Southbridge, MA, November 13, 2025
Photo: mitropolia.us
St. Michael’s Romanian Orthodox Church in Southbridge, Massachusetts, marked its centennial anniversary with a three-day celebration from November 7-9.
The festivities began on Friday evening, November 7, with a Vigil service at 7:00 pm featuring the Iacov Protopsaltis Chanting Group, invited from abroad for the occasion, along with Costa Paleologos, a local Greek-American protopsaltis. The chanters study under Geronda Damaskinos of the Holy Mountain. The service continued with Divine Liturgy beginning at midnight and concluding after 2:00 AM. Approximately 50 people attended and received Holy Communion, reports the Romanian Orthodox Metropolia of the Americas.
Fr. John Downie, the parish priest, served alongside Fr. Vasile Aileni from St. Nicholas Church in Shrewsbury, Fr. Cezar Cranta from Holy Dormition in Micsunesti, Romania (the parish’s sister church), and Dcn. Alexander Plyska from the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Photo: mitropolia.us
“The service was particularly moving because of the amazing quality of the chanting which helped lead those attending to deeper prayer,” writes Fr. John.
Saturday’s program included an Akathist to the Holy Archangel Michael at 9:00 AM. His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae led a memorial service at 1:00 PM for the church’s founders and their families. At 5:00 PM, he delivered a lecture titled “The Church—the Living Community of the Faithful,” followed by Vespers and litia attended by about 70 people. The evening concluded with a meal and the American premiere of the film Adam Where Art Thou?, about Dochiariou Monastery and previous abbot Elder Gregory. The film’s producer, Dcn. Alexander Plyska, answered questions following the screening.
Photo: mitropolia.us
Sunday’s celebrations began with Matins at 7:30 AM, with chanting by the Iacov Protopsaltis Group, Costa Paleologos, and parish chanters. Met. Nicolae led the Divine Liturgy with Fr. John Downie, Fr. Vasile Muresan from Chicago (who previously served at St. Michael’s as a chanter), Fr. John Daly from St. Nicholas Albanian Orthodox Church (a sister parish), Fr. Cezar Cranta, Dcn. Sergiu from St. Nicholas in Shrewsbury, and Dcn. Alexander.
In his homily, His Eminence spoke about the role of angels, particularly the Archangels Michael and Gabriel. Following the service, he presented Fr. John Downie with the cross of the Order of Sts. Constantine and Helen for his missionary work in the community. The parish also received a hand-painted icon depicting the Holy Archangel Michael and St. Andrei Saguna, Metropolitan of Transylvania. The church houses a relic of St. Andrei Saguna, who was Macedonian Romanian (Aroman), the same ethnicity as the church’s founders.
The celebration concluded with a meal at a local conference center, where gifts were distributed to parishioners. A short film documenting the history of St. Michael’s with parishioner interviews was also shown:
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Holy Archangel Michael Romanian Orthodox Church in Southbridge, Massachusetts, was founded in 1924 by Macedonian-Romanian (Aromanian) immigrants who had begun arriving in the town around 1900 to work in local mills and factories. The cornerstone was laid on November 9, 1924, and Fr. Pavel Craciun served as the first rector.
From 1924 through the early 1970s, all services and chanting were exclusively in Romanian, with a large choir of around 20 cantors. The liturgical language gradually transitioned to include more English, combining both languages as the congregation experienced increasing intermarriage with other ethnic groups. The church eventually voted to transition to an entirely English Liturgy, though some traditional Romanian chants have been preserved to the present day.
Photo: flickr.com
The parish built a new church in 1961 to replace the original structure, featuring Byzantine-inspired architecture with a distinctive M-shaped bell tower. In 1971, the mortgage was paid off and the Alexander Macedon Museum was established on the second floor of the parish hall.
When Fr. John Downie arrived in January 2016, the parish was struggling with declining attendance—sometimes only 10-15 people at Sunday liturgy. Through renewed emphasis on Confession, Byzantine chanting, beautification projects, and spiritual retreats for young adults, the church has experienced significant growth.
By summer 2025, average attendance reached about 60 people, with only a dozen from the original ethnic community. The parish now includes converts, catechumens, and Orthodox Christians of Greek, Russian, African American, Asian, Indian, and European backgrounds. In 2025, the church officially renamed itself Holy Archangel Michael Orthodox Church, removing “Romanian” to reflect its multicultural evolution while honoring its founding heritage.
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