OUR SEMINARY AND MONASTERIES
SEMINARY OF SS. CYRIL & METHODIUS
The Byzantine Catholic Seminary of SS. Cyril & Methodius was founded in 1950 by the Most Rev. Daniel Ivancho, Apostolic Exarch of Pittsburgh, to train the growing number of English-speaking Ruthenian Greek-Catholic seminarians in the United States. The Seminary is named after the Holy Equals to the Apostles Cyril and Methodius, who brought the faith to the Slavic peoples. The Seminary trains English-speaking seminarians and diaconal candidates from both Byzantine Catholic and Orthodox eparchies in the United States, and offers a Masters of Divinity, a Masters of Arts in Theology, and a Masters of Arts in Byzantine Catholic Theology with accredidation by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada.
Candidates for the priesthood study together at the seminary and pray together in the chapel, which offers services according to the Ruthenian Recension and according to the Melkite Recension. The chapel was designed by the Rambusch Company of New York and opened in 1952, with beautiful iconography by Christina Dochwat. For more information, visit bcs.edu.
SISTERS OF THE ORDER OF ST. BASIL THE GREAT
The Sisters of St. Basil the Great of the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Province follow the Rule of St. Basil and are committed to prayer and service. Founded in 1921, the sisters respond to the needs to the Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh by serving the poor and caring for the sick and elderly. They have also been instrumental in publishing commonly used Liturgical Books according to the Ruthenian Recension. They take the traditional vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience. The sisters have been essential pillars in the growth of the Byzantine Catholic Church in America, ministering in the chanceries of all four eparchies throughout their history.
The Monastery is also the site of the annual Uniontown Pilgrimage in honor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. At ninety-one years, this pilgrimage venerating the icon gifted to the sisters by Pope Pius XI is the oldest Greek-Catholic pilgrimage in the United States. It is held Labor Day weekend every year. For more information, visit sistersofstbasil.org.
HOLY ANNUNCIATION MONASTERY
Holy Annunciation Monastery is an Eastern Catholic Community of Discalced Carmelite nuns who follow the Rule of St. Benedict. Founded by the Most Rev. Michael Dudick in 1977, the nuns glorify God daily in the Divine Liturgy and Divine Office and serve him with their labor at Monastery Pantry, a licensed bakery serving the wider Pocono area, and at Carmelites' Mini Corral, a miniature horse-breeding farm.
Holy Annunciation Monastery is dedicated to the monastic pillars of withdrawal from the world, community life, austerity, manual labor, and listening to the Word of God. The nuns live an ascetical lifestyle in silence and solitude, daily walking with the Lord in the way of the Holy Virgin and Doctor of the Church Therese of Lisieux.
By practicing Eastern Christian monasticism according to the Benedictine and Carmelite traditions, they witness to the undivided Church of the first millennium. For more information, please visit byzantinediscalcedcarmelites.com.
CHRIST THE BRIDEGROOM MONASTERY
Christ the Bridegroom is a women's monastery founded by the Most Rev. John Kudrick in 2008 in response to Pope St. John Paul II's Orientale Lumen on the Eastern Catholic Churches. The nuns live the liturgical life of the Church daily as they pursue spousal union with the Lord in community. On Fridays, they observe a day of poustinia, walking with the Lord in silent contemplation.
The monastery is dedicated to Christ the Bridegroom, who emptied himself for his bride, the Church to unite himself to our souls. The nuns seek to be one with Christ and with each other, and bring the joy of the Lord to others. They hold summer camps and youth group meetings, and are very active in spreading the Gospel via the internet and social media.
They are also located immediately across the road from the Shrine of Our Lady of Mariapoch, an important icon to Hungarian Byzantine Catholics. For more information, please visit christthebridegroom.org.
DUCHOVNY DOM MEN'S MONASTERY
Duchovny Dom (the House of the Spirit) is a community of Byzantine Catholic monks founded by Rt. Rev. Joseph Stanichar after a lifetime of founding and pastoring parishes in the Pacific Northwest. The monks pray together in the liturgy and alone in their cells. The monastery strives for self-sufficiency by assigning to each monk a job on its small farm. Duchovny Dom was established as an eparchial monastery by the Most Rev. Gerald Dino in 2013.
The monks raise sheep, keep chickens, and cultivate a garden all while ceaselessly praying the Jesus Prayer, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner." They are also committed to hospitality for pilgrims and guests who come to Duchovny Dom for rest, refreshment, healing, or just out of curiosity.
In addition to their life of work and prayer, the monks also live an ascetical life of fasting, solitude, and silence, seeking communion with the Lord in every moment.
