Road ClosurePrestley Road will be closed until October 15. You will be able to access the church from Thoms Run Road only and traffic will be restricted to one lane. Barriers will be placed right beyond the church parking lot. You will not be able to proceed down Prestley Road onto Washington Avenue.

Effectively Immediately Penn Dot (and Father Ward) permits no one to use the exit road in front of the parish social hall until further notice. Penn Dot will install heavy barriers at the bottom of the rear parking lot to prevent exiting from this route. Father Ward greatly appreciates your patience in this matter.

Welcome

St. Barbara Parish carries on the faith tradition established in 1894 by our Slovenian and German ancestors. Like our founders, we are called by Baptism to live as examples of Catholic faith and values, and as witnesses of Christ in the world. Our parish is small in size but great in heart. We are a diverse community who together seek to strengthen faith through liturgy and education, and through service to community in charity. We strive to love God with all our hearts and minds.

We invite you to join us in celebration of God’s holy sacraments, to serve His one, holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, and to spread His Gospel, the Word of Jesus Christ.

History of St. Barbara Church

St. Barbara Church originated in the 1890s as a
non-English-speaking Slovenian parish for Pittsburgh's largely Eastern European immigrant community of coal miners. The first Mass was celebrated on December 4, 1894, before the church building's final completion and dedication on November 28, 1895. The church was changed from a Slovenian to territorial parish in 1938 and is now an English-speaking parish ministering to the greater Bridgeville and Pittsburgh communities.

Martyr Saint Barbara

The third century Christian martyr Saint Barbara is the patron saint of miners, artillerymen, and military engineers. According to her legend, she was imprisoned and tortured for her Christian faith by her pagan father. Before her martyrdom, lightning miraculously lit the gloom of her prison and torches failed to burn her skin. Her feast day is December 4 and she is remembered in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara.