LEWISTON – The Byzantine Eucharistic Divine Liturgy will be celebrated at the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, corner of Bartlett and Ash streets, at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 3.

The Rev. Robert A. (Basil) Parent will be the celebrant. Parent is a Byzantine Greek-Catholic priest of the Diocese of Newton, Mass., for the Melkite Greek-Catholic Church.

He was born and raised in Lewiston and was ordained in 1986 for the Melkite Greek-Catholic Diocese of the United States. He has served Melkite parishes in Central Falls, R.I.; Brooklyn, N.Y.; Scranton, Pa.; and Danbury, Conn.

Parent is serving the Diocese of Portland as administrator of Our Lady of the Rosary Church, Sabattus, and St. Francis Mission, Greene. He has recently been named chaplain of the St. Gregory the Great Traditional Latin Mass Chaplaincy of south and central Maine by Bishop Richard Malone.

Parent will begin celebrating the traditional Latin Mass at the Basilica every Sunday at 8 a.m. and at the cathedral in Portland at noon starting Sunday, July 6.

All are invited to attend the Divine Liturgy and experience and learn how Byzantine Christians celebrate the faith. Discussion and a time for questions and answers will follow for those interested.

Anyone interest in the Byzantine churches and interested in future services or in the traditional Latin Mass is invited to see Parent after the liturgy or contact him at 375-6581.