Serving the Catholic community of Binghamton, New York since 1904
We are a Roman Catholic Parish Community founded over one hundred years ago by Slovak immigrants. While respecting our origins, we value the fact that our parish is ethnically deversified.
United by our love of Christ, we welcome all who desire to be part of our faith community and invite you to share the charism the Conventual Franciscan Friars bring to us.
Mark Your Calendar...
Kind of a - - GARAGE SALE Sunday, May 18 following the 10 a.m. Mass In the bowling alley area of our hall.
We are cleaning up – cleaning out – and getting ready for construction of our CCD classrooms in that area.
Come see if there is anything you would like to have (donations accepted – no pricing done) We have bowling balls, bags, pins, Chairs, tables, and lots of other “stuff”
What doesn’t get taken will get tossed! Come grab yourself a momento, a bargain, or a keepsake but do it now because its all going!!!!!!!
OUR HALL IMPROVEMENTS ATTENTION ALL PARISHIONERS!!!!!!!
An OPEN HOUSE is planned for
SATURDAY, MAY 17TH
6 – 10 P.M.
COME SEE OUR NEWLY RENOVATED PARISH CENTER THE HANDICAPPED ACCESSIBLE RESTROOMS
NEW REFRESHMENT CENTER/BAR COAT ROOM STORAGE AREA
Admission is $5 at the door for adults
(children admitted free) Cash Bar (beer, wine & soda) We will provide entertainment, a variety of refreshments, desserts & coffee
Parish Happenings...
Festival 2007
For the past eleven years, the parish has organized a summer Festival to celebrate its life and traditions. This year’s event took place on July 22 in perfect weather. It drew hundreds of people, who came to enjoy the day with its traditional Slavic foods.
This year parishioners made 8,000 holupki (cabbage rolls stuffed with richly flavored meat and rice—an item that always sells out before the end of the festival no matter how many we make!). In addition to other ethnic foods, hundreds of barbeque chicken dinners were sold along with picnic fare such as hamburgers, hot dogs and sausages.
There were games for children, a bake sale, raffles for money prizes and theme baskets, games of chance, and an orchestra that provided music for listening and dancing. Two local radio stations carried live broadcasts of the annual event.
Scholarship Awards
Since 1984 the parish has awarded scholarships to qualifying high school graduates. This year’s awardees are Austin Tarr and Luke Tripp. They are pictured here with Fr. George, pastor. Austin and Luke have been outstanding in their participation in the life of the parish. Austin was an altar server and, since his Confirmation, a Eucharistic Minister. In addition to this, he organized a fire safety project to earn the rank of Eagle Scout; this involved building a new shed at a distance from the parish facilities to house all gas-powered tools and anything that could potentially cause a fire. Luke has served as Lector and Eucharistic Minister. Both young men have volunteered many hours over the years to help at parish events. They were also involved in various school and extra-curricular events for the benefit of the local community. Austin is preparing for a career in criminal justice; Luke plans on being a high school teacher. Since the establishment of the scholarship, we have awarded nearly $50,000 to worthy college-bound parish youth.
Grateful for 24 Years of Service
On June 17, present and former parish catechists gathered at the Binghamton Regency to honor Mrs. Susan Nixon for her 24 years as Director of Religious Education. Pictured with Mrs. Nixon, from the left, are Fr. Adam Keltos, former pastor who hired her; Fr. George and Fr. Simeon. She holds two gifts from the parish community: a San Damiano Crucifix that was blessed at the tomb altar of St. Francis in Assisi and a papal blessing from His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI. Although Mrs. Nixon has taken on a new job at the Broome Developmental Center, which requires a considerable investment of time, she is willing to continue to assist the parish religious education program in any way that her schedule permits.
Sr. Jane Celebrates 50 years in Religious Life
Sr. Jane Pavolvic, a Sister of Saints Cyril & Methodius, marked her Golden Jubilee of Religous Life on Sunday, July 1, at a festive liturgy in St. Cyril’s, her home parish. Family members and three other sisters in her class joined in the celebration. In the photo, Sr. Jane stands in the center surrounded by her classmates, Franciscan friars and altar servers. Following the liturgy, those in attendance joined Sister at a reception in the Parish Center; a dinner for her and her special guests followed at the Church of the Holy Trinity, our sister parish, where Sr. Jane serves as a parish visitator. For over 80 years her religious community has been involved in ministry in the Greater Binghamton area. The sisters’ presence has proved fruitful for the church and for religious life: 17 young ladies from St. Cyril’s became religious sisters, 13 of which entered Sr. Jane’s community! May God grant her many more years!
Our Special Peace Maker
St. Cyril’s has a very interesting parishioner in Helena Garan—and a real peace-maker in the spirit of St. Francis. Born in Holland, Helena came to the United States and worked at the United Nations in the treaty section of its legal department. Her experience and interests are broad and she is particularly dedicated to causes that benefit the human family.
So Helena recently completed a trip to Iran with a group of members from Fellowship of Reconciliation—an interfaith and international movement that works to promote peace, understanding and nonviolence. Since Iran is an Islamic Republic, Helena and the women in her group had to dress in the traditional chador while out in public. In preparation for the trip, she asked parishioners and friends to write letters addressed to ordinary people in Iran so that she could distribute them to the Iranians she met. Her idea was, for example, to give a letter from a young American mother to a young Iranian mother; a letter from a ten-year-old American child to a ten-year-old Iranian child, and so forth. This turned out to be a wonderful way of relating with the Iranian people and of promoting a sense of friendship and understanding. She had about 200 letters to distribute and they were all gratefully received. Anyone interested in more information about the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) can visit their website at www.forusa.org.
Day of Recollection devoted to St. Pio
In March our Altar and Rosary Society sponsored a special Day of Recollection. This year over 150 people attended the event. The Society was pleased to welcome Fr. Mandato Pio of St. Joseph Hermitage in Laceyville, Pa. The Day began with Mass; after lunch Fr. Mandato spoke on the life and spirituality of St. Pio, the Italian Franciscan Friar who bore the wounds of Christ. In connection with his theme, he brought with him a relic of St. Pio: one of the gloves that he wore, which had absorbed the Saint’s blood from the wound in one of his hands. This was the second time our parish was privileged to welcome this precious relic. Several years ago it was brought to our church for veneration and several thousand faithful came to pray and venerate it.
For the past eleven years, the parish has organized a summer Festival to celebrate its life and traditions. This year’s event took place on July 22 in perfect weather. It drew hundreds of people, who came to enjoy the day with its traditional Slavic foods. 
This year parishioners made 8,000 holupki (cabbage rolls stuffed with richly flavored meat and rice—an item that always sells out before the end of the festival no matter how many we make!). In addition to other ethnic foods, hundreds of barbeque chicken dinners were sold along with picnic fare such as hamburgers, hot dogs and sausages. 
There were games for children, a bake sale, raffles for money prizes and theme baskets, games of chance, and an orchestra that provided music for listening and dancing. Two local radio stations carried live broadcasts of the annual event.
Since 1984 the parish has awarded scholarships to qualifying high school graduates. This year’s awardees are Austin Tarr and Luke Tripp. They are pictured here with Fr. George, pastor. Austin and Luke have been outstanding in their participation in the life of the parish. Austin was an altar server and, since his Confirmation, a Eucharistic Minister. In addition to this, he organized a fire safety project to earn the rank of Eagle Scout; this involved building a new shed at a distance from the parish facilities to house all gas-powered tools and anything that could potentially cause a fire. Luke has served as Lector and Eucharistic Minister. Both young men have volunteered many hours over the years to help at parish events. They were also involved in various school and extra-curricular events for the benefit of the local community. Austin is preparing for a career in criminal justice; Luke plans on being a high school teacher. Since the establishment of the scholarship, we have awarded nearly $50,000 to worthy college-bound parish youth. 
On June 17, present and former parish catechists gathered at the Binghamton Regency to honor Mrs. Susan Nixon for her 24 years as Director of Religious Education. Pictured with Mrs. Nixon, from the left, are Fr. Adam Keltos, former pastor who hired her; Fr. George and Fr. Simeon. She holds two gifts from the parish community: a San Damiano Crucifix that was blessed at the tomb altar of St. Francis in Assisi and a papal blessing from His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI. Although Mrs. Nixon has taken on a new job at the Broome Developmental Center, which requires a considerable investment of time, she is willing to continue to assist the parish religious education program in any way that her schedule permits. 
Sr. Jane Pavolvic, a Sister of Saints Cyril & Methodius, marked her Golden Jubilee of Religous Life on Sunday, July 1, at a festive liturgy in St. Cyril’s, her home parish. Family members and three other sisters in her class joined in the celebration. In the photo, Sr. Jane stands in the center surrounded by her classmates, Franciscan friars and altar servers. Following the liturgy, those in attendance joined Sister at a reception in the Parish Center; a dinner for her and her special guests followed at the Church of the Holy Trinity, our sister parish, where Sr. Jane serves as a parish visitator. For over 80 years her religious community has been involved in ministry in the Greater Binghamton area. The sisters’ presence has proved fruitful for the church and for religious life: 17 young ladies from St. Cyril’s became religious sisters, 13 of which entered Sr. Jane’s community! May God grant her many more years! 
St. Cyril’s has a very interesting parishioner in Helena Garan—and a real peace-maker in the spirit of St. Francis. Born in Holland, Helena came to the United States and worked at the United Nations in the treaty section of its legal department. Her experience and interests are broad and she is particularly dedicated to causes that benefit the human family.
So Helena recently completed a trip to Iran with a group of members from Fellowship of Reconciliation—an interfaith and international movement that works to promote peace, understanding and nonviolence. Since Iran is an Islamic Republic, Helena and the women in her group had to dress in the traditional chador while out in public. In preparation for the trip, she asked parishioners and friends to write letters addressed to ordinary people in Iran so that she could distribute them to the Iranians she met. Her idea was, for example, to give a letter from a young American mother to a young Iranian mother; a letter from a ten-year-old American child to a ten-year-old Iranian child, and so forth. This turned out to be a wonderful way of relating with the Iranian people and of promoting a sense of friendship and understanding. She had about 200 letters to distribute and they were all gratefully received. Anyone interested in more information about the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) can visit their website at www.forusa.org. 