Palm Sunday Dinner

St. Vitus Parish will have its annual Palm Sunday benefit dinner/event on March 24, 2024 in new St. Vitus Social Hall, 6022 Lausche Avenue Cleveland, Ohio 44103. The theme for 2024 is education. The two beneficiaries are St. Vitus Slovenian School (Grades K-to-8) and education ministry, Sisters Of Notre Dame, headquarters in Chardon, Ohio.

Dinner menu is home style Slovenian soup, Slovenian style potatoes, roasted chicken or roast beef, wonderful salad, side vegetable dish, roll/butter, and pastry side dish. Cost is $20 adult and $15 for child 12 years-old or younger. Sit-down and take-out dinners will be available. Serving time is from 10:30AM to 1:00PM. Dinner is under the supervision of talented Joe Tavcar. Thank you, Joe, and numerous volunteers, for your generosity of time and talent. Donations are also encouraged and greatly appreciated. Payment should be made to “St. Vitus Endowment Corp.” And mailed to St. Vitus, 6019 Lausche Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44103. All donations received will go to the two beneficiaries. This is a KSKJLife* Matching Grant event with Christ The King #226 and St. Vitus #25 as sponsoring local KSKJ lodges. St. Anne Lodge #4 AMLA and Slovenian Women Union Scholarship Foundation are also sponsors. The goal is to raise $20,000. Only 450 dinners will be sold. Pre-ordering and reserving dinner tickets is strongly encouraged. Dinner tickets can be reserved via email to “skuhar@hotmail.com” Or calling the parish rectory at (216) 361-1444. Reserved tickets will be held as “will-call.” Donations are also greatly appreciated.
Parking will be available in either the permeable paving lot directly across the street from St Vitus Church as well as by the parish school building parking lot (west side of the school building) and also back side of old auditorium), plus street parking.

Weekend Masses are 4:00PM Saturday Vigil and 9:00AM and 10:30AM on Sunday. You will be able to experience the wonderful Slovenian tradition of “butare” created by St. Vitus Slovenian school children on Palm Sunday.

What is a Slovenian “butare” that is specifically made for Palm Sunday?

The “Slovenian tradition of having pussy willow branches and other greenery items for Palm Sunday, known more formally known as” butarice,” or olive branches, and taken to weekend Mass Service to church for a blessing. In the Dolenjska, Region, the base of the butare is made of branches from different shrubs, such as hazel, catkin, elderflower, the wayfaring tree and Cornelian cherry. The butare are mostly made of three branches. Other greenery and plants are then bound to include: evergreen (called in Slovenian as” žimberc or žingrec,” forming a wreath to represent Christ’s crown of thorns, hazelwort (a flower with kidney shaped leaves and brown and purple flowers),to represent source of life, boxwood, a symbol of protection (of roofs and houses) against storms, and juniper, a symbol of suffering. Ivy (branches) with larger leaves may also be used with as many berries as possible make the most beautiful bundles). The top of the bundle can be decorated with daffodils and forsythia flowers. A branch of a fruit tree from a home orchard (to make the tree bear fruit), hay (in more rural areas, used to bless livestock), and an apple or orange (for blessing people) and bound in the bundle. Branches and greenery are usually bound together with a white(or other color ribbon). The ribbon)s) has/have no special role or meaning except to add color. In the past, boys needed such a ribbon as they wore the bundles on their shoulders; and girls held the bundles in their hands.

The Sisters Of Notre Dame (SND) were the primary Catholic religious women order that served St. Vitus Elementary School (1902-2003). Parish archives note that over 235 Sisters taught at St. Vitus. The primary education today is with Notre Dame Elementary School and Notre Dame Cathedral Latin High School, both in Chardon, Ohio. The good Sisters not only provided a sound basics in reading, math, science, social studies, English, and the arts, and also religious instruction. St. Vitus Slovenian School has been in existence since the early 1950s to teach young children the basics of Slovenian language, song, drama, and Slovenian culture based on Christian, Catholic values. The program is on a Saturday, mid-September to mid-May each calendar year, in the morning.

St. Vitus Parish was established in Aug. 1893 as the first American Slovenian Roman Catholic (personal) parish in the state of Ohio and diocese of Cleveland. Reverend John C. Retar is the seventh pastor of St. Vitus Parish. The parish was established and continues to today to provide for the spiritual, educational, cultural and social needs of the parish; and broader community (northeast Ohio) for 131 continuous years in the St. Clar Avenue neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio. St. Vitus Parish welcomes all to attend a Mass on Palm Sunday and enjoy a few hours with good company and food.

*KSKJLIfe is a national fraternal benefit society that provides insurance, annuity and other related financial products. KSKJLife was originally established by Slovenian immigrants who came to the USA over 130 years ago and is domiciled in the state of Illinois. Its members are engaged in many wonderful community service projects around the USA. American Mutual Life Association (AMLA) is a fraternal benefit society domiciled in the state of Ohio; and also established over 100 years ago by Slovenian immigrants with life insurance and annuity products available to its members and long-time community service to many worthwhile charitable organizations. Tavcar Catering is located in Euclid, Ohio.