elcome to the Homepage of St. Michael the Archangel Roman Catholic Church in Scranton, PA. St. Michael Church is a canonically erected parish, i.e., a diocesan parish in the Diocese of Scranton in full communion with Rome. It is administered and staffed by priests of The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) and, as such, “24/7” offers the Traditional Roman Rite of the Mass and the Sacraments according to the liturgical books in force in 1962. It is under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Scranton, the Most Reverend Joseph Martino and functions as any other diocesan parish functions. It is a personal parish, and is the canonical equal to any and every other diocesan parish.

The Traditional Latin Mass Apostolate at St. Michael Church was established by the Bishop Emeritus of Scranton, Bishop James Timlin in 1996 in response to the late Holy Father’s Motu Proprio Ecclesia Dei, which grants permission for the celebration of the Traditional Rite of Mass and the Sacraments and urges bishops to be generous in allowing the Traditional Rite of Mass to be celebrated in their dioceses when requested. Following the admirable example of his predecessor, the present Ordinary of The Diocese of Scranton, Bishop Joseph Martino, courageously continues to support St. Michael Church and forthrightly implements the wishes of the Holy See.

What does it mean that St. Michael Church is a personal parish? Ideally, this means that people from anywhere and everywhere can join St. Michael Church and become parishioners in the truest sense of the word. Practically, however, it means that St. Michael Church is a Traditional Mass haven to which people journey weekly, many from great distances. They do this because the Traditional Rite of Mass is important to them and because there are few locations in the area which offer it. St. Michael has parishioners as far away as the extreme ends of the huge, 11 county Scranton Diocese, Allentown, PA, Binghamton, NY, State College, PA and northern NJ.

Despite geographic obstacles, St. Michael Church does have an active parish life. It boasts a very good choir and organists; it has a men’s group which meets monthly; it has a spinning guild which teaches the whole process from sheep shearing to spinning to knitting or crocheting a finished product; it has a very active Sanctuary Society which cares for all sacred linens; it also has a Miraculous Medal society which makes necklace medals for the missions. Not to be forgotten is large group of Altar Boys who loyally and devotedly serve God at His Altar. Finally, it has a finance committee and hundreds of devoted members who love the place.

Two priests from the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter administer the parish. Father Carl N. Gismondi, FSSP is the Pastor and Father Michael W. Magiera, FSSP is the Assistant Pastor. From time to time, other Fraternity priests may be in residence. Father Gismondi hails from Pittsburgh, PA and, before entering seminary, was a chemical engineer. Father Magiera is a native of Philadelphia and was a professional opera and concert singer for many years. Both attended Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary, the English language seminary of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter. At one time, the seminary was close to Scranton, first at Elmhurst in what is now St. Gregory’s Academy and then in an old hotel on the shores of Lake Wallenpaupak. Later the seminary relocated to its own newly built facility in Denton, Nebraska.

St. Michael Church has a full liturgical and devotional schedule. There are two Masses on weekdays, three on Saturdays and three on Sundays. In addition, the Miraculous Medal Novena followed by Benediction is held every Tuesday evening at 7:00 PM. Further information regarding Mass times and Confessions can be found on the appropriate web page in this site.

St. Michael Church is a friendly, welcoming church, always pleased to have visitors and to accept new members. Yet, the church takes the Sacred Liturgy and the practice of the Faith very seriously. There are standards of dress and deportment. Apart from singing hymns and chanting or speaking responses, the congregation knows to maintain a reverent silence. St. Michael’s is Church, not the Mall. Men and women dress intelligently and modestly: no shorts, T-shirts, jeans, short skirts, bare midriffs, bare shoulders or plunging necklines and no tight-fitting clothing of any kind. Ladies of all ages are encouraged to wear some sort of head covering.

What are the parishioners like? There are over 200 families in St. Michael Parish. Those who know something about the Traditional Mass Movement will not be surprised to know that St. Michael Church has a very young parishioner base. Most adults are between 18 and 40, who, of course, did not know the Traditional Mass while growing up (so much for the “nostalgia” theory). Of course there are older parishioners, but the ratio favors the younger folks. Most of them are families with large numbers of children and a great many are home-schoolers. There are more Baptisms than there are Funerals at St. Michael’s and new families join all the time. Between Masses, teachers, children and young adults are busy with CCD instruction in the rectory basement, office and dining room and in the church basement. Coffee hour also fills up the time between Sunday Masses, and, after the 10:15 Mass, sometimes extends until 3:00 PM.

The priests and parishioners of St. Michael Church thank you for visiting our website and heartily invite you to join us for worship any time. We are at 1703 Jackson Street; Scranton, PA 18504. Mapquest and other online programs provide maps and directions. We would be most pleased to have you visit. If you do, please make yourselves known to the priests and tell us if it’s the website that brought you here. God bless you.