Little Falls Latin-rite Catholics welcome their Ukrainian neighbors

Thanks to an agreement between two bishops whose territories overlap, Holy Family parish in Little Falls has welcomed some new worshippers to their church: St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church, formerly on Furnace Street in the town, now calls Holy Family its home.

Several months ago, Bishop Basil Losten of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stamford, Connecticut, contacted Bishop Howard J. Hubbard of the Albany Diocese to ask if the small congregation at St. Nicholas could make the move.

"Bishop Hubbard and I met, and we agreed to that arrangement," said Rev. Anthony Ligato, pastor of Holy Family.

Making room

The Ukrainian Catholics will gather regularly for Mass at 12:15 p.m. each Sunday. Their first liturgy was Nov. 13.

Ukrainian Catholics, who belong to the Byzantine rite, are in full union with the pope. Ukrainian parishes are located throughout the Albany Diocese in such cities as Amsterdam, Cohoes and Hudson.

Although the parishes are within the borders of the Albany Latin-rite Diocese, they actually are part of the Ukrainian eparchy (diocese) of Stamford.

Icons

Since Ukrainian Catholics use icons to decorate their churches, two -- of the Blessed Mother and of Jesus Christ -- will be brought by Rev. Marian Kostyk, administrator of St. Nicholas, and placed near the altar for the Ukrainian liturgy.

"These will be stored in the church during the week and brought out on Sundays," said Father Ligato.

Father Kostyk will also bring a chalice and other items necessary for the liturgy when he comes each week.

Traveling

For eight years, Father Kostyk has been traveling back and forth between his parishes in Little Falls and Amsterdam, both named St. Nicholas.

He said that services in the Holy Family church will not be that much different from Latin-rite services.

"Our people are used to singing in English," he told The Evangelist. "We sing everything at our liturgies, and all our songs will be in English."

Welcome

He said that the people in Little Falls have been friendly and supportive of this change.

"We are all happy and grateful that our bishops were able to agree on such an arrangement," he noted. "I am happy that I can still minister to the people in Little Falls. If we did not have this agreement, they would be forced to travel to Utica. Since many of them are elderly, that would have been a great hardship.

"They have been upset about the closing of their church because most of them have gone there all of their lives. Their parents and grandparents attended this church. It has been a very difficult time for them. But we are very glad and thankful that we can all still worship together. We remain a parish."

(The Ukrainian congregation from Little Falls totals only 12 people. Their church, built in 1912, was recently sold by the eparchy.)

(11/17/05) [[In-content Ad]]