About Saint Nicholas · Old Forge, Pennsylvania
St. Nicholas of Myra Byzantine Catholic Church is a Ruthenian (Greek) Catholic parish in the borough of Old Forge, Pennsylvania, in the Lackawanna Valley of northeastern Pennsylvania. It is part of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Passaic and serves faithful of the Byzantine tradition in the greater Scranton area. The parish worships in English with the Byzantine liturgical rite, and its faithful gather at 140 Church Street for the Divine Liturgy (typically called Mass in everyday language) and the liturgical life of the Eastern Catholic tradition. The parish traces its origins to 1896, when it was established as an outgrowth of St. Michael's Greek Catholic Congregation, and is one of several Byzantine parishes serving the historic Slavic-Carpathian immigrant communities of the Lackawanna Valley.
- Established
- 1896
- Patron
- St. Nicholas of Myra
- Diocese
- Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Passaic (geographically within the territory of the Roman Diocese of Scranton)
Why belong here
St. Nicholas of Myra offers Old Forge-area Catholics the Byzantine liturgical tradition celebrated in English — a fuller sense of the Eastern Catholic heritage (with iconography, the icon screen, and the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom) right in the Lackawanna Valley. It is a small parish community rooted in the 1896 founding wave of Carpatho-Rusyn and Slovak faithful, sitting in communion with Rome through the Eparchy of Passaic. Families looking for a parish with daily and weekly Divine Liturgies, traditional Byzantine prayer life, and a tightly knit neighborhood congregation will find a home here.
Mass times at Saint Nicholas
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- By appointment (parish phone line); also during the parish's scheduled Lenten Vespers / Confession service (3:00 PM on the assigned Sunday in the Scranton-area deanery Lenten rotation, followed by a Lenten Social Hour)
About St. Nicholas of Myra Byzantine Catholic Church
St. Nicholas of Myra Byzantine Catholic Church is the Ruthenian Greek Catholic parish serving Old Forge, Pennsylvania, and the surrounding Lackawanna Valley. Although physically within the territory of the Roman Diocese of Scranton, the parish belongs to the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Passaic, the Eastern Catholic diocese serving Ruthenian faithful across much of the eastern United States. The parish celebrates the Byzantine liturgical rite — most often in English at Old Forge — and is one of a network of historic Carpatho-Rusyn and Slovak Byzantine parishes that dot the old coal-region towns of northeast Pennsylvania.
- Founded 1896
- Byzantine Catholic (Ruthenian)
- Eparchy of Passaic
Parish History
The parish was established in 1896 as an outgrowth of St. Michael's Greek Catholic Congregation, which had been ministering to the area's Greek Catholic (later Byzantine Catholic) families. A first church building went up in 1897 on the parish's present site. By the 1950s that original structure was no longer adequate for the worshipping community, and a new, larger church was built and blessed in 1957. The parish has continued to serve Byzantine Catholic families of Old Forge and surrounding communities under the pastoral care of priests of the Eparchy of Passaic.
- 1896 — parish established
- 1897 — first church built
- 1957 — current church blessed
Byzantine Catholic Identity & Eparchy of Passaic
St. Nicholas is fully Catholic and in full communion with the Pope of Rome, while preserving the Byzantine liturgical, spiritual and cultural tradition brought to this region by Ruthenian immigrant faithful. As an Eparchy of Passaic parish, St. Nicholas is shepherded by the Eparchial Bishop (currently Bishop William) and follows the liturgical calendar and fasting regulations issued each year by the Eparchy — including the Byzantine Great Fast rules that, in the Eparchy of Passaic, require abstinence from meat on Wednesdays and Fridays.
- Rite: Byzantine (Ruthenian)
- Eparchy of Passaic
- In communion with Rome
Visiting & Contact
Visitors and pilgrims are warmly received at St. Nicholas of Myra. The parish office can be reached by phone or email for inquiries about Divine Liturgy times, confession, sacramental preparation, or pastoral needs. The parish's official Facebook page is the best place to follow current announcements, Holy Day schedules, and community events.
- 140 Church Street, Old Forge, PA 18518
- Phone: (570) 457-3042
- Email: [email protected]
- Facebook: facebook.com/St.NicholasinOldForge
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Monsignor Stephen Zajac1974–1997
Long-serving administrator tied to the Old Forge parish and earlier the founder/administrator of the related St. Nicholas of Myra mission in Pocono Summit.