www.byzcath.org Forums News & Events Eparchial & Parish Events Saint Anne Byzantine of San Luis Obispo to welcome new priest!

Saint Anne Catholic Church of the Byzantine Rite located in San Luis Obispo, CA will welcome Father Milan Kasperek and his wife Maria this coming Sunday (August 11.)

Fr. Milan is the parish's new administrator, replacing Fr. James Lane who has been assigned to Saint George Catholic Church of the Byzantine Rite near Olympia Washington.

Please join us this Sunday (August 11) at 10:00 AM for Fr. Milan's first Sunday Divine Liturgy in San Luis Obispo, followed by a special coffee social.

God grant him many years! California is blessed to have several wonderful parishes.

There are some photos of Father Milan Kasperek at his new parish, Saint Anne Byzantine Catholic Church in San Luis Obispo, CA located at: https://www.facebook.com/SaintAnneByzantineCatholicChurch

Very nice photos. Did Fr. Milan and his wife come to the parish from Eastern Europe, or are they Americans?

I believe they are from Slovakia.

Many years!

They are from Slovakia via Phoenix.

I know I'm super late to this thread. But does anyone go to St. Anne's in SLO? My wife and I attended Divine Liturgy there once awhile ago. Fr Milan is great!

I attend St. Anne's.

Things are going well! The parish is growing both with babies and converts. (I'm a convert as are maybe 50% of the congregation.)

Father Milan is great and getting better as his English is improving daily. He is careful and resolute about Eastern Catholic tradition and he does a great job with Liturgy.

St. Anne's is the type of parish where people take their faith very seriously. We also have great food!

Please come and visit.

Brent

Hey Brent, my wife and I will most likely be coming to St. Anne's again if not this Sunday, then next Sunday. We currently attend St. Paul the Apostle's in Pismo Beach (for the Latin Mass) but after losing Fr Andrews (who loved his time at St. Anne's) we are feeling less and less attached to the parish. We attended Divine Liturgy at St. Anne's once and I was impressed with it. My wife had a few hang ups but I'm hoping I can get her to give it another shot. I absolutely love how welcoming and tight knit the parish is. Our first time there and we were approached by several parishioners as well as Fr himself. It was a stark contrast compared to the Novus Disordo parishes around Santa Barbara County that we've attended. My wife and I are considering moving all the way up to Post Falls, Idaho to attend the FSSP parish up there as a last resort (my faith is failing hard out here). After attending Divine Liturgy, I see St. Anne's as a beacon of hope on the central coast. Before we commit ourselves to gambling our family's future on an uncertain move, we really want to try St. Anne's and immerse ourselves in Byzantine Liturgy and tradition and see if that is where God is calling our family. You say you converted, did you officially/formally convert (ie writing to the Bishops and officially leaving the Latin Rite)? What was the process like?

Father Chris (monk who celebrated Latin Mass at St. Paul's) said it best during one of his homilies at St. Annes:

"You folks have it much better than you realize. Divine Liturgy and the Eastern tradition is rich and the whole church needs this....especially the Latins."

When you understand the liturgy a bit, it becomes an even more wonderful experience of worship. Ask around for Brent when you come....I'd love to meet you.

I'm a former protestant and was baptized at St. Annes. I was and am still drawn to the Orthodox faith, but my wife was raised Catholic and we found that St. Annes was a perfect fit for us....the Orthodox liturgy and spirituality but also Catholic.

And the church is literally vibrating and bursting with life. Visitors, young families, converts....baptisms every month it seems.

Ok will do Brent. It might not be for a few more weeks now. We were planning to go recently but we gave birth to our first child on September 8th. Ignatius Benedict Sheehan lol, very Saintly name. Gotta aim high. Once we get used to the routine and parenting and all that, and feel confident to venture out into the outside world we'll be coming back to St. Anne's. It's quite a trip from Lompoc lol.

I've visited St. Anne's a number of times and found it to be a wonderful, welcoming parish as well. I hope you and your wife find a home there.

Thank you. That is my hope as well! My wife has some hang ups and doesn't want to leave the Latin Rite so it's been difficult trying to convince her. The Divine Liturgy is sacramentally the same, but otherwise very different than what she is used to and she didn't take to it much the one time we've been. I, on the other hand, enjoyed the reverence. It was beautiful. Something I haven't been able to find in any of the Novus Ordo parishes around Santa Barbara County. There aren't any Latin Mass communities that are established on a permanent basis so it makes it hard for us to find peace with going to Church. Please keep us in your prayers to find the parish God is calling us too so that we can fully embrace it's spirituality, whether it end up being eastern or western. Especially with our son being here. It's imperative to me that we find the right parish to raise him in so that we have community support when sharing the faith with him.

When you guys go the next time, be sure to ask about books/pamphlets that explain the basics of the DL and what the movements mean, etc.

There's more to it than just reverence, although I certainly appreciate that aspect very much. Divine Liturgy is "deep" on many levels.

It's also centuries older than the Tridentine Mass.

I hope your wife gives it another chance! Please ask for us next time you come to St. Annes!