www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Photo Gallery Saint Michael's Cathedral, Passaic, New Jersey

Exterior Photos of Saint Michael's Cathedral, Historical Postcard issued in Passaic, NJ circa 1910 and Postcard of the village of Ujak/Udol in Slovakia where the majority of members who began Saint Michaels' immigrated from.

I'd like to know more about the evolution of the neighborhood in which the Cathedral is located. It seemed clear, when I visited a few years back, that the ethnic composition of the area had changed drastically, as had its economic base. I imagine that, when built, there was a large Rusyn population nearby, and that, just across the railroad tracks, there must have been a large factory district. So, the working men could go to church in the morning before heading off to their shift, and then stop in again on the way home after work.

How does the Cathedral sustain itself, without a large local Greek Catholic population? How many active members does it have, and what sort of outreach is it making to draw new members from outside the ethnic community?

I can share in my years there (1994 - 2003), the neighborhood was largely Hispanic, with many from Ecuador and other Central and South American countries. Industry in the area was still present, yet much slower than it is today. The factories are mostly gone, but there are several active businesses in plain view from the Cathedral property.

The neighborhood seems more Mexican in character these days. Just to the north of the Cathedral property is a Mexican / Latino food distribution business. To the south, several garages and repair shops. There is little to speak of to the West (other than the parking lot across the street, where I once had a car window broken during DL over a few dollars worth of loose change stowed in the ash tray). Behind the Cathedral is a busy commercial street with many small businesses, restaurants, etc. that IMO has definitely cleaned up a bit since my days. My most recent visit was in December for +Bishop Pataki's funeral.

Despite being an oasis in the middle of all of this (including the rectory), the real reason why it has been a successful mismatch for so many recent years is the skill of the Rector, Fr. Marcel. He is friendly by nature and works hard to connect to those in the community around him. As a result, there is a respect-based relationship between the Cathedral and the community that helps keep things in order, despite what one might think after driving through the neighborhood. The renovated shrine in front of the rectory, now prominently housing an icon of Our Lady of Guadalupe, has become a popular spot for local passers-by.

The parish family is still sizable and by all publicly available data contributes generously. As it is the Cathedral church, it is imaginable that some funds are provided by the Eparchy for upkeep.

Despite my relatively short span as a parishioner, I was baptized in the Cathedral, as were two of my three children. It holds a special place in my heart for those reasons and because of the many wonderful lifetime parishioners and families who accepted me as a son of the parish from day one. Most especially, I had the honor of being "grabbed by the ear" by +Prof. Kahanick and schooled in the art of cantoring as his last student before he passed away.

As I saw your question, it immediately raised that little question that has always been at the back of my mind - just how long can the Cathedral remain in Passaic? The Chapel and Parish Center have provided an alternative environment for the parish in a suburban setting, where many of the younger families with children tend to congregate. This has likely prolonged the question, at least from the parishioners' point of view. But sooner or later, I suppose it is a question that will have to be posed and answered by a higher authority ...

StuartK

Yes, as in all urban areas, things have changed. The "East Side" of Passaic has been transformed with the influx of new immigrants at different periods in time. We have some interesting information on the City of Passaic at http://www.tccweb.org/newjersey.htm#Passaic just click on Passaic (we also have a Garfield section also), for your other questions which could be quite long in response, feel free to PM me.

As I saw your question, it immediately raised that little question that has always been at the back of my mind - just how long can the Cathedral remain in Passaic? The Chapel and Parish Center have provided an alternative environment for the parish in a suburban setting, where many of the younger families with children tend to congregate. This has likely prolonged the question, at least from the parishioners' point of view. But sooner or later, I suppose it is a question that will have to be posed and answered by a higher authority ...

Well Joe, so far we are thankfully thriving, we have a dedicated membership who work hard at all social functions (i.e. dinners, baking projects, the picnic), also, social outtings like the bus ride to Radio City Music Hall for the Christmas show is always sold out...that being said, I have noticeda number of Hispanic young men and ladies attending the "dawn patrol" (the 7 am Liturgy), I have become quite friendly with one and try my best in broken Spanish to welcome them as best I can, considering St. Marys down the Street has a new hispanic pastor for the past number of months, I think this is a very positive development. The main thing is people are working for the church and doing all they can to maintain it, thats the key, once a church looses that, its sunk in my opinion.

Father Marcel has done a phenomonial job with outreach, coming back from singing a funeral at the cemetery one day he had the undertaker stop, roll down the window and said hello to the UPS man, he is very well known and respected within the community, he really made my day with that one and he had the UPS man laughing and made his day a bit brighter lugging all those boxes.

The Cathedral still draws a good number of members at the 7 am and 9 am Liturgy so, not sure how long it may take for these major decisions to be brought to the table, there are other churches on the East Side in my opinion that will close before the Cathedral but, considering the original building for the Cathedral was the Dundee Mission church and, immigrants came, purchased it and made it their own, I suppose history will repeat itself down the road in the future mists of time possibly.

Methinks it might be time to start serving the Divine Liturgy & other services in Spanish as well as English; and in general making some sort of sincere outreach to the local Hispanic immigrants. The late OCA Archbishop Dmitri prepared a Spanish-language translation, which is actually in use.

I work with many Hispanic immigrants and most of them are at least culturally Catholic - but they simply cannot understand what kind of Catholic I am, since we don't do a lot of things they're accustomed to (like Ash Wed., very important for Hispanic Catholics in general).

Ha, ha: SNARK: sometimes even I wonder not what kind of Catholic I am but rather what quality of Catholic I am! Hospody, spasi mja.

The neighborhood needs some renovations and the people may be poor, but they are friendly and nice. I've had lots of laughs and conversations with locals at the Shrine of the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe.

That's a very nice exterior shot, Joy. Thank you. I still need an exterior view for the directory, so I may end up copying it for that purpose.

Many years,

Neil

Don't hesitate to post at length, here or in the Parish forum - the interest level here in all such things is always pretty high.

Many years,

Neil

Fr. Marcel, IMO, was the best possible choice for rector of the cathedral...We were sad to see him leave Holy Trinity back in 1989 but he is definitely the priest you want in a urban parish...

Go right ahead Neil, my pleasure, I took the shot the day of the Anniversary dinner I believe.

I can understand your concern selos ilgesys, as I mentioned I believe in a previous post, we do have those who are hispanic attending and it is very nice to see. There is a young woman who attends the 7 am Liturgy and we both try to understand each other, I with my limited Spanish, her with her limited English (and both of us half in a coma at 7 am in the morning). It will remain to be seen how things will be implemented at the Cathedral which has a large hispanic population, Saint Mary's Slovak Roman Catholic church now has a full time hispanic priest as pastor so we shall see how things progress but, it is also evident the Byzantine Catholic church holds great interest also as is evident in their attendance.

Thank you for your thoughts!

Yes, the outdoor shrine is changed at different times, somtimes an icon of Our Lady of Guadalupe is placed inside, at others an icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, the shrine was constructed with volunteer labor and they did a beautiful job, just as in Europe, flowers are always placed in front of the icon at the shrine and I have seen many people stop to meditate and prayer there, its a wonderful thing for those walking along that section of First Street. For a progression of the work form start to finish, see http://stmichaelsarchangel.org/

FWIW - we did have a Spanish setting of the Trisagion handy in my days there in Passaic, and used it occasionally at the 7AM Sunday DL.

JEK - if you like, I can dig it up and send it to you.

StuartK, since Neil said posting at length is ok, well, here goes my humble opinion and thoughts to your question.

Yes, the composition of the neighborhood has changed, I would say within the past 20 years the neighborhood has been transformed from say when I was a child or even, during the 1990's while I was employed with the City of Passaic.

Taking into account the area of the Cathedral (i.e. First Street, with side streets of Bergen and Mercer with Market Street runing parallel in back of the Cathedral, the area has to a point experienced quite an upgrade lately. There are new businesses at the end of First Street (before Passaic Street), Wotiz Meat Company, Pubela Foods, and Gromex make up the major manufactuers. Their properties are kept in well order and Pubela even has a shrine outside the gate of their manufacturing building with a statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the owners of this firm are to be commended for such devotion. Also running along First Street is the old Pope Pius High School which is now run by the Passaic Board of Education, (Elementary School #9).

Across the tracks was the old Pantasote manufacturing plant (26 Jefferson Street) which is empty, many attempts, even during my tenure with the City, have and were made to try and revitalize the area but to date, I am not aware anything definate has been arranged. The church in those days (as were all others) were open all the time, anyone could come and pray, meditate or attend a scheduled service. Many of the ladies were employed as seamstresses at President Sportswear on Bergen Street (on the side of the Cathedral) there were many who were parishioneers of Saint Michaels who worked for this firm which made coats in the summer and closed in the winter (it was a part time type manufacturing shop.) Saint Michaels also used to hold Vesper services each Sunday afternoon so it was church in the morning, church in the evening, considering the different shifts men and women had to work, I am sure this was a blessing as you could make a service (and yes, the factories did operate on Sundays).

As for the Cathedral sustaining itself, I suppose it is like any other parish in an industrial urban area, people move away but, still travel to attend services especially at Easter and Christmas and at other important times of the year including Sundays, some are devoted to the Cathedral, while they may live 10 or 15 minutes from the Chapel in Woodland Park, they still would rather drive farther to Passaic, I know one individual who resides in Wayne now and while the Chapel would be closer, she still drives to the Cathedral every Sunday as she once told me "this is my home."

Father Marcel is always engaged in dialog with those who are interested in joining the Cathedral, as he has said in his sermons many times, the members also have to take an active part in reaching out to those who have fallen away, those who may be interested and joining in with our own personal outreach to friends, co-workers, etc. His personal motto of "all are welcome in the house of the Lord" is a very beautiful and I am sure it has impressed more than one person to explore the Cathedral further.

As to the actual number on the books I cannot answer that question but I am sure it is higher than many of the churches that surround this area. The Slovak National Catholic Church on Fourth Street has very few members left. St. Stephens on Third Street (via Diocese figures) has approximately 320 families with a CCD program of 25-30 children, St. Mary's Slovak RC church lists 355 families with a CCD program of 22 children.

One interesting note are the two Polish Roman Catholic Churches, St. Josephs on Parker Avenue (two or so blocks away and up Monroe) has a listing of 645 families and 210 children in their CCD program and Holy Rosary Polish RC Church on Wall Street (down Passaic Street towards the Passaic Street bridge) lists 685 families and 425 CCD students, immigration is still following history as it did during the turn of the century....

The Cathedral sustains itself in my opinion in many ways, I have never seen so many devoted and truly dedicated members, if something needs to be done, its done without apathy, whether it be baking, holding dinners, fundraisers or just cleaning the pews and vacuming the interior of the church. Also, it is my first hand personal experience the members have a true generosity for the support of the Cathedral but I believe this is something instilled in all members since the Cathedral was begun and possibly even where the members ancestors originated from in my opinion. While the first structure The Dundee Mission Church was built in the early 1870’s by the Dundee Water, Power and Land Company and purchased in 1892, repairs and remodelling had to be performed, by the time newly constructed church was blessed along with its corner stone on Sunday, July 6, 1902 (with twenty thousand people in attendance) and, put into the corner stone were the names of those who officiated at the ceremonies and those who had contributed towards the building fund be they member or non member (a very thoughtful and kind expression of gratitude), the church cost approximately $60,000.00 to construct. Think of it, between 1892 and 1902 $60,000 was raised to construct the church and the members were not in the highest tax brackets that is for sure!

I am sure with the Chapel in Woodland Park and the many other functions and outrearch programs, Saint Michael's will continue to grow, time will tell which way it will be and what ethnic group may become the new people in the pews but, as long as those pews are filled and God is being worshiped that is all that matters.

Sorry if I went on a bit too much StuartK and Neil, you get me going on the history and its all over