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BARBERTON, Ohio — Miron Kerul-Kmec Jr. took one step closer to the priesthood this summer. Bishop Milan Lach, SJ, of Parma ordained the 26-year-old to minor orders of lector, reader, acolyte and subdeacon at his home parish of St. Nicholas July 28.
At the same liturgy, Bishop Lach blessed the church’s completed icon screen, which was updated over a nearly four-year period with new icons by the subdeacon, who is also an iconographer.
Retired Bishop John Kudrick of Parma was also in attendance. Subdeacon Kerul-Kmec discerned his decision to become a seminarian with Bishop Kudrick, who admitted him to begin seminary studies at the Byzantine Catholic Seminary of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Pittsburgh. The new subdeacon will continue his priestly formation this fall, though not in Pittsburgh.
Subdeacon Kerul-Kmec was born in Kosice, Slovakia, but moved three times due to his father’s pastoral assignments as a priest.
He moved to the United States with his parents July 2007. He was 14 at the time.
He completed 8th grade at St. Mary Byzantine Catholic School in Cleveland, and then attended high school in Barberton.
Subdeacon Kerul-Kmec took his first iconography class at age 16, with Father Marek Visnovsky, currently protosyncellus of the eparchy.
He majored in art at The University of Akron, where he was exposed to new methods and developed his own style of iconography, preferring to work with acrylic paint. He told Horizons he likes to use a 17th- or 18th-century icon as his starting point for a new icon.
After large icons by Father Visnovsky were installed on the walls of St. Nicholas Church, an updated icon screen was envisioned as a way to continue to add beauty to the church.
The new icons were supported financially by parish families, who donated funds for each icon and dedicated it to a family member, living or deceased.
Subdeacon Kerul-Kmec carved out time during the summers, holidays, and school breaks to work on the new icons over three-and-a-half years. Parishioners helped with the installation of the three rows of new icons, as well as the more challenging installation of the raised icons on the top row.
Subdeacon Kerul-Kmec is the son of Father Miron Kerul-Kmec, pastor of St. Nicholas Parish in Barberton, and Marcela Kerul-Kmecova.
Caption: Subdeacon Miron Kerul-Kmec Jr. (center) is pictured with retired Bishop John Kudrick of Parma (left) and Bishop Milan Lach, SJ, of Parma (right), after his ordination to the subdiaconate at his home parish, St. Nicholas, in Barberton, Ohio, July 28. They stand before the icon screen that the subdeacon painted. (Photo: Marcela Kerul-Kmecova)
As published in Horizons, Aug. 25, 2019.
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