About St. Ignatius of Antioch [Syrian] · Worcester, Massachusetts
St. Ignatius of Antioch is a Syriac Catholic mission in Worcester, Massachusetts, one of the congregations of the Syriac Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Deliverance. As an Eastern Catholic mission in the West Syriac tradition, it serves the local Syriac Catholic faithful of Central Massachusetts with the Divine Liturgy and the other sacraments in the Antiochian Syriac heritage. Because it is a mission rather than a fully constituted parish, its liturgical life is supported by the Eparchy of Our Lady of Deliverance (headquartered in Bayonne, NJ / with its cathedral at St. Toma Cathedral in Farmington Hills, Michigan), under Eparch Bishop Yousif Benham Habash.
- Patron
- St. Ignatius of Antioch
- Diocese
- Syriac Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Deliverance (United States) — immediately subject to the Holy See / Dicastery for the Eastern Churches; West Syriac (Antiochian) tradition
Why belong here
St. Ignatius of Antioch is one of the small Syriac Catholic mission communities in the United States that gather the faithful of the West Syriac Antiochian tradition for the celebration of the Divine Liturgy, the sacraments, and the devotions handed down from the early Church of Antioch. Worshipping in this mission means joining a community that is in full communion with the Bishop of Rome while keeping the distinctive Syriac liturgical, spiritual, and catechetical patrimony of the Syriac Catholic Church.
About St. Ignatius of Antioch Mission
St. Ignatius of Antioch is a Syriac Catholic mission located in Worcester, Massachusetts. It belongs to the Syriac Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Deliverance, the U.S. jurisdiction of the Syriac Catholic Church — a sui iuris Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Pope that follows the West Syriac (Antiochian) liturgical tradition. As a mission, it is listed by the Eparchy among its parishes and missions in the United States; the eparchy's official directory is the primary public record of its existence. Detailed information such as a founding date, building address, and regular schedule is not published on the eparchy's public website, and the mission does not appear to maintain its own dedicated website.
- Patron: St. Ignatius of Antioch, bishop and martyr of Antioch (~35–108 AD), whose seven authentic letters are a classic of early Christian literature
- Jurisdiction: Syriac Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Deliverance in the United States
- Eparch: Bishop Yousif Benham Habash (since April 2010)
- Cathedral of the eparchy: St. Toma Cathedral, Farmington Hills, Michigan (since July 2022); previously St. Joseph Cathedral, Bayonne, New Jersey
The Syriac Catholic Tradition
The Syriac Catholic Church is one of the 24 sui iuris (self-governing) Catholic Churches that together make up the Catholic Communion. Its roots go back to the early Christian community of Antioch, where 'the disciples were first called Christians' (Acts 11:26). It uses the West Syriac liturgical rite (the same family as the Syriac Orthodox Church, with which it was in full communion until 1781) and traces its current hierarchical line through the Syriac Catholic Patriarch of Antioch, now based in Beirut, Lebanon. In the United States the faithful are organized into the Eparchy of Our Lady of Deliverance, erected on November 6, 1995.
- Eparchy established: November 6, 1995
- Estimated faithful (2016): about 16,000 across 8 parishes and 6 missions
- Subject directly to the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches
Syriac Catholic Presence in the Worcester Area
Worcester, Massachusetts is a long-standing center of Middle Eastern Christian life in New England. In addition to the Syriac Catholic mission of St. Ignatius of Antioch, the city hosts two other Eastern Catholic communities with Antiochene roots: Our Lady of Mercy Maronite Church and Our Lady of Perpetual Help Greek-Melkite Church. The Worcester edition of the GCatholic directory of the Diocese of Worcester lists these alongside the Latin-rite parishes as 'Other Churches Within the Diocesan Territory.' Together these Antiochian-heritage churches are informally known as the Antioch Association.
- Our Lady of Mercy (Maronite Catholic) — Worcester
- Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Greek-Melkite Catholic) — 256 Hamilton St, Worcester
- St. Ignatius of Antioch (Syriac Catholic) — Worcester (mission)
Eparchy of Our Lady of Deliverance — Diocesan Information
The Eparchy of Our Lady of Deliverance is the single Syriac Catholic jurisdiction covering the entire United States. It was canonically erected on November 6, 1995. On July 1, 2022, Pope Francis approved the transfer of the eparchy's cathedra (its seat) from St. Joseph Cathedral in Bayonne, New Jersey to St. Toma Cathedral in Farmington Hills, Michigan, placing the cathedral closer to the geographic center of the Syriac Catholic population in the U.S.
- Eparchial mailing address: Syriac Catholic Eparchy, 21 E. 23rd St., Bayonne, NJ 07002
- Eparchy telephone: (201) 455-8151
- Official eparchy website: http://www.syriaccatholic.us/
- Parishes/missions directory: http://www.syriaccatholic.us/parishes/
Visiting and Getting Involved
Because St. Ignatius of Antioch is a mission without its own published website or schedule page, visitors and inquirers should contact the Eparchy of Our Lady of Deliverance directly for current Mass times, location, and sacramental availability. Parishioners are encouraged to worship according to the ancient Antiochian Syriac liturgical tradition while remaining in full communion with the Bishop of Rome.
- Contact the Eparchy of Our Lady of Deliverance for current Mass and confession times
- Parish directory (eparchy website): http://www.syriaccatholic.us/parishes/