'Keep the candle lit:' Rev. Michael Gulgas retires after 38 years with St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Lorain

LORAIN — After almost 40 years, the Rev. Michael Gulgas has hung up his robes, retiring from St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church — maybe he'll go fishing on a Sunday morning — but it's a bittersweet goodbye to the parish he's spent the majority of his career serving. "I'm looking forward to it, but it's not like 'Oh I can't wait to get out of here,'" he said. Gulgas, 65, is the longest-serving priest at Lorain's St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, spending 38 years working in the church off Tower Boulevard. Before that, he grew up attending St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Youngstown, and his first assignment out of seminary was St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Shrine Church in Flushing, New York. "I was brought here to St. Nicholas for 38 years and they didn't want to get rid of me for some reason — or they did but I stayed anyway … Hopefully when I die they'll bury me out at St. Nicholas," he said, laughing. Gulgas grew up in Youngstown, graduating Chaney High School in 1974. From there, he spent a year at Youngstown State, then went to Hellenic College in Brookline Massachusetts and Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology for his bachelor's and master's degrees. "It's a calling to begin with, it's not like an occupation … you feel the call to do this," he said. Gulgas' calling came when he was 13 — his grandfather had just died, and he had a dream while spending time with his grandmother. In his dream, Christ stood in water, wearing a white robe and said "I need you." Gulgas woke up, and never doubted he would spend his adult life serving the Lord. "He didn't say 'Go away," he said 'I need you," Gulgas said. "The harvest is ready, the laborers are few." At first, his mother was worried, asking if he was serious in his decision — he'd been shy, never the most involved in the church. After he'd accepted the call, his hometown parish was visited by Bishop Yerasimos from the Pittsburgh diocese. "I was courageous enough to go talk to him," he said. "And I said 'Your Grace, I'm planning on going this fall to the seminary … and I'm planning on being a priest, do you have any word of advice?' And he looked at me, eyeball to eyeball, he had these twinkling eyes and smiles and says 'Pray.' That was the answer." In 1982, Gulgas graduated from seminary, received his assignment as an assistant priest at the church in Flushing, and married his wife, Tina. The pair were introduced by their aunts at church in Youngstown and it was love at first sight, he said. Their first son, Constantine, was born the next year, and their second son, Spyridon, was later born in Lorain. In the years since, his son, Constantine married Michaela and have added two grandchildren to the mix: Nicholas and Elena. "When I was in New York they were telling me that the population of New York is bigger than what it is in Greece, ... So when I would go to a funeral or wedding or whatever, I didn't know anybody," he said. "… But (in Lorain), you do a wedding, a baptism, they're family. You know everybody." His early years in Lorain saw a miraculous icon come from a parish in Chicago. In 1988 a statue of the Virgin Mary began to weep, with visitors from across the country coming to the Windy City to collect the tears on a cotton ball and bring home. As such, a member of the parish went to Chicago, bringing back a cotton ball full of myrrh, he said, and they blessed 50 icons of children attending a summer camp at the church — and each began to weep, he said. St. Nicholas serves 139 families now — smaller than when he arrived in the mid-1980s — but it's a chance to be there when those families need him, he said, learning their pains, their hurts, and their happiness. "I've been here for 38 years and I've enjoyed myself, obviously, and it's like any other parish, you've got your good people and your goofy people — peoples is peoples. So you do your best and like the Lord said, whoever wishes to follow me, then deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. So I took up the cross, did what I could and 'I did it my way,' " he said, singing the lyric popularized by Frank Sinatra. Now, another priest will learn those families' pains and celebrate their milestones. After a series of health issues and need for substitutes, Gulgas and the diocese agreed it's time for him to retire. His last service was Sunday, complete with a visit from the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Pittsburgh Bishop Savas. With that, Gulgas will pass the baton to a new priest, a man in his 30s just starting out at his first parish — just like Gulgas all those years ago. And he'll be only a call away. "Whatever priest comes in here, hopefully they just try to keep reaching out and see what else can bring people back in … Keep the fire going, keep the candle lit," he said. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.