Our Lady of Wisdom Italo-Greek Byzantine Catholic Parish

Monday's Map: We're traveling with the angels! 

Today we're flying over to Las Vegas, Nevada, USA where you'll find the Italo-Greek Byzantine Catholic parish of Our Lady of Wisdom.

The Italo-Greco-Albanian Catholic faithful primarily consist of the descendants of 15th and 16th Century Albanians who moved to the areas of Calabria and Sicily in Southern Italy. Our Lady of Wisdom is one of two Italo-Greek Catholic parishes in the United States. Since they have so few faithful in the US,  they are placed under the pastoral care of a local bishop, in this case His Grace, Bishop Gerald Nicholas Dino of the Ruthenian Eparchy of Phoenix. They therefore use Ruthenian liturgical books with some of their own retained customs such as touching their foreheads to the Gospels and chalice.

The parish is a dynamic mix of people from diverse backgrounds. Their activities include religious education, small groups based on age and/or interests, an Irish folk music night, festivals, a prayer tree, regular liturgical services, a traveling icon for vocations, weekly devotionals, a mission location, and much more.

Their website has a wealth of information including answers to many frequent questions. Check it out! http://ourladyofwisdom.net/

Liturgy schedule:

• Saturday 5:00 PM (Vesper Liturgy)
• Sunday 10:00 AM (Third Hour)
• Sunday 10:30 AM (Divine Liturgy)
• Wednesday 7:00 PM (Akathist and Anointing of the Sick)

The parish is currently served by the following:

• Rt. Rev. Archimandrite Francis Vivona, S.T.M., J.C.L, Pastor
• Rev. Deacon Stephen E. Casmus, M.A.
• Ms. Rose Watkins, Christodoula
• Mr. Joseph Cusumano, Permanent Counselor
• Mr. William Griffith (Reigning Patriarch) and Ms. Kehaulani Harker (Reigning Matriarch)
• Mrs. Toni Ritchey (Secretary) and Ms. Claire Lynott (Finance Officer)

And in cartography news, here's what's happening with the Universal Map:

• Jack Liu added a number of parishes to the map, primarily in Canada and California. Thank you!
• This link explains how to view all map pages on one page, how to easily reorder the listings to group them by location, and other similar how-tos. If there are any problems figuring it out, let me know. I'm going to try the re-ordering this week.
• If you have a google associated ID that you'd like me to "invite" as a "collaborator" to the map, it might make editing easier. The map is set to allow anyone to edit it, but I'm not clear if it functions differently for those specifically listed. Let me know if you'd like me to add you. 

Monday's Map gives updates on the Universal Map project and highlights Eastern and Oriental Catholic institutions as well as those who run and serve them.