the greek orthodox religion is what keeps the Cretans united.
de Grieks-orthodoxe religie houdt de Kretenzers verenigd
My Crete, Mijn Kreta
Zondag
Aangezien de Kretenzers nog altijd heel gelovig zijn wil ik jullie ook met hun zondagsdienst kennis laten maken, door een dagtrip te maken op zondag waarbij we samen met de Kretenzers deze geloofs- en meer dag zullen beleven.
Een Grieks Orthodoxe zondagsdienst duurt twee en een half tot drie uurtjes, gelukkig volgen de Kretenzers deze dienst niet helemaal van in het begin, ongeveer een half uur voor het einde van de dienst gaan de meeste Kretenzers naar de kerk en dat zullen wij tijdens deze dagtrip ook doen. Daarna volgt een koffiepauze waarbij we griekse koffie geserveerd krijgen of een vers sinaasappelsap.
Zondag is ook een cultuur dag dus waarom geen bezoek brengen aan een museum dat ons het leven toont van een bekende Kretenzer en zijn werken natuurlijk.
Daarna steken we de handen uit de mouwen en maken we zelf een klein icoontje of een mozaïek stukje dat we natuurlijk mee kunnen nemen naar huis.
Na dit uurtje van creativiteit volgt de lunch met zicht op zee en wie wil kan natuurlijk ook een frisse duik nemen.
Good Thursday
Also on Good Thursday, Megali Pemptie preparations for Easter go on. This is the day that the eggs are colored, the traditional color is red that stands for the blood of Jesus Christ, but nowadays also other colors are used. Me I still only use the red color because I like to hold on to tradition.
Good Thursday is also the day that the women go to church with flowers, they will use these flowers to decorate the Epithafio. The Epithafio symbolizes the tomb of Christ and will be used during the Procession on Good Friday. Here in Fodele the Epithafio is decorated with orange blossoms end this smell will stay for a few days in the church now. All women of the village love to participate in this but some will not be allowed because the women who have there monthly period are not allowed to enter the church.
Good Wednesday
Megali Tetarti or Good Wednesday is also a very important day in the Greek Orthodox religion, as it is then that the priests during the evening service bless the oil. Oil that is used to bless people and protect them against sickness of body and mind. To bless the oil the priest will read 7 gospels and announce 7 wishes. After he blessed the oil he will put with the oil a cross on the believers forehead, cheek and hands.
In several places in Greece also eggs, flower and salt is taken, covered in a basket, to church where it will be blessed by the priest by crossing it with the wooden holy Cross. The eggs will then be colored on Good Thursday and the flower and salt will be used to make the dough for the ‘prozimi’ or yeast that will be used to make the Easter bread, as also in the bread that will be made in the following year.
A day in my life
It’s Catholic Easter today and Palm Sunday for the Orthodox church. It’s cold in Crete (14° C) for the time of the year, but I decide anyhow to go for a walk to the monastery of Agios Panteleimonas, a distance of a bit more than 3km from where I live in Fodele. The path goes up and after a while I start having stunning views, over the village, the orange groves, the mountains, the olive trees, I see the flowers of the Cistrus Creticus everywhere, so I really enjoy my walk up.
After half an hour I reach the Monastery and my good mood is swept away when I see this
There is an entrance fee to pay! I am so disapointed….., I don’t understand, this is a small monastery, with a great history , yes, that you can read inside, but there is no museum or anything else that you should pay for. This is a religieus place, a place for prayer. I visited the Notre Dame in Paris last winter and there was no entrance fee to pay.
I went inside, sat down for a while to listen to the psalms, I took some crosses specially made for Palm Sunday and I left.
Three Hierarchs
Today 30 January 2019 we celebrate and honor in the Greek Orthodox Church the Three Hierarchs.
The celebration of the Three Hierarchs started in the 11th century when Constantine III Monomachus reorganized the Law School of Constantinople. At that time there were three Saints who were seen as the Saints of education namely Gregoreios the Theologian, Ioanis Chrysostom and Vasileios the Great. During the reorganization the reorganizers could not decide which one of the Saints to place on top and this resulted in a division of the Christians so the ones were called the Gregorites, the others the Ionanites and others the Vasilites.
Until John Mavropos, who was then the Metropolitan of Euchaite, had a vision in which he saw the three Saints. They told him that they are equal to eachother and that they can’t be seperated, that between them there is neither the first nor the second, but if you see one, the two others are next to him. So John Mavropos gave orders to stop the quarrels and stop dividing them for they cannot be seperated and so these three Saints became the Three Hierarchs, the three Saints of education and on the day of their celebration all schools are closed.
From the 11th century on you can also see them together on icons and they are honored every year on the 30th of January.
Saint George methystis (‘methao’ means getting drunk)
Yesterday in the early evening I was talking over the phone to a friend of mine when the church bells started sounding, wondering why, he told me that on the 3 of November Saint George methystis is celebrated. A bit a strange name for a saint as ‘o methystis means’ the drunk one.
I know, the Greeks have a lot of saints, they have more than one saint Georges and even more virgin Maries etc… The story of this Saint George is quit simple, the 3th of November is the day that the wine barrels are opened as the wine is ready to be consumed and has to be tasted. The 3th of November is also the celebration day of Saint George and as the Greeks celebrate this day with tasting wine this particular Saint George is called now Saint George the Methystis as a lot of people get drunk on that day So Yamas!
the celebration of the Holy Cross
Every year on the 14th of September the Holy Cross is celebrated in every Orthodox church in Greece.
On this day the women in the villages cut some branches of the basilicum that they have been growing all summer to bring it to church, where it will be blessed. The Greeks do this because they believe that Saint Helen found the Cross on a place where a lot of basilicum grew.
In some places people also take water to the church to be blessed, this water then will be used to make the new leaven that will be used to make the leavened bread of the coming year.
Live Crete Alive 