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Slovenska cerkev Sv. Cirila v New Yorku

ZLATOMAŠNIK BOD’ POZDRAVLJEN

22/5/2023

This year is an important milestone in our community. Father Krizolog, the pastor of our Church for 30 years, is going to celebrate 50 years of his priesthood.

We are going to celebrate this occasion in his honor on
August 13, 2023 at 1:00PM
during the St. Cyril’s parish PICNIC mass at our homestead in Saylorsburg, PA. Usually, this summer gatherings of our parish have a quite high attendance, and we expect even more people this year.

In order to help us with some planning, especially of food and beverages, we would kindly ask you who are planning to attend, to notify us in advance by July 31, 2023, but don’t worry, you can come even if you don’t call in advance.

Please contact us by email or by phone:
mia.branc@gmail.com
phone: 1-570-213-0987

Have a great summer! See you in August!

Pomladansko pismo

23/4/2023

Dragi farani in prijatelji!

Na marčevski Kulturni uri nas je Silvo Lango popeljal okoli sveta in nam s svojimi fotografskimi posnetki pokazal lepoto in pestrost nasega planeta.

Velikonočno praznovanje se je začelo že na Cvetno nedeljo. Branci so naredili veliko butaro, Delaki pa manjše butarice, ki smo jih blagoslovili v cerkveni dvorani in jih v procesiji narodnih noš in ostalega ljudstva prinesli v cerkev.

Velikonočno tridnevje - Veliki četrtek, Veliki petek, Velika sobota - so bili dnevi premišljevanja Jezusovih zadnjih dni:

Veliki četrtek - spomin postavitve zakramenta presvete Evharistije in duhov niškega posvečenja.
Veliki petek - edini dan v letu, ko nikjer na svetu ni sv. maše, dan spomina na Kristusovo trpljenje in smrt, češčenje križa, obhajilo, ki je sad odrešenja.
Velika sobota - premišljevanje zgodovine božjega odrešenja ob branju svetopisemskih beril, ki nam razkrivajo božjo ljubezen do človeka.
Velika noč - slavljenje Vstalega Kristusa, ki kot luč razsvetljuje temine greha in odpira človeku pot do končnega uresničenja svojega dostojanstva in popolnosti.

Velikonočno praznovanje so nam polepšali naši pevci, za orglami je bila Mija Branc, ki je tudi praznično okrasila našo cekev in pripravila dobrote iz svoje kuhinje, ki smo jih bili deležni ob dobri šunki in ostrem hrenu Petra Jenka, pijačo pa je daroval Emil Gaspari. Marjana Burger nas je razveselila z lepimi spominskimi pirhi, letos v rumeni barvi. VSEM PRISRČNA HVALA!

Hvala tudi vsem, ki ste se udeležili letošnjih praznikov in darovali za našo cerkev sv. Cirila, da bo še nekaj časa svetilnik slovenske kulture in vere v New Yorku.

Aprilska »Kulturna ura«: Prof dr. Matej Avbelj, Nova Univerza, Nova Gorica:
IZZIVI V SLOVENSKEM ŠOLSTVU.

WHY PRAY THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS? 8 REASONS FROM POPE FRANCIS

7/3/2023

BY KEVIN COTTER

The Stations of the Cross are an ancient tradition in the Catholic Church going back to the fourth century when Christians went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

Like many of our Catholic traditions, the Stations of the Cross can be rich, deep, and meaningful, but at the same time we can lose sight of their significance and how to relate them to our everyday lives.

Continuing the idea of Pope Francis as our spiritual director this Lent, here are 8 reasons from our Holy Father on why we should pray the Stations of the Cross.

1. THEY ALLOW US TO PLACE OUR TRUST IN HIM
“The Cross of Christ contains all the love of God; there we find his immeasurable mercy. This is a love in which we can place all our trust, in which we can believe.... let us entrust ourselves to Jesus, let us give ourselves over to him, because he never disappoints anyone! Only in Christ crucified and risen can we find salvation and redemption.” —Address, World Youth Day, Way of the Cross, July 26, 2013

2. THEY PUT US INTO THE STORY
“And you, who do you want to be? Like Pilate? Like Simon? Like Mary? Jesus is looking at you now and is asking you: do you want to help me carry the Cross? Brothers and sisters, with all the strength of your youth, how will you respond to him?” —Address, World Youth Day, Way of the Cross, July 26, 2013

3. THEY REMIND US THAT JESUS SUFFERS WITH US
“The Cross of Christ bears the suffering and the sin of mankind, including our own. Jesus accepts all this with open arms, bearing on his shoulders our crosses and saying to us: ‘Have courage! You do not carry your cross alone! I carry it with you. I have overcome death and I have come to give you hope, to give you life’ (cf. Jn 3:16).” — Address, World Youth Day, Way of the Cross, July 26, 2013

4. THEY COMPEL US TO ACTION
“But the Cross of Christ invites us also to allow ourselves to be smitten by his love, teaching us always to look upon others with mercy and tenderness, especially those who suffer, who are in need of help, who need a word or a concrete action.” — Address, World Youth Day, Way of the Cross, July 26, 2013

5. THEY HELPS US MAKE A DECISION FOR OR AGAINST CHRIST
“[The Cross] reveals a judgment, namely that God, in judging us, loves us. Let us remember this: God judges us by loving us. If I embrace his love then I am saved, if I refuse it, then I am condemned, not by him, but my own self, because God never condemns, he only loves and saves.” —Address, Good Friday, March 29, 2013

6. THEY REVEAL GOD’S RESPONSE TO EVIL IN THE WORLD
“The Cross is the word through which God has responded to evil in the world. Some- times it may seem as though God does not react to evil, as if he is silent. And yet, God has spoken, he has replied, and his answer is the Cross of Christ: a word which is love, mercy, forgiveness.” – Address, Good Friday, March 29, 2013

7. THEY GIVE US THE CERTAINTY OF GOD’S LOVE FOR US
“What has the Cross given to those who have gazed upon it and to those who have touched it? What has the Cross left in each one of us? You see, it gives us a treasure that no one else can give: the certainty of the faithful love which God has for us.” – Address, World Youth Day, Way of the Cross, July 26, 2013

8. THEY GUIDE US FROM THE CROSS TO THE RESURRECTION
“O, Our Jesus, guide us from the Cross to the resurrection and teach us that evil shall not have the last word, but love, mercy and forgiveness. O Christ, help us to exclaim again: ‘Yesterday I was crucified with Christ; today I am glorified with Him. Yesterday I died with Him, today I live with Him. Yesterday I was buried with Him, today I am raised with Him”. – Address, Good Friday, April 18, 2014

Februarska kulturna ura

7/3/2023

Dragi farani in prijatelji!

Na februarski Kulturni uri (19.2.2023) smo se spomnili velikega misijonarja med Indijanci v državi Michigan, Friderika Barage. 19. januarja je minilo 155 let od njegove smrti. Duhovnik je postal leta 1823 v Sloveniji in prisel v Cincinnati, Ohio, decembra 1831. 1853 je postal prvi škof škofije Marquette, kjer je tudi pokopan. Govoril je več jezikov in v njih tudi pisal, predvsem premišljevalne knjige in molitvenike. Njegovo najpomembnejše delo je Slovnica in Slovar Ojibwa jezika, ki sta postala nepogrešljiva za učenje tega jezika za prihodnje misijonarje med Indijanci.

V leto 2023...

24/1/2023

Adventni in božični čas sta tisti čas v letu, ko se še posebej zavedamo kako pomembna je v življenju ljubezen do sočloveka in spoštovanje njegovega človeškega dostojanstva. Prav za to je Bog poslal na svet svojega Sina, rojenega v Betlehemu in jaslice nas vsako leto spominjajo na ta srečni trenutek v človeški zgodovini.

V naši cerkvi so letos postavili jaslice: Matej Branc, Delak Sergej, Peter Jenko, Sasha Jursha, Sebastijan Kopušar, Robi Poredoš in Robi Zakotnik. Ob njih smo lahko uživali ob poslušanju božičnih pesmi, ki so nam jih, po nedeljski maši 18. decembra, zapele Dominika Lango, Patricia Ruiz, Marinka Zupančič ob klavirski spremljavi Michaela Pilafiana. Po maši smo bili zopet deležni dobrot iz Mijine kuhinje, ki je, kot mimogrede, še praznično okrasila cerkev in orglala pri prazničnih mašah.

Januarska Kulturna ura je bila posvečena spominu na Antona Babnika in izidu njegove knjige “Še en čudež“. V njej popisuje svoje življenje od rojstva pa do prihoda v Ameriko. Helka Puc je iz nje prebrala par zanimivosti in ob koncu še “The 2nd inaugural address of President Lincoln” kot primer kako je on modro reševal težak politični položaj po koncu ameriške državljanske vojne.

Po Kulturni uri, ki so se je udeležili tudi Rupnicki in Rucigayi je bilo še pospravljanje jaslic. To delo so opravili Tone Branc, Vilma & Joao Chrisostomo, Branko Čampa in Robi Poredoš.

Vsem, ki ste nam polepšali Božične in novoletne praznike in darovali za našo cerkev PRISRČNA HVALA!

Kulturna ura in velika obletnica

13/12/2022

Zadnja Kulturna ura je bila posvečena 150-letnici rojstva arhitekta Jožeta Plečnika. Odlično jo je pripravil Sergej Delak in s pomočjo Branka Čampe in projektorja prikazal njegove najpomembnejše stvaritve, ki zaznamujejo Ljubljano: Tromostovje, nabrežja Ljubljanice, Centralno tržnico, Narodno in Univerzitetno knjižnico in ljubljansko pokopališče Žale. Cerkve in kapelice, ki so posejane po Sloveniji, so še posebno lep del njegovaga opusa. Njegova dela se lahko vidi tudi na Dunaju, v Pragi na Češkem in v Beogradu.

1.oktobra je minilo 30 let od smrti dr. Valentina Kalana, ki je več kot 50 let vodil Kulturne ure in tako pomagal ohranjati slovensko zavest in kulturo med Slovenci, živečimi v “Greater New York”. Po njegovi smrti je to plemenito nalogo prevzel dr. Silvo Lango. Ob njegovem 30-letnem vodenju Kulturnih ur, mu je župnik P. Krizolog, v imenu župnije sv. Cirila, izročil spominsko plaketo v znemenje priznanja in zahvale za njegovo delo.

From the Archdiocesan Newsletter

3/11/2022

October 21, 2022

Today, Reverend Martin Cimerman Krizolog, OFM celebrated 30 years as pastor of St. Cyril in St. Mark’s Place.

The 106-year-old Slovenian church, consecrated in 1916 is a beacon of faith in the East Village, bursting with eclectic shops and nightlife. Fr. Kriz also recently received a medal of honor from Slovenian President Borut Pahor, who was in New York for the U.N. General Assembly, for his services in preserving Slovenian culture and uniting Slovenians in the USA.

Fr. Kriz remarked, “I did not expect this award and am surprised. I sincerely thank the president for this recognition, which I accept as recognition for the entire Slovenian community that lives and works here.”

Congratulations Father Kriz!

What Vatican II Accomplished

4/10/2022

The Catholic Church’s historic council is misunderstood today by both progressives and nostalgic traditionalists. Its true message endures.

The Second Vatican Council, which opened 60 years ago on Oct. 11, 1962, was the most important Catholic event in half a millennium. Its achievements were many and notable; it was also followed by ecclesiastical upheavals that continue to roil the Church today.

After Vatican II, Catholics worshiped in their own languages, rather than in Latin. By urging Catholics to become more biblically literate, the council inspired lay communities of spiritual renewal, some of them robustly charismatic. It also led to greater lay participation in all aspects of Church life: liturgical, educational, managerial, evangelical. The council fully inserted Catholicism into the ecumenical movement’s quest for Christian unity, even as it dramatically reconfigured the Church’s relationship to its religious parent, Judaism.

Vatican II was also the moment in which Catholicism fully realized its claim to be a global (“catholic”) institution, as churchmen from outside the Church’s historic European core began to take prominent roles in shaping the Catholic future. The extraordinary growth of the Catholic Church in sub-Saharan Africa—where Catholicism now counts hundreds of millions of adherents, many of them first- or second-generation Christians—was accelerated by the council’s promotion of native African clergy and religious orders, its disentanglement of Catholicism from colonialism and its insistence on the Church’s essentially missionary character.

Read more at The Wall Street Journal.

President of Slovenia Borut Pahor awards Father Krizolog

3/10/2022

Along with attending the 77th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, the President of Slovenia Borut Pahor presented the Reverend Martin Cimerman Krizolog, a Franciscan from the Slovenian Church of St. Cyril, with a state award for his services in preserving Sloveneness and for uniting Slovenes in the United States.

"I did not expect this, and I am surprised. I sincerely thank the President for this recognition, which I accept as recognition for the entire Slovenian community that lives and works here," said Fr. Krizolog, adding that, considering the small size of the nation, Slovenians contributed the most to the development of America.

He encouraged Slovenians to tolerance and unification. "The Slovenian soul has given a special flavor to this American society," he said, adding that there is strength in the community. "In the words of a philosopher, whose name I can't remember now: instead of cursing the darkness, let's turn on the light - that's what I want for everyone in this community of ours and the Slovenians at home," he said.

In the justification of the award, it is written, among other things, that Fr. Krizolog has been working in the parish in New York since 1991. On June 30, 1991, on the fourth day of the war for Slovenia, he helped prepare a protest against the invasion of the Yugoslav People's Army into Slovenia and for the recognition of the independence of Slovenia in the square in front of the UN Palace of Slovenia. He participated in and organized the sending of letters to American politicians and other influential people whom American Slovenians asked to prevent bloodshed in their homeland.

"He has made the promotion of Slovenia in New York and the USA one of his priorities. He has worked to make the parish a meeting place for Slovenian men and women, as well as others. He organized and encouraged many cultural events, concerts and exhibitions, lectures, and more. To his credit, it is a place of openness, tolerance, and inclusiveness regardless of religious affiliation or political persuasion."

"With his cheerful and humorous approach, he is always able to create a relaxed atmosphere that calls for dialogue and the search for what connects people in the community. Fr. Krizolog's openness and connectivity helped in the great success collecting funds for the renovation of the parish building, where the big donor concert in 1997 in Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana stood out in particular," he writes in the justification.

"He has done a lot for our Slovenian community. He is always ready to help and has an open door to talk or help. It means a lot that he has restored the church: it is the only remaining place where we can socialize. Sometimes when there was still more of a business community, and there was a Slovenian Consulate in New York, we also met elsewhere, but now we only have this church left," said Mija Branc, who regularly prepares Slovenian culinary delights for various events.

Fr. Krizolog said that he came to New York for two years and has stayed for 30 years. At the time of independence, everyone wanted to help Slovenia establish itself in the metropolis of the world. "We collected funds and renovated the building, and it was no longer just a religious building, but a kind of Slovenian house, where Slovenians from all over the world could come."

The church is threatened with closure in a few years because there are no Franciscans in Slovenia who could take over Fr. Krizolog's position, which means that after his departure, the fate of the building will be decided by the archbishop of New York. The Archdiocese of New York has no interest in preserving ethnic churches and would sell the building. There is an interest in keeping the church in Slovenian ownership. The state has already helped with reconstruction once in the past.

When asked if there is an interest in preserving the church, Pahor answered in the affirmative. He said that, of course, this is not a matter for the state, but it is aware of some co-responsibility or desire for something like this to remain here.

"The Slovenian state showed support immediately after independence when the decision was made to provide financial assistance. There is no doubt that the answer to your question is that this is an important institution that performed a unifying role. That is why we presented Father with the award because it is his personal merit. This is the center for Slovenians, religious or not," said the President.

In October 2016, the church celebrated its 100th anniversary with a mass led by Ljubljana Archbishop Stanislav Zore. The celebration was attended by former ambassadors, including the former high representative of the international community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Valentin Inzko, and the former ambassador to Germany, Marta Kos. New York Archbishop Cardinal Timothy Dolan said at the time that Slovenians are an important part of the wonderful diversity in the USA and the New York Archdiocese.

In 2018, the former US ambassador to Slovenia, Brent Hartley, with then Prime Minister Miro Cerar and former UN Ambassador Darja Bavdaž Kuret, learned more about the efforts to protect the church as Slovenian cultural heritage in the US.

In 2017, based on a reciprocal agreement with the United States, the government ranked the church at the top of the priorities of Slovenian heritage in the United States. Slovenia has, for example, taken care of the medieval synagogue in Maribor, which was restored in 2001.

In September 2019, the Prime Minister at the time, Marjan Šarec, also advocated for the protection and preservation of the church. "Procedures or efforts are underway to protect it as a cultural monument, to keep it as it is, because this is of great importance for Slovenia," Šarec said at the time.

The history of the Church of St. Cyril will remain recorded for future generations also in the form of Matjaž Brojan's book, which was published last year on the 105th anniversary of the church.

Translated from an article at 24ur.com. Presidential press release at predsednik.si. Announcement with comments on Twitter.

Ob koncu poletja

22/9/2022

Dragi farani in prijatelji!

Dolgo in vroče poletje se počasi poslavlja. Zapomnili si ga bomo po vročini, suši, požarih, toči in neurjih; najhujši požari v zgodovini Slovenije so upepelili ogromen del Krasa vse do meje z Italijo in še čez....

Človeštvo se sooča z zahtevnimi problemi, ki jih pred nas postavljajo podnebne spremembe. Zavedamo se, da je potrebno poglobiti zavest o skupnem izvoru, o medsebojni pripadnosti in prihodnosti ter spremeniti življenjski slog (p.S.K). Skrbeti je treba za zdravo okolje, ki ga človeški pohlep uničuje. Papež Frančišek je zelo konkreten v svojih predlogih za vzgojo za skrb za okolje. Omenja izogibanje rabi plastičnih vrečk ali papirja, manjšo porabo vode, ločeno zbiranje odpadkov, priprava hrane v količini, ki jo bomo lahko pojedli, skrbno ravnanje z drugimi živimi bitji, uporabo javnega prometa ali prevažanje več oseb v vozilu, sajenje dreves, ugašanje nepotrebnih luči... Skrb za naravo je bila sestavni del živjenjskega sloga sv. Frančiška Asiškega, ki goduje 4. oktobra in je sedanjemu papežu zelo ljub svetnik, ki ga navdihuje pri njegovih prizadevanjih in oznanjevanju o vesoljnem bratstvu; začutiti moramo, da potrebujemo drug drugega, da smo odgovorni za druge in za svet in da se splača biti dober in pošten.

MAŠE pri Brančevih v nedeljo, 14. avgusta, 2022 in piknika po njej se je udeležilo 65 ljudi, kar je rekordna udeležba odkar smo se pri njih prvič zbrali k maši leta 1997. Med mašo smo krstili Julijano, hčerko Andreja in Sare Branc, ki so prišli z Dunaja prvič na obisk domov kot družina. Spomnili smo se tudi porocnih jubilejev zakoncev Gaspari (56let) in Hranjec (46let) in molili tudi za zdravje Emily Harley in Henrija Stalzer in za Damjano Simončič (umrla 16. avgusta, 2021) ter za žive in pokojne Brančeve in Novakove. Posebno veselo vzdušje je ustvarjala kopica otrok, ki so se zabavali v bazenu in smo jih vsi z vesljem opazovali - ta slovenski naraščaj! Zahvala Brančevim za gostoljubje in vsem, ki ste prispevali jedi in pijačo, da nihče ni odšel lačen ali žejen.

The month of November is dedicated to the Holy Souls in Purgatory. The Church commemorates all her faithful children who have departed from this life, but have not yet attained the joys of heaven.