About St. Mary [Ruthenian] · Bradenville, Pennsylvania
St. Mary Byzantine Catholic Church is a Ruthenian (Byzantine) Catholic parish in Bradenville, Pennsylvania, serving the faithful of the Latrobe-area coal and steel country of Westmoreland County under the Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh. Founded in 1902 by roughly thirty immigrant families and now in its second century of continuous worship, the parish maintains a rich liturgical life centered on the Divine Liturgy, Lenten Presanctified Liturgies, and Eastern Christian formation of children. It is currently administered by Father Athanasius C. Cherry, OSB, and is best known to outsiders as the parish where, on February 15, 1948, the first Byzantine Catholic quadruplets in the United States were born to parishioners Andrew and Barbara Zavada — a fact the parish itself proudly records on its history page.
- Established
- 1902
- Patron
- The Blessed Virgin Mary (St. Mary)
- Rector
- Father Athanasius C. Cherry, OSB (Temporary Administrator, appointed March 30, 2023)
- Diocese
- Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh (Ruthenian Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh, sui juris); geographically located within the territory of the Roman Diocese of Greensburg.
Why belong here
St. Mary offers the full life of a small but enduring Ruthenian Byzantine Catholic community: Sunday Divine Liturgy at 9:00 AM, Saturday Vigil at 5:00 PM, and midweek Lenten Presanctified Liturgies on Wednesdays and Fridays at 7:00 PM, all celebrated in the Byzantine tradition. Children are shepherded through Eastern Christian Formation (K–12) on Sundays from 10:00 to 11:15 AM, September through May, ensuring the next generation knows the same prayers, hymns, and customs taught here since 1902. Confessions are heard daily before Liturgy and on Saturdays from 4:00 to 4:30 PM, and the parish extends pastoral care for the anointing of the sick and marriage preparation through the pastor. For a family that wants the iconostasis, the Typikon, the Sunday of Orthodoxy, and the Dome — a real place where everyone knows your name — St. Mary in Bradenville is that parish.
Mass times at St. Mary [Ruthenian]
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Daily before Divine Liturgy
- Saturdays 4:00 – 4:30 PM
Parish History
St. Mary was born in 1902 when about thirty families pooled $350 to buy land and immediately began building a frame church, dedicated in May 1903 under the first pastor, Father Nicholas Szcetovich. The original church was destroyed by fire in 1910, but the community rebuilt with such determination that a new red-brick church was dedicated in 1912. Over the next century the parish weathered war, deindustrialization, and changing demographics in the Latrobe coal country, while steadily adding to its property, organizations, and physical plant.
- 1902 — thirty founding families purchase property for $350
- May 1903 — original frame church dedicated; first pastor: Father Nicholas Szcetovich
- 1905 — original rectory completed
- 1910 — original frame church destroyed by fire
- 1912 — present red-brick church dedicated
- 1948 — Zavada quadruplets born Feb. 15 (see 'Notable Moments')
- 1950s–60s — parish organizations reactivated; church, cemetery, and grounds improved; additional land purchased
- 1966 — St. Mary's Dome dedicated
- 1984 — new rectory built (with a chapel for daily Liturgies)
- 1992 — church interior and exterior renovated; new bell tower added
The Zavada Quadruplets (1948)
On the morning of February 15, 1948, the parish's most celebrated moment in American Catholic history occurred: the first Byzantine Catholic quadruplets in the United States were born at Latrobe Hospital to parishioners Andrew and Barbara Zavada — three identical girls (Anna-Mary, Bernadette, and Barbara) and one boy (John Michael). The then-pastor, Rev. Theodore Hodobay, was on hand to administer emergency baptismal rites in case the infants were in danger. The diagnosis had been made at seventeen weeks' gestation — then the earliest positive quadruplet diagnosis on record — and a 1949 article in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology documented the delivery. The family was devout; Anna Mary 'Amy' Thomas, the last surviving sibling (who died December 8, 2024, at age 76), recalled in a 2018 interview that the family faithfully attended St. Mary and that the children knew to behave in church.
- First Byzantine Catholic quadruplets in the United States
- Delivered by C-section at Latrobe Hospital, Feb. 15, 1948
- Three identical girls (Anna-Mary, Bernadette, Barbara) and one boy (John Michael)
- Pastor's emergency baptism rites described in national press
- Documented in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 1949
- American Pathé News requested permission to film the family
St. Mary's Dome
Dedicated in 1966 and still in active use, St. Mary's Dome is the social, educational, and recreational center of the parish and is described by the parish itself as 'an architectural showpiece in the surrounding area.' It regularly hosts receptions following major liturgical events — including the January 2024 reception following the ordination of Deacon Kyprian Wojciechowski — and has met the needs of the parish community for nearly six decades.
- Dedicated 1966
- Center of religious, social, educational, and recreational activities
- Architectural showpiece in the surrounding area
- Reception site for the 2024 ordination of Deacon Kyprian Wojciechowski
Holy Mysteries (Sacraments)
In the Byzantine tradition the seven sacraments are called the 'Holy Mysteries.' The parish publishes times for Confession and directs parishioners to contact the pastor for the other Mysteries that require personal arrangement.
- Confession — daily before Liturgy; Saturdays 4:00 – 4:30 PM
- Marriage (Holy Matrimony) — contact the pastor to arrange
- Anointing of the Sick — contact the pastor to arrange
Eastern Christian Formation (Religious Education)
St. Mary runs an Eastern Christian Formation (ECF) program for children in grades K through 12, meeting on Sundays from 10:00 to 11:15 AM, September through May. The program teaches the prayers, liturgical customs, and faith of the Ruthenian Byzantine Catholic Church and is one of the most important ministries of the parish for passing the tradition to the next generation.
- Grades K–12
- Sundays, 10:00 – 11:15 AM
- September through May
Clergy and Pastoral Leadership
Since March 30, 2023 the parish has been administered as Temporary Administrator by Father Athanasius C. Cherry, OSB — a Benedictine priest of the Archeparchy of Pittsburgh who can be reached through the Archeparchy's protopresbyter email. He succeeded Father Joseph J. Borodach, whose resignation was accepted effective January 28, 2023, and who was relieved of active ministry in the Archeparchy. The parish also welcomed its first vocational ordination in modern times on January 21, 2024, when Subdeacon Kyprian Wojciechowski was ordained to the Holy Diaconate by Metropolitan Archbishop William C. Skurla — a son of the parish and a 2021 graduate of Saints Cyril and Methodius Byzantine Catholic Seminary.
- Father Athanasius C. Cherry, OSB — Temporary Administrator (since March 30, 2023)
- Deacon Kyprian Wojciechowski — ordained at St. Mary, January 21, 2024
- Father Joseph J. Borodach — prior pastor (resigned Jan. 28, 2023)
- Father Nicholas Szcetovich — first pastor (1902–)
- Rev. Theodore Hodobay — pastor at time of the 1948 Zavada quadruplets
Jurisdiction and Affiliations
St. Mary is a parish of the Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh, the Ruthenian Metropolitan Church sui juris headquartered in Pittsburgh and the mother church of the Byzantine Catholic tradition in the United States. Although the parish is Byzantine (not Roman) Catholic, the GCatholic directory notes that its physical location falls within the territorial boundaries of the Roman Diocese of Greensburg. The parish is therefore in communion with Rome and shares the Ruthenian heritage — iconostasis, Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom and St. Basil the Great, the Theotokos as patron, and the liturgical cycle of the Eastern Church — common to Greek Catholic Rusyn and Slovak communities across the region.
- Ruthenian Byzantine Catholic
- Archeparchy of Pittsburgh (Metropolitan Church)
- Located within the geographic territory of the Roman Diocese of Greensburg
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Father Nicholas Szcetovich1902 – c.1905+
First pastor of St. Mary, who oversaw the construction of the original 1903 frame church and the 1905 rectory.
- Rev. Theodore Hodobayc. 1948
Pastor at the time of the Zavada quadruplets' birth on February 15, 1948; stood ready to administer emergency baptismal rites.
- Father Joseph J. Borodachuntil January 28, 2023
Pastor whose resignation was accepted effective January 28, 2023, and who was relieved from active ministry of the Archeparchy; remembered as a fosterer of vocations at the parish.
- Father Athanasius C. Cherry, OSBMarch 30, 2023 – present
Appointed Temporary Administrator of St. Mary Church, Bradenville effective March 30, 2023.