Province of Saints Cyril and Methodius (Slovakia)

PROVINCIA SANCTORUM CYRILLI ET METHODII IN SLOVACHIA

Sedes Provincialis:

MONASTYR SV. VASILIJA VELIKOHO
ul. Vajanskeho 31
080 01 Presov — SLOVAK REPUBLIC

Monastic life in Slovakia dates back to the 14th century with the monastery at Krásny Brod and, later, the monastery at Buková Hôrka (1712). These belonged first to the Eparchy of Mukachevo, then to Prešov, and were part of the Province of Saint Nicholas.

Due to a shortage of vocations, Buková Hôrka closed in 1905, and Krásny Brod was abandoned during World War I. In 1939, when Hungarian authorities expelled Basilians of Galician and Slovak origin from Transcarpathia, these monks restarted Basilian life in Slovakia. In 1948, the Congregation for the Eastern Churches officially created the Province of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Czechoslovakia.

Soon after, communism brought persecution. In 1949, the monastery in Prešov was confiscated, monks were imprisoned, and in 1950 the Greek-Catholic Church itself was outlawed. Monks were sent to labor camps.

In 1968, the regime allowed the Greek-Catholic Church to resume, but not monastic life. The Basilians continued secretly, thanks especially to Fr. Marián Potáš, OSBM, who led the Province underground from 1970 to 1995. By 1989, he had formed ten new monks.

Today, the Province has monasteries in Prešov (the Protohegumen’s residence), Trebišov, Krásny Brod, and Kula (Serbia), as well as a mission station at Buková Hôrka.