The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church is a Ukrainian Catholic (Greek Catholic) church in the town of Centralia, Pennsylvania. The church is the last remaining church in Centralia, which was largely abandoned after a mine fire rendered much of the town unsafe. [1] [2]
The church was built in 1911, at which time Centralia was a thriving coal mining community. [3] Many of the miners and miners' families who formed the congregation of the church were immigrants from Eastern Europe. In May 1962 a mine fire broke out in the coal seams under Centralia, an event which resulted in the majority of the town's population leaving over the following decades. Despite the continuously burning fires (which are expected to burn for hundreds of years), [4] the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church remained open. In 1987 a survey under the church found that the structure was built on top of rock rather than coal, and so plans to demolish the church were abandoned. [1] The congregation's persistence gained notoriety for the church, which had become an unofficial pilgrimage site for Ukrainian Catholics. [5] [2] In 2015, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk officially declared the church a pilgrimage site. [5] [3] [4]
A shrine to the Virgin Mary, or Marian shrine, is a shrine marking an apparition or other miracle ascribed to the Blessed Virgin Mary, or a site on which is centered a historically strong Marian devotion. Such locales are often the destinations of Christian pilgrimages.
Centralia is a borough and near-ghost town in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Its population has declined from 1,000 in 1980 to five residents in 2020 because a coal mine fire has been burning beneath the borough since 1962. Centralia, part of the Bloomsburg–Berwick metropolitan area, is the least-populated municipality in Pennsylvania. It is completely surrounded by Conyngham Township.
In the Catholic Church, holy days of obligation are days on which the faithful are expected to attend Mass, and engage in rest from work and recreation, according to the third commandment.
Our Lady of the Pillar is the name given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in the context of the traditional belief that Mary, while living in Jerusalem, supernaturally appeared to the Apostle James the Greater in AD 40 while he was preaching in what is now Spain. Those who adhere to this belief consider this appearance to be the only recorded instance of Mary exhibiting the mystical phenomenon of bilocation. Among Catholics, it is also considered the first Marian apparition, and unique because it happened while Mary was still living on Earth.
Šiluva is a small town of less than 700 inhabitants in Lithuania. It is located in the region of Samogitia. It is a major site of Catholic pilgrimage in Lithuania.
The House of the Virgin Mary is a Catholic shrine located on Mt. Koressos in the vicinity of Ephesus, 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) from Selçuk in Turkey.
Byrnesville was a town located in Conyngham Township, Columbia County, Pennsylvania, United States. It was located about halfway between Centralia and Ashland. In 1985, the population of Byrnesville was approximately 75 people living in 29 homes.
The Catholic Church in Ukraine is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. Catholics make up 10% of the population of Ukraine.
The Centralia mine fire is a coal-seam fire which has been burning in the labyrinth of abandoned coal mines underneath the borough of Centralia, Pennsylvania, United States, since at least May 27, 1962. Its original cause and start date are still a matter of debate. It is burning at depths of up to 300 ft (90 m) over an 8 mi (13 km) stretch of 3,700 acres (15 km2). At its current rate, it could continue to burn for over 250 years. Due to the fire, in the 1980s Centralia was mostly abandoned. There were 1,500 residents at the time the fire is believed to have started, but as of 2017 it has a population of 5 and most of the buildings have been demolished.
Catholic devotions are particular customs, rituals, and practices of worship of God or honour of the saints which are in addition to the liturgy of the Catholic Church. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops describes devotions as "expressions of love and fidelity that arise from the intersection of one's own faith, culture and the Gospel of Jesus Christ". Devotions are not considered part of liturgical worship, even if they are performed in a church or led by a priest, but rather they are paraliturgical. The Congregation for Divine Worship at the Vatican publishes a Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy.
Rudky is a city in Sambir Raion, Lviv Oblast in Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Rudky urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. The population was 4,942 at the 2001 Ukrainian census. Current population: 5,230.
The Congregation of the Mother of the Redeemer is a religious institute within the Roman Catholic Church that is based in Vietnam and dominated by Vietnamese people. The congregation is better known by its former name, the Congregation of the Mother Coredemptrix, which uses an unofficial title applied to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Rev. Dominic Maria Trần Đình Thủ, CMC, is the congregation's founder.
The Basilica and National Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation is a Roman Catholic basilica located in Carey, Ohio in the United States of America and is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of Consolation. The Marian shrine is administered by the Order of Saint Francis and is designated as National shrine by the Holy Office.
The Archcathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, usually called simply the Latin Cathedral is a 14th-century Roman Catholic cathedral in Lviv, western Ukraine. It is located in the city's Old Town, in the south western corner of the market square, called Cathedral Square.
Marian feast days in the liturgical year are celebrated in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The number of Marian feasts celebrated, their names can vary among Christian denominations.
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church is a Catholic church of the Archdiocese of Detroit located at 13770 Gratiot Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. It is commonly known as the Assumption Grotto Church. The church community was founded in the 1830s, and the present building completed in 1929, designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1990 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.
The Laurel Run mine fire is an underground mine fire near the communities of Laurel Run and Georgetown, in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The fire started burning in 1915 at the Red Ash Coal Mine. Attempts to control it lasted from 1915 to 1957 and recommenced in 1966. In the 1960s, the United States government and the Pennsylvania state government became involved in containing the fire. Attempts at stopping the spread of the fire were erroneously declared successful in 1973, and the fire is still burning.
A pilgrimage church is a church to which pilgrimages are regularly made, or a church along a pilgrimage route, like the Way of St. James, that is visited by pilgrims.
