard Byzantine iconography of the Annunciation and the four evangelists; visitors frequently describe the altar area as appearing to "glow." The patron icon of St. John the Baptist is repeatedly singled out as unique, and the church's overall atmosphere has been compared by visitors to stepping into a parish somewhere in the Carpathians.
- Gilded onion domes, traditional for Ukrainian Catholic churches of the region
- Original iconostasis carved by Wasil Wasylenko (Shenandoah)
- Holy Doors with Annunciation and evangelist icons
- Patron icon of St. John the Baptist noted as distinctive
- Chandelier cleaned and polished; pews restored; wall icons preserved
Clergy & Pastoral Care
St. John the Baptist is served jointly with St. Michael the Archangel Ukrainian Catholic Church in Frackville, just up the road, by a single pastor who resides at the Frackville rectory. For many years the parish was shepherded by the Very Rev. Archpriest John M. Fields, who also served as dean of the South Anthracite Protopresbytery of the Ukrainian Metropolitan Archeparchy of Philadelphia. The current pastor is the Rev. Petro Zvarych, a native of Hyriv in the Lviv region of western Ukraine, who came to the United States in 1999 and is pastor of both parishes.
- Rev. Petro Zvarych — current pastor (Frackville-based, serves both parishes)
- Very Rev. Archpriest John M. Fields — previous pastor; former dean of the South Anthracite Protopresbytery
- Rectory/mailing address: 243 S. Middle St., Frackville, PA 17931
Worship & Liturgical Life
The parish celebrates the Byzantine (Greek Catholic) Divine Liturgy, in English and Ukrainian, in keeping with the tradition of the Ukrainian Metropolitan Archeparchy of Philadelphia. Sunday Divine Liturgy is offered at 8:30 AM, with additional weekday Liturgies at 8:00 AM as scheduled. Confessions are heard before the Divine Liturgy and at specially announced times. Visitors and parishioners alike remark on the strength of the congregational singing, which has been called "downright celestial" even by worshippers from much larger parishes. The faithful mark the great feasts of the Byzantine year with full traditional celebrations.
- Sunday Divine Liturgy: 8:30 AM
- Weekday Liturgies: 8:00 AM as scheduled
- Confessions: before Liturgy and at announced times
Theophany (Epiphany) and the Blessing of Jordan Water
One of the most distinctive celebrations at St. John's is the Great Blessing of Jordan Water on the Feast of Theophany (Epiphany), observed according to the Ukrainian custom in which worshippers greet one another with "Christ is baptized" and the response "In the River Jordan." After the Divine Liturgy the pastor processes through the church blessing the people with the Jordan Water, then performs the Great Blessing rite at a holy water font. Three parishioners hold liturgical trikiri — three-branched candlesticks with lighted candles joined at the base — during the rite. The pastor makes the sign of the cross with the trikiri over the water, turns it over to extinguish the candles in the font, blows on the water three times in the sign of the cross, dips his right hand into the water, and makes the sign of the cross three times; he also dips a handcross three times into the water. Parishioners then line up to be anointed with holy oil and to take bottles of the blessed water home, often drinking a small glass of it in the church as is the Ukrainian custom.
- Greeting: "Christ is baptized" / "In the River Jordan" (in Ukrainian)
- Procession blessing of the people with Jordan Water
- Three parishioners serve as trikiri-bearers
- Anointing with holy oil and distribution of blessed water to take home
Faith Formation: Sunday School
The parish maintains a Sunday School program for the religious education of its children, listed alongside the parish's liturgical schedule on the Archeparchy's parish page. Classes are held in conjunction with the parish's regular Sunday worship, supporting the formation of the next generation of Ukrainian Greek Catholic faithful in the Coal Region.
- Sunday School for parish children
Music & Singing
A small but devout parish, St. John the Baptist is widely known in the wider Byzantine Catholic community of the coal region for the quality of its congregational singing. Visitors who have travelled from larger parishes to attend Liturgy here repeatedly describe the choir and people's responses as "celestial" and remark that the music alone is worth a visit. A cantor (such as Jason Yulich, who served for the 2019 Theophany) leads the responses in the Slavonic and English tradition of Ukrainian Catholic worship.
- Strong congregational singing noted across the regional Byzantine Catholic community
- Cantor-led responses in Slavonic/English tradition
Visiting & Practical Information
The parish's mailing address is 1408 Main Street, Maizeville (Gilberton), PA 17934, with telephone (570) 874-1101 and email [email protected]. The parish belongs canonically to the Ukrainian Metropolitan Archeparchy of Philadelphia (whose shared online site lists it under "St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church, Gilberton"), although it lies geographically within the territory of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Allentown. The pastor can also be reached at the Frackville rectory (243 S. Middle St., Frackville, PA 17931) and at [email protected]. The parish is not listed as maintaining its own social-media accounts.
- Address: 1408 Main St., Maizeville (Gilberton), PA 17934
- Phone: 570-874-1101
- Email: [email protected]
- Pastor email: [email protected]
- Rectory: 243 S. Middle St., Frackville, PA 17931
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Very Rev. Archpriest John M. Fields
Pastored St. John the Baptist Maizeville jointly with St. Michael the Archangel, Frackville; also served as dean of the South Anthracite Protopresbytery of the Archeparchy of Philadelphia.
- Rev. Petro Zvarychpresent
Current pastor; born and raised in Hyriv in the Lviv region of western Ukraine; came to the United States in 1999; serves both St. John the Baptist (Maizeville) and St. Michael the Archangel (Frackville) from the Frackville rectory at 243 S. Middle St.