THE BYZANTINE CATHOLIC CHURCH is comprised ofdisciples of our Lord Jesus Christ who belong to the Churchin communion with the Pope of Rome and a church whosereligious patrimony, distinct from that of Roman Catholics,took shape in fourth-century Byzantium (Constantinople;present-day Istanbul). These Greek spiritualtraditions were adapted from the rituals of ancient, eastMediterranean cities evangelized by apostles who were sentforth by our Lord to "make disciples of all nations." These traditions were brought to the Slavic regions ofEurope beginning in the ninth century. “GreekCatholic†emigrants from Eastern Europe brought theirByzantine faith to the United States at the end of thenineteenth century. Since then, several eparchies(dioceses) have been established to serve ByzantineCatholics in America. Our eparchy is part of theMetropolitan Church of Pittsburgh that grew from the faithof Ruthenian (Rusyn Slav) Catholics in America. Thegeographical boundaries of our eparchy encompass thethirteen western states including Alaska and Hawaii. Inwhat is indeed missionary territory for the ByzantineCatholic Church, our small western American parishescontinue to worship God within the context of a religiouspatrimony that stems from the earliest centuries ofChristianity while sharing the faith, scripture, and sevensacraments of the Catholic Church and while servingfaithful of various economic and ethnic backgrounds.
The Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh

The history ofthe Ruthenian Catholic Church in the United States began inthe late 1880's with the immigration of numerous familiesand individuals from Eastern Europe. As these peoplesettled in various regions of the country, they began tobuild churches and request priests from theirhomeland. There was, however, no central authorityfor the fledgling churches. The early decades werespent in attempting to organize them into some sort ofstructure. This effort was briefly aided by theappointment of Basilian Bishop Soter StephenOrtynsky. His premature death, however, left theyoung church once again without episcopal leadership.

 
It was not until 1924 that canonical status andrecognition would be given to this young church with theappointment of Bishop Basil Takach on March 8th. Itwas on this date that Rome established an exarchate forGreek Catholics of Carpatho-Ruthenian, Hungarian, Slovak,and Croatian descent.

 
This exarchate would continue to grow and flourishover the years. Its continued development wasrecognized in 1963 when the Exarchate of Pittsburgh(Pennsylvania) was raised to the status of an eparchy anddivided to form the Eparchy of Passaic (New Jersey). 
Thecontinued growth and stability of the Ruthenian CatholicChurch was again recognized in 1969 when an additionaleparchy was created in Parma, Ohio and the entire church inAmerica was raised to a Metropolia.
The Eparchy of Van Nuys

In 1981 theEparchy of Van Nuys (California) was established for theWestern United States. Our parish is part of theByzantine Catholic Eparchy of Van Nuys. Our eparchyis part of the Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh whichoriginally consisted of Ruthenian (Rusyn Slav) Catholics inAmerica. The geographical boundaries of our eparchyencompass the thirteen western states including Alaska andHawaii. In what is indeed missionary territory forthe Byzantine Catholic Church, our western Americanparishes continue to worship God within the context of areligious patrimony which stems from the earliest centuriesof Christianity while sharing the faith, scripture, andseven sacraments of the Catholic Church and while servingfaithful of various economic and ethnic backgrounds.
History of Holy Angels Parish

In the 1950’s,San Diego, California, with its large naval facilities andnearby Marine base, was rapidly growing with an increasingnumber of Byzantine Catholics moving there in search ofwork and a warmer climate. The Reverend Eugene Chromoga,Pastor of Saint Mary in Van Nuys (now the Cathedral of theEparchy of Van Nuys), and several families wrote to theMost Reverend Nicholas Elko, Bishop of Pittsburgh, andrequested that a parish be established in San Diego. Withthe assistance of the Most Reverend Charles Buddy, Bishopof San Diego, and Mother Emmanuel, Prioress of theCarmelite Monastery in San Diego who offered the use oftheir chapel, plans took shape to establish a mission.


On June 1st, 1958, the Reverend William Levkulic, Pastorof Saint Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church in Fontana,California, celebrated the first Divine Liturgy at theCarmelite Chapel with about 65 faithful in attendance.Father William, who was responsible for the mission,commuted to San Diego from Fontana every other week for thenext two years to celebrate the Liturgy. The commute wasone hundred and twenty-five miles one way.


In the progress report that he sent to Bishop Elko threemonths after the first Divine Liturgy, Father WilliamLevkulic mentioned that he began with 18 households and wasnow up to 54. He also urged Bishop Elko to assign a priestto the mission as soon as possible to ensure its propergrowth and development in the future. He suggested that themission be placed under the patronage of Saint Michael orthe Holy Angels.


In May of 1960, Bishop Nicholas Elko raised the missionto the status of a parish and named it Holy Angels. Heassigned the Reverend Paul Fetch as the first residentPastor. Father Fetch worked cooperatively with theparishioners to organize the parish. A house was purchasedadjacent to the monastery to serve as rectory, office,social hall, ethnic food center, and classrooms. Visioningand fund raising for a new parish complex began. Fundraising included bazaars, baking, and the production ofkolbasi.


On August 15th, 1969, the Reverend Joseph Radvanskybecame Pastor. Site-specific planning for a new churchbuilding began in 1971. The present location was purchasedat a Cal-Trans auction on 6 December 1973, the Solemn Feastof our Holy Father Nicholas, for the thankfully affordableprice of $33,000. What a gift! An additional house at theedge of the new property was purchased in 1974 to serve asnew rectory and office.


Groundbreaking ceremonies for the church took place onNovember 9th, 1975 and construction began on May 3rd, 1978.The final Liturgy at the Carmelite Monastery was celebratedon November 5th, 1978, and the first liturgy in the newchurch was celebrated on November 12th, 1978. The locationof the new church was aptly named “Angel Heights.â€


The Most Reverend Bishop Emil Mihalik of Parma blessedthe church on February 4th, 1979.


The parishioners responded to the task of paying off thestaggering debt with imaginative projects to which theygave their wholehearted support, such as bingo, hallrentals, polka dances, and expansions of ethnic food makingand the annual bazaar.


In 1980, the Reverend Joseph Ridella became the Pastor,and the efforts to pay off the debt continued under hisleadership. Six years later the parish debt had beensuccessfully retired.


The Most Reverend Thomas Dolinay, Bishop of the recentlycreated Eparchy of Van Nuys, celebrated the Liturgycommemorating the Silver Anniversary of the founding of theparish on November 6th, 1983. Toward the end of FatherRidella’s tenure in 1992, a house was purchased a fewblocks from the church to serve as residence for thepastor. The old rectory was converted into office, meeting,and religious education space.


The Reverend Robert Daigle was appointed theAdministrator of Holy Angels in 1992 and served the parishfor the next two years.


The Reverend Melvin Rybarczyk, CR was called to shepherdthe parish in 1994.


The 40th Anniversary of the parish was celebrated in 1998with the Right Reverend Archimandrite Wesley Izer, SDB, theProtosyncellus, officiating as the representative of theMost Reverend George Kuzma, Bishop of Van Nuys.


As years passed, the weather began taking its toll on thewooden church building. Father Mel looked at ways tocorrect the situation as well as to raising funds for theproject that lay ahead. Plans were drawn up and submittedto the city for this renovation.


In 2004, the Reverend Robert Pipta was appointed Pastorof Holy Angels. In 2005, under his guidance and with theblessing of the Most Reverend Bishop William Skurla, workbegan on Phase One of the parish's ambitious RenovationProject. Necessary repairs on the church and hall as wellas building and property enhancements comprised themajority of work that was completed in January of 2006. Therenovated hall was blessed, and the generosity of thebenefactors celebrated, at a parish festival on February19th, 2006.


During these years, the spiritual commitment of somefervent parishioners was seen as Matins and Vespers came tobe celebrated more regularly.


Holy Angels Church has progressed these past 50 yearsfrom a small group of pioneer families into a visiblepresence of our Byzantine faith on the West Coast. Theparish looks forward to further growth, especially inspiritual fervor, and also to physical growth as it beginsraising funds for Phase Two of the Renovation Project.
Our Spiritual Patrons
Holy Angels church is adorned with icons of several of theangels in honor of our patrons, the holy angels.
In theicons of archangels, the wings symbolize the bodilessbeings’ absence of earthly attraction and freedom ofmovement. As servants of God, they are clothed in anadorned tunic called a chiton. This is similar to thesticharion worn by men in holy orders. As having a role inthe stewardship of creation, the chiton is adorned with atippet or long broad band of cloth which derives from theceremonial dress of Byzantine Royalty. As formal attire, ahimation (cloak) is worn over the chiton. The staff held inthe right hand is a sign of sovereignty and the rectitudewith which archangels bring all to completion. The filletworn on the head with bands passing behind the ears and theglobe with the Greek monogram of Christ both signify theangels’ being guided towards what God commands.
The Nature of Angels
The fact that there are other reasoning beings besides usand more elevated than we is testified to by the mostancient and general beliefs of humanity. The entireBible, from the first book to the last, presents us withthe reality of angels as living, acting beings who serveGod and aid people.
The patriarchs were made worthy of visitations byAngels. Abraham once hosted two such divinemessengers and the Son of God who appeared with them in theform of an angel (Genesis 18:1-2). An angelrestrained the hand of Abraham when he would havesacrificed his son Isaac (Genesis 22:11). An angelaccompanied the children of Israel in the wilderness andled them to the promised land (Exodus 23:20).
Under the guidance of these heavenly messengers, Gideon andthe other judges of Israel carried out the commands of God(Judges 6:12-18). The holy prophet Daniel wasprotected from the jaws of lions by an angel who appearedin the midst of the lion pit (Daniel 3:25).
The holy archangel Gabriel informed the prophet Simeon ofthe approaching appearance of the Savior in the world andthe same angel appeared to the high priest Zachary in thetemple to inform him of the birth of his son to be namedJohn. Saint Gabriel was sent to Nazareth to theVirgin Mary to announce to her that she would be the Motherof God the Word (Luke 1:26-27).
On the Origin and Order of Angels
The Lord, Himself, gives us some understanding about holyangels. He tells us of the love which causes theangels to rejoice over our salvation and to watch over uson all our paths (Matthew 18:10; Luke 15:10).
God’s love caused Him to give existence to reasoningbeings, capable of knowing and loving Him, andparticipating in his blessedness. The first creationof this love was the bodiless, immaterial spirits whoserved Him and fellowshipped with Him.
The holy angels, those faithful to God, were strengthenedwith divine grace and became completely blessed. Theyare reflections of glory and the radiance of the Holy ofHolies encompasses them. Delighting in the ecstasy ofthe contemplation of eternal beauty, they are possessed ofimmeasurable love and drink freely from the wellspring ofblessedness. They are above all human limitations,limited only by the fact that they are created beings andservants.
The host of heavenly angels is beyond number. Despitetheir huge number, a perfect and harmonious order existsamong the blessed heavenly powers. This order is thevery beauty of perfection, wisdom, truth, and love. Traditionally, the bodiless beings are established intonine orders: Angels, Archangels, Powers, Dominions,Principalities, Virtues, Thrones, Cherubim, andSeraphim. These beings are subject to one another inperfect love and humility.