Name of Church Saint Basil the Great
Address 14263 Mulberry Drive, Los Gatos, CA 95032
Phone number (408) 871-0919
Website www.stbasil.org
Worship Schedule Sunday Divine Liturgy, 10 a.m. (Vespers Saturdays at 5 p.m., Canon of Matins Sundays at 9:40 a.m.)
Confessions Saturdays, 4:30 p.m. and Sundays, 9:40 a.m.
Names of priests Fr. Anthony Hernandez, pastor. Ordained in 2000.
Special activities Eastern Catholic Scripture Study Tuesdays at 7 p.m., Eastern Christian Spirituality Thursdays at 7 p.m.
Liturgy Liturgies are reverent, mostly in English and entirely sung; a few hymns/chants are in Church Slavonic and Greek. There is no kneeling, parishioners usually stand or sit. All ages receive Holy Communion (any Catholic properly prepared and in full communion with the Church may receive Communion); the host is dipped into the chalice with a spoon and administered to the faithful. Other features of the liturgy you’ll notice include bowing, incense and continuous singing/chanting. Visit the parish YouTube page to listen to previous liturgies: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC25VC1dO8o6IKOgwkEOYNFg.
Fellow parishioners The rite’s origins are Ruthenian (Eastern European), but at California churches this is a spiritual patrimony rather than being representative of a particular ethnicity. You’ll find English-speaking Catholics from the surrounding area.
Parking Around the church and in the residential neighborhood in which it is located.
Additional observations Saint Basil Byzantine in union with the Bishop of Rome, but is an Eastern Catholic rather than Roman Catholic church. They have the same faith and seven sacraments, but different customs and ways of celebrating liturgy. It traces its roots back to Constantinople (once called Byzantium). Two Greek missionaries, Cyril and Methodius, brought the Byzantine way of worship to Central and Eastern Europe. Some of these Catholics emigrated to the United States, and brought with them the Byzantine rite and traditions. Saint Basil is part of the Holy Protection Eparchy (diocese) of Phoenix (www.eparchyofphoenix.org). One of the church’s most prominent features is its icons, or “windows into heaven,” which are all over the church, and an icon screen in the front of the church. The screen has “holy doors” in the middle, which represent the gates to heaven.
This is a bit of a nitpick, so forgive me, please –
“Byzantine Catholic Church is in union with the Bishop of Rome” is correct, but it could give the impression that it is not a “real” Catholic church. It is, however, one of 23 Rites of the Catholic church. Most of us are more familiar with the Latin Rite since most of our parishes were founded as part of the European conquest of the continent.
No it is not a rite. It is a Church. This a parish in the Phoenix eparchy.
The rite is what they do not what they are.
There are 23 Churches and 7 rites.
Bob, actually, we are what the Church calls a particular Church, as are all the Churches that make up the Catholic Church. We are a sui juris (in Latin), self-governing, Church, one of the 23 Churches that make up the Catholic Church. It might be helpful to look at the Catechism of the (entire) Catholic Church. We’re often mentioned in footnotes. The Roman rite is the rite of the Latin Church. But, even in the ecclesial West, you have a few other small rites. For rites, think liturgy, ritual, and worship. Rites are sometimes confused with particular Churches. The Byzantine rite is the rite of this parish, my parish, but also of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, the Romanian Catholic Church, the Russian Catholic Church, the Italo-Greek Catholic Church and I think maybe even a few others. As one of our pastors puts it, “We are a Catholic Church in full communion with the Roman Pontiff, Pope Francis I, but we are a separate liturgical church tradition within the Catholic communion of churches.” And, most who attend are not Slavs. We’re quite multi-ethnic, with our official Liturgy almost entirely in English. I hope that helps. And, all of you are welcome to join us anytime!
Thanks, that was helpful. Words are important, so I’m glad you cleared that up for me/us.
Abp. Fulton J. Sheen learned the Byzantine Rite in Church Slavonic, and became a bi-ritual (Latin Rite and Byzantine Rite) Catholic cleric in the 1950s. He had a beautiful Russian chalice, which he used for both Latin Rite and Byzantine Rite Masses. Sheen’s Byzantine Masses were attended by thousands of worshippers, and were broadcast on Voice of America and Radio Free Europe, to suffering Christians behind the Iron Curtain. You can find Sheen’s Byzantine Mass and his explanation of their Divine Liturgy (Mass) on YouTube.
Church trivia: the most attended Byzantine Divine Liturgy in the U.S. was presided at by Archbishop Fulton Sheen. About 85,000 attended an outdoor Divine Liturgy at our shrine in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, in 1955. We are grateful for the many Roman Catholic priests who love and serve our Liturgy (after being granted faculties, or becoming bi-ritual).
amendment: Ended human sacrifice…
What on earth are you talking about, “ended human sacrifice?”
The Cal Cath editors did not print my original post..stating how the “European conquest” end human sacrifice.. Bob One never has anything good to say about those of European descent, he defines west coast “woke”
bohemond, I never know where to begin. I simply said that most of us are familiar with the Latin Rite of the Church because European descendants founded the majority of parishes in the U.S. That is not woke. I must admit, however, that I’m not sure what woke means. I never hear it used among my very conservative group of friends. It must be a liberal term.
You said conquest-that was the trigger, I think.
Woke means aware. Everyone should be woke.
It got a bad reputation by some media people using it to refer to some racist things.
I have not given Bob One an up or down vote to any of his posts on this article, but “conquest” was trigger word for me right away. It makes it sound as if the only reason Europeans ever went any place was to conquer, forgetting that many of their lands had been invaded by foreigners, often of other religions Some Arabs and Moors, to be specific, raided the coasts of Scandanavia to get slaves to take south. That kind of slavery is seldom mentioned.
Oh– you mean, bringing Catholicism to America ended the horrific human sacrifices of the pagan Aztecs and other pagan, Indian indigenous cultures. And yes, the Europeans were conquerors of the Americas. That’s history for you! Long before the American conquest by Europeans, we had the Roman conquest of Europe, and later, the Romans brought Christianity to the entire European world (West and East). “Omnia Gallia in tres partes divisa est.” (Remember that from Latin class?) The European continent (and British Isles) was once full of primitive peoples, too.
Neither is the slavery of Germans to the Russians and other allied powers after WWII ever mentioned.
History is full of the powerful taking from the powerless.
Pray the Magnificat.
A correction to last post; actually, it was the western coasts of England, not Scandanavia, that got raided by the Barbary Pirates, the Corsairs, who sold many into slavery in the early to mid 1600’s.
“Woke” is an ignorant slang word invented by sick, liberal leftist activists, with poor English skills. It has no meaning at all.
Isw- where did you hear that?
People just make up their own definition of things now.
Here is a link to a YouTube video of Ven. Abp. Sheen explaining all about the Byzantine Mass. Beautiful!
https://youtu.be/4KrQa6nR4Nc
Way to go Bob One!!!