Ascension of Our Lord is a Byzantine (Ruthenian) Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic church, located in Williamsburg, Virginia. The church's ancestral origins are from Eastern (Slavic) Europe. The Byzantine Catholic Church follows the Holy Traditions of the Byzantine East, with roots in Constantinople, while maintaining union with the Catholic church of Rome. All services are mostly conducted in English. Roman Catholics in good standing with the Church are free to receive the Holy Sacraments.

A Brief History

As the first Byzantine-Ruthenian Catholic Church in Southeastern Virginia, the parish family first came together with a Divine Liturgy celebrated at St. Mary Star of the Sea Roman Catholic Church at Fort Monroe in Hampton, Virginia on November 4, 1984, when Father John Lazarek began his missionary work. For four years, Fr. Lazarek travelled from Annandale, Virginia, to the Tidewater area to celebrate the Divine Liturgy. In September of 1987, the mission purchased Greensprings Community Chapel. On February 4, 1988, Bishop Michael J. Dudick, D.D.,The Eparchy of Pasasaic, granted canonical status to the newly-named Ascension of Our Lord Byzantine Catholic Church. On October 25, 1988, Father Edward G. Cimbala was assigned as the parish's first resident pastor.