Prayers echo within these walls. This is the story of Saint Michael Catholic Church.
Saint Michael Catholic Church has served many. It began with Russian immigrants. They sought spiritual comfort. Father Andrew Rogosh arrived in New York at Christmas 1935. He started an apostolate. It served Russian Catholics. They had fled tragic upheavals. In 1936, he started a chapel. Saint Michael’s Russian Catholic Chapel opened at 266 Mulberry Street.
World War II brought more Russian immigrants. Father Rogosh helped them. He traveled to processing camps. He helped them settle. The Russian liturgies attracted many. Russians and non-Russians alike came to the chapel.
Father Rogosh died in 1969. Byzantine Rite Jesuits served the community for ten years. Father Wilcock, Father John Geary, and Father Walter Ciszek were among them. Father Ciszek visited the chapel after his release from the USSR in 1963.
A new wave of Russian immigration came in 1974. Some attended Saint Michael’s. In 1979, Father Joseph Lombardi became the Administrator. He had been a parishioner. Father Roman Russo assisted him. He knew the Russian Church well.
In 1988, Father John Soles became Rector. He had served in Europe. The Cold War ended in 1989 and 1990. This led to further Russian immigration. Saint Michael’s continued to be needed.
Father Economos Roman Russo became rector after Father John. He served until his retirement in 2016. Father Vladimir Sybirnyy was appointed rector. He is of Ukrainian and Russian heritage.
Saint Michael Catholic Church attracted well-known people. Dorothy Day often attended Vespers or Divine Liturgy. Catherine Doherty also attended. She founded Madonna House in Canada. Her writings relied on her Russian roots.
Helen Izwolsky attended Saint Michael’s. She was a Czarist diplomat’s daughter. Thomas Merton occasionally shared the Divine Liturgy.
In 1986, Patriarch Maximos V visited Saint Michael’s. He was the Patriarch of the Melkite Catholic Church. Russian Catholic Bishop Andrei Katkov also visited. Bishop Anarghyros Printesis visited in 1988. He was the Greek Catholic Exarch of Greece. Bishop Louis Puscas visited in 1988. He was the Romanian Catholic Bishop of the Eparchy of Canton. Bishop Basil Losten visited in 1996 and 1997. He was the Ukrainian Catholic Bishop of Stamford. Eugéne Cardinal Tisserant visited in the 1950s. Duraisamy Simon Cardinal Lourdusamy visited in 1987. John Cardinal O’Connor came in 1986. He celebrated the fiftieth anniversary. Edward Cardinal Egan visited in 2009. Bishop George D. Gallaro celebrated the Divine Liturgy in July 2016.
Saint Michael’s attracts Russians and non-Russians alike. People are drawn to Russian spirituality. Saint Michael’s is compared to a mustard seed. It yields great fruit. It is also compared to a small lump of leaven. It raises the bread. This small community has produced many vocations. Nine priests, three deacons, and three readers have come from here. Several nuns also came from Saint Michael Catholic Church.
What makes Saint Michael Catholic Church special? It is the people who gather to pray. They worship. They live according to Christ’s greatest commandment. They love.