by Peter HnatPublished October 6, 2025 In October, 2022, I became a permanent resident of The Villages in Florida and began attending services at The Byzantine Catholic Community. It was then I became aware that the Community was working on rebuilding and refurbishing an altar that was originally designed for SS Peter and Paul Byzantine Catholic Church in Elizabeth, New Jersey in 1924. Approximately 225,000 Rusyns immigrated to the United States between the 1880’s and 1914. They built about 300 churches in America, one of which was SS. Peter and Paul Byzantine Catholic Church in Elizabeth, New Jersey. One of the founders of SS. Peter and Paul were my grandparents Michael Hnat and Anna (Sember) Hnat. The church was founded in 1916 and the building was completed in 1919. In 1924 the parishioners commissioned Paul Dauber, a specialist in Byzantine art to design, build and install a new altar for their church. In 1955-1956, SS Peter and Paul’s interior was remodeled by Walter Boettcher Studios of New York. It is believed that at this time “The Altar” installed in 1924 was disassembled and transported to St. Thomas the Apostle Byzantine Catholic Church in Rahway, New Jersey and put in one of their storage rooms. It remained there until 2019 when Father Oleksiy Nebesnyk, pastor of St. Anne’s Byzantine Catholic Church in New Port Richey, Florida and Administrator of The Byzantine Catholic Community in The Villages, Florida became aware of its existence. Father Nebesnyk asked Right Reverend Archpriest James G. Hayer, the pastor of St. Thomas if “The Altar” might be available for use at The Byzantine Catholic Community in The Villages. Father Hayer said yes. The first task was how to transport “The Altar” the 1,110 miles from New Jersey to Florida. This was undertaken by The Knights of Columbus at St. Anne`s under the guidance of Grand Knight Larry Belligiere. The Knights arranged for “The Altar ”, currently in sections, to be shipped to Father Nebesnyk at St Anne’s. Rául Fernández, a member of The Byzantine Community in The Villages obtained “The Altar” from Father and spent the months from August, 2022 to December, 2022 reconstructing and refurbishing it. As a former altar boy, choir member, CCD teacher and Trustee of SS Peter and Paul Byzantine Catholic Church in Elizabeth, New Jersey, I find it providential that one hundred and six years after my grandparents founded SS Peter and […]

Stanley BejdaPublished: September 8, 2025 It took me thirty years of wandering around the world to realize how important it is for me to be a Rusyn, and how important it is for my children to know that Rusyn blood flows in their veins. Let me tell you why; but, first, I must start with where I was born. Being a Rusyn in an environment where everyone around you is Rusyn is nothing special. That’s how I grew up in Medzilaborce. At school, we were taught all subjects in Slovak. At home; with friends; in shops; the doctor’s office; the post office; or at grandma’s, we always spoke only po našomu—Rusyn. These were the 1980’s. In socialist Czechoslovakia, the stores were empty, bread had to be ordered in advance, and if you came late, you were out of luck. But, for us kids it didn’t matter, we lived our simple childhood lives. Being Rusyn was so natural back then that I didn’t see it as anything special. When I left to study music in the wider world, everything changed. Whenever I told someone I was Rusyn, I often heard “Šalený Rusyn” (crazy Rusyn). It wasn’t pleasant, but over time I got used to it. Whenever I met another Rusyn, it always brought me joy. Deep inside I felt a secret sense of kinship, something hard to describe in words. I believe this feeling is known only to those who live abroad, and perhaps for us Rusyns, it is even stronger, since we never had our own state. After finishing high school at the military conservatory, I worked as a volunteer with the Union of Rusyns and Ukrainians in Košice. I felt like I was in heaven—among my own. We laughed, worked, celebrated together, always on the same wavelength. We helped each other selflessly and with joy. I met Rusyns in many places, and there was always respect and dignity in how we treated each other. If someone needed help, others simply helped, and never asked for anything in return. After all, we were all Rusyns. I have never experienced such solidarity anywhere else in the world as I did among Rusyns. At that time, however, I still did not realize how important it was for me to be Rusyn. Life went on. Today I am fifty, living with my family in Denmark. Here, I am alone, without a community. Here, […]