Trustees Honor Roll

Slovenian Cultural Institution (est.1893)
Inducted on November 27, 1993

St. Vitus Church, the oldest Roman Catholic Slovenian parish in Cleveland, celebrated its centennial in 1993. The Slovenian language has been spoken at St.Vitus, without interruption, for over 100 years. Through its history, St. Vitus has served not only the spiritual needs of its parishioners, but also the preservation of Slovenian culture, maintaining a large collection of devotional and historical literature in the Slovenian language and dual-language archival materials. Lira Singing Society, one of the parish's two choirs, is among the oldest Slovenian singing groups in the country. St. Vitus has preserved traditional Slovenian religious ceremonies, including the Palm Sunday blessing of butare, decorated staffs of woven palm leaves, and pritrkovanje, the unique change ringing of bells on special holidays. St. Vitus has supported Slovenian language classes for more than 40 years. The church recently commissioned origional Slovenian art for the church's anniversary renovation.