Name of Church St. Irene Parish

Address 4630 N. Maryland Avenue, Portland, OR 97217

Phone number (503) 281-6744

Website https://www.mybyzantinechurch.org/

Mass times (Divine Liturgy) Sunday, 10 a.m.  Monday-Saturday, 9 a.m. (except Thursday).  Holy Days, 7 p.m.

Confessions Sundays, before or after Divine Liturgy, or by appointment.

Names of priests Fr. Vasyl Mutka, parish administrator.  Fr Mutka came to the parish at the end of 2019.  He was born in Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union, at a time when the Ukrainian Catholic Church was officially banned by the government.  The community’s worship had to be done in secret to avoid reprisals from the government.  He was ordained in 2008.  The previous year, while still in seminary, he was married, as married priests are allowed in the Ukrainian Catholic Church.  He came to the U.S. in 2009.  The couple has two sons.

Liturgy Liturgies are reverent, in English and some Ukrainian, and entirely sung.  There is no kneeling, parishioners usually stand or sit.  All ages receive Holy Communion; the host is dipped into the chalice with a spoon and administered to the faithful.  Visiting Roman Catholics, properly disposed, may receive Communion.

Fellow parishioners Mostly those interested in the Byzantine liturgy, or those formerly in the Latin rite seeking a more ancient form of the liturgy.

Parking There is street parking around the church.

Additional observations  St. Irene is part of the Eparchy (diocese) of Phoenix, Arizona.  It is under the authority of Rome.  The eparchy serves Byzantine-Ruthenian Rite Catholics from the western U.S.  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.