Fr. Marek Visnovsky was born on November 24, 1977 in Vranov nad Toplou, a town in a Zemplin County in Eastern Slovakia.

From 1998-2004 he went through the spiritual formation for the priesthood at the Greek-Catholic Seminary of Blessed Paul Peter Gojdic in Presov, Slovakia. He studied Philosophy and Theology at the Theological Faculty of the University of Presov, Slovakia where he earned his S.T.M. (Sacred Theology Magister) degree in 2004.

On May 22, 2004, he married Miriam Miksova at the Dormition of the Mother of God Church in Dlhe Klcovo, Slovakia. On June 20, 2004 he was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Jan Babjak, SJ at the Greek-Catholic Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Presov, Slovakia.

In August 2004, he arrived with his wife Miriam to the US to serve the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Parma. He served at Holy Spirit Byzantine Catholic Parish in Parma, Ohio (2004-2005), St. Emilian Byzantine Catholic Parish in Brunswick, Ohio (2005-2015), St. Mary’s Byzantine Catholic Parish in Cleveland, Ohio (2015-present), and in 2018, he was appointed the Rector of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Parma, Ohio and the Protosyncellus (Vicar General) of the Eparchy of Parma.

Fr. Marek and Miriam have three children, Caroline (13), Elias (10), and Marco (6). All are members of the First Catholic Slovak Union.

Along with his call to the priesthood, Fr. Marek has pursued his interest and talents for iconography, a spiritualistic art form that began about two centuries after the birth of Christ. In 2000-2001, Fr. Marek studied Byzantine Iconography under the guidance of well-known iconographer Phil Zimmerman of New Florence, PA. He has been teaching iconography in hands-on demonstration classes here in the US and Europe, as well as giving talks on the subject on the radio, and at seminaries, college campuses, monasteries, and youth and church gatherings. He has created icons for private homes and churches in many countries since 2000.

Editor’s Note: When we think of art, we often think of something springing from the artist’s imagination. Religious icons, on the other hand, follow strict, traditional forms with as little deviation as possible. Fr. Marek is excited to share his art, which he describes as “theology in color” with children in a new series of online lessons.