the€¦ · the national herald a b april 23 , 2011 sponsored in part by: angeliki frangou/navios...

The National Herald

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April 23, 2011www.thenationalherald.comSponsored in part by: Angeliki Frangou/Navios Maritime

By Rev. Fr. CharlesJoanides, Ph.D., LM FT

Research indicates that holi-day seasons bring added chal-lenges and stress into our lives.Intermarried couples and theirfamilies, because of their differ-ent religious and cultural back-grounds, are especially at riskwhen holidays come. The pur-pose of this article is twofold: 1. to explore some of the reasonswhy intermarried couples faceadditional challenges during theholidays. 2 . to provide someuseful suggestions to help themnegotiate these challenges dur-ing this year’ s Lenten andPaschal season.

Why do intermarried couplesface additional challenges dur-ing the holidays? The greaterthe differences in religious back-grounds, the more potentialchallenges couples may en-counter. For example, coupleswith two spouses from differentChristian backgrounds are likelyto encounter fewer challenges

around the holidays than cou-ples with a Christian spouse anda non-Christian spouse. OneChristian spouse married to aHindu put it this way. “ It’ s noteasy celebrating Christmas andEaster…I yearn to celebrate atraditional Christmas andEaster…. My husband tries tounderstand, but I also know thisneed will never completely bemet…. It’ s okay, but it alsomakes me feel sad.”

Similarly, the greater the dif-ferences in cultural back-grounds, the greater the chancesthat challenges will emerge. Forinstance, spouses from differentEuropean backgrounds arelikely to encounter fewer chal-lenges than couples who havemore varied cultural back-grounds. One newlywed spousewith a Chinese background whowas married to a second gener-ation Greek-American offeredthe following observation: “ Weare deeply in love with one an-other, but there are some thingswe can’t always share – espe-

cially around many of the holi-days. Perhaps in time we’ll cre-ate a hybrid experience, butthus far it seems we’ re still try-ing to figure things out.”

The level of connection eachspouse has to his/her religiousbackground can influence thenumber and intensity of chal-lenges. Spouses with high levelsof connection will experiencemore challenges around the hol-idays than couples who havenominal connections to their re-ligious backgrounds. The fol-lowing observations illustratethis point. “We’ re not particu-larly religious, so the religiousholidays don’t necessary causeus many problems…. I imagineit’ s difficult for couples fromdifferent religions if they bothwant to follow their religioustraditions.”

Similarly, the level of connec-tion each spouse has to his/hercultural background can influ-ence the number and intensityof challenges. One spouse’scomments illustrate this point.“ We’ re both first generation –he has a Serbian backgroundand I have a Mexican back-ground. That means that wehave strong feelings for our eth-nic backgrounds. This makes ithard for us. This is especiallytrue around the holidays.” De-spite these unique couple dy-namics, most couples I’ve inter-viewed have successfullyworked through the specialchallenges holiday seasons bringinto their lives. Here are someof the strategies that haveworked for them. Perhaps theywill prove helpful to you.

COMMUNICATION IS KEYCommunicate with one an-

other. Before each holiday ar-rives, talk with each other aboutyour needs and expectationssurrounding your observanceand celebration of the particularholiday. One spouse stated, “Don’t assume that you’re alwayson the same page regarding thedecorations, ethnic traditionsand church services…. Wefound this out the hard way thefirst year we were married. Wefailed to have much conversa-tion and ended up arguingabout almost everything. Hewanted to fast; I didn’t. Hewanted to attend the Greek Or-thodox Church; I didn’t. He ex-

EASTER 2011 THE NATIONAL HERALD, APRIL 23, 2011

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* * *Our best wishes

to all Greek-Americans and, for the second consecutive year,to those of other religious persuasions

for

a Blessed Pascha

* * *

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Continued on page 8

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HAPPY EASTER! ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ!

Strategies to Help IntermarriedCouples Celebrate Easter

EASTER 2011THE NATIONAL HERALD, APRIL 23, 2011 3

Best wishes for a Blessed

and Joyful Pascha

From a Friend

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“Just as Christ was raised from the dead

through the glory of the Father,even so we also should walk

in newness of life.”ROMANS: 6:4

We wish you much joyas we celebrate the Resurrection

of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Happy Pascha

Dr. John and Helen Collisand familye

r

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WR

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗfrom the

Peter A. Vlachos Family

“They will look on me, the onethey have pierced, and they willmourn for him as one mourns foran only child, and grieve bitterlyfor him as one grieves for a first-born son.” (Zechariah 12:10)

By Rev. Dr. Frank Marangos

There were four and notmerely three crosses on Golgo-tha. While Jesus was physicallycrucified between two thieves,the heart of His beloved motherMary was being spirituallypierced on a cross of love. This isthe reason why Orthodox Chris-tians choose to view the Passionof their Savior through the ma-ternal lens of the Theotokos asshe embodies the collective sor-rows, pain and heartaches of hu-manity. It is through her that thefaithful ponder the “one that theyhave pierced” (Zach 12:10).

The liturgical cycles of GreatLent and Holy Week are repletewith worship services, hymns andprayers that focus attention onthe manner in which theTheotokos viewed the holy Pas-sion of her son. In many ways,she is portrayed as the eternalliturgical guide that tenderlyleads the faithful down the diffi-cult via Dolorosa journey. She isthe one who, from the start ofher Son’s ministry, directs thefaithful to trust her Son’s timingand to obediently execute “what-ever He commands” (John 2:5).

Great Lent and Holy Week isa season of sorrow for it recallsthe “taking away of the Bride-groom” (Luke 5:35). There is nofiner example of Orthodoxy’s joy-ful melancholy than the frequenthymn-based spiritual dialoguesand inner conversations withwhich the faithful engage duringthis most important liturgical cy-cle. Worshipers are encouragedto merge their respective feelingsof regret, sadness, and distresswith that experienced by theHoly Theotokos.

Saint Luke is the first Gospelwriter to portray Mary as a co-sufferer with her son. Only 40days after Jesus’ birth, she is in-formed by the prophet Simeonthat, like her son, she was des-tined for suffering. “A sword willpierce even your own soul,” theJewish sage insists, “to the endthat thoughts from many hearts

may be revealed” (Luke 2:35). One can only imagine Mary’s

reflection, having received sucha fearful forecast. She had alreadyendured shame and reproachwhen found to be with child be-fore her consummated marriageto Joseph. She bore the knowl-edge that countless innocent chil-dren died while her family safelyfled to Egypt. She would later feelthe anxiety of separation whenher son lectured her for not real-izing that He “must be about hisFather’s business” (Luke 2:49). Aspainful as all these experiencesmust have been, however, it wasnot until she stood before her sonhanging on a Cross, that she feltthe full climax of Simeon’sprophecy. Only then was her cru-cifixion complete – her heartpierced like her Son.

Similar to every Fridaythroughout the year, Holy Fridayis dedicated to the crucifixion ofJesus and to the sorrow of Mary.Consequently, Orthodox Chris-tian parishes chant canticlescalled the “Lamentations ofMary” during the Holy Fridayevening worship service. Whileonly a select number of hymnsare sung, the prescribed numberof stanzas should, nonetheless,correspond to the length of Psalm119, one of six important hymnsof praise (Hallel) concerning theJewish Passover. Each of the 176verses of Psalm 119, are to be al-ternately sung between theverses of the Lamentations! Sucha chanting of 352 verses (176 x2) underscores the importancethe Church places on Mary’sprophesied lament. It is throughher psalm of “joyful-sorrow” thatthe faithful are to ponder theHoly Pascha and “look upon” thePassover of the “One they havepierced.”

Mary’s spiritual motherhoodover mankind reaches its zenithduring humanity’s Passover onGolgotha. Just as the Heart of Je-sus poured out salvation over hu-manity, the Heart of Mary, unitedspiritually to the piercing of HerSon, embraces with maternallove all those who accept the re-demptive sacrifice of Her Son.The contemplation of Mary’s sor-rows is, therefore, our passageinto the schoolhouse of such Di-

The Lament of theFourth Cross: TheTheotokos at Golgotha

Continued on page 22


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FOR

A HAPPY EASTER

The role model of the crucified human, hero and God is a concept intertwined with Hellenism from ancient times until today. It is the sacrifice of the spirit descending in matter, purged throughsacrifice. The tragedy of Orpheus, Adonis, Persephone and Dionysus, the laborsof Hercules, the crucifixion of Prometheus, the pain of Christ and as-cension to the heavens, symbolize the triumph of the soul over death,the triumph of the spirit over matter and the path of man towardshigher spiritual planes. The crown of thorns of Christ is a symbol ofthe rays of the savior rising sun, the victory of light over darkness.

Resurrection Day remains the most important celebration of Hellenism and is associated with the rebirth of the nation and the spir-itual life of our past, present and future. Hope, faith and strength always helped us cope with hardships, on personal, collective and national level.

Let us commune once again, in the profound meanings of the Resurrection and let us walk towards this notional Golgotha, with perseverance. Walking the path of sacrifice and altruism, genuine lovefor our fellow humans, together we will build a better tomorrow forthe future generations.

On behalf of SAE Region USA, I wish you:A Happy Easter, Revival, Love and Unity

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pected to be with his family; Iexpected to be with mine.”

Respect and accept one an-other. Mutual respect and accep-tance are also important. Onespouse’s remarks help explainwhy. “ I’m Greek Orthodox...He’s Jewish. I don’ t expect himto understand what I’m feelingand experiencing during Easterand the Christmas season, but Ido expect him to be respectful,and he is. I think we’ d have tolive apart around religious cele-brations if we weren’t respectfultoward one another…. By the

way, even though he’ s not veryreligious, I’m aware of his reli-gious and ethnic traditions anddo my best to be respectful.Without this level of acceptanceand respect I’m afraid conflictwould replace the peace we’vefound related to our religiousand ethnic differences.”

Emphasize your similarities.Intermarried spouses repeatedlystated that they tend to empha-size their similarities and de-em-phasize their differences – espe-cially around the holidays. Onespouse from a Protestant back-ground stated, “ His Greek Or-thodox religious background has

many beautiful rituals and tra-ditions. But as beautiful as theymay be, they don’t speak to melike my own religious back-ground. So, we don’ t spend alot of time comparing and con-trasting whose background isbetter…. We spend our time cel-ebrating what we share in com-mon and leave the differencesalone.”

Educate one another. Somespouses have found the holidaysto be opportunities for sharingtheir unique traditions witheach other in order to help eachrespective partner deepenhis/her understanding of the

meaning and significance ofhis/her spouse’s religious andcultural traditions. This ap-proach tends to diffuse potentialmisunderstandings and enrichholiday celebrations. Onespouse’s observation illustratesthis point. “ I’m Southern Bap-tist, and my husband’s fromGreece…. It’s traditional formany people in the south tohave black-eyed peas on NewYear’ s Day. But my husband did-n’t care for black-eyes peas untilI told him it was a way thatsoutherners expressed bestwishes to one another for theNew Year. After that, he warmedup to the tradition and evenhelps prepare them each year –Greek style, of course.”

Work through extended-fam-ily challenges. Extended familycan sometimes present chal-lenges. The following illustratesthis point. “The first year wewere married, we went to Spiro’s house for Easter Dinner…. Idecided to make a Jell-O moldshaped in the form of an Easteregg. It was always part of ourEaster table…. When I pre-sented it to his mother, shethanked me and placed it on thecorner of the table, almost un-derneath the rolls. I was hurt,and I told Spiro the next day.He apologized and stated thatwhile Jell-O molds were notpart of his family’ s Easter Din-ner, my Jell-O mold would bein the center of our table inyears to come…. I know this issilly, but his comments touchedmy heart.”

Emphasize the positive. OneLutheran spouse I intervieweddescribed some of the strugglesshe and her Greek Orthodoxpartner were having aroundEaster time. Her remarks high-light a strategy that has provenuseful to most intermarried cou-ples. In particular, she stated:“After getting married, I was sur-prised to discover that Greeksuse the Old Calendar to establisha date for Easter. As a result, dur-ing the first few years of mar-riage I resented the fact that Ihad to revisit Easter with my hus-band a month or so later. Thiscaused a great deal of unrest Be-tween us, which lingered for sev-eral years. It wasn’t until our firstchild arrived that I was able toacquire a different perspective.One day, when I was preparingcandy for the Easter bunny, myson innocently remarked: “Youknow mommy. I’ m really lucky.

The Easter Bunny comes to ourhome twice a year! That remarkwas the beginning of a new wayfor me to see our differences. Astime has passed, I no longer seethings from a deficit perspective.Today I see our differences as en-riching our lives and the lives ofour children. These days I try toemphasize the positive.”

Accept that disagreementsare part of the territory. Differ-ences that create conflict arepart of the territory for inter-married couples. When differ-ences surface and conflict fol-lows, couples should try andremember that disagreementsaround holiday traditions are in-evitable, and they do not neces-

sarily portend negative out-comes. In most cases, thesedifferences afford intermarriedcouples opportunities to shapetwo very different backgroundsinto a common experience thatis mutually satisfying for bothspouses and their family.

One intermarried partner’sobservations whose backgroundis Caribbean illustrates thesepoints nicely. “Before marriagewe failed to engage in any con-versation related to our differentbackgrounds. That changedonce we got married and westarted trying to figure outwhich traditions we would in-tegrate into our holiday obser-vances. This created a lot ofdrama and conflict. Fortunately,at some point we both realizedthat the drama and conflictweren’t getting us anywhere,and we were able to accept thefact that it would take sometime for us to figure things out.Fifteen years later things areconsiderably better, and we’vefigured things out. We believeour lives and our children’s liveshave been enriched by our ef-forts to combine our two verydifferent backgrounds in a com-mon family experience.”

Seek help when you getstuck. Sometimes intermarriedcouples will get stuck; no matterhow hard they try, they cannot

work through a disagreement.When lingering disagreementsexist that trigger counterproduc-tive arguments, it is best to con-sult your pastor or a profes-sional couple counselor for help.Waiting and hoping for circum-stances to change is a strategythat can often do more harmthan good. So, if issues relatedto the holidays have remainedunresolved and are threateningyour Paschal celebration onceagain, it is likely time to seeksome outside help for a secondopinion.

Regularly turn to God forhelp. Thus far, I’ve talked abouthow intermarried couples canwork together to ensure that thechallenges they face do not se-riously unsettle their holidaycelebrations. However, I’ve cho-sen to save the best suggestionfor last. In order to find somecommon ground during the hol-idays, almost without exception,the couples I’ve met with havestated that prayer and God’slove often made a distinct posi-tive difference in their efforts toget beyond the kinds of chal-lenges addressed in this article.So, this year, if you happen toencounter challenges, don’t for-get to turn to God regularly asyou look forward to celebratingthe holidays. His life-giving, life-creating presence will make adifference.

Whenever possible, I encour-age couples to consider becom-ing single-church couples. Thisoption removes a level of com-plexity that has the potential tocreate challenges and problemsfor couples. However, for manyreasons which I will not detailhere, this is often not an option.For those who are intermarried,this article has suggested thatstress around the holidays canbe further exacerbated when in-termarried couples underesti-mate the issues that may surfacesurrounding their religious, eth-nic and cultural differences.When these issues are underes-timated and not workedthrough, family members at alllevels are disappointed, andemotional distance replaces thefestive, life-changing, life-sus-taining nature of a given holi-day. Some of the strategies listedin this article should help ame-liorate the stress and conflictthat often emerge when couplesfrom different religious and cul-tural traditions celebrate theholidays.


Καλό ΠάσχαΧριστός ΑνέστηΧρόνια Πολλά

George & Margo Chryssis

and FamilySouthborough, MA

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To all Orthodox Christians

we wish

a Blessed Pascha

Christos Anesti

Strategies to Help Intermarried Couples Celebrate EasterContinued from page 2

“I encourage couples toconsider becoming single-church couples. Thisoption removes a level ofcomplexity that has thepotential to createchallenges and problems”

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Best Wishes for a Blessed and Joyous Pascha

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201590/529


By John Sanidopoulos

Bright Week, otherwiseknown as Renewal Week, beginson Pascha (i.e. Easter) Sundayand ends on the following Sun-day of Thomas. The name prob-ably originates from the factthat the newly baptized cate-chumens from Pascha are newlyillumined and bright. For them,as well as for all baptized Or-thodox Christians, it is a time ofregeneration and renewal.

Before the fall of Con-stantinople in 1453, this weekhad special joy and was cele-brated with great pomp andsplendor. The emperor wouldcall the newly-baptized and thepoor to a rich meal, while onBright Thursday the Patriarchwould have an honorary dinnerfor the clergy. Rich gifts weredistributed by the emperor andofficial visitations were made.Prisoners with light offenseswere released as well. These tra-ditions are somewhat carriedout today in Greece where stateofficials visit hospitals and mili-tary camps, and military sanc-tions are lifted.

Today Pascha for the Greekpeople begins where it origi-nated, on Holy Saturday after-noon at the empty tomb of Jesusknown as the Holy Sepulchre inthe city of Jerusalem. Every yearat this time a great miracle ofOrthodoxy takes place when thePatriarch of Jerusalem entersthe tomb of Christ in completedarkness and emerges from thetomb moments later with fireliterally sent from heaven. Thisfire is popularly known as “HolyFire”, though Orthodox Chris-tians prefer to call it “HolyLight” for its supernatural ori-gin. News of this miraculousevent is widely covered in theGreek media, and is increasinglybecoming popular news in theWest as well. At the ceremonyof the Holy Light there is alwaysa delegation from Greece to re-ceive this Holy Light and bringit to Greece with state honorsthrough a special flight. Arrivingin Athens it is then distributedon various aeroplanes to bringthe Holy Light throughoutGreece.

At 11p.m. on Holy Saturdaynight pretty much the entirecountry is in church. The lightsare turned off in the churchesat midnight as everyone holdscandles waiting to be lit. Soonthe priest emerges from the

darkened altar and announcesthat Christ has risen from thedead by calling all the faithfulto receive the light of the Res-urrection. In many places inGreece this light is in fact theHoly Light which was trans-ferred from Jerusalem. Soon anamazing wonder takes place,when it seems the entire countryis lit by this Holy Light as oneperson passes on the flame toanother person greeting one an-other with “Christ is risen!” andresponding with “Truly he hasrisen!”, which will be the pri-mary greeting for the next fortydays. Leaving the churches thepeople carry this flame to theirhomes for a blessing where theywill try to preserve this flamefor the next forty days.

During this midnight serviceon Pascha many unique eventstake place in certain areas ofGreece. One common theme isthat fireworks are set off every-where making the fourth of Julylook tame in comparison. Some-times even dynamite and gunsare used to symbolize the utterdestruction of death and thepowers of evil by Christ’s Res-urrection. Probably the mostwell-known and dangerous fire-work display takes place inChios, where two rival churchesfire thousands of rockets at eachother as part of an annual fire-work attle. In the town of Asinein Argolida they actually have astreet battle with the men of theupper and lower parts of the vil-

lage hurling insults and fire-works at each other. In southernMessenia people go to the mainsquares to watch the saetapole-mos, which are rockets withoutsticks that the men hold whilethe force of the explosionsmakes them jump as if they aredancing. In Corfu ceramic potsare thrown out of windows sym-bolizing the throwing out ofevil. The people of Leonidio inPeloponnesos fill the sky withhot air balloons released by thefaithful of each parish.

The Paschal feast after themidnight service, which offi-cially ends the 48-day fast ofGreat Lent and Holy Week, con-sists primarily of red eggs, richlyscented breads and magiritsa.The red eggs, which werepainted on Holy Thursday, arebrought out and each persontakes one and hits their endagainst someone else's until thelast person who has an un-cracked egg is considered thelucky person for the year. Ma-giritsa is a soup with a varietyof chopped and sautéed animalinnards (mainly lamb), withherbs and spices and avgole-mono (egg and lemon soup).During the day another largerfeast takes place which

features the famous paschallamb roasted on a spit. In somevillages the priest will go fromhouse to house and bless theroasted lamb of the people. Af-ter the meal in certain areaspeople will attach swings to a

tree and swing, while othersmay go out and pick flowers andform wreaths. In Thrace andMacedonia young women in tra-ditional clothing called theLazarins go around the villagessinging traditional Paschalsongs. There seem to be asmany varied traditions on thisday in Greece as there are townsand villages.

In many parts of Greece thefestivities of Pascha continueinto Monday, with more feastsand dances. Some on this daywill visit dead relatives andfriends and leave red eggs ontheir graves praying for them agood resurrection. In Giannitsaof Pella and other areas the peo-ple will swing on this day. It isbelieved that riding a swing isgood for one's health and willhelp bring an abundant harvest.

Often it happens that thefeast of St. George the GreatMartyr falls during Great Lentor Holy Week on April 23rd. Be-cause no feasting is allowed onthese days, the feast will betransferred to Bright Monday.St. George is very popular inGreece and churcheseverywhereare named after him, so manycelebrations will take place onBright Monday in his honor. InMikropoli of Drama an eventcalled "Celebration of God"(Γιορτή του Θεού) takes placeat the Chapel of St. George witha dinner there.

On Bright Monday somemonasteries on Mount Athos and

Karyes hold litanies with theirmiraculous icons and holy relics.The others do this on BrightTuesday. The most notable takesplace with the icon of the Pana-gia of Axion Estin which departsKaryes and goes to all the sur-rounding monasteries, sketesand cells until it returns toKaryes on Bright Tuesday.

Places like Pilios, Lesvos andSamos save riding on swings forthis day. The dancing and fes-tivities will continue today inmany areas of Greece, as it willthroughout the week.

In Kalyvia Limenaria of Thas-sos, Bright Tuesday is called "ForRain In April" (Για βρέξ΄ Απρίλημ΄). It is an ancient custom topray for spring rain. Residents ofthe communityand visitors cele-brate with folk dances and largepots of rice cooked with meatthat is distributed to everyone.On the same day in Ierissos ofHalkidiki there is the traditioncalled in Greek "Του μαύρου νιουτ΄ αλώνι" or "the black threshingfloor". This is a dance that takesplace in honor of Greeks killedby Turks in the area in 1821.

Many Saints who could notbe celebrated properly over thepast few weeks during GreatLent and Holy Week are cele-brated throughout Bright Weekand especially on Bright Tues-day. In 1680 on Pascha Sundayafter the midnight service inNtaou Penteli Monastery outsideAthens, 179 monks were slaugh-tered by pirates and secretly

were buried under the floor ofthe main church. It wasn’t until1963 that the incorrupt relics ofthese holy martyrs were discov-ered in a miraculous way, andsince then their feast is cele-brated on Bright Tuesday. In1904 the relics of St. Patapiosof Thebes were revealed in hismonastery in Thebes in a mirac-ulous fashion, and since thenthe discovery of his relics arecelebrated in Thebes on BrightTuesday. On April 18, 1826 theTurks were devising a slaughterof the Christians in Herakleion,Crete on the feast of Pascha inthe Church of Saint Menas. Asthe Gospel was being read pro-claiming the Resurrection Feast,suddenly a gray haired man ap-peared and began runningaround the church holding asword, and the faithful saw himchase away the Turks who weredevising the slaughter. The peo-ple recognized this man to beSt. Menas and every year sincethen this feast is celebrated onBright Tuesday in Crete.

Probably the most famousfeast on Bright Tuesday takesplace in Mytilene at theMonastery of Sts. Raphael,Nicholas and Irene. For cen-turies the people of Lesvoswould go on Bright Tuesday tothe ruins of a monastery nearthe village of Thermi. No oneknew why they did this how-ever, as the tradition had beenlost to time. It was not until1959 that Sts. Raphael, Nicholasand Irene started appearing indreams and visions to the resi-dents near Thermi revealing tothem their identity as well asthe location of their relics. Sincethen this monastery has becomeone of the most popular pilgrim-age destinations for OrthodoxChristians in the world.

On Bright Wednesday in theMunicipal District of Eleutheronwest of Kavala there is an emo-tional and reverent customcalled "Mazidia" (Μαζίδια) thattakes place dating back to Ot-toman times. The faithful pro-cess with icons from the Byzan-tine Church of the Archangels,which is the oldest church in theregion of Mazidia, to the pic-turesque Church of Sts.Raphael, Nicholas and Irene.

There is an artoklasia – theblessing of the loaves service -and holy water with prayers tothe Risen Christ to bless the

Bright Week Celebrations In Greecea

b

ΝΙCHOLAS J. BOURAS25 DeForest Avenue, Summit, N.J. 07902-0662

Wishing the entire Greek American community a Happy and Blessed Easter

200708/581

On Bright Thursday in Kalis Vrysis of Drama the icon of theResurrection of Christ is processed around the farming areas toprotect the village from all evil, especially from the extremelydangerous hail storms that could devastate the spring crop.

On Bright Wednesday in the Municipal District of Eleutheronwest of Kavala there is an emotional and reverent customcalled "Mazidia" (Μαζίδια) that takes place dating back to Ot-toman times. The faithful process with icons from theByzantine Church of the Archangels, which is the oldest churchin the region of Mazidia, to the picturesque Church of Sts.Raphael, Nicholas and Irene.



JOHN, MARGO, ANDREA, YIANNI

CATSIMATIDISAND CHRISTOPHER NIXON COX

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Best Wishes to All Greek-Americans

for a Joyous and Blessed Easter

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗΚΑΛΟ ΠΑΣΧΑ

By Maria C. Khoury, Ed. D.

JERUSALEM - A tremendousmiracle continues to happen ev-ery year at the same place andat the same time in Jerusalemno matter how many of usChristians are disappearingfrom the Holy Land. The terri-ble conditions of the Israeli mil-itary occupation and the fanati-cism of extreme Israeli andPalestinian groups has con-tributed to our Christian popu-lation dropping way below 2%of the total Palestinian popula-tion of four million people inGaza and the West Bank. Eveninside Israel proper, the Chris-tian population is also less than2%. Some days, I feel I am liv-ing in a museum by answeringthe same questions over andover to the few visitors thatshow support and solidarity byvisiting not just the holy shrinesbut the living stones of the HolyLand, the Christian people in thecommunities like Taybeh whereI have lived for over sixteenyears.

I am so very sad that afterour terrible experiences the lastfew years with the army and thepolice, my husband refuses touse his permit to enterJerusalem on Holy Saturday andjoin the entire Christian com-munity in witnessing the great-est of all miracles-the Miracle ofthe Holy Fire. You need deepfaith not to be bothered by thesoldiers, the police, the largecrowds, the noise, the drums ofthe Boys Scouts and the GirlScouts anxiously waiting to re-ceive the Holy Fire from the LifeGiving Tomb of Christ in theHoly Sepulchre. We live soclose, just twenty-five minutesaway from Jerusalem but eventhough my husband had a per-mit to enter the Holy City, therewere so many other checkpointsinside the Old City that we gotstuck outside the church of theHoly Sepulchre too many timesbegging our way to pass withoutthe basic freedom to worship.One year, I especially felt sorryfor this lovely elderly Australian-Greek lady that probably hadpaid more than $3,000 to get toJerusalem for this once in a life-time pilgrimage and I was beg-ging the soldiers in English, Ara-bic, and the little Hebrew that Iknow to let her pass since she

only spoke Greek and got lostfrom her group and stuck at oneof the many pointless check-points.

Holy Saturday is an excitingday where representatives ofmany churches from all over theHoly Land come to receive theHoly Fire and carry it back insmall lanterns to their particularchurches for the Midnight Res-urrection Service. Palestiniansare not allowed to enterJerusalem without a special per-mit thus this year again manyPalestinian Christians will go theextra trouble of getting permitsin order to partake in this cen-turies-old celebration that re-flects our Christian heritage anddeep roots in Palestine. Unfor-tunately, in recent years, Israelhas encouraged more police inthe Church of the Holy Sepul-chre than faithful. Can youimagine in one of the most holi-est days of the year to see overone thousand stern police offi-cers in the very area whereChrist was resurrected? Pray forIsrael to see the Light and endthe occupation. For once youwere in darkness, but now inthe Lord you are light. Live aschildren of light…” (Eph 5:8)

The Miracle of the Holy Fireis one of the most magnificentcelebrations in the Holy Landthat has been overshadowed bythe Arab-Israeli conflict. In theearly 2000’s for several years,the boy scouts had not carriedon our regular tradition of re-ceiving the Holy Fire to the beatof the drums due to the blood-shed and violence. In the lastfew years it was refreshing forthe Christian community to re-joice in public by receiving theHoly Fire and celebrate widelythat for us, all hope lies in Christour Savior.

It is on Great and Holy Sat-urday that the Holy Fire comesdown from Heaven and is re-ceived by the Greek OrthodoxPatriarch as it has been done ev-ery year on Holy Saturday in theafternoon, in the same manner,at the same time, at the sameholy place of Christ's Life GivingTomb. This is the miracle thatallows us to know that Christ isin our midst. This is the miraclethat allows us to feel that Christis truly among us. This miracleis another way that God com-municates to us His love for hu-

manity. As we chant in our Mid-night Resurrection Service:"Come ye and receive light fromthe unwaning Light, and glorifyChrist, Who arose from thedead."

This Holy Saturday, we willwait until Philip our youngcousin who is taking over thetradition of receiving the Mira-cle of the Holy Fire from hisdad, Ibrahim, will bring theflame for us by 4 p.m. or 5 p.m.to the village of Taybeh. Sinceit’s so difficult to get intoJerusalem, a Patriarchate rep-resentative will bring the flamefrom Jerusalem to Ramallah forall the Palestinian Christian

communities that cannot reachthe Holy City including not justTaybeh, but Aboud, Birzeit,Jifna and Ein Arik. There willbe an amazing celebration ofthe entire small Christian com-munity in Ramallah marchingthe main streets until they getto the Orthodox Church of HolyTransfiguration in the old centerof Ramallah where the celebra-tion will conclude for the after-noon, but continue at the Mid-night Resurrection service for allthe faithful.

A wonderful ecumenical pa-rade will celebrate the Holy Fireentering Taybeh. The priests ofthe Orthodox, Catholic and

Greek Catholic churches, Fr.Daoud, Fr. Raed and Fr. Jackwill lead the faithful with thechoir chanting to meet ten yearold Philip. I will be running inthe crowd to catch up to myhusband David who is still themayor and walks in front butwomen in the Middle East al-ways have last place.

On Holy Saturday, all faithfulwill receive the Light that pro-ceeded from the core of thestone that covers Christ's LifeGiving Tomb and once againwill celebrate the oldest unbro-ken Christian ceremony that ex-ists in the world. By the way,many people make fun of mefor participating in the cere-mony of the Holy Fire which in2004 I personally experiencedin the Church of the Holy Sepul-chre but since as Christians weare not of this world, I really donot expect the world to compre-hend the eternal love and pres-ence of God. It takes faith.Great faith to fight the goodfight! Christ Himself saidblessed are those who do notsee yet believe. When I wasfighting my way to be up frontwhere only the diplomats are al-lowed, the Greek monk said tome in Greek “my child, it is not

only with the eyes that we see.”It is a sentence that I cannotseem to forget as I promote non-violence, a just peace, love forneighbor, coexistence and toler-ance among people that cannotsee the Light.

Furthermore, with the ongo-ing violence, back and forth, be-tween Palestinians and Israelisand all of the bloodshed cur-rently happening in the MiddleEast, surely we are still living inthe darkness of all evil. In Egyptthey said during the current rev-olution it was Egyptian againstEgyptian for freedom. Well, forover two thousand years, it isstill, human being against hu-man being because peoplerefuse to see the true Light ofChrist. "And the light shinethin darkness; and the darknesscomprehended it not." (John1:5) God says “I love you withan everlasting love” and the Mir-acle of the Holy Fire is an an-nual powerful reminder. It is aremarkable way to find the truthand walk by the true Light ofChrist.

In Luke 16:15 we read thatJesus said: "Go ye into all theworld, and preach the gospel toevery creature. He that believethand is baptized shall be saved."We witness the truth and receivethe Holy Fire every year on HolySaturday so that all who are notsuffering to live in the land ofChrist's Holy Resurrection canbelieve that Christ is the trueLight, which lighteth every manthat cometh into the world.(John 1:9)

"And that repentance and re-mission of sins should bepreached in his name among allnations, beginning at Jerusalem.And you are witnesses of thesethings." (Luke 24:47)

Our Christian community issmall and diminishing but withGod's help and your prayers, wecan survive the terrible occupa-tion, dreadful checkpoints, thecollapsed economy, the terriblesegregation wall and the dailyhardships that make life unbear-able. In the last eleven years,nothing has changed on theground, the situation is worsethan ever especially with newillegal Israel settlements. How-ever, in the Holy Land, we mustkeep the undying hope and onemust say every day, Truly theLord is Risen!


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The Aghio Fos of Pascha in Jerusalem:The Remarkable Miracle Continues to Happen


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By Dr. Lewis J. Patsavos Ph.D.

For the second year in succes-sion, Eastern and Western Chris-tians will celebrate Pascha on thesame Sunday, April 24. Prior to2010, this coincidence last oc-curred in 2004. Although the im-pression persists that this regu-larly occurs every four years, thefact of the matter is otherwise.This is due to the complex con-sideration of variables which af-fect the determination of the dateof Easter. In anticipation of thiscommon observance by all Chris-tians much was said and written.What was stressed was the needto keep alive the momentum ofthe occasion. Unless we all un-derstand the significance of thisevent, it will remain nothingmore than a peculiarity of thecalculations related to the dateof Pascha. In one sense, that iswhat it is. But in another sense,it is the convergence of all thatwe as Christians in the East andWest profess regarding the cen-trality of the Resurrection of Je-sus Christ as the cornerstone ofour faith.

Nothing challenges the credi-bility of this fact to non-believersmore than the scandal of our di-vision on this point of celebra-tion. In the ardent desire to ad-dress this problematic andtroubling reality, the followingcontribution is offered.....

Almost from the very begin-ning of the existence of the Chris-tian Church, the issue regardingthe date of our Lord's death andresurrection presented variations.Although the New Testament re-lates these events to the JewishPassover, the details of this rela-tionship are not clear. On the onehand, the tradition of the synop-tic gospels identifies the Lord'slast supper with His disciples asa passover meal. This wouldplace the death of our Lord onthe day after Passover. On theother hand, the tradition of thegospel of St. John situates thedeath of our Lord at the veryhour the paschal lambs were sac-rificed on the day of Passover it-self. This variation in the inter-pretation of the scriptures led totwo different practices. The oneobserved Pascha on the day ofPassover, regardless of the day ofthe week. The other observed iton the Sunday followingPassover. By the 4th century, the

latter practice prevailed through-out the Church universally; nev-ertheless, differences continuedto exist.

In response to this ongoingproblem, the First EcumenicalCouncil convened at Nicaea in325 took up the issue. It deter-mined that Pascha should be cel-ebrated on the Sunday which fol-lows the first full moon after thevernal equinox - the actual be-ginning of spring. If the full moonhappens to fall on a Sunday,Pascha is observed the followingSunday. The day taken to be theinvariable date of the vernalequinox is March 21. Hence, thedetermination of the date ofPascha is governed by a processdependent on the vernal equinoxand the phase of the moon.

Another factor which figuresprominently in determining thedate of Pascha is the date ofPassover. Originally, Passover wascelebrated on the first full moonafter the vernal equinox. Chris-tians, therefore, celebratedPascha according to the same cal-culation - that is, on the first Sun-day after the first full moon fol-lowing the vernal equinox. Thecorrelation between the date ofPascha and the date of Passoveris clear. Our Lord's death and res-urrection coincided withPassover, thereby assuring a se-cure point of reference in time.This assurance lasted, however,only for a short time.

Events in Jewish history con-tributing to the dispersion of theJews had as a consequence a de-parture from the way Passoverwas reckoned at the time of ourLord's death and resurrection.This caused the Passover to pre-cede the vernal equinox in someyears. It was, in fact, this anomalywhich led to the condemnationreflected in Canon 1 of Antioch(ca. 330) and Canon 7 of theHoly Apostles (late 4th century)of those who celebrate Pascha"with the Jews." The purpose ofthis condemnation was to pre-

vent Christians from taking intoaccount the calculation ofPassover in determining the dateof Pascha.

Most Christians eventuallyceased to regulate the observanceof Pascha by the Jewish Passover.Their purpose, of course, was topreserve the original practice ofcelebrating Pascha following thevernal equinox. Thus, the Councilof Nicaea sought to link the prin-ciples for determining the dateof Pascha to the norms for calcu-lating Passover during our Lord'slifetime.

Despite the intervention ofNicaea, certain differences in thetechnicalities of regulating thedate of Pascha remained eventhereafter. This resulted occasion-ally in local variations until, bythe 6th century, a more securemode of calculation based on as-tronomical data was universallyaccepted. This was an alternativeto calculating Pascha by thePassover and consisted in the cre-ation of so-called "paschal cycles."Each paschal cycle correspondedto a certain number of years. De-pending upon the number ofyears in the cycle, the full moonoccurred on the same day of theyear as at the beginning of thecycle with some exceptions. Themore accurate the cycle, the lessfrequent were the exceptions. Inthe East, a 19-year cycle waseventually adopted, whereas inthe West an 84-year cycle. Theuse of two different paschal cy-cles inevitably gave way to dif-ferences between the Eastern andWestern Churches regarding theobservance of Pascha.

A further cause for these dif-ferences was the adoption by theWestern Church of the GregorianCalendar in the 16th century.This took place in order to adjustthe discrepancy by then observedbetween the paschal cycle ap-proach to calculating Pascha andthe available astronomical data.The Orthodox Church continuesto base its calculations for thedate of Pascha on the Julian Cal-endar, which was in use at thetime of the First EcumenicalCouncil. As such, it does not takeinto account the number of days,which have since then accrueddue to the progressive loss oftime in this calendar.

Practically speaking, this

A Practical Pascha Mystery:Calculating the Date

The determination of the date of Pascha is governed by a processdependent on the vernalequinox and the phase of the moon



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Maria Constantine ofMykonos Cafe and Taverna inEubank, Nebraska describeshow to make a traditional GreekEaster dinner. These recipeswere featured on the Web siteof KOB-TV's “Good Day NewMexico”.

Easter Salad IslandStyle • 1 Romaine lettuce washedand very finely sliced• 4-5 springs onions (scallions)including steams finely sliced• 3 tbsp chopped fresh dill• 3 tbsp olive oil• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar• Season with salt and pepper.

Put the finely sliced lettucein a salad bowl, add the springof onions, dill add olive oil, andseasoning with salt and pepper.Mix and serve immediately.

Roast Leg of Lamb• 4-5 pound leg of lamb• Salt and fresh ground pepper• 2 cloves garlic, slivered• 2 tablespoons butter, meltedor olive oil• Juice of 1 lemon• ½ cup water

Rinse and wipe dry leg oflamb, sprinkle with salt andpepper, make slits in the meatand insert the garlic slivers.Combine melted butter or oliveoil, lemon juice, brush over thelamb. Place meat on a rack inshallow roasting pan, and addwater. Insert a meat thermome-ter in to the thickets portion ofthe meat. Cover and bake in apreheated oven at 350F for 1 ½hours. Basting frequently. (Usemeat thermometer to determinedesired temperature). Transfermeat to a heated platter. Wrapleg in heavy tinfoil and keepwarm.

Oven Roasted Potatoeswith olive oil andoregano

• 5 pounds of potatoes• 1 cup of olive oil• Juice of 1 lemon• Oregano • teaspoon of chopped freshgarlic• teaspoon of chopped fresh ordry oregano

Peel and wash potatoes, cutinto thick slice. Put them in abaking pan with the oregano,salt, pepper, garlic, lemon juice,olive oil mix well. Pour 2 ½ cupsof water. Roast potatoes in amoderate oven for an approxi-mately one hour or until done.

Tsoureki (Easter Bread) This rich dough is tradition-

ally eaten at Easter time. Thered egg symbolizes the blood ofChrist. • 8 packages of active dryyeast• 20-21 cups of sifted all pur-pose flour• 6 cups of milk• 5 cups of sugar• 2 cups of butter• 6 teaspoon of salt• 12 eggs• Half a cup of orange rind.

In a large mixing bowl com-bine yeast and 12 cups of flour.In saucepan heat milk, sugar,butter, salt until warm add todry mixture, add the 12 eggs atlow speed with electric mixerfor ½ a minute, scraping thebowl 3 minutes at high speed.

Stir in remaining flour to makesoft dough. Kneed till smoothplace in grease bowl turningonce to a grease surface. Coverand let it rice in a warm placetill double. Divide the doughinto three equal portions andmake the braid. Form the braidinto a ring and pinch the seamtogether to seal. Press the redegg cover and place in a warmplace until double the size. Pre-heat oven to 375F. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until done.

Koulourakia(Easter Cookies) • 2.2 pounds cake flour• 2 teaspoons baking powder• 1 teaspoon baking soda• 2 cups butter• 3 cups sugar• 2 eggs• ½ teaspoon vanilla• 5- 6 tablespoons milk• 1 beaten egg with ½ tea-spoon orange juice for glazing

Sift the flour with the bakingpowder and baking soda. Beatthe eggs and vanilla into thebutter. While still beating addthe flour little by little. Alternat-ing with the milk. Knead thedough well and form into smallrings or fancy shapes. Placethem on a butter baking sheetand brush them with the beatenegg mixer. Bake in a moderateoven for 15-20 minutes.

means that Pascha may not becelebrated before April 3, whichwas March 21, the date of thevernal equinox, at the time of theFirst Ecumenical Council. Inother words, a difference of 13days exists between the accepteddate for the vernal equinox thenand now. Consequently, it is thecombination of these variableswhich accounts for the differentdates of Pascha observed by theOrthodox Church and otherChristian Churches.

If anything, this review of thecomplexities surrounding the is-sue of the date of Pascha under-scores the compelling need to re-visit it with patience andopenness. This was the spiritwhich predominated at the mostrecent consultation on the matterheld in Aleppo, Syria in 1997.

One of its conclusions was thatthe present differences are dueto the calendars and lunar tables(paschal cycles) employed ratherthan to differences in fundamen-tal theological outlook. In viewof the fact that both the Julianand Gregorian modes of calcula-tion diverge from the astronomi-cal data, it behooves us to returnto the norms determined by theCouncil of Nicaea. Although thecouncil did not itself undertakea detailed regulation of thepaschal calculation, it did in factrespect available contemporaryscience regarding the vernalequinox and the phase of themoon. We can do no less today.

Dr. Lewis J. Patsavos, is retiredProfessor of Canon Law HolyCross School of Theology, buthe continues to teach at HolyCross.

A Practical Pascha Mystery:Calculating the DateContinued from page 15

Easter Recipes

EASTER 2011THE NATIONAL HERALD, APRIL 23, 2011 19a

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Best wishes to allon the glorious and life giving Resurrection of our Lord and Savior

Jesus Christ

Happy EasterΧριστός ΑνέστηPeter, Aphrodite, Constantina

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By Constantine S. SirigosSpecial to TNH

For Orthodox Christians, HolyWeek culminates in Church ex-periences of singular beauty andemotional force. The beauty ismanifested both in the movinghymns of the Friday nightLamentation services and physi-cally in the flowered bier that isthe center of attention of the con-gregation in front of the sanctu-ary, and the flowers that eachcongregant takes home after theservice.

In the Orthodox traditionHoly Week culminates in an ex-tended climax of the drama ofChrist’s self-sacrifice as the com-memoration of the his Passionbegins on Holy Thursdayevening. It is one of the peculiar-ities of Orthodox tradition thatthe Ottoman occupation requiredshifts in the dates and timing ofthe venerable practices of theconquered Byzantine Church. Aswith numerous other Holy weekservices, the Orthros or morningService of Holy Friday is “sungby anticipation” on Thursdayevening. It is the longest servicethe Orthodox tradition, popularlyknown as the Service of theTwelve Gospels, where the ac-counts of the Passion from eachoff the four gospels are read, thelongest passages at the beginningof the evening, and the last fewmercifully very short, just one ex-ample of the deep psychologicalinsights of the fathers of theChurch which permeate Ortho-dox thought and practice.

In the middle of the servicethe Community experiences oneof the most dramatic momentsin the entire Christian liturgicaltradition. After the fifth Gospelis read, the clergy and altar boystake the cross upon which theicon of the crucified Christ is at-tached on procession around theChurch as clergy and choir alter-nate chanting the hymn with thevivid imagery describing Christ’scrucifixion which begins:“Simeron krematai epi Xilou –Today is hung on the Cross...”

Rev. Dr. Alcibiades Calivas,professor emeritus in Liturgicsand former dean of our HolyCross School of Theology, toldThe National Herald that “In ourliturgical language this Cross iscalled the Estavromenos - theCrucified One. The Cross isplaced in the middle of theChurch and is venerated by thefaithful.”

The commemoration as re-

enactment, perhaps a survival ofthe same Hellenic impulses thatgave birth to theater and dramain ancient Athens, continue onFriday in the service of the Greatand Royal Hours sung on HolyFriday morning and especially inthe afternoon service of GreatVespers which has becomeknown as the “Apokathelosis”. Fr.Calivas explains that it means “lit-erally the ‘Un-nailing’ which isderived from the liturgical re-en-actment of the deposition ofChrist from the Cross. The serviceis characterized by two dramaticliturgical actions: the Depositionor Apokathelosis and the Proces-sion of the Epitaphios. The Epi-taphios is the icon depicting theburial of Christ and is encasedwithin a large embroideredcloth.”

Many Church members mis-takedy believe epitaphios refersto the flowered bier or canopythat is placed over the table onwhich the epitaphios (literally:that which rests upon the tomb)lay. The families who own floristshowever, know that the canopyis called the kouvouklion.

The decoration of the flow-ered bier is a special activity of ahandful of devoted families. Mostof the time they both donate theflowers and decorate the kou-vouklion. They come to Churchon Good Friday morning and be-gin their noble task of makingbeautiful the tomb of Christ, hav-ing a hand in the Church’s mys-tical transformation of the dourand terrifying images of Christ’scrucifixion into images of hopeand eternal life.

James Daniels, the father ofauthor and columnist DemetriaDaniels established DanielsFlorist in the 20s in the ParkSlope section of Brooklyn and ranit for about 70 years. He emi-grated from a village nearCorinth, Greece, and sold flowerson the corner before opening hisstore. The Daniels’ were mem-bers of the church of Kimisis tisTheotokos and James was a bigdonor there, giving the parish abeautiful silver icon of theTheotokos, and every year he do-nated the flowers for the kou-vouklion.

Fr. Calivas explained that,“The earliest version of the burialicon of Christ, the Epitaphios, de-picted only the dead body of theLord with the Cross in the back-ground. Gradually the icon be-came more complex in composi-tion, evolving finally to its presentform depicting the "threnos" or

lamentation, which includes thefigures of the Theotokos, Josephof Arimathea, Nikodemos, theMyrrh-bearers, and Angels. Dur-ing the latter part of the VesperService of Holy Friday, the Epi-taphios is processed by the clergyaround the interior of Churchand often in the streets and lanesoutside the Church.”

Demetria and her brotherErnest were assigned by their fa-ther from the tender age of nineto decorate what was to be thefocal point of the entire commu-nity later that day. It was a greathonor. The kouvouklion wasmade of wood, and the flowershad to be attached to it withwires. Her brother was in chargeof the wires, a process which tookseveral hours.

Her father would decide howit would be decorated each year.During the big holidays, hermother worked as a cashier atthe shop, leaving the aestheticsto her husband and the children.Until the 70s, the Easter work offlorists was devoted not just tothe needs of the church and ar-rangements for the family dinnertable on Easter Sunday but tocorsages for ladies, young andold, decked out in their finestsuits and bonnets, whether or notthey ever made it to the famedEaster Parade on New York’s FifthAvenue. Demetria made the cor-sages and centerpieces whileErnest handled the plants.

Demetria prefers a simple epi-taphion – a lot of whites, some-times pure white, sometimesmaily white with orchids, thekind with rims of purple, thecolor of mourning. She recallsthat in earlier years there wereblack ribbons of mourning for Je-sus.

High School teacher LouChougranis is also a child of

florists with fond memories of hisfamily’s unique role on Good Fri-day. His family’s story reminds usthe now renowned Greek Amer-ican entrepreneurial spirit hasroots not just in the restaurantbusiness, but in the pioneeringflorists. He told TNH records in-dicate his family’s business wasincorporated in 1906 in the nameof Gregory Tsougranis, his greatgrandfather, who came to NewYork around 1895 and was oneof the many Greek pushcartflower vendors of that era. Hewas from the village of Perista inCentral Greece and he was oneof four villagers who emigrated,maybe the very first from that re-gion to come to the UnitedStates. They shared a furnishedroom – two worked during the

day and two and night. Lou saidit was his grandfather, however,who most established the busi-ness. He was born in 1908 inPerista – as was sometimes thecase with Greek immigrants, hisgreat grandfather went back andforth staying 6-7 months at atime in each of his two countries.Gregory brought over Lou’sgrandfather Elias around 1921when he was about 13 years old.Elias changed the name fromTsougranis to Chugranis andopened the first store, which wasat Westchester and Jackson Av-enue in the now-infamous southBronx. At the time that part ofthe Bronx was still farmland andmany Greek immigrants livedthere. The Church of ZoodohosPigi and its famous Greek Amer-ican Institute were originally es-tablished nearby.

The store, called OlympiaFlorist was there for 50 years andthen they moved to 149 Streetand 3rd avenue, into the one ofthe stores of the long-gone famedHearns department store chain.

They had a rule that any businessrenting space in its facilities hadto adopt the Hearns name, sothey became Olympia Hearns.They stayed there for 20 yearsuntil Hearns closed, and thenmoved to their current locationon another pat of 149th Streetnear Lincoln hospital in 1980, notfar from the Yankee Stadiumwhose renovation graduallyhelped the neighborhood recoverto the point where some now callit So-bro.

Lou’s father Nicholas is a thirdgeneration florist, running thebusiness with his uncle Gregory.The Chugranis family were mem-bers and benefactors of ZoodohosPigi for decades, but after movingto Rockland Country they joinedthe Church of St. Constantineand Helen in West Nyack, NY.

Lou remembers as a little boyof ten going to help his fatherdecorate the epitaphion ofZoodohos Pigi, mainly observinghis dad but also helping to cutflowers. Most years his familywould donate the flowers, whilethe decoration was undertakenby other members of the parish.Lou noted that there are woodenand Styrofoam kouvouklia, andexplained that the ones facedwith Styrofoam could be moredensely packed with flowers butthat they had to be very carefulnot to scratch the finely carvedwooded ones when they attachedthe wires for the flowers. Differ-ent kinds of flowers were appro-priate to each setup – the onesattached by wire have to be mostflexible, so they don’t snap. Thetiny orchids called dendrobia arebest he said. He has seen kou-vouklia with white and red, andwhite and pink themes, but hetoo prefers mainly white, perhapswith small purple or lavender or-chids lining the fours columns ofthe canopy.

He explained to TNH thatthese days the entire world offersflowers to the tomb of Jesus.Once upon a time the industryoperated through the largeflower markets in the 20s in Man-hattan, and florists would wakeup every day at 3 a.m. to go thereto select them and bring them totheir stores. Now florists obtainflowers directly from places likeIsrael and Holland, from whichthey are delivered in 24 hours byplane, thought there are stillhuge greenhouses in the U.S.The exotic flowers such as theBirds of Paradise and Anthuriumscome From Hawaii.

The beautiful flowers serve to

lighten the dark mood of mourn-ing, emotionally and spiritually,because although there is greatspiritual value in meditating onthe sacrifice Christ made for hu-manity, a Christian’s thoughtsmust not linger on His sufferingand the sadness it evokes.

Throughout all of Lent, andcontinuing into Holy Week,whilethere are signs pointing to thejoy of Christ’s resurrection, “Fromthe earliest days of the Church,Holy Friday and Great Saturdayhave been observed as days ofdeep sorrow accompanied by astrict fast. These two days directour attention to the trial, cruci-fixion, death, and burial of ourLord Jesus Christ. The Church re-members the ineffable mysteryof Christ's death. We are placedwithin the awesome mystery ofthe extreme humility of our suf-fering God. These days are atonce days of deep gloom as wellas watchful expectation. The Au-thor of life is at work transform-ing death into life,” explained Fr.Calivas. He continued, saying“The sacred services of these twodays with the richness of theirScripture lessons, superb hym-nolgy, and vivid liturgical actionsbring the Passion of Christ andHis descent into Hades into sharpfocus and tell of their cosmic sig-nificance.”

“At the Orthros of Holy Sat-urday (sung on Holy Fridayevening) we sing the Encomia orPraises (also called lamenta-tions). These are short poeticverses lamenting the passion,death, and burial of Christ. Thereare 185 such verses divided intothree sections or stanzas, eachwith its own melodic line. TheEncomia are meant to be sungafter each verse of Psalm 118(119), the longest of the Psalms,which is always part of the Sat-urday Orthros. The full repertoireof the Encomia, however, is nolonger sung in parishes,” FatherCalivas said. In many parishes,the choirs are supplemented byspecial singers, often performingsolo some of the more poignantand dramatic verses.

Fr. Calivas added that “At theconclusion of the procession theepitaphios is carried into theSanctuary by the clergy andplaced on the Holy Table whereit remains [for forty days] untilthe Apodosis (Taking-leave of theFeast) of Pascha, the day beforethe Feast of the Ascension of ourLord.”

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Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox ChurchΕλληνική Ορθόδοξος Κοινότης Αγίας Τριάδας

10 Mill Road, New Rochelle, NY 10804 • Tel.: (914) 235-6100

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The Clergymen,the Parish Council,the Philoptochos

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An Excerpt from The Com-plete Book of Greek Cooking:The Recipe Club of Saint Paul'sGreek Orthodox Cathedral*

Easter is the most importantcelebration of the Greek Ortho-dox religion. Eggs are dyed redto symbolize Christ’s blood. Ingeneral, the eggs are dyed onHoly Thursday. After the mid-night Resurrection Service onHoly Saturday, the fast is bro-ken, and the first thing peopleeat are these red eggs. Each per-son cracks an egg with a relativeor friend, and says, “Christ hasrisen.” The reply is “Truly Hehas risen.” In some areas a littlegame is played when crackingthe eggs: point to point, back toback, the object is to find theperson with the strongest egg.The one who has the uncrackedegg will have good luck in thecoming year.

Imported red dye packagesare sold at various Greek spe-cialty shops. (In some churchcommunities, the ladies’ auxil-

iary sells the dye, too.) Onepackage usually is sufficient todye 18 to 20 eggs.

Dilute the egg dye powder in½ cup white vinegar. Add thismixture to enough warm waterto cover eggs. Bring to a boiland simmer, stirring occasion-ally, for about 5 minutes. Re-move pot from heat and addeggs. Te eggs should be at roomtemperature or they are apt tocrack. Return to heat and sim-mer eggs for 45 minutes. Re-move eggs, cool slightly, thenrub each egg with an oiled cloth.

*The Complete Book of GreekCooking: The Recipe Club ofSaint Paul's Greek OrthodoxCathedral is available at Ar-topolis Bake Shop (Agora Plaza23 - 18 31 Street, 1-800-553-2270) as well as on line atAmazon and B&N, as well as bymail at Recipe Club of St. Paul,Cathedral of St. Paul, 110Cathedral Avenue, Hempstead,NY. All earnings from the booksales goes to the Cathedral.

crops for a fruitful season. Afterthe people venerate the icons,the procession returns to theChurch of the Archangels.

Then the big feast begins inthe village square. The dancingbegins with the priest leading,followed by the villagers. Thisis a tradition that precedes Ot-toman times. On Bright Thurs-day in Kalis Vrysis of Drama theicon of the Resurrection ofChrist is processed around thefarming areas to protect the vil-lage from all evil, especiallyfrom the extremely dangeroushail storms that could devastatethe spring crop.

Many churches throughoutGreece are dedicated to the Vir-gin Mary of the Life-GivingSpring (Zoodochos Pege).Bright Friday is primarily setaside for this feast. In places likeLarissa, Aigio, Argolida, Rhodes,Naxos, Kerkyra and Telendouspecial feasts take place in thechurches dedicated to the Life-Giving Spring.

Bright WeekCelebrationsContinued from page 10

All About Easter EggsLiya Loyia yia ta Paskalina Avga


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Best Wishes for a Very Blessed and Joyous Easter

to all our Greek-American friends

vine Love. While the piercedHeart of Christ provides salva-tion, liberation, and redemption,the pierced Heart of Mary en-dows the Church with powerfulintercession and maternal medi-ation.

From what has been discussedthus far, it is clear why OrthodoxChristianity acknowledges a won-der-working icon of theTheotokos known as "the Soften-ing of Evil Hearts," or "Simeon'sProphecy." The icon depicts theVirgin Mary with her hands up-raised in prayer, and sevenswords piercing her heart. Whilethree swords enter her heart fromeach side of her chest, one piercesher heart from below. Swords,red roses, iris (sword-lily), andcyclamen flowers are often foundin icons of Mary that depict thesorrow associated with Jesus’ Pas-sion. This particular iconographictype, however, represents Mary'smeditation on the entire life ofher Son, and has its origins in theRoman Catholic representationsof the “Mother of Seven Sorrows”(Lk 2:55).

During the 17th Century,Saint Dimitri, Metropolitan ofRostov had a vision during whichthe Holy Mother of God de-scribed five of her greatest sor-rows. The tradition of Seven Sor-rows adds to this list.

Mary’s first experience of sor-row directly corresponds to herreception of Simeon’s prophecy(Luke 2:25-35). The hymns ofthe Feast of the Presentation dur-ing which this particularprophetic scripture passage isread, insist that Mary was ableto overcome the troublesomenews of her future only throughthe exercise of courageous trustin God’s providence. Both Lamen-tation canticles and Akathisthymns provide poetic theologicalmirror images of Mary’s life, withthe Presentation of the Christ-child, actually foreshadowing Je-sus upon the Cross. In this fash-ion, the Holy Theotokos fulfillsthe role of sacrificial priest – of-fering her Son, her own flesh asthe Bread of Life. Mary’s state-ment is acknowledged as beingfar superior to that of any priest:“This is my body, this is myblood!”

The second sorrow of Mary isassociated with the Holy Family’sflight into Egypt. In obedience tothe angelic directive, Josephabandoned the safety of hishometown, occupation and rela-tives and traveled to Egypt. Be-cause of the obedience of His par-ents, we are told: “like lightning,the idols of the East were toppledand refuted, and the darkness offalsehood cast out . . . throughthe Lamp of Truth!” Christiansare likewise challenged to leavebehind the safe and cherishedand to boldly witness the Lightof Christ wherever we are calledto do so and to remain obedientto God’s Wisdom whenever un-foreseen difficulties are experi-enced.

One of the most terrifying ex-periences of any parent is the ap-parent loss or abduction of theirchild. The third sword in Mary’sheart, therefore, corresponds tothe sorrow associated with thethree-day separation from her son(Luke 2:41-50). The eventual dis-covery of Jesus in the Temple,safe and diligently engaged withthe study/explication of HolyScripture, reveals the radical na-ture of the Gospel that often chal-lenges human relations and ex-pectations. Mary’s third sorrowrelates to the anxiety associatedwith her son’s Divine calling.“How is it that ye sought me?”Jesus asks. “Did you not knowthat I must be about my Father'sbusiness” (Luke 2:49)? His mes-sage to His mother is clear. TheCarpentry of Salvation and notthe wood of the world in Joseph’sshop would be His occupation.Like Mary, we too should under-stand that only by developing anintimate companionship with anever-present God can we hope tostay the sword-thrusting sorrowsof our respective spiritual voca-tions.

The fourth sorrow of Mary isthe anguish experienced duringher Son’s betrayal at the handsof the avarice of Judas. One canonly imagine how she felt as herSon was subsequently paradedthrough the Jerusalem streets.The crowd that once acclaimedhim as king now extends the spit-tle of humiliations. The sharpsword of such bitter treacheryand abandonment can only beovercome by patient dependenceon God. Eventually, everyonewill experience the heart-wrench-ing Calvary of betrayal. Duringsuch difficulties, we must learn,like Mary, to trust in God’s wis-dom, love and abiding provi-dence. “I will never leave thee,”he promises, “nor will I forsakethee” (Hebrews 13:5).

The crucifixion is Mary’s fifthand most heart-wrenching sor-row. Here, at the foot of Jesus’

bloodied Cross, Mary’s sorrow-filled life reaches its crescendo!Unlike Abraham, a surrogate forher Isaac, is not forthcoming.Here, unlike any liturgist, onlyshe is able to unequivocally chantthat what is offered is “her own,”as the agonizing sword of the cru-cifixion literally enters what is ac-tually her flesh and her blood.

According to John of Damas-cus the Theotokos “escaped thepains of childbirth yet sufferedgreatly during the Passion of herson – enduring the rending of thebowels from motherly sympathy.”Theodore the Studite is in fullagreement with Saint John, em-phasizing that, while Mary “didnot undergo the pain of child-birth,” she was, nonetheless,filled with agony when her sonwas nailed to the cross.” “Here,”he says, “Mary suffering the nailsof the most bitter grief.” This, in-deed, is the fourth cross and thefifth sorrow of Golgotha, towhich the Holy Mother of Godrightly guides all generations thatchant her praises!

The sixth sorrow of Mary’s lifeis the deposition (taking down)of her son’s lifeless body from thecross. The amphitheater of thislament has been the focus of nu-merous artistic ventures includ-ing Michelangelo’s famous mar-ble Pieta. A mother cradles thelimp body of her dead son. Canany sorrow be more acute? And,yet, while it may appear that shejoins Nicodemos in preparing theDead for burial, the lesson thatis proffered is that it is actuallyJesus, the Source of Life that isdoing the indispensable anoint-ing! While we may rightly desireto serve the needs of others, wemust first learn to humbly receiveanointing from Christ. Only inthis fashion can our resourcesand energies remain true exten-sions of Christ’s Holy Work on

Golgotha and not the arrogantexpansion of our own self-cen-tered agendas.

The heart of Mary was finallypierced with the sorrow of burial,whose silence resembles a swordthrust deeply into her heart. Mostassuredly, such an experience ofgrief can only be conquered byfaith in the earsplitting angelicwords of the Resurrection thatwere later proclaimed from theempty tomb. Copious are thebenefits of sharing in Jesus’ HolyPassion! This is the final and mostpowerful lesson disclosed byMary’s seven-fold lamentation onbehalf of a crushed and sufferinghumanity. Sorrow and heartacheare common to us all. To passthrough life without feeling thehurt of disappointment, the stingof rebuke or the pain of unful-filled desires is impossible. Sor-row is a part of life!

While on the Cross, Jesus hadmuch to give that was not stolenor gambled away by the Romansoldiers. He gave His mother –the most precious of gifts – toJohn, His beloved disciple! Hegave John to His mother to fillthe void that His crucifixion cre-ated in her heart. In uniting Johnto Mary and Mary to John, theChurch was established. Thepierced heart of Mary establishedthe Church. The pierced side ofJesus provided its entry (Bap-tism) and nourishment (Eu-charist).

Speaking of Mary as the sym-bol of the Church, Saint Ephraimthe Syrian suggests that “Mosesentrusted his flock to Joshua, asJesus entrusted Mary to John”(Num. 28:22). Saint Ambrose de-velops Ephraim’s thesis by statingthat “like John, the youngest ofChrist’s disciples, the Church’sfirst children are the Gentiles.”For Ambrose and other ChurchFathers, Mary is, therefore, “theMother of all Christian siblingsof Christ.”

Throughout Great Lent andHoly Week we have followed ourcommon Mother’s liturgical guid-ance and “looked upon the Onethey have pierced” (Zach. 12:10).We have reverently touched andpraised her Son who was cruellybeaten, scourged, mocked, spitupon, and pierced for our sake.We have gently removed His bodyfrom the cross, anointed it withspices, wrapped it in white linen,and placed it in a flower-cladtomb. Like Mary, we now waitand watch in silent expectation.This is the lesson that all who suf-fer from sorrow, grief and distressmust receive with faith, hopefulin the statement of Saint Paulthat, while the sorrow of theworld produces death, “godly sor-row produces repentance leadingto salvation” (2 Cor. 7:9-10).

Rev. Dr. Frank Marangos is theDean of the ArchdiocesanCathedral of the Holy Trinity.


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The Lament of theFourth Cross: TheTheotokos at GolgothaContinued from page 4

The sixth sorrow ofMary’s life is thedeposition (taking down)of her son’s lifeless bodyfrom the cross


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