St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite: Inappropriate Ways To Celebrate Pascha

By St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite

Now, my Christian brethren, do you bear it in your soul, instead of thanking and glorifying the sweetest Jesus Christ, and God the Father your Creator, you dishonor Him and intimidate Him with the demonic acts which you do on the day of His Resurrection? He endured so much to free you from sin, and you again bring it back to life? He resurrected to raise you from evil, and you again fall? And when? On the same days on which He raised you. O great ingratitude! O unheard of hard-hearted Christians!

You who throughout Holy Great Lent and Holy Week lift up your hands and pray and do your cross, and when Pascha comes, you dare to make those hands instruments of sin, playing tambourines and lyres and other diabolical games?

You who with your tongue and lips commune of the Body and Blood of Christ and chant such spiritual and divine songs on the day of Pascha, and after with the same tongue and lips sing pornographic and diabolic songs?

You who with your legs stand in the Temple of God and do prostrations and bend your knees to venerate Almighty God, and when the Bright Day comes you bear it in your heart to beat the same legs? To jump like rams? To dance like crazy people and the demonically possessed? And with those naughty moves you would venerate the devil?

You, to conclude, become temples of God and the Holy Spirit during the holy days of Great Lent and Pascha, and you the same again become temples of the devil and evil spirits with satanic games, dances and songs? These are things that do not match, acts which do not blend, because what union is there between light and darkness? The devil with Christ? The temple of God with the temple of idols? As Paul says: "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?" (2 Cor. 6:14).

Therefore we say that during Pascha and Bright Week Christians should not play such games, dance and sing songs, and likewise during the days of Pascha Christians should not shoot rifles or pistols or other similar guns. Because the Risen Christ, not only has He no need of such things, but instead He hates and abhors them because - a) they traumatize many people and often get killed - b) from the noise Christians cannot hear the services and spiritual hymns and the songs of Resurrection.

And if in the old days there was gunpowder and Christians shot off these guns during Pascha, it is certain that all the Holy Fathers would have written about them and struggled with this evil and national habit. It is a national habit during festivals to shoot these things off and not Christian. It is the Christian habit only to strike the sacred bells and the simantron and to chant "Christ is Risen!" and other joy-giving songs of the Holy Resurrection.

From Christians of Good Repute (Χρηστοήθεια των Χριστιανών) by St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

See also:

A Syrian Style Easter

Guns On Pascha 1905

Paschal Fireworks Battle In Chios

Boy Dies In Athens From Pascha Fireworks

Greek Bombs Trouble Tarpon Springs On Easter

Tarpon Springs Explosion Rocks Greek Religious Celebration

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Fr. John Kalaidis and Sts. Raphael, Nicholas and Irene

Fr. John Kalaidis (1925-2009), known by many as Papa-John, reposed on the 4th of August of 2009 in Neohori, Serres. He was a Holy Elder of the people of Serres and for his simplicity was known as a Papa-Nicholas Planas of our times. Papa-John was also the founder of the Church of Saints Raphael, Nicholas and Irene in Neohori, Serres (see here for video of feast on Bright Tuesday).

He helped thousands of Christians who fled to him for help with their various problems. With prayers to his beloved Saints Raphael, Nicholas and Irene countless and great miracles took place. With his charismatic gifts of foreknowledge and clairvoyance given by God, he led many souls on the path of repentance, confession and salvation.

The first video above is of Papa-John serving the Supplication Service to Saints Raphael, Nicholas and Irene on their Bright Tuesday feast in March of 2001. The videos which follow below are a lecture he gave in Mytilene in June of 2001 to pilgrims of Sts. Raphael, Nicholas and Irene Monastery, the Church of the Archangel Michael Mandamadou, Saint Theraponta, and other places.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Synaxis of Panagia of Asinou

In the central part of Cyprus, in the mountains of the Troodos range, some of the most important monuments of the history of Byzantine painting have survived. These are the painted churches which have to this day preserved brilliant examples of various trends of Byzantine and post-Byzantine monumental art, from the 11th to the 19th century. Ten of these churches have so far been granted World Cultural Heritage status by UNESCO.

The Church of Panagia Phorbiotissa, better known as Panagia of Asinou, is situated in the north foothills of the Troodos mountain range. It is built on the east bank of a stream, three kilometers south of the village of Nikitari. In 1985 it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.


Panagia Forbiotissa (or Forviotissa) used to be the katholicon (monastery church) of the Monastery of Forbion, as its name implies. According to the dedicatory inscription above its south entrance, which is dated to 1105/6, the church was built with the donation of Magistros Nikephoros Ischyrios, who subsequently became a monk with the name Nikolaos. The monastery was founded in 1099 and it functioned until the end of the 18th century, when it was abandoned.


The church consists of two parts: the vaulted single-aisled nave and the narthex, which is a later addition belonging to the second half of the 12th century. The narthex with its two semi-circular apses belongs to a type directly influenced by Constantinople. Already from the 12th century a steep-pitched timber roof, covered with flat tiles, sheltered the church. Today no traces of the rest of the monastic buildings survive.

The interior of Panagia Forbiotissa is entirely covered with wall-paintings, which vary in date. The earliest group is dated to 1105/6 and it expresses the (then) latest style of the Comnenian period. These frescoes reflect the art of Constantinople, which is thought to be the artist's birthplace, and they are one of the most important groups of Byzantine art of this period. The strong influence of the Empire's capital can be explained by the fact that the prevailing geopolitical conditions of the time led Alexios Comnenos I (1081-1118) to render Cyprus his most important military base of the North-eastern Mediterranean.


Many of the original wall-paintings, dated to 1105/6, are preserved in the apse of the Holy Bema and the west wall of the church, which must have often suffered great damages especially from earthquakes. During the 14th century, for instance, the conch of the apse collapsed and was soon after rebuilt and redecorated. At the same time the external buttresses were added and a little later, the flying buttress at the eastern end of the north wall was built.


The narthex was decorated with mural paintings soon after its erection during the second half of the 12th century, and in 1332/3 it was redecorated following strong Frankish influences. In its iconographic programme, we distinguish the large number of donors.

In the same church there are also some later frescoes, dating to the 17th century.

Panagia of Asinou celebrates on Bright Tuesday.

Source

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Synaxis of Panagia of Podithou

Travelling on the Nicosia-Troodos tourist road and entering the Galata community, on your right you face the "Panagia of Podithou" church. Panagia of Podithou is what remained from a small Monastery that today does not exist. The church is built at the centre of a long and narrow valley close to the riverside of Klarios. Panagia of Podithou has been designated by UNESCO in 1985, which includes nine other painted Byzantine churches of the Troodos range.

The church's shape is rectangular and - in the east - it ends in a semicircular apse. The internal dimensions without the apse are 12 x 4 meters. It is surrounded by a Π-shaped gallery that is covered by the same V-shaped, wooden roof, which is capped by tile plates made by tile-makers from Galata. It was built in 1502 by Demetrios de Coron and his wife Helen. Demetrios and his family were one of medieval Cyprus's families of Latin descent that were Hellenized. In 1461 Demetrios was the commander in the "Pentagia" region and was in favour of Iakovos, illegitimate brother of the legitimate queen Charlotte, who was illegitimately claiming the royal crown of Cyprus. Forty-one years later, in 1502, Demetrios de Coron built the "Panagia Eleousa" Church that was later renamed "Panagia of Podithou".

In the external side of the west wall, the Virgin Mary is figured above the central entrance. The donators are depicted under Her throne, a couple to the left and a man to the right, having a model of the church in their midst, which they offer to the Virgin Mary. Under this composition there is the following founder's inscription:

"THIS DIVINE AND VENERABLE CHURCH OF THE ALL-HOLY, MERCIFUL MOTHER OF GOD WAS RAISED IN THE YEAR OF OUR CHRIST 1502 THROUGH EXPENSES AND MUCH DESIRE OF KIROU MISER DEMETRI DE CORO AND HIS WIFE ELENI, FOUNDERS OF THIS HOLY MONASTERY, AND THOSE OF YOU WHO READ THIS PRAY FOR THEM AND WISH THEM BLESSEDNESS THROUGH OUR LORD, AMEN".

The monastery functioned until the beginning of the 19th century but like many other monasteries of the island it then fell into decline and was finally abandoned after the tragic events of 1821 when the Archbishop and other notables were executed following the Greek revolution. Around 1850 the monk Sophronios established Galata’s first primary school in the monastic buildings.

The building is single-aisled with a steep-pitched timber roof. A later portico surrounds the three sides of the church. The roof shelters both the church and the portico and it is covered with flat tiles. The Russian monk Vassili Barsky, who visited the monastery in 1734, mentions that there were two monks living in an adjacent small, two-storey building made out of mud-brick. This building survived until around the middle of the 20th century.

The church was never entirely painted. The mural paintings, which are contemporary with the church, cover the apse of the Holy Bema, both sides of the western pediment, as well as parts of the north and south walls. Only the figures of the Apostles Peter and Paul, on the north and south walls respectively, date to the 17th century.

The donor is depicted as an old man with his Greek wife, offering to the Virgin Mary a model of the church. It is obvious that he is a hellenised Frank who follows the Orthodox rites and speaks the Greek language.

The painter who worked at Podithou is affected, both in terms of style and iconography, by western art. Some of the scenes in this church are considered to be the best examples of the ‘Italobyzantine’ style of painting, which appeared and spread throughout the island during the period of Venetian domination. It combines Byzantine and Italian Renaissance elements.

Contemporary to the wall-paintings of 1502 is the wood-carved iconostasis, re-gilded in 1783, as well as a lectern.

The iconostasis is one of the earlier examples of this type that appeared in many Greek lands that were under the influence of Venice in the beginning of the 16th century, and it consists of late Gothic and Renaissance elements.

Panagia of Podithou celebrates its feast on Tuesday of Renewal Week.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Synaxis of Panagia Trikoukiotissa

The Church of Panagia Trikoukiotissa is all that remains of this monastery built in the 13th century. The church contains an icon of the Virgin which is credited with the ability to bring rain to parched fields.

It is situated two kilometers from Prodromos towards Platres in a marvelous natural environment with a spectacular view.

Externally the church is made of stone; the roof is of wood construction and covered by tiles. Architectonically the internal of the church is ‘trikliti’. The monastery which is constituted by five old cells which are on the right side of the church are saved until today and take in seven nuns and two other novices. Another transept has been built and completed with fifteen more cells. The Monastery of Trikoukias is under the protection and support of the Archdiocese of Cyprus.

It is said that the name comes from Trikoukies (medlar trees that had three kernels). Another version says that is from the tree Kokkonia according to which the closest monastery of Kykkos was named by that too. Another tradition mentions that the monastery was supported during Turkish domination with the one third (trikoutsi) of the taxation of the Kouklia manors.

Its history, the same with the other monasteries, is not known although most of the historians locate its foundation in the Byzantine years. The monastery had met glorious days especially in the years of Frankish domination while the Panagia Trikoukiotissa was considered to be miraculous, and her original icon was considered to be a work of the Apostle Luke. The reputation of the monastery and its icon started to be limited when the fame of the Panagia of Kykkos increased. The Turks of Ottoman times respected the monastery and did not destroy it, just because of it’s great reputation.

In 1761 the monastery was renovated and kept functioning until the end of the 18th century when it was run down. It was revived again as a female coenobium in September of 1997.

The Panagia of Trikoukias is celebrated in the area on Tuesday of Renewal Week as well as on the 15th August when her icon is carried in litany.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Saints Raphael, Nicholas and Irene of Lesvos

Sts. Raphael, Nicholas and Irene the Newly-Revealed (Feast Days - April 9th and Bright Tuesday)

On the island of Mytilene (Lesvos in ancient times), near the village of Therme, the villagers had a custom of ascending a certain hill on this day to celebrate the Divine Liturgy in the ruins of a small chapel, although no one knew whence this tradition sprang. In the year 1959, certain villagers began seeing persons who spoke to them, first in dreams, then awake, both by day and by night. Through these wondrous appearances, which were given to many people independently, the holy Martyrs Raphael, Archimandrite of the Ancient Monastery, and Nicholas, his deacon, together with the other saints martyred on the island, told the villagers the whole account of their martyrdom, which had taken place at the hands of the Moslem Turks ten years after the fall of Constantinople in 1463. The twelve‐year‐old Irene had been tortured, then burned alive in a large earthenware jar in the presence of her parents. On Tuesday of Renewal Week, Saint Raphael had been tied to a tree and his head sawn off through his jaws; Saint Nicholas had died at the sight of this. Although the feast is celebrated today because it is the day of their martyrdom, through the appearances of the Saints as living persons five hundred years after their martyrdom, it is also a singular testimony to the Resurrection of Christ.


Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
On Lesvos, ye strove in contest for the sake of Christ God; ye also have hallowed her with the discovery of your relics, O blessed ones. O God‐bearer Raphael, with thee, we all honor Nicholas the deacon and Irene the chaste virgin, as our divine protectors, who now intercede with the Lord.

Kontakion in the Fourth Tone
On this day Thou hast appeared on the world like stars first as ascetics, then as athletes slain for Christ, and were translated to the heights, through the great torments that ye endured; and them that praise you, ye keep and protect, O Saints.

Kontakion in the Fourth Tone
Let all of us honour as our protectors and miracle-workers the holy Martyrs who manifestly contended for Christ. Whose relics were hidden under the earth for many years, and who have manifested themselves to us in wondrous ways, Raphael, Nicholas and Irene, as well as those who contended with them in a godly-minded manner.

Megalynarion
Let us honour with hymns the Hosiomartyrs of Christ, divine Raphael and venerable Nicholas, together with Irene, the guardians of Lesvos, for helping all.

Source

For many years a monk had been seen walking on the hill at Karyes in Lesvos, Mytilene in Greece. Many Christians and Turks had seen him. The hill was also called Kaloyeros after the monk, who was seen holding a censor and would disappear in a splendour of light.

In 1917 the Turk who owned an estate with olive trees on the hill at Karyes, Hasan Bei, commissioned the police officer of Thermi, Efstratios Sitara to solve this mystery. The short investigation was soon abandoned as the belief was held that these visions were of a supernatural nature.

There was a small chapel there in the name of Panagia. Residents of Thermi held a service there every Easter Tuesday without hindrance from the Turkish owner of the property.

Many saw the monk. Shepherds grazing their flocks heard singing and bells from the chapel.

Tradition said the monk was killed by the Turks, but when this had happened no one knew. There had also been a female monastery there, but had been destroyed by barbarians. There was a strong belief that the place had Divine Grace and was Holy.

After the destruction and problems suffered by the Greeks in Asia Minor, the Turkish olive tree property was given to a Mr Marangos and his family. They sought permission to build a church.

On 3rd July 1959, excavations began for the foundations of the church. A grave was found containing a human skeleton and giving off a sweet fragrance. The head of the skeleton was resting on a round stone, much like a pillow.The head was about 30cms away from the body. The lower jaw was missing. The excavators also found a ceramic tile from the Byzantine era with a Cross engraved on it.

After the discovery of the grave, amazing phenomena started to occur. The bones were put in a sack by a Mr Doukas Tsolakis. He was in charge of the excavations. He could not lift the sack up due to the excessive weight.Noises were heard from the bones. They were also producing a fragrant incense. One of the workers, a Mr Leonidas Sideras kicked the sack and his leg went numb. Tsolakis hand remained motionless. He could not lift the sack. The priest was asked to do a Trisagion - a prayer for the departed. The night before he was due to conduct the service, he was wondering what name he should use. During the night Saint Raphael appeared to the Priest. He told him who he was, and that he was born on the island of Ithaka.

Since then St Raphael has appeared many times to different people. He suffered martyrdom on 9th April 1463.

St Raphael was born Georgios Laskaridis. His father was called Dionysios and his mother Maria. They were a devout family. St Raphael served in the army. He then became a monk and clergyman taking the name of Raphael.

He served as parish priest in the parish of St Demetrios of Loumbardiaris in Athens. He then became Archimandrite and Bishop at the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

It was when he traveled to France that he met St Nicholas at Morlaix. Nicholas was from a wealthy family. He was a young student from Thessalonika studying at a French university. Nicholas was moved by the teaching of st Raphael and they became firm friends.

They lived in the monastery for nine years. In 1462 Mohammed the conqueror captured Lesvos after a seventeen day siege. It fell on 17th September 1462. The Turks did not disturb the Monastery immediately. After 6 months, in April 1463, during Holy Week, a movement occurred in Thermi, causing some agitation. The Christians went up to Karyes to hide. The teacher Theodoros and the Commumity Chief Vasillios together with his family went up to the Monastery. St Raphael conducted the Divine Liturgy for the last time on Holy Thursday. On Good Friday the Turks came to the Monastery seized Abbot Raphael, Deacon Nicholas, the family of the Community Chief and the Teacher Theodoros. Everyone else had fled to the mountains. The Turks started torturing them to find out the hideout of the others.

Irene, the twelve year old daughter of the Community Chief had her hand cut off in front of her parents, who were tied to a tree. She was then put in a big earthen pot and burned to death. Her father, mother, and the teacher Theodoros were all murdered. St Raphael was horribly tortured in front of Saint Nicholas. St Nicholas died of heart failure, on seeing his mentor murdered.

The Monastery was then torched and the Turks fled. The next night some devout Christians buried the Holy Martyrs secretly.

When St Raphael started to appear to people he revealed everything - where the bones of the Martyrs were buried, the pot where little Irene was burned, the grave of the Teacher Theodoros, and the graves of Irene and her father.

At The site of the Ancient Church, icons were found, Holy Water, Sheets from handwritten Gospels and a round icon of Jesus. St Raphael also revealed the spot where his jaw was.

The grave of Mother Olympia, who suffered Martyrdom in 1235 when pirates destroyed Panagias Old Monastery and killed the nuns, was also found. Three large nails were found in her skull. More nails were found on her body.

In 1963 at the place of the Holy Martyrdom a Convent for Ladies was established.

St Raphael has performed and still performs many miracles to this day.

Source

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

A Paschal Greeting To Elder Paisios From the Panagia

Elder Paisios said:

"On Monday of Renewal Week I was sitting at Archontariki and saying the Prayer. Suddenly I sensed an aroma, unlike anything else! I went in the hallway to see where it was coming from, I went to the church - nothing. I went outside in the yard. The aroma was much more pronounced. I heard the talanton beating. I looked and saw descending down a litany, and I knew it was coming from the icon of the Panagia."

On Bright Monday every year the procession of the miraculous image of "Axion Estin" descends below Koutloumousiou Monastery to the Cells of the Holy Apostles (Alypiou). The Cell of "Panagouda" is one kilometer away. From this distance the Panagia sent a greeting to some extent to the Elder.

From Life of Elder Paisios the Athonite, Hieromonk Isaac, Mount Athos, 2004, p. 288.

Note: On April 16, 2012, Bright Monday, the litany with the Holy Icon of Panagia "Axion Estin" passed by the Cell of Elder Paisios.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

The Resurrection Gospel in Homeric Greek (and other Greek dialects)

This is a beautiful recording of the Gospel reading from the Agape Service (John 20:19-25) in Ancient Homeric Greek (not Koine) chanted by Protopsaltis Evgenios Hardavellas. This was translated into Homeric Greek by St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite. It is set to the Heroic Hexameter, which is a metrical line of verse consisting of six feet. It was the standard epic metre in classical Greek and Latin literature, such as in the Iliad and Aeneid. (Read more here)

Below is the Gospel text in various Greek dialects:

Koine Original

Liturgical Opening:

Καὶ ὑπὲρ τοῦ καταξιωθῆναι ἡμᾶς τῆς ἀκροάσεως τοῦ ἁγίου Εὐαγγελίου, Κύριον τὸν Θεὸν ἡμῶν ἱκετεύσωμεν.

Σοφία. Ὀρθοί. Ἀκούσωμεν τοῦ ἁγίου Εὐαγγελίου.

Εἰρήνη πᾶσι.

Ἐκ τοῦ κατὰ Ἰωάννην ἁγίου Εὐαγγελίου, τὸ Ἀνάγνωσμα.

Πρόσχωμεν.

Text:

Ούσης οψίας τή ημέρα εκείνη, τή μιά τών σαββάτων, καί τών θυρών κεκλεισμένων, όπου ήσαν οι μαθηταί συνηγμένοι διά τόν φόβον τών Ιουδαίων, ήλθεν ο Ιησούς καί έστη εις τό μέσον, καί λέγει αυτοίς· ειρήνη υμίν. Καί τούτο ειπών έδειξεν αυτοίς τάς χείρας καί τήν πλευράν αυτού. Εχάρησαν ούν οι μαθηταί ιδόντες τόν Κύριον. Είπεν ούν αυτοίς ο Ιησούς πάλιν· Ειρήνη υμίν. Καθώς απέσταλκέ με ο πατήρ, καγώ πέμπω υμάς. Καί τούτο ειπών ενεφύσησε καί λέγει αυτοίς· Λάβετε Πνεύμα Άγιον· άν τίνων αφήτε τάς αμαρτίας, αφίενται αυτοίς, άν τινών κρατήτε, κεκράτηνται. Θωμάς δέ είς εκ τών δώδεκα, ο λεγόμενος Δίδυμος, ουκ ήν μετ’ αυτών ότε ήλθεν ο Ιησούς. Έλεγον ούν αυτώ οι άλλοι μαθηταί· Εωράκαμεν τόν Κύριον. Ο δέ είπεν αυτοίς· Εάν μή ίδω εν ταίς χερσίν αυτού τόν τύπον τών ήλων, καί βάλω τόν δάκτυλόν μου εις τόν τύπον τών ήλων, καί βάλω τήν χείρά μου εις τήν πλευράν αυτού, ου μή πιστεύσω.

Homeric Greek (By St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite)

Liturgical Opening:

Όφρακε νωϊτέροισιν εν ούασι πάγχυ βάλωμεν
θέσφατον, ιμερόεσσαν, αγνήν Ευάγγελον όππα,
μειλίξωμεν άνακτα Θεόν, μέγαν ουρανίωνα.
Ιθυγενής. Σοφίη. Ευαγγελίοιο κλύωμεν.
Ειρήνη χαριεσσ’ επ’ απείρονα δήμον εσείται.
Εκ δ’ άρ’ Ιωάννοιο τόδ’ έστι βροντογόνοιο.

Text:

Αλλ’ άγετ’ ατρεμέσι χρησμούς λεύσωμεν οπωπαίς.
Εύτε δή ηέλιος φαέθων επί έσπερον ήλθε
καί σκιόωντο αγυιαί επί χθόνα πουλυβοτείρη,
ήματι εν πρώτω, ότε τύμβου άλτο Σαωτήρ,
Κληϊσταί δε έσαν θυρίδες πυκινώς αραρείαι,
βλήντο δέ πάντες οχήες εϋσταθέος μεγάροιο,
ένθα μαθηταί ομού τε αολλέες ηγερέθοντο,
μυρόμενοι θανάτω επ’ αεικέϊ Χριστού άνακτος,
Καὶ χόλον ἀφραίνοντα Ἰουδαίων τρομέοντες,
ήλυθε δή τότε Χριστός άναξ θεοειδέϊ μορφή,
έστη δ’ εν μεσάτω αναφανδόν καί φάτο μύθον.
Ειρήνη υμίν φίλοι, ησυχίη τ’ ερατεινή.
Ως ειπών επέδειξεν εήν πλευρήν ηδέ χείρας.
Γήθησαν δέ μαθηταί, επεί ίδον Ευρυμέδοντα.
Τούς δ’ αύτις προσέειπεν Ιησούς ουρανοφοίτης.
Ειρήνη υμίν φίλοι, ησυχίη τ’ ερατεινή.
Ως εμέ πέμψε Πατήρ, ός υπέρτατα δώματα ναίει,
Ώδ’ εγώ υμέας εις χθόνα πέμπω ευρυόδειαν.
Ως άρα φωνήσας μύσταις έμπνευσ’ αγορεύων.
Πνεύμα δέχνυσθ’ άγιον, φαεσέμβροτον, υψιθόωκον.
Ών μέν ατασθαλίας θνητών αφέητ’ επί γαίαν,
τοίσιν ή που αφίενται ες ουρανόν αστερόεντα.
Ών δ’ άρ’ επεσβολίας υπερφιάλων κρατέητε,
τοίσιν αλυκτοπέδης κείναι σθεναρής κρατέονται.
Θωμάς δ’ ώ επίκλησις άπασι Δίδυμος ακούειν,
ουχ άμα τοίς άλλοις μύσταις πρίν ομώροφος έσκεν,
Ιησούς ότ’ έβη είσω μελάθροιο εταίρων.
Ίαχον ούν άλλοι τούτω ερίηρες εταίροι.
Είδομεν οφθαλμοίσιν Ιησούν παγκρατέοντα.
Τούς δ’ απαμειβόμενος Θωμάς προσέφησεν ατειρής.
Ίχνια ήν μή ίδω μετά χείρεσιν ηλοτορήτης,
δάτυλον εμβάλλω τε εκείνου ένδοθι χειρός,
χείρα τ’ εμήν είσω πλευρής οί ρεία βαλοίμην,
ούποτε υμετέροισι λόγοις κεφαλή κατανεύσω.

(Νικοδήμου του Αγιορείτου, Συμβουλευτικόν Εγχειρίδιον, "Ήτοι περί φυλακής τών πέντε αισθήσεων", έκδ. γ΄, Βόλος 1958, σ. 200-201).

Attic Greek (set to Iambic Metre)

Liturgical Opening:

Ἐπαξίως κλύωμεν ἁγίου ἕπους.
Ἄγωμεν ᾠδὴν ἱκετήριον πάνυ
Ἡμῶν Ἄνακτι, δώμαθ᾿ ὃς πόλου ἔχει.

Ὀρθὴ σοφίη! ἀγλαῶν ἐφετμέων
Εὐάγγελον νῦν οὔασιν θῶμεν γ᾿ ὄπα.

Πάντεσσι χάρμα.

Ἐκ τῶν Ἰωάννοιο ῥητῶν ἐνθέων
Ἄκουσμα ὄντος τῶν πάνυ ψυχοσσόων.

Σιγήν τε πάντες σχῶμεν ἠδ᾿ ἡσυχίην.

Text:

Ἥμος δ᾿ ἄρ᾿ ἔσκεν ὀψίῃ τῶν Σαββάτων,
Εὔτ᾿ ἂν πυλάων κεῖτ᾿ ὀχεὺς τανυσμένος,
Ἔσαν θ᾿ ἑταῖροι ἔνθα δὴ βεβυσμένοι
Δέει μανίῃς Ἰσραὴλ θεοκτόνου,
Μέδων ποθεινὸς ἤλυθεν Παγκρατέων.
Τῆμός τε μέσσον ἵστατ᾿ αὐδάων φίλοις,
Θαρσεῖτ᾿ ὀπηδοί! χάρμ᾿ ὑμῖν ἀνασσέτω.
Ἧ, καὶ φίλοισι φῆν᾿ Ἄναξ τὰς ἐὰς χέρας,
Πλευρήν τε θείην δεξιὴν τ᾿ οὐταμένην.
Τοὶ δ᾿ ὡς ἄνακτα εἶδον ὑψιβρεμέτην,
Ἄφαρ χάρησαν, νόσφι βάλλον τε τρόμον.

Αὖτις δὲ τοῖσιν εἶπε πανσθενοῦς βίη,
Ὁμοφρονεῖτε! ἀσπάσαθ᾿ ἡσυχίην.
Ἀπφὺς ὥσπερ ἲς ἔπεμψέ μ᾿ ἐς χθόνα
Κἀγὼ φεραυγῶς ὑμμέας ὡς ἓς γ᾿ ἔθνη.

Ἦ, καὶ ἄημα Πνεύματος Παναγίου
Ἦκεν γ᾿ ἀπὸ στόματος ἄμβροτον μάλα,
Δέχνυσθε, φήσας, Πνεῦμα θεῖον προφρόνως.
Ὅτου βροτῶν κεν ἀμπλακημάτων μένος
Λύσητε, τοῖσι ταῦτα συγγνώστ᾿ ἄρ᾿ πέλει.
Ὦν αὗται δ᾿ ἔμπης ἐνδέδενται ἐν γέῃ,
-Τάων ἀσύγγνωστ᾿ ἐν πόλῳ τε τυγχάνει.

Θωμᾶς δὲ τῶν δε, δίδυμος κεκλημένος,
Ἀπῆν, παρόντος Παμμέδοντος ἐν μέσῳ.
Φράζεσκεν οἱ ἔπειτα οἱ ἄλλοι φίλοι
Ἄνακτα Χριστὸν λεύσαμεν λαοσσόον.
Ἀτὰρ μετηῦδα τοῖς λίην ἀραρότως,
Εἰ μή με λεύσω τρῆσιν ἥλων δριμέων
Χερσίν, ποσίν τε Δεσπότου τετρῃμένοις,
Οὐλῇ τε τῶνδε δάκτυλ᾿ αὖ ἐμὰ φέρω.
Αὗθις τε πλευρὴν χεῖρά γ᾿ ἀκριβουμένην,
Ἤκιστα πίστιν ἐμμέων λόγοις ἔχω

Modern Greek (according to Apostoliki Diakonia of the Church of Greece)

Liturgical Opening:

Ὥστε νὰ καταστοῦμε ἱκανοὶ νὰ ἀκούσουμε
τὸ Ἅγιο Εὐαγγέλιο, ἂς ἱκετεύσουμε τὸν Κύριο, τὸν Θεόν μας.

Σοφία. Ὀρθοί. Ἂς ἀκούσουμε τὸ Ἅγιο Εὐαγγέλιο.

Εἰρήνη σὲ ὅλους.

Ἀπὸ τὸ κατὰ Ἰωάννη Ἅγιο Εὐαγγέλιο, τὸ Ἀνάγνωσμα.

Ἂς προσέξουμε.

Text:

Κατὰ τὴν ἑσπέραν τῆς ἡμέρας ἐκείνης, τῆς πρώτης ἑβδομάδος, καὶ ἐνῷ οἱ πόρτες ἦσαν κλειστές, ἐκεῖ ποὺ ἦσαν συγκεντρωμένοι οἱ μαθηταί, διότι ἐφοβοῦντο τοὺς Ἰουδαίους, ἦλθε ὁ Ἰησοῦς καὶ στάθηκε εἰς τὸ μέσον καὶ τοὺς λέγει, «Εἰρήνη νὰ εἶναι μαζί σας».

Ὅταν εἶπε αὐτό, τοὺς ἔδειξε τὰ χέρια του καὶ τὴν πλευράν του.

Οἱ μαθηταὶ ἐχάρησαν διότι εἶδαν τὸν Κύριον. Ὁ Ἰησοῦς τοὺς εἶπε πάλι, «Εἰρήνη νὰ εἶναι μαζί σας. Καθὼς ἔστειλε ἐμὲ ὁ Πατέρας καὶ ἐγὼ στέλλω ἐσᾶς».

ὅταν εἶπε αὐτὸ ἐφύσησε εἰς τὸ πρόσωπον καὶ τοὺς λέγει,
«Λάβετε Πνεῦμα Ἅγιον, ἐὰν κάποιων συγχωρήσετε τὶς ἁμαρτίες νὰ εἶναι συγχωρημένες,
ἂν κανενὸς δὲν τὶς συγχωρήσετε, θὰ μείνουν ἀσυγχώρητες».

Ὁ Θωμᾶς, ἕνας ἀπὸ τοὺς δώδεκα, ὁ ὀνομαζόμενος Δίδυμος,
δὲν ἦτο μαζί τους ὅταν ἦλθε ὁ Ἰησοῦς.
Τοῦ εἶπαν λοιπὸν οἱ ἄλλοι μαθηταί,«Εἴδαμε τὸν Κύριο».

Αὐτὸς δὲ τοὺς εἶπε, «Ἐὰν δὲν εἰδῶ εἰς τὰ χέρια του τὸ σημάδι ἀπὸ τὰ καρφιὰ καὶ δὲν βάλω τὸ δάκτυλό μου εἰς τὸ σημάδι ἀπὸ τὰ καρφιὰ καὶ δὲν
βάλω τὸ χέρι μου εἰς τὴν πλευράν του, δὲν θὰ πιστέψω».

English (NIV)

Liturgical Opening:

That we may be found worthy to listen to the Holy Gospel, let us pray to the Lord our God.

Wisdom. Arise. Let us hear the holy Gospel. Peace be with all.

The reading is from the holy Gospel according to John. Let us be attentive.

Text:

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”

After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came.

So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Pascha On Mount Athos With Yannis Tsarouchis

Yannis Tsarouchis is a famous painter in modern Greece and acquired a deep love for Orthodoxy and the arts the Church has produced through his mentor Photios Kontoglou. He, along with Kontoglou, helped revive Greek tradition in painting. It is known that Tsarouchis (1910-1989) had a deep attraction to Mount Athos where, even when seriously ill, he would arrive every year as a pilgrim before Holy Week to attend the all-night services and would leave after Pascha. He was enthusiastic by the monastic typicon and fascinated by the Byzantine melodies. In his last years he lived at the Cell of Saint Nicholas of Koutloumouseiou Monastery with Elder Hierotheos, he worshipped at Protaton, and always confessed. Manos Hatzidakis wrote: "Tsarouchis is a Christian, not because he goes to church, but because he knows how to stand in it, with the comfort of a priest and the sanctity of a small child."

Wikipedia: Yannis Tsarouchis

The Greek Painter, Yannis Tsarouchis (Greek)

Ο ΓΙΑΝΝΗΣ ΤΣΑΡΟΥΧΗΣ ΚΑΙ Η ΒΥΖΑΝΤΙΝΗ ΜΟΥΣΙΚΗ

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

What Pascha Isn't and What Pascha Is

Pascha isn't the lamb, nor the red egg, nor the tsoureki bread, nor the candle, nor the new clothes, nor is it our presence in the church ten minutes before the "Christ is Risen!" and a minute after. Pascha is not the worship of food, the festival, nor dance and drink. Pascha is not the spits in the street, nor the exchange of greetings, nor returning to the village. Or at least, that's not all it is.

Pascha is above all the taste of the Kingdom of God, the voice of heaven within us that comes when we receive at the Divine Liturgy. Then our soul, albeit briefly, is transformed, is calm, it feels something of forgiveness and love that rises from within the tomb. Then we feel we are brothers with the world, because we partake of the cup of Life together. Pascha is our change of life, our resurrection from our passions and vices which scar us. It is not worth saying that Pascha came and we were not reconciled with God, our fellow man, neighbor, ourselves, and that we feel more free from the bondage of evil and death. Pascha is also the defeat of the last enemy of human nature, that is death: He has trampled death by death ....

Pascha is the occasion for unity, unity between peoples and societies. We can not say that we celebrate the Resurrection while war and discord prevails in our souls. We can not say that we believe in the messages of Christ and to invoke this capacity to crush our people, reputations, conscience, fellows, neighbor, our brothers. We can not do Pascha with malice for others, whoever they are, what they have done us!

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

The Priest Who Translates the Gospel Into Sign Language

Once a year, during the Agape Vespers on Pascha, Archimandrite John Karamouzis exits the Holy Altar through the Royal Gate and gives the Gospel in sign language so the deaf could understand the text. Papa-John, as he is known, has spent the last few years ministering to the deaf and hard of hearing and is only one of four priests in Greece that knows sign language.

"My involvement began 11 years ago when the mother of a deaf child approached me and asked me to deal with him because he had finished high school for the deaf, and upon his return home to Halkida he could not communicate with anyone who could hear. I thought this was a message from God to deal with deaf people and to give them all my interest and energy," said Fr. John to Sunday Democracy.

For Fr. John this opened a new path in life and he decided to deal with this not only pastorally but also scientifically.

Studies

Fr. John studied Greek sign language, which he knows in the capacity of teaching and interpretation, while he did his thesis on the pastoral care of the deaf at Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki. He is a preacher of the Holy Metropolis of Halkida and he cooperates with Inter-Christian relations for the Holy Synod. "The last Sunday of every month at All Saints parish in Kallithea the Divine Liturgy is celebrated with simultaneous interpretation in sign language from the laity. Deaf come from all parts of Athens in this important initiative," says Father John, and adds: "At the same time in several Metropolis' there are liturgical gatherings and there are revealed the degree of needs, perhaps not at the level we wanted, but even so it's a significant offering."

Approaching the deaf is an extremely difficult task. You need expertise, patience and unconditional love. "It is necessary for more to learn sign language," says Father John, adding: "It could be done today to 'translate' the entire Divine Liturgy in sign language by priests, because science gives us the 'weapons'. The deaf community is not a disabled people, but a 'cultural minority' according to the latest medical opinions. This minority has its own language, and we must learn to approach her. Probably it will take many years to do this, but its worth a try."

A Closed Community

The deaf community is very closed and guarded. "When approaching a deaf person one should know how to deal with them to become acceptable. For example, if a deaf person has turned his attention somewhere and one who hears comes and hits them on the back, the deaf considers it hostile and not friendly energy. These 'codes' you ought to know and this is done only when socializing with them," says Father John. The priest is to understand the particular temperament of the deaf. These are people socially isolated and suspicious. They also have a fear of not being able to communicate and be disappointed.

Father John scientifically studied all this data to implement, but also to teach other priests. Prejudices are indeed many. "Previously there were scientists who said that sign language should not be used because it is mimetic. In France in the 60's to prevent deaf people from using their hands, they tied them to focus on 'reading' of the lips. This scientifically collapsed as inhuman. Then they said sign language degrades them mentally. Just in 2000 was sign language officially recognized," says Fr John.

In Greece, the first clergyman who was deaf and dedicated to them was the late Metropolitan of Thebes Nicodemos, who learned sign language and communicated with them from the 50's, and gave part of his personal fortune to buy the first building of the club where he worked pastorally with the deaf.

The most difficult moment for Papa John is confession. "Every man has his own emotions and the need to express it in such a way as to show repentance," he says, adding: "The pastor who hears the confession must be fluent in sign language, emotionally to be present and know that the reactions of the deaf may be more intense because they can not express in words what they have in them".


Unknown sin

"The pastor needs to know all aspects of the life of a deaf person. The most important of all is that the deaf do not have the perceptions of being deaf and are more prone to commit sin, because no one explained what is sin and what is not. The clergyman is often at odds with an entire worldview of the deaf. For example, I have confessions by deaf people who do not consider abortion a sin because no one had said it to them. When I explained it was, it was very difficult to convince them. I felt the difficulty to convince a man that what all his life he did, thinking he is right, is in fact a sin and must be changed. Basically when you come in contact with a deaf person who has no special relationship with the Church it is like facing a small child whom you must teach."

Loyalty

"Very much effort and dedication is needed for deaf ministry," says the Archimandrite. For nine years in the Halkis Metropolis they offer sign language courses. The course lasts two years and in each cycle about 30 people who hear learn how to communicate with the deaf. One has also been ordained a Reader by the Metropolitan Demetrios Bouleros of Halkis, who is the first deaf person placed in a position in the Church of Greece.

Every Sunday Father John gathers all deaf people in the region and discusses with them their problems. Mostly, however, he is always ready to help a deaf person with transactions with the State, and services in emergency situations. "There are cases where a deaf person gets sick and is taken to the hospital. There he can not explain what he suffers, or learn what tests and what treatment the doctors give for him to do. You understand that he is in panic. Think of someone who should be operated on and does not know whether or not they are in danger. In these cases, I hasten to restore the voice and hearing, and especially offer psychological support," said Father John.

They feel anger at God

Father John is making two important scientific investigations that are underway. In the first study whether religiosity affects deaf people and sociability. With special questionnaires he studied whether deafness affects their faith and relationship with God. The results so far show that the deaf community is largely away from Christ because most grew up in families that had not spoken on the subject, because the parents did not know sign language. About 99% of deaf people are born into families that hear and are deaf to adulthood and do not communicate with people around. "Many say they feel anger at God because of their problem. Many say that God is not interested and others (fewer) say they believe because they hope that God will heal them. Anyway, as a Church we need to see these findings carefully to better understand the problem," concludes Father John.

The second survey is of a sample of about 500 people studying those who hear and their religious views on the subject to show the treatment of deaf people who have a spiritual background. Here, the first results are concerning, largely because there seems to be indifference, while many say they would consider it a punishment of God to bring into the world a deaf child. "Many who are cosidered believers do not consider a deaf child as a blessing from God and that's frustrating," says Fr John.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Video: "Christ Is Risen" in Pomak

On February 3, 2007 a Pomak from Sminthi visited Mount Athos. At the Monastery of Simonopetra a monk asked him to translate "Christ Is Risen" in his native language. He translated the hymn and the monk in turn put it to Byzantine notation. On April 8, 2007 the monks of Simonopetra Monastery sang for the first time "Christ Is Risen" in Pomak.

Hristσs si azhοvβ at umrβtene
Sas umνranye nastσpi umνranyeto
Harνsal ye zhοvσta zhιmne so bϊli
Faf grσbyeno.

Χριστός σι αζιβά ατ ουμράτενε
Σας ουμίρανιε ναστόπι ουμίρανιετο
Χαρίσαλ γιε ζιβότα ζέμνε σο μπούλι
Φαφ γκρόμπιενο.

Below is the transcription of the hymn in Byzantine notation:

On March 4, 2007 the same Pomak man translated from the Gospel of John (John 20:19-31) the passage which is read every year during the Agape Vespers on Pascha Sunday. Now every year at Simonopetra this passage is read also in Pomak:

19 Agξna ye stαnalo akshαm le faf inσk dιne, na pσrvanek dιne ad Sσbatono natsξi, i vratαna so bϊlο zatvσrenο itαm kadιna so bϊli zbrαtο talebιne ad Yahudiαtskokne strαha, dashlσl ye Isα i ustayαl so ye faf sredσno i reklσl mi ye: "Mirιnye vαmi!"
20 I agξ ye reklσl inazν, prikαzal ye tδm tσgavοne rσkο i strαno. Drαgo mi ye pαnnalo talebτmne, agξna so vνdili Kνriono.
21 I reklσl mi ye pak Isα: "Mirιnye vαmi. Kαksa mo ye prevσdil mσne Bubαyko i ya prevαdom vαmi".
22 I agξna ye reklσl inazν, dϊinal ye ur tδh i reklσl mi ye: "Zτmite Evliyσsko Vαzdaho.
23 Akϊ banβm stσrite af grαhovene, she mi so af, akϊ gi banβm darzhξte, she so udarzhσnο".
24 'Ala Thomαs, ad on ikνno adνn, zhσkne so zavαlο "Bliznαk", ne ye bul sas tδh, agξna ye dashlσl Isβ.
25 Vνkali mu so drϊgοne talebι: "Vνdihme Kνriono!" Tσy mi ye reklσl: "Akϊ na vνdem faf rakοne mu belβgono ad shαykevene i akϊ na klam pσrstase na belαgono ad shαykevene i akϊ na klam rakσso na stranσto mu, nιma da izvβravom".

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Video: "Christ Is Risen" In Latin

Christus resurrexit a mortuis, mortem morte calcavit, et mortuis in sepulchris vitam donavit!

The Pontifical Russian College in Rome (the “Russicum”) is joined by the “Romanos der Melode Chor” to sing "Christ Is Risen!" in Latin. This arrangement is the work of Fr. Ludwig Pichler, S.J., who was the director of the “Russicum” choir for many years.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Pascha on Mount Athos, Valaam and Sarov

By Monk Herman (Pascha 1974)

Many are the monastic citadels of Orthodoxy in Greece, Russia, and other lands, and in all of them the Resurrection of Christ is celebrated with special solemnity and festivity, undimmed by the worldly views that usually greet the worshipper in a city parish the moment he leaves the church building on Pascha. Here are three views of Pascha in Orthodox monasteries as it was lived in the 19th century and even up to our own times.

Pascha on Mount Athos

A description by Constantine Leontiev, a l9th century Russian intellectual and philosopher who was awakened spiritually by his exposure to the thousand-year-old monastic life on Mount Athos:

"The strict ascetical practices in most of the monasteries on Athos before the Paschal Festival reach such a point that it is frightening to think about it. Church services fill all day and all night. The taking of food is limited in the extreme. On certain days only the singers in the choir receive a piece of bread once or twice. During this time every-one on Athos must struggle with his body and spirit. When the Greeks greet one another at the commencement of the fast, they say: "I wish you success in swimming across the Lenten sea." Indeed, the sea of hunger and sadness, of fatigue and forced prayer may not be foregone either by virtue of one's own conscience or by the monastic regulations, except in cases of extreme exhaustion. In Passion Week the spiritual exertions of men for the glory of Christ and the honor of God become even more intense, the services longer, the food still more limited, the time for sleep and rest still shorter, and the examination of one's conscience yet more merciless.

The last evening comes. Everywhere there is silence. The cells of the monks are closed; the corridors are quiet and the churches empty. The woods, the mountains, the sea--nowhere can human beings be seen. Then, exactly at midnight resound strong hammer strokes against a board. Suddenly the bells begin to ring powerfully and solemnly. Life springs into being. Doors bang and voices can be heard. Lights flicker everywhere. Illumined by hundreds of candles, the open churches glow. Everyone wakes up happy and full of joy. Even those who were most exhausted experience an inexplicable feeling of excitement. The swimming across the great sea of bodily privation and the sometimes almost unbearable struggles of the soul have ended. We have landed on a joyous, flowering shore. Christ is risen from the dead,. He has conquered death through death. The Paschal Liturgy on Athos lasts from midnight till dawn. Then all the monks go for a time to their cells but come back for an early service.

Vespers is celebrated together with the Greeks in the largest church of the Russian Monastery of St. Panteleimon. This church is high, majestic, stern, dark arid at the same time blinding with gold. The iconostasis is very, very high. The church is completely filled with light. Besides a massive chandelier there is a giant silver ring with a row of candles that draw a garland of light around the pyramid-shaped lights of the chandelier.

Between the lights of the chandelier and the ring hang countless oil lamps and candles. On great feast days the chandelier and the ring rotate. All this blaze Of candles and lamps, of gold and silver--blinds, gleams, sparkles and rotates as though silently rejoicing with the people in an unbroken, festal dance.

Then, the exclamation of the deacon:

That we may be worthy to hear the Holy Gospel, let us pray to the Lord. The reading from the Gospel of St. John.

It is the Gospel in Greek. The reading has scarcely ended when suddenly there resounds a deafening ringing of bells .... Then a moment's silence .... And in this sudden silence in the church, somewhere in the depths, we hear a strange but pleasant ringing sound as though large drops with musical tone were falling onto metal. The Greeks are striking with their small hammers against metal discs. And again silence.

Then an exclamation in Church Slavonic:

That we may be worthy to hear the Holy Gospel, let us pray to the Lord. The reading from the Gospel of St. John.

The priest reads in Slavonic. Again, the solemn ringing.., and once again the soft beating of the metal discs. Let us attend. The Gospel in Turkish. After renewed ringing ... once more the exclamation; Rome speaks:

Cum ergo sero esset die illo una sabbatorum~et fores essent clausae, ubi erant discipli .... (John 20:19)

Next I hear a language which I cannot understand. It is Albanian, the language of heros, terrible robbers and faithful servants.

Vespers ends. No more ringing is heard. In the paved court and along the long corridors between the monks' cells again profound silence holds sway. For a long time I sit at the open window and look at sunny, golden, yellow, brown and white shrubs on the mountain side which is usually dark and bare but now seems to share our joy. I hear the soft tinkling of the bells on grazing donkeys. But other sounds overwhelm my soul on this evening: the exclamations and the ringing, the reading of the word of God, the different languages: Peace to you, Eirene humin, Pax vobiscum, Selam size.

The dark church, the stern appearance of the icons, the flashing gold and silver everywhere--the stillness, the ringing, the singing--and the wonderful reading to which everyone devoted the closest attention, interrupted only now and again by a smile of joy or an expression or mild surprise. And above our heads in the dark space, the silent, joyous, unceasing dance of countless lights. Truly this is the Festival of Festivals!"

Pascha on Valaam

Over a thousand years old, Valaam Monastery is situated on the islands of Lake Ladoga in northern Russia, not far from the Finnish border. In addition to the main monastery there were many small monastic communities (sketes) scattered about the islands. Closed by the communists in 1939, Valaam has since been turned into a museum by the Soviets.

Here in the words of a righteous monk Abbot Philemon, is a glimpse of how he remembered Pascha on Old Valaam:

"Hardly anywhere else in our Holy Russia was the feast of Pascha celebrated so humbly and quietly as on Valaam. We were left to ourselves in the monastery, for no pilgrim could cross Lake Ladoga whose icy water were ferocious as at no other time of year Each skete had its own services. Only our (main) monastery, having spent the time of Great Lent in the usual labors, fasting an intensified prayer which began with everyone partaking of the Holy Mysteries (likewise on Passion week), would finally, unite on Holy Night in the basement church (of Sts. Sergius and Herman) in anticipation of the Light bearing Paschal Matins.

No one, of course, slept this night. The Acts of the Apostles was read; everyone who so desired took part. And there were man who crowded around the reading stand wanting to take a turn. Everyone would read a bit replacing one another. Twenty years in row I remember this service, and the preparations for it, the expectations and these solemn readings. How I also longed to read the Acts. And I would wait in line with the others, gradually nearing the sacred place But no! Every time something stopped me revealing the demon of vainglory. I didn’t have the courage, and so I never did read the Acts in the middle of the church in the Valaam Cathedral.

A fierce frost. Snow. Around us a wide strip of fragrant firs--darkening on the white path. Here the bannered procession will pass by; here it comes. Here and there bonfires, begin to flicker; they are made by our Finns, our monastery workers who love to light them in this day. Soon will burst forth our thousand-year-old Valaam singing, grand but simple, of the Paschal troparion--I can hear t now! The cathedral is lit with candles and sparkles with gold. The mighty Valaam bells burst out in solemn peals. And a long line of vested clergy shines with gold. The soul trembles and melts before this mighty splendor in glorification of the Risen God, by us poor and humble ones...

Unutterable was the feeling of contrition and awe in which I stood through this service, really going upstairs to the choir loft from here everything could be seen better. Only the last year, already in the rank of deacon, was in the altar--and I must admit, it some how hurt me to be too close to the awesome beauty of what was performed: I didn't know where to stand, to whom to go for a blessing t order to get vested...I lost peace in trifles..,

The service was conducted at a brisk pace, everyone sang the canon, even the 'simpletons.'

Then came the long line of congratulatory brethren, greeting one another with a triple kiss, all servers holding icons, headed by the abbot. Everyone exchanges the Paschal embrace with a kiss. Hundreds, over a thousand monks line up. The first to greet you with 'Christ is risen!' is the abbot, while his cell-attendant hands you an egg, and then all the brethren.

Liturgy is conducted strictly, according the typicon, but at a quick pace, joyous and light. There's scarcely time to take it in before it is all over. Then everybody goes to the refectory to break the fast, solemnly following the abbot in pairs according rank, carrying the holy artos , [A special bread with a cross signifying Christ as the Heavenly Bread (John 6:33)] the singers preceded by those carrying the banners--and it is during the entire week. On the tables · there is a second egg for everyone (these are the only eggs the Valaam monk sees during the entire year), kulich and cheese pascha-but not very much; the Valaam monk's fast is strict, and even on the Great Feast of Pascha, he consoles himself with little, Day breaks--the light-bearing Resurrection of Christ! On Valaam it is very special --we are all alone! And everyone is left to himself. The pealing of bells is uninterrupted; everyone is welcome to go and ring. But even here, not once did I make it to the belfry.

I was drawn rather into the expansive wilds of nature, hastening to visit all around --what beauty, what grace abounded! Once you came out to the shore of the lake, you held your breath upon beholding the grandeur of the breaking ice on the wide surface of the lake. And how apparent here was the feeling of our solitude! our being cut off from the world. Then I'd visit all the chapels; there were many of them scattered about. There we'd sing "Christ is risen", either together with someone else, or alone. Besides ourselves, the brethren, there was no one anywhere.

This state of freedom was so unusual! There was no need to hurry anywhere, to rush; one was not afraid to be late to some obedience, or to miss anything. There was only one day like this in the whole year, long and full, 1asting without end--you can go everywhere, wherever you want, and you feast on it endlessly, wandering and walking to your heart's content, the soul rejoicing.

At approximately 3 o'clock, a bell is rung, its peculiar short rings calling everyone to tea. At this time many come from the sketes also. Tea is served with milk: three pieces of lump sugar, bread, sweet bread--eat, drink as much as you want.

For the next several days the service is conducted in various churches; the Risen Lord must be glorified everywhere. The service on the third day after Pascha is held in the upper church of the Cathedral. [This church was used only in summer and was unheated.] Everyone dresses as warmly as possible. Clouds of vapor rise from the mouths of the singers. I don't know how the Holy Gifts do not freeze--it's so terribly cold ! But the Paschal service proceeds very briskly.

Oh, that Light-bearing joy of Valaam! Oh, that holy Russian simplicity, the thousand-year-old austere simplicity, faithful to its poverty and humility, and magnificent in its triumphant celebration of the Resurrected Christ!"

Sarov: A New Paschal Spring

The snow still glistens on the fields and in the dark evergreen forest, where the sun's rays cannot so easily penetrate, winter still ~ seems to reign, But the noise of rushing water on all sides betrays the truth. The succulent green moss and majestic firs saturated with the spring dampness, give off 'something just like church incense, the fragrance of a new, rapidly approaching spring. The birches stand as though lifeless, awaiting the secret summons of nature, in order all at once to clothe themselves in spring's green apparel...' And suddenly, the entire Sarov forest resounds with the ringing peals of the Paschal bells, whose sound carries from the Holy Monastery, from the churches of the holy Sarov Hermitage, echoing in the surrounding fields, forests, groves, towns and villages.

Throughout the Motherland of Holy Russia the sound of Paschal bells once rang out, proclaiming the joy of Christ's Resurrection, and promising the universal resurrection. It was then that mighty men of God worked out their salvation in the Sarov forests. Like “a homeless wanderer, the deser't-dweller” Mark wandered at night among the oak groves which resounded with his continual singing: "Having beheld the Resurrection of Christ..." He said that he felt a special unearthly joy at this time, when all of nature was silent; that at no other time did prayer ascend so easily to God than at this time of peace and quiet. In a solitary cell, the spirit-bearing Elder Nazarius (+1808) ended his days; having gathered on Valaam a whole army of spiritual warriors, and now, beside the river Sarovka, he was at rest already in another world.

Further along the same river, Saint Seraphim, the joy of Holy Russia, for many years: struggled on the path of salvation. How much was thought out, how much was prayed through, in this green "desert". There also, in a small secluded hut, from the age of 12, the future missionary to America, St. Herman, conducted his spiritual struggles as a cell attendant to the ascetic Elder Varlaam.

There also lived the clairvoyant Anthony of Murom (+1855), a friend of the great Seraphim, and Jonah of Kiev (+1902) who, as a youth, lived in a hut near St. Seraphim. Likewise the restorer of Sanaxar Monastery, Theodore (+1791) who resembled the ancient desert fathers, and Theophan of New Lake (+1832) in his youth, and Moses (+1868), one of the founders of Optina Hermitage, and many others.

All of these friends of God; entirely immersed themselves in the stillness of their hearts, and there beheld the true nature of first-created Adam, that natural state of man, that magnificent and God-like dweller of paradise, for whose sake the whole world was created, a stranger to corruption and death. Carefully watching over themselves in the depth of the forest solitude, these wondrous elders studied through their own experience, all the various movements of the heart, the center of human life. Working to uproot all evil and to plant virtue, they illumined their souls with the know1edge of God. Before their inner sight were opened the mysteries of the invisible world, and they were able to discern what was good and what was evil. How did these spirit-filled elders who exhausted themselves so, experience in their hearts Christ's Resurrection? Is it possible, even dimly, to apprehend what the soul of a righteous man experiences who has worn himself out with relentless cleansing of his soul--when touched by the bright rays of the rising Sun of Righteousness?

The stars grow dim in the dawning Sarov sky. The dark forest and oak groves reverberate with the turbulent sounds of the life-bearing spring. With the ringing of church bells and the jubilant rejoicing of human hearts, there rises over the sinful earth the splendor of the dawn of Christ’s Resurrection.

Christ is Risen!

Christ Is Risen, O fathers of Sarov!

Christ Is Risen, O Much-suffering Russian land!

But in Russia, Sarov is no more. No one will answer the Paschal greeting. On the holy grounds of Sarov, there was until recently an abomination of desolation, a concentration camp of 20th century slaves and the graves of the monks – innocent sufferers awaiting the general resurrection. One person timidly remarks: There beyond the forest, protected by a dense thicket, rests a forgotten cemetery, deprived of its crosses. The anonymous boards gaze into the cloudy sky. Forsaken by all, the dead quietly narrate to the distant stars, the unending story of their sufferings – the story of unknown people whose lives were discarded as worthless. Around our barracks stood like a wall the thick green of the swaying birches – the unique and unforgettable thick forest of Sarov. All of us involuntarily felt the invisible strength and grace – giving proximity of the Holy Monastery. St. Seraphim himself appeared once in the forest on the road in Soviet times to a prisoner-monk, when his strength had given out under his heavy load and he could go no further. Almost all the believers among the prisoners midst of the severest trials, they felt his protection, At first it was proposed to build a concentration camp in the monastery, But such a spirit of depression fell upon the workers who were sent there from the "special ' department", so many cases of suicide arose among them, that the authorities moved the camp to another location, and in the monastery they built a home for the children of prisoners. They say that at night the children often see the elder in a white peasant's coat and a short black mantia." (Memoirs of Nun Veronica, St. Vladimir's Calendar for 1973)

In another account concerning the new martyr, Abbot Barsanouphius, an organizer of the Josephite catacombs, we read the following: "In Sarov he was beaten until he was half dead; when be came out of the camp he was a completely bent-over invalid who could not walk without crutches, It was hard to recognize the still not so old, well-built, tall batiushka, Father Barsanouphius. After his beating, the Lord granted him the great gift of inner spiritual sight. Likewise, during a time of severe illness, it was as though he were transported into another realm; he had a whole series of visions, which he related as undoubted confirmations of the life to come." (Russia’s New Martyrs, Fr. Michael Polsky; Vol. II, 1957.)

There is no death in God! All are alive in God. Christ is Risen and Life Reigns! And although the sufferings of crucified Russia have in no way diminished to this very day, nevertheless it is with new strength that there come forth sounds of an unmistakable, strong renewal. Do you hear, does the sound carry? Is this not the sound of a Paschal spring?

Yes! A great ascetic of our Russian Church Abroad, Archbishop Vitaly of Jordanville, said:

"These are isolated splashes of an awakening national will to freedom. They are now penetrating the, mass, just as the rays of the spring sun Penetrate the frozen earth. They melt the icy fetters of winter; they tear and carry off the ice which binds and deadens the life of the people; just as the spring torrents of the beloved Volga and the wide Dniepr carry and smash into small pieces the ice floes of winter." (Motifs of My Life, Archbishop Vitaly; Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville, NY,' 1958)

Source

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

On Leaving Church Early On Pascha After "Christ is Risen!"

By Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Patras

As we approach Holy Pascha and are preparing to venerate the Honorable Passion of our Savior Jesus Christ and glorify His Resurrection from the dead, many thoughts flood my mind and many emotions flood my heart.

It would take too much space and time to explain what I feel as an Archpriest all that shakes my inner world. I believe that all people's feelings, on these holy days, are comparable to mine.

Our Lord is lifted up on the Cross and offers His Most-Holy Blood; He descends to Hades and is resurrected on the third day to give us new life and make us heirs of His eternal Kingdom.

"We praise His Passion, hymn His Burial, and for His Resurrection cry out: Lord, glory to Thee."

I am moved by the participation of the People in our Sacred Worship Services, and rejoice because Greeks have deeply rooted in their souls faith in God and devotion to the Church and His Resurrection.

But our joy, unfortunately, is tempered, or rather, it is overshadowed when I think of the way we celebrate Holy Pascha. I will only refer to one issue. Thousands of faithful flock to the sacred temples around them during the ceremony of the Resurrection and are expecting with joy and jubilation to receive the Holy Light.

Creation is illuminated by the unwaning Light of the Risen One, and angels with men celebrate chanting triumphant hymns to the lightbearing Resurrection of the Lord. "Let us celebrate the death of death, the destruction of Hades, the never-ending beginning of another life."

And while all are glad, many (perhaps most) of the participants in the ceremony of the Resurrection, as if by magic they are seized by the evil one, and they avert their faces from the Risen One and rush to leave the heavenly and earthly feast together; the Gathering of heaven and earth is in a hurry to leave the Lord, Who is sacrificed on the Horrific Altar and is offered as drink to the faithful, finding it more worth while to reach the same or other villages (in the homes) for the enjoyment of worldly joy and physical tables.

In no other case do I feel so sad, but at that time. It is a very great sorrow, when we chant the verse, "Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered; let those who hate him flee from Him", knowing that people are fleeing, they are scattering, whoever was previously glorifying the Risen One.

Mentally at that moment I see and hear our Lord asking, while showing the marks of the nails, the question which He asked His disciples in the Garden of Gethsemene: "Could you not keep watch with Me for one hour?"

My children, He says, why are you leaving? Are you that tired? Could you not take any more shedding of heavenly light? Are you hungry perhaps?

My children, why do you forsake Me? My people, what have I concocted against you and why do you reciprocate? Instead of My love, you give Me oblivion! Instead of My sacrifice, you give Me denial! Instead of My descending into Hades to lift you to heaven, you give Me ingratitude! Instead of accepting the invitation to the Eucharistic Resurrection Supper, you give Me ungratefulness!

My people, why do you exchange heaven with dirt, the eternal with the transitory, the immortal food with temporary eating, the joy of the Reign of God with false worldly fun?

My people, why do you extinguish the light of the Resurrection and run to illuminate the darkness of your soul with the false lights of this vain world?

How will we answer our Lord to these questions of His? No human logic can interpret this fact. We try to analyze this phenomenon and explore its essence.

It is strange to listen to and a horrible spectacle. It is unfortunate this has occurred in recent decades and is the result of ignorance of the depth of the feast and its Mystery, of the Resurrection, and salvation.

It is a product of secularization that has plagued our lives and our society.

It results from the influence of the devil, who rejoices with this attitude of the people.

In conclusion, the departure of people from the holy church before the Liturgy of the Resurrection is a great sin and betrays frivolity in relation to matters of faith. All the struggles one has undergone until Pascha, prove futile.

Some have an excuse ready: "Not everyone will fit in the church, we will be outside. What should we do then? We will leave, I can't endure it."

To this question - it is an excuse rather - I answer: The Grace of the Resurrection of the Risen One fills everything and the light of the Resurrection encompasses both inside and outside the holy temple and illumines the faces of the children of the Resurrection. "Now all things are filled with light: heaven and earth, and the nethermost regions."

And furthermore...

The Lord became man, humbled Himself, was punched, wore a crown of thorns for us, was spat upon, whipped, ascended Golgotha carrying the Cross on His shoulder, given bile and vinegar to drink, was lifted onto the Cross, and descended into Hades. He rose from the dead to raise fallen man. All these things we have forgotten and we leave...because we are burdened?

I would like to talk to you about two shocking experiences that I have lived with people of faith, who waited for hours to express to God their feelings.

I will limit it to two of them:

- When serving as the Chief Secretary of the Holy Synod, I accompanied Archbishop Christodoulos for a peaceful visit to the Church of Poland. There, we liturgized in the Monastery "Grabarka" during the feast of the Holy Transfiguration. Thousands of people had flooded the hill of the Monastery. During Holy Communion rain broke out.

My thinking was that people would scatter. But nobody left the Fearful Mystagogy, but with patience remained in the rain, to commune the Pure Mysteries, receiving the All-Holy Body and Precious Blood of the Lord. Nuns were holding umbrellas, not to protect the priests, but the Holy Chalice.

- The second shocking experience was in Bucharest, Romania last October, where we carried the Holy Apostle Andrew's Skull for a blessing and sanctification of the Romanian people.

Thousands of Romanians waited almost twelve hours day and night, in terrible cold, to await their turn to venerate the Holy Skull. They had a splendid serenity on their faces and their eyes seemed to be of sweet anticipation for the meeting with the Saint.

My brethren, it is time to change our attitude regarding certain issues that are vital for us. The center of the life of our Church is the Resurrection and the Resurrectional Supper, the Resurrectional Table.

The celebration of Pascha should not be external, but should be a matter for the inner man.

Untiring should be our ability to return back to the Kingdom of God, and let it not be a secular opportunity for turbulence and a luxurious life.

I believe that this Pascha we will change our attitude, and we will want to stay for the Supper of the Kingdom, listening to the golden-worded panegyric of Saint John Chrysostom crying festively:

"Are there any who are devout lovers of God? Let them enjoy this beautiful bright festival!"

And having acquired the experience of being drunk at the immortal table of the Resurrection, let us depart for the goods of the other table in our homes, which will have the fragrance of the Resurrection, and as gifts of God will give us pleasure and material enjoyment, since man is a psycho-somatic entity, and as a mixed pilgrim, according to Sacred Gregory the Theologian, we will be sanctified by the Church of the Resurrection.

My brethren, do not leave from the church on Pascha before the Divine Liturgy. Do not forsake the Lord. Do not commit this great sin.

A Good Resurrection to you.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Greek Bombs Trouble Tarpon Springs On Easter

An inert Greek bomb, shown at actual size, is on display in the Tarpon Springs Heritage Center at Craig Park.

Jeff Klinkenberg
April 8, 2012
Tampa Bay Times

Nobody knows what will happen when Orthodox Greeks celebrate Easter next Sunday. Perhaps the holiday will be joyous with loved ones gathered to glorify the Resurrection with a feast of lamb. But perhaps, and this is what causes certain folks some sleepless nights, it might turn out to be another Greek-bomb Easter.

When the clock tolls midnight on Easter morning, homemade bombs sometimes explode along the Dodecanese Boulevard riverfront. Explosions shake buildings and break windows on Athens Street. Back in the neighborhoods, teenage boys toss bombs and run from the cops. It's a rite of passage that happens to be a felony.

But really, nobody ever knows what will happen until it happens in Tarpon Springs, population 25,000. This year, police hope, nothing louder than the cries of the yellow-crowned night herons will be heard down by the famous sponge docks. That will mean rambunctious teenagers have heeded the annual request of Father Michael Eaccarino, the pastor of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral, to light candles instead of bomb fuses.

Bomb explosions during Easter season have been part of the Tarpon soundtrack for generations. It's a custom that goes back to where so many of the town's 3,000 Greek-American residents trace their roots: the islands of Kalymnos, Symi and Halki in the Aegean Sea. There, high-spirted Easter celebrants fling dynamite from mountain cliffs and occasionally blow themselves up in the process.

In Tarpon Springs an Easter bomb is typically made from shredded newspaper, twine, duct tape and powder purchased in a gun shop. There's more to it, of course. Just know the creation produces an impressive explosion. Even so, the ear blast is never enough for the most competitive bombmakers. Cpl. Scott Brockew, a Tarpon Springs police detective and Pinellas County's only bomb technician, once confiscated a homemade explosive about the size of a watermelon.

"Somebody was driving around with it in the trunk of his car,'' he said recently. "It contained 12 pounds of black powder. We took it to a remote spot and exploded it. From 300 yards away you felt the concussion in your chest. It left a 4-foot crater in the ground. Can you imagine if it went off in a crowd?''

• • •

Tarpon Springs, which became a Greek enclave in 1905, is one of Florida's great tourist towns. On Epiphany every January, visitors head for the bayou to watch Greek youths dive for a cross thrown by the bishop. Visitors throughout the year fill bags with gift-shop sponges and eat spanakopita, dolmades and baklava at lunch.

Some might argue that Easter bombs are as much a part of Greek culture as bouzouki music. Others, mostly people in law enforcement, would say that the occasional explosion in the downtown shopping district stopped being a quaint but noisy custom sometime after Sept. 11.

"It's a collision of folk customs with the American legal system,'' says Tina Bucuvalas, a Tarpon Springs folklorist who has sometimes been awakened by distant explosions early Easter morning. She never stops trying to understand the tradition of Easter bombs.

"Don't even call them bombs,'' an elderly Greek man explained to her recently in a casual conversation on the sponge docks. "Bombs are what al-Qaida makes in Afghanistan and Iraq. People here make their own firecrackers. You should call them firecrackers.''

He did not reveal his name, of course, another custom when the subject of Easter bombs arises.

"Americans celebrate the Fourth of July with fireworks,'' he went on. "In Tarpon Springs, we celebrate the fact that Christ has risen from the dead with our own fireworks. It's the happiest day of the year.''

No kid, he grew up in Kalymnos and remembered stealing dynamite and building bombs with the powder as a teen. He carried his bombs to the mountaintop overlooking town, waited for midnight, ignited the fuse and heaved with all his strength. The explosion turned night into day, shook the mountain, shook the town below.

"My father was in church at the time,'' the retired gray-haired bomber told Bucuvalas. "He later told me that my bomb was so loud it made the old women weep.''

By tradition he passed on his Easter bombmaking skills to his American-born son. The son, now married with his own children, tells people the custom will end with him.

• • •

Male Floridians with more than a few wrinkles often think fondly about youthful adventures that may have included family summer trips through the Deep South where dangerous fireworks were legally sold — even to 12-year-old boys.

Back in Florida, the boys exploded their Cherry Bombs, M-80s and Ash Cans in back yards and parking lots without killing themselves, though everybody claimed to have heard of someone who had lost a finger or two. In 1966, the federal government outlawed the sale of the most dangerous explosives.

In Greece, Easter bombers accidentally kill themselves or innocent bystanders every spring. It has yet to happen in Tarpon, though not for lack of trying.

During the 1988 Easter season, a 20-year-old man waited too long to throw a bomb on Hope Street. The explosion broke his arm.

In 1991, police arrested a 14-year-old boy in possession of a 1-pound bomb.

In 1994, an 18-year-old was arrested for having a bomb. He wore a T-shirt showing a picture of three dead police officers sprawled at the feet of a man who was wearing a rat's head. "Dirty Rats,'' said the caption on the shirt. "Justice Is Served.''

Easter, 1996: A teenager was stopped driving on Dodecanese Boulevard because his passenger, a small child, wasn't properly restrained. The driver was arrested after two bombs were discovered inside his car. Later that night, police found a bag containing seven bombs on the sponge docks.

In 1997, a powerful bomb rocked Athens Street and did $3,000 damage to the National Bakery and the Greek Coffee Shop. The following Easter a bomb went off in the alley behind the famous Zorba's Greek Taverna. The front window shattered, whiskey bottles flew off the shelves and a $1,500 neon sign had to be replaced.

In 2000, after an enormous blast broke 13 windows along Athens Street, police arrested two 18-year-old boys. That Easter another bomb shattered the window at Paul's Shrimp House on Live Oak Street. On Athens Street, a bomb blew the bumper off a parked car and damaged the radiator.

In 2010, during the Easter Eve church service at St. Nicholas Cathedral on Pinellas Avenue, an illicit fireworks show, triggered by a remote control device, began on the roof of the 70-year-old structure and went on for 11 minutes.

Last Easter, fearing the worst, Tarpon Springs police Chief Bob Kochen requested helicopter help from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. Hovering over the cathedral, the pilot saw a suspicious package on top of the church kindergarten. It turned out to be a box containing a remote control device apparently intended to set off another fireworks show.

On the Greek orthodox religion's holiest night, the police chief ordered the church, filled with about a thousand worshipers, evacuated. Then, to the chagrin of many in the congregation, the Tampa Bay Regional Bomb Squad filed through the empty church with specially trained dogs.

The dogs sniffed out no bombs and worshipers returned to their pews. From the church courtyard, police heard the sporadic explosions of Easter bombs in the distance.

• • •

Detective Scott Brockew was born on the Fourth of July. "For years,'' he tells people, "I thought all those fireworks were meant for me.''

He's 43 now and has done police work since he was 19. One hat he wears in Tarpon Springs is "bomb specialist.'' "Nobody in law enforcement in other parts of the country can believe what we face here,'' he tells people.

Tarpon Springs has 49 police officers who know never to ask for a day off during Greek Easter. Every available patrolman is on the street, on foot or in their vehicle, watching and listening.

"It's a cat and mouse game,'' Brockew said recently. Some mice build bombs with long fuses. When the bomb explodes and the cats arrive, the mice are blocks away. Other mice ignite commercially purchased smoke bombs, toss their powerful Greek bombs and escape in the mist.

"I hate to even talk about this,'' Brockew said. "I don't like to give them publicity.''

Officer Barbara Templeton spent her first Greek Easter 25 years ago in a squad car. "Somebody rolled a bomb under me,'' she said. "When it went off it was so loud I thought I'd lost my hearing.'' Her boss sent her to the emergency room.

"At the time I was one of the few women on the force,'' said Templeton, now a captain. "My first Easter and I had to go to the hospital. It was embarrassing.''

The police have their customs, too. Every spring for at least a half century, the police chief has written a letter to the pastor of St. Nicholas asking for help keeping the city quiet. On March 15, Kochen sent his annual message to Father Michael and the Parish Council.

"In the interest of safety,'' the police chief wrote, "I am respectfully asking that the Parish Council partner with the police department to openly denounce the use of fireworks and homemade bombs . . ."

• • •

Devout Greek Orthodox Christians in Tarpon Springs shun meat and alcohol during Lent. So determined are they to honor their savior's sacrifice that they avoid dairy products, cooking oil and even sex. Father Michael, the pastor at St. Nicholas, is their leader. He's 62, tall, with gray hair. He was born in New York and raised in Miami. As a boy he threw a firecracker or two into a lake just to see what would happen. What happened was a big explosion and dead fish.

After college he ran a bike shop and still keeps his Bianchi at the rectory, though he never seems to find time for a ride. He was ordained in 1991 and served in South Florida, Washington and Denver. In 2006 he came to St. Nicholas, one of Florida's most beautiful churches, and heard about the Easter-bomb tradition. He had never heard of such a thing, at least in the United States.

At first he embraced the tradition. "Bang! It's a big celebration. Christ has tramped down death," he says. "It's a wonderful moment.''

He had second thoughts after hearing about midnight bombs that left craters, blew off car bumpers and broke arms. At a church service three years ago he held a baby above the congregation and asked, "What are we going to do if a bomb goes off nearby and harms this child?''

It turned out to be a relatively quiet Easter. But a year or so later an altar boy — an altar boy! — was arrested for having a bomb. In 2010 there was that unauthorized fireworks show that originated on the roof of a church building, which he did not approve of. He's all for avoiding a repeat of last year's police search of the church.

"We intend to cooperate with the police,'' Father Michael said. "But we want to express ourselves according to the old customs.''

Father Michael has a solution that he hopes will make everyone happy — the traditionalists and the safety conscious, too.

The Easter Eve service will go on as always. During the liturgy, all lights will be extinguished in church, except for one, on the altar, a lit candle.

Bishop Nikitas Lulias, who grew up in Tarpon Springs but now lives in Turkey, will be officiating with Father Michael's assistance. Bishop Nikitas will approach the lit candle and light his own. With that candle he will light the candle of someone else, who will light a candle of still another worshiper. Eventually the church will be lit by a thousand candles.

Then everyone and their candles will follow Bishop Nikitas and Father Michael outside to the courtyard.

"Christos anesti!'' the bishop will proclaim. "Christ is risen!''

And everyone in the courtyard will answer "Alithos anesti! He is risen indeed!''

And then, if everything works out, if they can raise $5,000 and all the permits are in place, a 10-minute fireworks show organized by the church will erupt. It will be a noisy manifestation of the congregation's overwhelming joy. And no one will get hurt.

And if the fireworks don't happen, well, it'll still be Easter and on that holiest of nights, Father Michael will try not to listen for explosions in the distance.

Read also: Tarpon Springs Explosion Rocks Greek Religious Celebration

Tweet

Share on Tumblr