[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 128 (Tuesday, September 9, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1366-E1367]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 CELEBRATING THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF ST. NICHOLAS BYZANTINE CATHOLIC 
                                 CHURCH

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MARCY KAPTUR

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, September 9, 2014

  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a significant 
milestone in the life of St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Parish of 
Lorain, Ohio in my District. The parish will celebrate its 100th 
anniversary on Sunday, September 14, 2014.
  The parish history recounts that on September 14, 1914, the first 
Byzantine Catholic bishop, Bishop Soter Ortinsky, dedicated St.

[[Page E1367]]

Nicholas Church. The pastor at that time was Father Basil Beretz. The 
people who were members of the parish had actually initiated plans for 
a church of the Byzantine Rite Catholics a number of years before that 
time. St. Nicholas' founders emigrated from a region of the Austro-
Hungarian Empire which is today the easternmost part of Czechoslovakia 
and arrived in Lorain, Ohio in the last part of the 19th century and 
the beginning of the twentieth century. They attended St. Michael 
Hungarian Byzantine Rite Catholic Church and for a brief time services 
were held in Kohlmyer's Hall in Lorain.
  The church history characterizes the years from 1900 to 1914 as the 
formative years of St. Nicholas Parish: ``In 1905 a committee of 
Byzantine Rite Catholics of Rusyn origin sought the advice and counsel 
of the late Bishop Joseph Schrembs, Bishop of Cleveland. In 1907 the 
faithful of the future St. Nicholas Parish solicited funds for the 
purchase of lots on Toledo Avenue, Lorain, the former site of the 
church and rectory. The parish would then relocate in 1982 to 2711 W. 
40th Street, the present site of the St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic 
Church complex. An historical mural retained in the old church for many 
years contained the list of the following contributors for the lots: 
Andrew Kakos, Andrew Ksenich, Andrew Karahuts, George Ksenich, Michael 
Lascisky, Michael Rusinko, George Demchik, John Danko, George Vajda, 
Vasil Pavelvach, Peter Yureck, John Kocak, Joseph Kokinda, Peter Kekel, 
John Taraka, Stephen Lascisky, Elek Ksenich, John Kvasnak, Nicholas 
Ksenich, Vasil Teleha, Peter Hazlak, Mike Rericky, Peter Hrinda, George 
Maczik, Mike Kizak, Jacob Andraska, John Jeresko. Stephen Ksenich, 
Joseph Suster, John Moroznak, George Tomcso, Frank Kablinka, John 
Szalag, Daniel Demjanovich, Mike Koscs, Mike Koczak, Joseph Szasz, 
Joseph Gluvna, John Naaymik and John Maylik. The purchase of the 
aforementioned lots was consummated through the Cleveland Chancery in 
the name of Bishop Schrembs and held by him in trust for the St. 
Nicholas Parish. In this manner St. Nicholas Parish was constituted as 
a Catholic parish under a Catholic bishop.''
  The church continued to grow and expand, both physically and in 
membership. A rectory was added in 1919 and a second story of the 
original church was dedicated on July 16, 1928, by Bishop Basil Takach, 
the first bishop of the Byzantine Rite Catholic Exarchate of 
Pittsburgh. Renovations continued and in 1946 the mortgage was paid 
off.
  Under the stewardship of Father Andrew Pataki who later became the 
bishop of Parma, a parochial school was built. On Sunday, June 12, 
1960, a festival was held and Bishop Nicholas T. Elko blessed a newly 
renovated St. Nicholas Church and the new St. Nicholas School. Sisters 
under the Order of St. Basil the Great came to Lorain to begin teaching 
at the school in 1962. A small house was purchased nearby and remodeled 
by parishioners as a convent.
  On Dec. 14, 1964, St. Nicholas' celebrated its golden jubilee with 
bishop Nicholas T. Elko officiating at the pontifical Divine Liturgy 
assisted by the former pastors Fathers Andrew Pataki and George 
Simchak.
  By the late 1970s it was apparent the church had outgrown its 
original buildings and, in ``a beautiful testimonial to the generosity 
and the love that our parishioners have for their church'' according to 
the history, the substantial funds needed to build a new building were 
raised. A ground-breaking ceremony was held on Sunday, Jan. 25, 1981. 
During the ceremony, the history notes, ``the sound of axes could be 
heard ringing from the nearby woods. The St. Nicholas wood-chopping 
crew had a lot of land to clear and they did not have time to attend 
the ceremony. Additionally, a ``hearty band of volunteers worked 
throughout the year of 1981 and painted the entire interior of the 
complex, laid all the floor tiles (estimated at over 10,000 tiles), 
sanded and stained all the woodwork and contributed thousands of cost-
free hours of labor. As a result of their physical contribution, the 
interior of the convent was finished as well as many other items that 
were not in the original contract. By early spring, the new complex was 
nearing completion and an appeal was made for volunteers to purchase 
the pews, certain kitchen items and the appointments in the church. The 
response was overwhelming. The parishioners of St. Nicholas, the Greek 
Catholic Union Lodge, the Russo-Slav Club and other fraternal 
organizations associated with the church had come through once again.
  The church history records that ``the last service to be held at the 
old St. Nicholas Church was on Palm Sunday, April 4, 1982, and many a 
tear was shed as the last song was sung. Finally, on Holy Thursday 
evening, April 8, 1982, Father Felock blessed the new altar and church 
and the first service was held.'' The life of the parish continued in 
its new location through the 1980s, 1990s and into the new century. The 
school was closed in 2007 and the parish embarked on a mission of 
renewal as the new century dawned.
  Today, the members of St. Nicholas Church's focus is on its future 
even as they honor its past. Standing on the shoulders of its founders 
and the families who established the parish as a cornerstone of its 
community, the parishioners of today's St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic 
Church are proud of its rich history. Yet, as they celebrate a century 
of parish life, the congregation of St. Nicholas' looks toward the next 
century with hope and faith. Onward!

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