Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Our Savior, God and Man

I have much to blog about but no time. Leaving very shortly to spend a few days at Ellwood City Monastery. Here is a beautiful Nativity meditation from St. Ephraim the Syrian's Spiritual Psalter. Long but very beautiful. I urge you to read the whole thing...

We confess one and the same individual as perfect God and perfect Man. He is God the Word Which was flesh.

For if He was not flesh, why was Mary chosen? And if He is not God, whom does Gabriel call Lord?

If He was not flesh, who was laid in a manger? And if He is not God, whom did the angels who came down from heaven glorify? If He was not flesh, who was wrapped in swaddling clothes? And if He is not God, in whose honor did the star appear?

If He was not flesh, whom did Simeon hold in his arms? And if He is not God, to whom did Simeon say: Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace?

If He was not flesh, whom did Joseph take when he fled into Egypt? And if He is not God, who fulfilled the prophesy: Out of Egypt have I called my Son?

If He was not flesh, whom did John baptize? And if He is not God, to whom did the Father say: This is my beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased?

If He was not flesh, who hungered in the desert? And if He is not God, unto whom did the angels come and minister?

If He was not flesh, who was invited to the marriage in Cana of Galilee? And if He is not God, who turned the water into wine?

If He was not flesh, who took the loaves in the desert? And if He is not God, who fed the five thousand men and their women and children with five loaves and two fish?

If He was not flesh, who slept in the ship? And if He is not God, who rebuked the waves and the sea?

If He was not flesh, with whom did Simon the Pharisee sit at meat? And if He is not God, who forgave the sins of the harlot?

If He was not flesh, who wore a man’s garment? And if He is not God, who healed the woman with an issue of blood when she touched His garment?

If He was not flesh, who spat on the ground and made clay? And if He is not God, who gave sight to the eyes of the blind man with that clay?

If He was not flesh, who wept at Lazarus’ grave? And if He is not God, who commanded him to come forth out of the grave four days after his death?

If He was not flesh, whom did the Jews arrest in the garden? And if He is not God, who cast them to the ground with the words: I am He?

If He was not flesh, who was judged before Pilate? And if He is not God, who frightened Pilate’s wife in a dream?

If He was not flesh, whose garments were stripped from Him and parted by the soldiers? And if He is not God, why was the sun darkened upon His crucifixion?

If He was not flesh, who was crucified on the cross? And if He is not God, who shook the foundations of the earth?

If He was not flesh, whose hands and feet were nailed to the cross? And if He is not God, how did it happen that the veil of the temple was rent in twain, the rocks were rent, and the graves were opened?

If He was not flesh, who hung on the cross between two thieves? And if He is not God, how could He say to the thief: Today thou shalt be with me in paradise?

If He was not flesh, who cried out and gave up the ghost? And if He is not God, whose cry caused the many bodies of the saints which slept to arise?

If He was not flesh, whom did the women see laid in a grave? And if He is not God, about whom did the angels say to them: He has arisen, He is not here?

If He was not flesh, whom did Thomas touch when he put his hands into the prints of the nails? And if He is not God, who entered through the doors that were shut?

If He was not flesh, who ate at the sea of Tiberias? And if He is not God, on whose orders were the nets filled with fishes?

If He was not flesh, whom did the apostles see carried up into heaven? And if He is not God, who ascended to the joyful cries of the angels, and to whom did the Father proclaim: sit at My right hand?

If He is not God and man then, indeed, our salvation is false, and false are the pronouncements of the prophets.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Home for Christmas; Snoopy's middle name

I'm home for Christmas, flew in yesterday. Short flight connection in Baltimore but there were enough people like me that they held the plane :)

Today I went with my mom to a Christmas party at her work. Chloe, a five year old who was visiting with her family, saw the snow-globe with Snoopy and Woodstock. She asked me if I knew the bird's name and I said I did but couldn't remember. She then asked what Snoopy's middle name was. Her mom, who was standing right there, said "I don't think Snoopy has a middle name, Chloe." I told Chloe she should make up a middle name for Snoopy. She said it was "Penna." When I finally remembered Woodstock's name, I told her and asked her if he had a middle name. She said it was "Bamanapants." She was so cute!!!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

study sessions

I've decided that group study sessions are not very helpful for me. My best study tactics are alone with my computer or in a small group of 2 or 3.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Hawk

This morning, one of the campus hawks was perched on top of the cross on the dome of the chapel. It is a pretty common sight, but I hadn't seen it in awhile. They like that spot because it is the highest point on campus (not to mention the (second?) highest point in Boston.

It's also very nice weather...probably 60s (I'm not good at gauging (sp?) temperatures, but it's much warmer than it's been). It rained a lot last night; now the sun is poking through...

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Concert and hiccups

We had a concert today...the new students have been practicing all semester and today was our debut. We were so horrible that we had to get professionals to come sing with us. Overall, we were good, but the HCHC people were bad, but the professionals made up for it :) People said we were good  but that's because we had a ton of professionals singing with us...

Right before the concert, I got the hiccups. I wasn't able to go offstage to get water. I had the hiccups for almost 3/4 of the concert and tried to close my mouth when I felt one coming or do it during a loud piece of music. Once, though, I let out a hiccup at a rest (by accident), so it went something like this:

He rules the world with truth and grace! *loud hiccup* And makes the nations prove...

People around me started laughing, I was really embarrassed. Some of the audience heard it and some didn't. It was annoying...but hey, it's over now...

Now it's to bed and to use tomorrow and Tuesday to study for finals, the first of which is Wednesday!

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Dinner

After Vespers I started a conversation with Leftheri in the chapel courtyard. Everyone else left while we were talking and Ellie was having a conversation with Stella and her friend who I don't know. When Stella and her friend left, Ellie joined our conversation. After a minute or two, crossing her arms and shivering, she asked if we could continue this conversation at dinner. Leftheri said, "Do you wanna come over for dinner?" I was like, "SURE!" So I ran down to give Deacon Gabriel the key for the computer lab, as I had worked until 5:00, and he worked at 6:00. I gave him the key and ran up to their apartment. We had left-overs from Leftheri's catering job - salmon, salad, papaya, honeydue. We also had bread and Ellie's mashed potatoes. It was a nice evening, we talked about many things, both theological, musical, and personal. I headed back to the dorm around 8:00.

Now to bed. Early morning (7:15 wake up), going to St. John the Baptist Church, where they do a full Orthros before Divine Liturgy. I'm excited.

Happy Sunday of the Forefathers and Feast of St. Spyridon!!! :)

OCF Coffeehouse

Last night, from 9-12 was a "Coffeehouse" at Holy Resurrection Church in Allston. It was the second one this year, but the first one I've gone to. They usually do them twice a semester. They do it in their hall. They have a mic and chair for people who play guitar, or sing, or whatever, to perform, and after all the performanced were done, they pulled up some YouTube clips and showed sing-along Christmas songs with open mic. We all went up and had a good time singing. I met some people from other schools. It was fun.

(There was, of course, coffee, tea, hot chocolate, cookies, chips, etc.)

It was a good time and I'm looking forward to the next one :)

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

so much to tell; so little time

Last weekend a group of us went to Worcester, to the church where Gabe's dad is the priest, and chanted Orthros and Liturgy on Sunday, in addition to helping out with Vespers on Saturday. The whole weekend was a blast. I may blog about it in more detail in the next couple days if I have time.

I am planning on coming home in the evening of Friday, December 17. I am coming back to Boston on Tuesday, January 25th, midday sometime. Anyone from the 'Burgh...if you wanna hang out, you got the dates.

College Conference December 28-31. YAY-YAH!

Monastery for New Years. YAY-YAH!

Friday, December 3, 2010

"This is the most ownage church!"

Last weekend was THE best Thanksgiving weekend EVER with George, Erin, Seraphim, Sophia and Theodosi at Theodosi's house in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It all started... *flashback music*

On Tuesday, November 23, we all had Philosophy from 3:10 to 4:30. We left right around 5:00, as Vespers was starting. We felt bad missing Vespers, but we also wanted to arrive before 5 am. Our journey was adventurous. We took George’s family’s SUV, which his mom graciously loaned us. We started out the road trip by playing some intense games of “Ghost,” one of Seraphim’s favorites.

George drove for the first half of the trip, while I sat in the middle row of seats. We stopped at a rest stop, filled up on junk food, and Theodosi took over. I inherited “shotgun,” along with the position of navigator, helping Theodosi figure out where we were going and holding the directions we had printed from Mapquest. No GPS. At one point we got off an exit, only to go 1.3 miles west, go around a block on back streets, and go 1.4 miles east and get back on the interstate :) That was funny (George and Theo had been moving the route around on Mapquest, trying to find faster routes, and they speculated that when they moved it back they didn’t move it all the way and that’s why it got messed up).

There were some people who needed prayer so we decided to do a Paraklesis in the car. Seraphim and I had our Paraklesis books. Sophia had forgotten hers, so I lent her mine, while I volunteered to use my blue prayer book that has a different translation of Paraklesis. We all chanted together, and since I have the hymns half memorized, I was able to use my prayer book to know which hymn we were on, and chant the other translation. It was a bit confusing, but I was able to glance back at Seraphim’s book if I really got lost. It was really nice to chant Paraklesis together as an Orthodox/Hellenic College family. When we finished, I remarked that the windows were foggy with our breath from all the chanting. Since we were lacking incense, the foggy windows were the visible sign of our prayer rising to God :)

During the Sixth Ode of the Paraklesis (⅔-ish through it) Theo saw a sign for Cracker Barrel and interrupted, asking if we could stop, because a few people had expressed an interest in stopping there, and Theo, Sophia and Seraphim had never been (*gasp!*). We paused Paraklesis right before Προστασία (O Protection of Christians), and got out at Cracker Barrel. Seraphim, Sophia and Theodosi loved it. We got fish, corn, carrots, apple sauce, and fried okra. We had this awesome waiter named Jason, and Seraphim told him it was my birthday, so at the end of the meal three staff members came out and sang “Happy Birthday” to me and brought out a bowl of pineapple with orange slices and maraschino cherries. We had been asking about dairy-free stuff during dinner, so they said that this was the only dairy-free birthday dessert they could come up with :) At the end, we bought two fastworthy apple pies that we took to the Palises’ house, eating them the following day.

Another cool story from the trip to Bethlehem took place around midnight on a 27-mile stretch of US-209, a wooded, two-lane highway, out in Nowhere, PA. It was during the second half of the trip, while I was navigating. We had left Cracker Barrel within the hour, and I had to go to the bathroom, but figured I could hold it until we got to the next little town (Boondocks, PA). Theo half-jokingly said that we should stop. I said no, I can wait until the next village. George, however, insisted we pull over so he could “run through the woods.” There were no lights and Seraphim was deathly afraid, freaking out at the lack of light and the “shadiness” of the road. George insisted and Theodosi pulled over. I took the opportunity to go to the bathroom on the side of the road.

Outside the car, George and I marveled at the dark, beautiful, scenic landscape. The moon was shining very brightly, and we could see some clouds moving, and stars in between the clouds. It was so beautiful, it was completely still, and there were no other cars on the road. We told everyone else that it was really beautiful and they had to get out. Everyone got out and walked around a little bit, going a few yards up and down the road, admiring the midnight scenery. We also admired how clear the stars were in the moonlit, partly cloudy sky, and how still and deserted the road was. Some people lay down on the road, looking up at the stars, while I made myself hyper-aware of the condition of the road, making sure that no cars were coming. About five minutes after we stopped, I saw headlights in the distance, and said, “Guys. Car.” Everyone jumped up and scurried to the side of the road, although the car was not too too close. We jumped into the SUV, and continued the trip.

Six tired college students arrived in Northampton, PA around 2:00 AM, to the welcoming hugs and greetings of the Palis family! We got a tour of their house and were shown to our bedrooms – the girls in the girls’ bedroom, and the guys split between the guest room and the guys’ bedroom. Seraphim and I got the guest room, he on the bed, I on a floor mattress. Around 4:45 I conked out for a short nap ;) and was woken up two hours later, told to get ready to go to church. Fr. Nick does Liturgy each day of the Christmas fast, a tradition which he says is commonplace in Greece.

Most people chose to sleep in through Liturgy, as we had been up so late the night before. I went to Liturgy with Father Nick and Theodosi. Fr. Nick Kossis served Liturgy in the side chapel of St. Nektarios. When I got back to the Palis residence most people were just waking up. We had lunch, and that afternoon I took a two hour PLN. When I woke up we went to a newly-opened gyro shop, owned by parishioners of St. Nicholas (The Palises’ church). We ate vegetable gyros, calamaria and fries.

After the gyro shop we went to the church and did Great Vespers for St. Katherine. All the HC/HC people either chanted/read or served in the Altar. After Vespers Theodosi asked Fr. Nick for permission to give everyone a church tour. I was assuming he would show us the hall, the office, the classrooms, the basement, the ping-pong room, etc, but Fr. Nick had different ideas. When Fr. Nick finished up in the Altar, he started giving us a tour of the Nave, and I thought to myself, “Why are you giving us a tour? We are all Orthodox and know about Orthodox churches.” Au contraire, the tour was amazing and we all learned amazing stuff, including annual miracles from the Jordan River, Jerusalem and Mount Tabor, as Fr. Nick explained the icons covering the walls. During the tour Seraphim exclaimed, THIS IS THE MOST OWNAGE CHURCH!!!

We went into the narthex, and into the chapel of St. Nektarios. We sat down, and Fr. Nick began explaining the lives of various saints depicted on the walls of the chapel. Our jaws dropped through the floor as we heard miracle after miracle, associated with the lives of the saints and holy people, both living and deceased. That hour was amazing! Back at the house, Fr. Nick led us in Small Compline.

On Thursday morning, we had Divine Liturgy for St. Katherine/St. Mercurius (who Fr. Nick has a relic of)/Leavetaking of the Presentation of the Theotokos/Thanksgiving. Fr. Nick Palis served, along with Deacon Thomas who was visiting from a nearby church. The Liturgy was glorious and during Liturgy it started snowing, unbeknownst to everyone inside. When we looked outside at the conclusion of Liturgy, big white snowflakes were falling and it was a winter wonderland :) It was so beautiful and such a great surprise.

We went to the Palis house, changed clothes and chilled for a bit. Around 2:00, we left and went to the Hristofas house, Panayiota’s parents-in-law. We had the best food there (Thia Elli makes the best Μπαπκαλγιάροs, fried cod. They are so good!) We all doted on Kostaki, Panayiota and Lefteri’s 15-month-old son. We had a really good time at the Hristofas house. We came back relatively early (8-ish) because Thia Elli works early in the morning.

That night Fr. Nick had to go to church to make sure the service booklets were printed out for Friday morning. We all decided to go with him, to “watch a movie and play ping-pong.” When we got there, we realized that the services were already printed out. Fr. Nick decided to do some rearranging of icons and such in the Altar and vestry. I cleaned and filled two candilia (oil lamps) and changed some candles. That took awhile because I am not candili-savvy and had to light and re-light the wick, pulling and re-pulling it up. When I went back over to the office area (around 10:30), everyone else was watching Avatar in the library. Fr. Nick was almost ready to leave, so he, Evangelia and I left (at 11:30), while the others stayed to watch the movie. I fell asleep around 1:30-ish and they still weren’t back.

On Friday, after Liturgy we ate an amazing lunch at the Palis house and took off for Fr. Nick Kossis’s house, where we saw his garage-turned-chapel, where we sat while he talked for 40 minutes. From there we set off for Agia Skepi, the seven-seater SUV full to capacity with the six of us and Evangelia. We arrived half-way through Vespers, which flowed directly into Compline and Akathist. Church was over around 5:15. We went to their bookstore and were blown away by the plethora of beautiful icons, books and miscellaneous objects that were for sale. I called my mom afterwards and told her that I was glad I didn’t bring money ;) We ate dinner at 6:00, and afterwards took a walk in the dark, down to a little προσκινητάριον (prayer hut) dedicated to St. Seraphim of Sarov.

We took a toll road back to the Palis house, and getting off, Seraphim asked the guy at the toll booth if he liked his job. He said no, and we had a 1-2 minute conversation with him. He was cool.

Back at the house, Panayiota, Lefteri and Kostaki were visiting, so we hung out with them and then we watched some Greek YouTube videos on Fr. Nick’s computer while he translated. During the videos I conked out on the couch (half by accident). Afterwards, while I was sleeping, everyone went downstairs and watched Shooter. I woke up around 1:00 and didn’t even go downstairs. I found Fr. Nick, got his blessing, and went upstairs and conked out again. Right before I went to sleep, I came out of my room and found the bathroom crowded with people, in the bathtub, on top of the toilet, on the counter, just hanging out. “Excuse me. I have to use the bathroom.” They all migrated to Theo’s room and I went to the bathroom, hurried back to my room and conked out, as I knew they would be up talking for a few more hours (ended up 5:00 am) and I would be even more tired in the morning if I stayed up with them.

On Saturday morning Sophia and I went to Liturgy with Fr. Nick. We tried to wake up a few others but they were too tired. There was a forty-day memorial service for Yianni Gentis who died of cancer and who was an amazing guy. Memory Eternal!

When we got back around Noon, everyone else was sleeping. Slowly the whole house woke up, Lefteri, Panayiota and Kostaki came over, and we had an awesome lunch. We left the house at 2:20, and set off for St. Nektarios Monastery in Roscoe, New York, a three hour drive without stops. We arrived just before 6:00 PM, as we had stopped for 20 minutes and gotten lost several times. The plan was to leave as soon as Compline was over, and get back to Boston around 2:00 AM.

We admired all the little pine trees with Christmas lights, and the lit-up icon Nativity scene. The τράπεζα (refectory) is covered in icons and our jaws dropped lower and lower as we admired the beauty of the monastery and lamented that we had to leave so soon. They had finished dinner but set places for us. Compline started at 6:15, and around 6:40, when we finished dinner, we headed over to church to catch the Pre-Communion prayers and the second half of Compline.

When Compline ended, Theodosi came into church and told us that he had worked it out with the fathers and that they had room for us to stay the night. We were elated! One of the monks showed us to our rooms. Girls were in one building, guys in another. The rooms were threesomes, so Theo and Seraphim went downstairs and George and I went upstairs. We knew that Theo and Seraphim would be up for awhile (it’s just their personalities) so we were glad we were separate. They stayed up talking and monks kept visiting b/c they know Theo. George fell asleep around 9:15 and I conked out around 10:15. We woke up at 6:15, tired but refreshed from 8-9 hours of sleep, still not enough to make up from severe sleep deprivation over break.

A nice little “coincidence” that happened on Saturday night: When we went to our rooms after Compline, most of us noticed someone special above our beds. George and I entered our room and threw our stuff down on the beds. Only afterwards did we notice that George’s bed had an icon of St. George on the wall directly above it. Downstairs, Seraphim had St. Seraphim of Sarov, and Theodosi had the Theotokos, whom he refers to as his Mother. In the girls’ house, Sophia had the Holy Trinity, which served to remind her of Holy Trinity Monastery in Michigan (where we met this summer), which she was missing very much; Erin had St. Herman of Alaska above her bed. St. Herman is her family’s patron saint. I felt kind of left out: I had St. Mark the Evangelist. Not that he’s not awesome and a totally “ownage” Saint, but I just don’t have a personal connection to him. Maybe it’s a sign from God and St. Mark that I should develop a relationship with him… (Panagia was over the empty bed between me and George, and I thought of switching her and St. Mark, but then I felt bad for “hogging” Panagia, because I felt she should be in the middle protecting both of us. I left the icons the way they were.) While George and I noticed St. George above his bed, it was only after Liturgy in the morning that we discovered that that had happened in everyone’s room.

When we got back on campus I was debriefing with Thia Georgia and she said “St. Mark reminded you of your connection to Markos and also to our family.” I thought that was beautiful. So there was a connection between me and St. Mark after all :)

Another little coincidence: before leaving the Palis house, we had lost the SUV key (with a blue Ford logo), which was a really bad thing. George had checked his pockets several times and the key was not there. A minute after praying to St. Phanourios, we found the key in the glove compartment (only afterwards did we realize that this key had a black logo). We gave thanks to God and St. Phanourios for helping us find the key. Later, in our guest room at St. Nektarios, George came out of the bathroom to find a key with a blue logo sitting on his bed. He asked if Theo had come and dropped it off, as he had been the last one to drive the car. I said no, and we both marveled that the key had mysteriously appeared there. Theo still had his key. Before leaving the Palises’, George had checked his pockets several times so it couldn’t have fallen out of his pocket while he was sitting on the bed before. It was weird and there is no explanation except God.

I awoke around 6:15 to a beautiful sunrise. It was just starting, so it was still pretty dark, but the first rays of crystal clear pink and magenta light were starting to poke over the horizon and onto the clouds. The climax was probably during church, but it was so beautiful even for the minute that I saw it! The sunrise also streamed into the church, through the back windows of the Altar, right through the Royal Doors and onto the Solea. There were rays of light shining on the priest as he stood at the Altar, and shining onto the Solea when he was somewhere else.

Orthros began at 6:45. The second priest served. The abbot vested and read the Orthros Gospel, and then unvested and stood in the Altar. The second priest and the deacon served the rest of Orthros and the Divine Liturgy. The Great Doxology began around 8:30, flowing right into the Divine Liturgy, which ended around 10:30. There were many people there, much more than I expected. Communion took a long time. Right before Communion, one of the monks came to the front of the nave and announced, head bowed, prayer rope going, that only Orthodox Christians who have prepared themselves, received confession, and have the blessing of their spiritual father, may approach the chalice. In English he added that members of the Armenian and Coptic faiths are not Orthodox and cannot receive Holy Communion.

We processed from the church to the τράπεζα (led by Γέροντα), where we had a wonderful spaghetti and tuna meatball lunch while one of the Fathers read a spiritual book. After lunch we browsed the bookstore and everyone (especially Erin, George and Sophia) got distracted petting super-cute monastery cats. We said Greek good-byes, and when we had piled into the car Seraphim asked if there were a priest around. I didn’t see Γέροντα or the second priest, so I said no. Just then I remembered something in our room, ran in to grab it, and when I came out the second priest was walking up the driveway with some pilgrims. Theodosi and I asked for his blessing for safe travel and he said, “May the Archangels open the road for you.” It was so beautiful! We left around 12:30. Seraphim and Theodosi had bought three six-cut, soy cheese pizzas from the monastery that we munched on on the way home. They tasted just like the real thing! After much traffic and a few stops, we arrived in Boston just after 9:00 PM.

I mentioned the key incident above, with St. Phanourios. In the car Seraphim couldn’t find his plastic bag with food in it. We looked all over and were starting to freak out that we had left it somewhere, as it was nowhere to be found. I said a silent prayer to St. Phanourios and then said that we should ask him to help us find the bag. Five seconds later, Sophia moves one of the backpacks next to her, and underneath it is the plastic bag with the food. No joke.

As we were pulling up to park and unload the SUV, we ran into (not literally) Fr. Timothy and Pres. Tammy who were just bringing Gabriel back from Thanksgiving break at home (an hour away).

This was literally the best Thanksgiving ever! I think everyone agrees with me. Between the Palis house, Thanksgiving at the Hristofas house, the daily Liturgies, the chill time, the car rides, the conversations, the monasteries… all in all it was a blast!

A few shoutouts:
Mrs. Bryant, for lending us the SUV
The Palis family, for making us part of their household for three and a half days
George and Theo, for driving
The nuns at Holy Protection, and the monks at St. Nektarios, for their welcome and hospitality
Fr. Luke, Fr. Philip, Fr. Demetrios, and the priest at the monastery for travel blessings
Fr. Nick Palis for an awesome church tour and bedtime blessings
Fr. Nick Kossis for the spiritual advice and the tour of his garage-turned-chapel
Both Frs. Nick (Kossis and Palis), and the priest-monk at St. Nektarios, for taking us to the Kingdom during the Divine Liturgies
The Hristofases, for Thanksgiving dinner
The people at the gyro shop, for the free food at the Open House
St. Phanourios, for the car keys and the bag of food
God, Panagia and our favorite saints, for protecting us while we slept at St. Nektarios
Our Guardian Angels, for working overtime
God, for EVERYTHING!!!

Erin: “I feel like Theo was our ladder to Divine Ascent…”
Seraphim: “…and his abs are the rungs.”

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Marriage and Celibacy (PG-13)

Had a great discussion tonight with Fr. Nick - a Romanian priest from Worcester (not Fr. Triantafillou...a different Fr Nick) - about Marriage and Celibacy.

I think one of the main things that I took away from it was, on the marriage side of the discussion, the need for unconditional love, selflessness, and self-sacrifice, which I already knew about.

Fr. Nick said something very thought provoking: "It isn't for nothing that sex is done naked."

What his point was, was that the more intimate you get with someone, the more you know everything about them, including the "right" words to say to hurt them. He saw an enmitous couple once that knew each other so well that they knew the perfect insults that would anger and hurt the other. Fr. Nick's point was that a married couple needs to take that intimate knowledge of each other and use it for good and the upbuilding of the other.

"Coincidence" from Great Vespers last night

Today is the Feast of St. Andrew the First-Called Apostle. We did Great Vespers last night and Orthros and Divine Liturgy this morning. Last night, after bringing the reliquary and icon of the saint in procession around the church (2/3 of the way through Vespers), Fr. Makarios and Deacon David venerated them and went back in the Altar. As Fr. Makarios venerated the reliquary, the choir "happened" to be singing the end of the following hymn (bold is my doing):

Hail, spiritual heaven, ever telling the glory of God; the first to submit fervently to the call of Christ, and immediately to join him; set aflame by him you were seen as a second light, and by your beams you enlightened those in darkness, as you imitated his loving-kindness. Therefore we celebrate your all-holy festival, and with great joy kiss your reliquary, from which you pour out salvation for those who ask, and God’s great mercy.

Coincidence? I think not.


Had a great Thanksgiving break! Did not go home. I have finished the unedited version of my blog, but now it is up to my fellow-travelers to edit it for web-appropriateness (take out names/embarrassing incidents). It should be up in the next couple days. It is long, but very awesome! Stay tuned!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

A brief outline of Sunday, November 21, 2010

8:00 AM - Good morning! Shower. Prep for Church
9:00 AM - Arrive at Holy Cross Chapel - a one minute walk up the hill from my room - and walk in to beautiful chanting of the Praises (the penultimate section of Orthros), both of the Resurrection, and of the Entry of the Theotokos. Great Doxology. Divine Liturgy with Father Peter and Deacon Demetrios, with a great sermon by senior Nicole Hillas.
11:30 AM - Lunch in the HC/HC cafeteria with the Mamalakis family and Sophia, while we talk, laugh, and celebrate Dr. Mamalakis ("Dr. Phil")'s birthday.
12:30 PM - Help the Mamalakis kids to the vans, carrying Georgie in piggy-back mode. Back to the cafeteria, talk with some friends.
1:00 PM - Leave the cafeteria
1:37 PM - Last time I looked at my clock before my PLN (Post-Liturgical Nap)
4:59 PM - Wake up from my PLN. It was dark outside, which was kind of depressing, but I felt rested :)
5:45 PM - Go to cafeteria for a delicious fish/rice/oatmeal/LIFE cereal dinner
7:00 PM - Leave the cafeteria and hang out in the first floor girls' lounge with some friends, John creeping me out with a mannequin hand, and me making womb jokes (I had a false hand, but I left it in the womb). Fun times with Emily from school, and Katie and Anna who were visiting, all three of whom I met at Project Mexico, and John and John. Creeping people out in the JC Room, as well as George, Chris, Sophia and Adam who were cleaning up the caf.
8:00 PM - Read emails
9:00 PM - CrossRoad conference call with Mariam, Rachel and Eleni. One of the best conference calls in a long time. I ranted for 50 minutes on how liberal and unOrthodox (with a big AND small "o") my sociology textbook is. Talked about everything else under the sun (or under the darkness, since the sun wasn't shining), from toothbrushing to sex to Antiochian Village to college to CrossRoad to sleep. We did Small Compline somewhere in there (some would call it "TeleCompline," but Mariam, Rachel and Eleni don't like that term).
11:30 PM - Hung up, and went upstairs to catch the end of Compline and the reading of the Lives of the Saints in the dorm chapel (they had started later than usual, b/c of a soccer game tonight)
12:12 AM - left the dorm chapel, saw Angeliki, Thomas and Teddy who had recently come back from the GOYA retreat at Camp Nazareth - which I wish I could have gone to, but then I wouldn't have had the awesome convo at TeleCompline, and I would have had severely less time with my international "wombmate" friend who visited from Thursday night until Saturday afternoon.
12:55 AM - Blog
1:14 AM - Finish blogging, attach hymn and picture. The quote in the picture was said sometime during the "7:00 PM" section of the blog.
1:20 AM - Good night, world!

Λαμπαδηφόροι παρθένοι, τὴν Ἀειπάρθενον, φαιδρῶς ὁδοποιοῦσαι, προφητεύουσιν ὄντως, ἐν Πνεύματι τὸ μέλλον· ναὸς γὰρ Θεοῦ, ἡ Θεοτόκος ὑπάρχουσα, πρὸς τὸν ναὸν μετὰ δόξης παρθενικῆς, νηπιόθεν ἐμβιβάζεται.

The virgins carrying lanterns are brightly paving the way* for ever-virgin Mary;* and truly in the Spirit* they prophesy the future; for she is led* to the Temple from infancy,* going with virginal glory. She is indeed* Theotokos and the temple of God.

-Hymn of the Praises for the Entry of the Theotokos
 Tone 1, to the melody Τῶν οὐρανίων ταγμάτων; For the Celestial Orders.
 This was one of the first hymns I heard when I walked into church this morning. BEAUTIFUL!

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Really cool pro-life video

Please check this out...it's awesome and inspiring!
http://byztex.blogspot.com/2010/10/man-adopts-50-children-to-save-them.html

Friday, November 12, 2010

All Saints Greek Orthodox Monastery - Long Island, NY

I have a lot of stuff to blog about. I guess I should do one thing at a time. I've been really busy studying for midterms so I haven't had time to blog, but I really wanted to go into more detail about the trip to All Saints Monastery on Long Island from October 29-31.

After 5:00 Paraklesis on Friday night, I wolfed down some food, loaded my suitcase/pillow/sleeping bag into the van, and eight of us set off for Long Island. We left around 7 pm, and arrived around midnight, after hitting a lot of traffic. This monastery is unique out of all the monasteries I've been to, in that they pause every three hours to do a service. Two pluses of this is that it punctuates the day with prayer, AND church is never long. Most services are ten minutes long. Orthros is the longest daily service, at about 50 minutes, but Sunday Orthros and Liturgy was three and a half hours, as is to be expected. Their basic schedule is:

6:00 PM - Vespers, dinner, Small Compline
8:30 - sleep
12:00 AM - Midnight Office
3:30 AM - Orthros (Matins)
6:00 AM - First Hour
9:00 AM - Third Hour
12:00 PM - Sixth Hour
3:00 PM - Ninth Hour
And then start the new liturgical day with Vespers at 6.

So, we got there just in time to hear the greater part of the Midnight Office, which lasted for about 30 minutes. It was providential and convenient that we arrived at midnight, because the nuns were up for prayer, and they could let the girls inside. The girls slept upstairs where the nuns sleep, and that area is locked during the night. The guys slept downstairs, on the floor of the refectory (τράπεζα), and we had to move our stuff out when we needed to use the space for something else (such as coffee hour or hosting other pilgrims).

Around 12:30 we went to sleep and woke up around 3:20 to go to Orthros, went back to bed an hour later, and then got up at 5:50 for the First Hour, went back to bed around 6:15, and got up at 8 to start the work day. A friend and I studied Philosophy until 9 (when church started) because we had a midterm that week. After the Third Hour (around 9:15) we had a delicious breakfast, and then got the list of jobs and started working. When the nuns greeted us right before breakfast, Mike - the brother of Sister Theonymphi ("Bride of God") - said, "hey, dudes! or...dudettes." It was so cool that Mike is close enough with the nuns to say casual stuff like that.

Another memory that I have from the monastery is something that happened right after Orthros on Saturday morning, around 4:30. We had gotten out of church, and were getting ready to go back to sleep. The saints of October 30 are a martyred brother and sister, Zenobius and Zenobia. Many hymns had been chanted for them during Orthros, and Sister Theonymphi - in her characteristic, always-cheerful voice - said something along the lines of, "Mikey, do you remember Zenobius and Zenobia? They were brother and sister and they were martyred together :)" We all laughed.

Another nice touch to the monastery is "Miss Mary," who is an elderly woman whom the nuns take care of. She's a character. I think she's in her 80's, she's in a wheelchair, and (in addition to English), she supposedly speaks a dialect of Russian, but when the nuns tried saying a few "Russian" words to Russian people, the people had no idea what they meant. Miss Mary also calls Mikey (Sister Theonymphi's brother) "Mickey." She's a joy to be around, a very sweet old lady. She always made us laugh. She has her quirks...who doesn't? :)

So Saturday was a work-filled day. I helped Emily clean out some crab grass by the sewer drainage thing, so that they could plant real grass there, and then I helped level out the "silly hill" ("Operation SH" [Silly Hill]), which was a big mound of dirt left over from something that had happened at the monastery, and we had to make the Silly Hill not exist anymore. We succeeded so the Silly Hill is no more. We also paused around 11:00 AM for Paraklesis, because a Philoptochos (ladies' society) from a nearby parish was visiting. We ate lunch while the nuns sang some Orthodox folk songs in Greek. They were beautiful. In the afternoon, I helped garden a little bit, and then went inside to study some more for Philosophy. At 6:00 we had Vespers, dinner, and Small Compline, and hung out for a little bit before going to bed. That evening, the nuns also let us record them singing some of the above-mentioned folk songs. Some describe "το μοναστηράκι μου" (my little monastery), or "Ζοή αγνή οράια...ζοή μοναχική" (O pure and beautiful life...monastic life). Both the content and the performance were beautiful. Sister Theonymphi sang melody and Gherontissa Photini held ison (drone). (I apologize for my misspelling of Greek words...my Greek spelling is not very good).

When I tried to get people up at midnight, they were all cranky, and they had sternly warned me not to turn the light on as I had the previous night. After trying a bit, I gave up and went over to church. I was the only one there. Around 7:00 we all got up and packed, because on Sundays their schedule is different...they do pre-Communion prayers, Orthros and Liturgy at 8:00 so pilgrims can come. The First, Third and Sixth Hours are read back-to-back around 11:30, when Liturgy finishes. The chanting was sooo beautiful. After Liturgy, I had a nice conversation with the priest and Presvytera (priest's wife) who come to the monastery on Sundays. I don't remember their names, but they were very interesting to talk to and very nice. They helped found the monastery, along with the late Sister Ypomoni ("Patience"), who died about a month ago. They are retired from a parish on Long Island and now serve the monastery on Sundays and Feasts.

A friend and I both had the same idea while we were there...wouldn't it be cool to be the priest at that monastery...to live one minute away and be able to come and serve all the services, to have the daily interaction with the nuns and the pilgrims...that would be so cool!

I'm home in Pittsburgh for the weekend and I'm about to head off to OLSH, my high school, to pay a visit for a couple hours. Again, sorry for the delay in blogging. I really recommend going to All Saints Monastery if you can!

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Monastery

Just got back from an amazing weekend at All Saints Greek Orthodox Monastery on Long Island. I don't have time now to write a blog about it but I can't wait to blog in the next few days and write all my experiences :)

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Readers' Services

Sorry it's taken so long to write this blog...I had the intention of writing it last week but one thing after the other came up and I haven't had time.

Last summer (2009), at CrossRoad, there were a few times that we didn't have a priest for one of the daily services. We did Readers' services, which basically means that you can do any service except Liturgy without a priest. The litanies/petitions are omitted, in some traditions substituting 3 or 12 Κύριε ελέισονs, depending on the length of the litany. Where the priest says "Blessed is our God," "For Thine is the Kingdom," or another short priest prayer, the Reader says "Through the Prayers of our holy fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen."

Over the summer, on Project Mexico, I was talking to Demitra, a CrossRoad friend of mine who is a sophomore at Hellenic College this year. I was asking her all kinds of questions about life here. Once I asked her if they ever do not have a priest; if they ever do readers' services like we did at CrossRoad a few times. She said not, but sometimes there is no deacon so the priest takes the deacon's parts. I was excited, not having expected a deacon to serve for daily services...I would assume they would only serve on Sundays. Regardless, the point is that Demitra had not experienced a readers' service on campus during her freshman year. I haven't experienced one yet this year either.

So remember about the ecumenical people that were here for meetings last week? Well, they were here for Orthros the following morning, as well. We were all sitting in the chapel, waiting patiently for Orthros to start. Around 8:05, Deacon Jim (Demetrios) comes to the center of the solea and says "Good morning. My name is Deacon Demetrios. Our priest just called in sick." There were no priests floating around the sides of the chapel, as there usually are. Deacon Jim was getting ready to explain readers' services, and I was thinking, "Just great! The first time we don't have a priest is when we have sixty non-Orthodox visitors and they're going to wonder what's wrong with us!"

Just then the front door opens, Deacon Jim turns his eyes to the narthex, and says, "Glory be to God. we have a priest!" and walks back to the side of the church. Fr. Milad had just walked in, exhausted from a recent trip, but as a faithful servant, ready to serve Orthros.

That was an interesting experience that I wanted to share :)

By the way, we do readers' services all the time in the dorm chapel (e.g. Compline, Paraklesis), but as I said, we haven't done Vespers or Orthros as a readers' service since I've been here. Understandably, too...there are many priests on campus! If one doesn't show up, there's a zillion others :)

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Dinner with an Anglican bishop

So there's some ecumenical world churches' organization humanitarian relief something or other, having some meetings today and tomorrow here on campus. It's always funny seeing how Protestants react to Orthodox worship. There's about sixty of them. They came to Vespers. They ALL came to Vespers. Late.

"O Lord, I have cried unto you...", a few people walk in.

"Κατευθυνθήτω ἡ προσευχή μου, ὡς θυμίαμα ἐνώπιόν σου...", Deacon Nick starts censing. The rest of them [about 40-50] come in. 

"Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth...", Deacon Nick comes out of the Altar, ready to cense every which way and they're just getting situated, some still in the aisle trying to find a seat. I was worried Deacon Nick would run into them censing. He didn't.


At the end of the Trisagion (after "Lord, now let Your servant depart in peace") towards the end of Vespers, we hear:
Everyone: ...but deliver us from evil.
Visiting non-Orthodox: For Thine is... [they trail off, as Fr. Nick's booming voice cuts them off]
Fr. Nick: For Yours is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory, of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and to the ages of ages.
Chanters: Amen.


Afterwards I decided to welcome them and shook a lot of hands. I ate dinner with an Anglican bishop, an Anglican priest's wife, an ex-Catholic Protestant guy, and another Protestant guy. We talked about all different stuff and it was nice.


Now off to read Nicomachean Ethics.

St. Vladimir, the Patron Saint of College all-nighters

So it's been decided that St. Grand Prince Vladimir is the Patron Saint of college all-nighters. His dusty icon was lying around one of the lounges, where Evan was trying to pull an all-nighter and falling asleep. Evan took the icon, dusted him off, and set him on the psaltirion (chanter's stand) in the lounge, asking him to help him stay awake. Evan made it through the night :)

(Only at HC/HC do you have random icons lying around in lounges; AND, only at HC/HC is there a chanter's stand in the first floor lounge :) I love it!) :)

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

HC/HC is getting sick all over the place!

Photios (who incidentally took Sebastian to the hospital yesterday morning) was taken to the hospital last night for kidney stones. He is back now. Please pray for him.

Oh, and I've discovered that I can walk (on the treadmill) and read at the same time. So I think I'll do that for most of my readings, and get some double benefit :) Philosophy seems hard to do that with, though, maybe b/c of the style of Nicomachean Ethics that we are reading now. Other books, though... yay! :)

Monday, October 18, 2010

Appendicitis (not mine)

Please pray for my friend Sebastian (a Hellenic College student) who was having a lot of pain and couldn't sleep last night (Sunday night). He went to the hospital at 5am this morning, had surgery for his appendix around midday, and returned to campus around 8pm.

Anecdote: We went to visit him at around 7:00-ish tonight, after dinner. We got to his wing, said "We're here to visit Sebastian," and they freaked out and said "only two at a time," seeing 10 or so of us haha. Another receptionist heard us and said, "Oh, are you here to take him home?" We were like "uhhh...." The receptionist said, "Oh yeah, if he hasn't gone already, he's leaving real soon." We were like "oops." He wasn't in his room, so Irene called him and told him. He laughed. We decided that we probably missed each other in different elevators. I felt bad for Sam, who was our driver in the school van. Oh, well. We had good intentions. Sebastian appreciated it. Now he's safe and sound, hanging out on campus, a little out of it, in some pain, but doing fine. Thank God. Please pray for his complete recovery.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Challenge Liturgies

I work in the Computer Lab at school on Friday nights and Saturday afternoons. I'm there right now, typing away. :)

Last night, at work, I was looking through my archived emails and came across one from this past week about "Challenge Liturgies," which were geared towards "physically and developmentally challenged Orthodox Christians." I was interested and wanted to go, and realized that the first one was today, so I frantically emailed Becky, who was in charge of the HC/HC aspect of it, and thankfully heard back from her. I got up this morning, and Becky and I were picked up by Mary Lynn, who lives in Brookline, who went this morning. Mary Lynn's daughter Angela has downs syndrome, and Mary Lynn helped organize these Challenge Liturgies.

The Liturgy was at Transfiguration Church in Lowell, about 45 minutes away. There was a small crowd. Two priests served - Fr. Steve, who is the priest at Transfiguration, and Fr. Anastasios, an older priest from a neighboring church, whose grown son Johnny also has downs syndrome and served in the Altar today.

In his sermon, Fr. Steve said that, when planning these Liturgies (scheduled to happen on the third Saturday of every month), some people gave him flack for doing a "separate" Liturgy for special needs people. However, the point was not to do a "separate" Liturgy: the Divine Liturgy is public worship, open for everyone. All they are trying to do is to make families with special needs people feel welcome, and create an environment where they are comfortable coming to church. Hopefully they will get used to coming to church, and will start coming on Sundays. That is the goal. And, glory to God, today I met Niko, an old man from Greece with multiple physical problems. Niko had not been to church in a long time, but his sister is now planning on bringing him to Challenge Liturgies.

I feel that "Challenge Liturgies" are a great idea! They originated in New York (for those interested, contact me and I'll let you know the parts of the history that I remember) and are branching out. I told people today that I would try to take it back to Pittsburgh and get something started there. I intend to mention it to a few priests when I'm home sometime.

Below is a picture of Transfiguration Church in Lowell:


On another note, PLEASE leave me comments on my blog, even if it's just a few words. I feel lonely haha. Also, I'm experimenting with the background. Right now I have a picture of the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration in Ellwood City (my monastery <3) If you like it or have other suggestions, let me know. If you don't like it, or think a different layout would be good, let me know :)

I'm coming home on November 10-14, so if anybody in the Pittsburgh area wants to hang out, let me know and we can probably arrange something. :)

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

It feels like Pascha

I've been trying to dress up for weekday Liturgies. Right now I'm getting dressed...I'm wearing khakis with a white shirt, tie, and black sweater. I'm putting on the tie now. it is 6:05 AM and it's dark out. I'm tired. I'm reminded of Pascha...dressing up in the dark :)

Now off to Orthros and Divine Liturgy for St. Symeon the New Theologian! :D

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Ordination (not mine, of course!!!)

Last Sunday, James said, "Hey! There's a Ukrainian Hierarchical Liturgy and Ordination on Saturday! Anyone wanna come?" James is a first year seminarian and Ukrainian subdeacon. Many were interested but for various conflicts I was the only one who was able to go. I had been told it would be all in Ukrainian so I was a bit disappointed when it was half and half, English and Ukrainian. The Ukrainian was still cool, though. Please keep newly-ordained FATHER BORISLAV, his wife PANI IZABELA and their daughter ANNA in your prayers, as well as the parish to which they will be assigned beginning next Sunday (Oct 17).

I'm staying on campus tomorrow for Liturgy and the memorial for Bishop Gerasimos (on what would have been his 100th birthday). I hope to get off campus on Sundays more often, beginning next week. I think I'll make my rounds to different parishes and experience the various cultural expressions of Orthodoxy. Please add your private prayers for the repose of the soul of Bishop Gerasimos, and ask his intercessions before God for all of us. Blessed Bishop Gerasimos, if you have boldness, pray to God for us! Memory Eternal!

I'm now working in the computer lab six hours a week - Friday nights and Saturday afternoons. If I need to go away for the weekend, it's very easy to find a replacement, and I get to sit at the desk and study for about 95% of the time. The other 5%, I'm opening up, locking up, turning computers on, turning computers off, and helping with the occasional technical issue (which printer to print to). It's a great job, although five hours last night was a little long and tiring because Seraphim called off, who was supposed to work after me for two hours, and I volunteered to take his shift.

That's it for now! Bedtime! :)

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

hand-kissing; pink underwear; early Liturgies

Wow it's been a long time since I blogged. I don't have a lot of time now, but I just wanted to do a quick update. In the past few weeks, my schedule has been pretty full. Overall I love school. It's work, and it's a LOT of reading, but I hope I'm managing ok...I guess we'll see when the tests come. I've talked to several friends nation-wide about various subjects, from advice-giving, to advice-getting, to mission trips, to chit-chat, and everywhere in between. I wish I had a bit more free time, though. I hope to make a schedule before the end of the week, so I can manage my time and my work.

Prayer life is a bit more regulated than it was at the beginning of the year...as we are all so busy, there is rarely time for the unexpected Paraklesis (unfortunately). Small Compline and Akathist have been set for 10 pm each night, thanks to one of my friends. Have I mentioned that we have a chapel in the dorm? It's in between the men's and women's sides of the dorm, so it's co-ed, and we meet there for reader's services (without a priest). Last Saturday, after Vespers and dinner, we had a real treat. For the first time, Fr. Evangelos, a student priest from Africa (with a really cool accent) served Paraklesis for us in the dorm chapel. It was great!

We had an early Liturgy this morning. There is usually at least one weekday Divine Liturgy each week. Wednesday is the default day when there is no major feast, plus today is the Feast of St. Thomas the Apostle. Liturgy was nice, but I was half asleep, so... yeah. Orthros started at 6:15, I arrived around 6:40, and "Blessed is the Kingdom" was around 7:15. we were done by 8:30, and I took a PLN (Post-Liturgical Nap) before my 10:40 Biblical Heritage class, which was a bad idea because I was awake after breakfast, then I slept and was tired during class.

I have mixed feelings about early Liturgies. They remind me of some monasteries I've been to, where Divine Liturgy is super-early (sometimes 4 am!). I like it early, except when I'm not rested and have to force myself to get up. The plus side is it's Divine Liturgy and it's amazing, and we're out early, in time for a full day of class and stuff. The down side is, I'm often tired and oversleep and get there late. Another plus, though, is that the default celebrant for weekday Liturgies is Fr. Demetri, a hieromonk from Crete, who is a student here. He is an amazing priest, and I love the way he serves the Liturgy. There are no monasteries around here, but weekday Liturgies give me a monastic "teaser," if you will.

A little anecdote: I washed my new red sheets a few weeks ago, and there weren't enough pink and red clothes to fill up the load, so I stuck in some white underwear and washcloths that I didn't care about. Now they have the slightest pinkish hue to them. It's pretty cool :)

I went to a symposium last night, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of Bishop Gerasimos of blessed memory, who lived here for 43 years. I heard stories and WOW he's cool! and holy! and awesome! His 100th birthday is on Sunday, 10-10-10, and this week is dedicated to his memory and talks about him and such.

I've met Fr. Kalivas (sp?) a renowned professor emeritus of the school. He seems like a cool guy, and it's nice that he still comes around and visits. One thing I don't like, though, is that some of the priests around here (Fr. Kalivas included), aren't big on the priestly hand-kissing. Sometimes I'll hold out my hands to get a blessing, and they do a little "teaser" and slap my hands with their right hand, quickly pulling it away. Or one priest refuses completely, with the excuse of "I am not an icon!" I don't want to sound judgmental, I'm just disappointed, as I have tremendous respect for the priesthood and I'm prevented from showing it sometimes.

Now off to get a shower before 5:00 Vespers :)

I hope I blog again soon!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

routines

Today I started my first classes...Intro. to Sociology, and Philosophy of the Person. They both sound potentially interesting...I hope I don't get bored and that I can get into it and work hard and get good grades...we'll see...I have a 20-page chapter to read for Soc.; for Philosophy I have a reading assignment that Dr. Gregor said he would email us. *sarcasm* FUN!!! XD

Before lunch today I went running with some friends...Sebastian, Sophia, Theo, Gabe, John, Christian and I think a few others whom I can't recall now. Later, at dinner, a group of us decided we wanted to do some kind of service. We had done an Αγιασμό (sp?) (blessing of the waters) instead of Vespers this evening, to kick off the school year. So our options for prayer were Vespers, Paraklesis, Compline, Akathist, or a mixture of two or more. We decided to skip Vespers, and do Compline with the Akathist to the Theotokos, the Russian way (where the "Rejoice"s are sung rather than read), at Gabe's request. That was a fun time.

After that I went to the CAB meeting (Campus Activities Board), where we talked about various things...I ended up being in charge of cleaning up the Πανυγύρη (sp?) (Panigiri/Festival/cookout/Greek dance party/etc) next Saturday. My task now is to find people to help clean up. (Any HC'ers reading this, PLEASE, I can use all the help I can get...please see me to help clean up after the Πανυγύρη). (My Greek spelling (as well as my speaking) is horrible).

After CAB, I went back to the dorm, where they were nearing the end of Anchorman in the JC room (the basement lounge). Sophia was there and I offered to go to the gym and work out with her in half an hour. Then I stumbled across Theo on my way up to my room, and he said he was going to the gym, and to meet him there. I did stuff I had to do, and headed over to the work-out room. Sophia had gone back to the dorm to play Scattergories (we just missed each other...we actually probably passed each other, but in different hallways and therefore didn't see each other), but Theo worked with me on exercises...pecs, upper abs, lower abs, triceps, biceps, shoulders, etc...I have a feeling I'll be sore tomorrow.

Then I went back to the dorm and watched the end of Scattergories, in the girl's first floor lounge. At 10:00, all the guys had to leave, because here everyone is allowed in the first floor lounge of the opposite sex from 6-10 on weeknights and 6-11 on weekends. I went down to the ping pong room in the basement and watched Theo and Gabe play ping pong.

While watching ping pong, Christian asked me if I wanted to do Compline tonight. I replied that we had already done Compline and apologized for not including him. I suggested doing the Midnight Service (Μεσονυχτικόν) at 10:30, and I also said that we could do Paraklesis, as we had not chanted it earlier today. Christian opted for Μεσονυχτικόν, and Gabe and Theo opted out because they were tired, and were going to bed (supposedly) soon after ping pong. I told Christian and Sophia I would meet them upstairs in ten minutes, stopped by my room, and headed upstairs to the dorm chapel.

As Christian and I were deciding how we were going to divide up the very long Psalm 118*, which is read nightly at the Midnight Service, a slew (wrong spelling) of people walked in (including Theo and Gabe), ready to do Paraklesis...I guess we had decided separately to pray, at the same time, and that was a good conflict to have :) I asked Sophia and Christian, who were fine with it, and we picked up the Paraklesis books and started reading/chanting...I bet there were 15 of us, chanting "quietly," because after 10:00 it is "quiet hours" in the dorm, and "sound carries."

We were finished around 11:00, and on my way out I ran into Catherine, a fellow-CrossRoader, who was standing in the entrance-way, and whose favorite service is Paraklesis. I had invited her to Μεσονυχτικόν, and she had said maybe, but I hadn't had a chance to tell her about Paraklesis. She was a little irritated (not in a bad way, though), because the past few times we've done Paraklesis, it's been semi-spontaneous and she hasn't gotten word.

Side note: I just thought of my very good friend Mariam, a fellow-CrossRoader, who does not attend Hellenic College. She has told me that when she is talking to me she feels like she's watching a sports match because she gets the play-by-play. I think I may be going into too much detail...I don't know. Why don't YOU let me know how much detail you want in the blog? CampNazFanatic@verizon.net. DO IT!! :)

When I left, some of the people who were there decided to do Compline. Some of us, who had done Compline earlier, left to "go to bed." I showered, then stopped by the chapel again. Nick, Photi, John and Anthony were having a discussion about sin, relaxing the rules in certain situations (οικονομία/economia), and specific instances. It was interesting so I joined in, then came back to my room. I'm here now...I've been blogging off and on during my short breaks in between stuff.

Why do I write all this detail, this play-by-play, in Mariam's words, of my evening? Because routine matters. Spontaneity is killing me (figuratively, of course). I heard a priest say once (I don't remember who or when, but I think it was an AFR podcast) that, in order to discipline yourself to pray daily, you must have a routine which includes the same prayers at the same time and in the same place, as much as possible. Routine also matters in other areas, as well, such as exercise, academics and to an extent in social life.

I have had no routine these past days...yes, I've had Orthros at 8 almost every morning and Vespers at 5 almost every evening. Aside from that, though, everything has been random...personal prayer life, small group prayer life, jogging, working out, walking, hanging out, and not reading the Sociology packet  tonight to get it over with. I can't wait for the next few weeks to pass...I hope to get a job somewhere in the area, preferably on campus. Once I assess my academic workload, and allot enough time to get my school work done, I will figure out working hours, devotional hours with our small group, personal prayer hours, and spiritual reading hours...I'm in the middle of St. Silouan the Athonite by Archimandrite Sophrony. I've been in the same place for too long...all this spontaneity (which is good, to an extent) has not allowed me to read it. There are many other books I want to read, and I'm sure I can make time...it's just how I budget the time I have.

The agenda for tomorrow is: get a laundry card, put money on it, and do my first load of laundry; invite Theo over to my room to help me straighten up; read the packet for Sociology; nap; cut my nails; figure out what the weekend looks like; vacuum; and talk to several faculty about various issues...all before 2:10, when I have Algebra, then Vespers at 5.
 
Good night!

PS. Nick (an Arab) fell in love with Pastitsio/Παστίτσιο and Avgolemono/Αυγολέμονο at lunch...he had never had them before

*There are two ways of numbering the Psalms...Hebrew Masoretic and Greek Septuagint (henceforth LXX, roman numeral for 70, in honor of the 70 elders who translated the LXX from Hebrew to Greek). The Orthodox Church numbers the Psalms according to the LXX. Hence, in a "regular" Bible, Psalm 118, referred to above, would be Psalm 119. Being the blog of an Orthodox Christian, all references to Psalms on this page, will use the LXX numbering, unless otherwise noted.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

my encounter with homeless druggies

Today after Vespers I took a run around Jamaica Pond, the popular running/workout site down the road from campus. I wanted to go with at least one other person but no one seemed interested because it would have meant eating dinner later and everyone was hungry. When I got back, Irene was like "YOU WENT RUNNING WITHOUT ME??" and I apologized...apparently she wanted to go.

I ate dinner with George - a friend, seminarian, and fellow-Pittsburgher -, Demetri and Andrew. There was a movie tonight (Vindiction, I believe?), but I didn't watch it. Instead, after dinner, I put on long pants (it was getting a tad chilly) and went with Irene, Evan and Athanasios (a seminarian) down to "JP." It sometimes means "Jamaica Pond," but it's also the name of a town down the road (where we went)...not sure what it stands for. It was a 25-minute-or-so walk at dusk, around Jamaica Pond and to the town of JP. We went to CVS where Irene needed to buy stuff. On our way back, we came across four homeless guys...Nick, David, a guy who goes by "Country," and another guy whose name I can't remember. I smelled alcohol and David told us he was rolling cigarettes, but my friends told me later (I'm clueless about these things) that it was weed/marijuana. (Are they the same thing? see...told you I'm clueless) :)

We stopped by an Indian Bistro and got them chicken noodle soup and bread...we figured, since we don't know what they'll do with money, and the Bistro was right across the street, that was better. I told them I'd pray for them. Country asked us if we were Christian. We replied yes, we are Orthodox Christians. He said, "I'm Christian, too...I'm Baptist." We nodded and said it was good that he is Christian.

Some may have a bone to pick with me when they hear what happened next...(first of all, I shook all their hands, including David, who was "rolling cigarettes." Evan told me later that my hand smelled like weed, but I didn't smell anything. I washed my hands back on campus, though) the guys asked us where we lived. We replied that we go to college in Brookline, at Hellenic College (it took Country some time before he understood "Hellenic with an H"). Country asked us, if you are Christians, where do you worship? I told him, "go down Pond Street, go around Jamaica Pond, turn left up the hill, and it's right there." He was still having trouble remembering "Hellenic," so I told him that the sign also says "Holy Cross." He said that was easier to remember. I told him he was welcome to come to our church any time (we do have an open-door policy, as much as some would like to deny it, right??)

Irene wasn't happy that I gave him directions to the school because she doesn't want a homeless person coming into her dorm room or something. While I know there is enough security on campus that that won't happen, I realized I should have told Country that the chapel is in the center of the campus, on top of the hill, and our Sunday service starts at 8:00, rather than basically telling him (in other words), "COME ON CAMPUS ANYTIME!!!" Ok, I didn't do it completely right...I'll remember for future reference, if someone asks where we worship, to give them details.

I've decided never again (never say never, though...right?) to go to Jamaica Pond at night...ESPECIALLY alone! Our group was so scared coming back...it was very dark, we saw a grand total of one other person jogging (it's usually thickly populated), and we realized we should have walked on the side of the road instead. We chanted hymns and Evan rediscovered his love of "The Angel cried" (Russian style).

Tonight was movie night and a basketball game. We randomly decided to do Compline afterwards, and then that turned into Paraklesis and Compline. That turned into Paraklesis and Compline with the Akathist to the Theotokos. THAT turned into, "Melissa's grandfather died...we should do an Akathist for the Departed instead." The final schedule, beginning around 10:35 in the main chapel (as opposed to the dorm chapel), was Small Paraklesis and Small Compline with the Akathist for the Departed in the middle of Compline. At the end we chanted Αγνή Παρθένε. There were seven of us, if I recall correctly.

We have been randomly deciding to do services the past few days...Compline, Paraklesis to the Theotokos and other saints, Communion Prayers, Morning Prayers, etc... After talking with Gabriel (henceforth referred to as Gabe), we decided that this cannot continue. No more "HEY! let's do a Paraklesis in five minutes!" Instead, after assessing our academic/chapel/work life, we then add the extra devotions, with the advice of a spiritual father or two on campus or nearby. Tomorrow classes start, so hopefully it'll start a semi-regular schedule for us...it's been crazy the past few days, but fun!

It's 12:30 and Orthros is at 8:00 tomorrow, followed by breakfast, and my first class!!!!

Καλή νύχτα!

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

PS

Last night, in Boston, I met Gary, a homeless guy. I told him I'd pray for him and his family. Please do the same ... he told me his wife's name but I forget. He is older (probably 60s) and is a veteran.

half an hour later

I finished Compline Conference Call with Manoli A. and Alicia and was planning on going to bed. I had to go talk to Gabriel for a grand total of ten seconds, so I set out for his room with the intent on coming back minutes later. His room is on the other side of the dorm, and I have to pass by the dorm chapel on the third floor to get to his room. As I came up the stairs and entered the "narthex," I heard powerful chanting...About ten to fifteen students were in the chapel singing their hearts out, nearing the end of Small Paraklesis. I ran to Gabriel's room, told him what I had to tell him, let him know about the Paraklesis (which he could hear from his room and already knew about), and bolted back to the chapel. I stood in the entry-way and practiced holding ison [for those of you not familiar with Byzantine chant, this is the base note - or drone - of the melody, often held on an "ooo", which changes periodically, and is quite tricky to master.]

There are services held very frequently in the dorm chapel, and there is almost never a priest present. The beauty of Orthodox worship is that, aside from the Sacraments, any service can be done without a priest, as a "reader's service." That said, where the last set of petitions would be, at the end of Paraklesis, one of the students read a prayer from a prayer book, asking God to heal Yiannoula. I don't know who that is, but please pray for her. I will find out tomorrow if there is any information that is any of my business.

As the last hymns were being chanted, I went up to venerate the Icon of the Theotokos, along with everyone else. Coming from the back of the chapel and being on the outside of the student choir, to the front of the chapel and being surrounded by chanting in every direction ... I felt so blown away! The chanting was amazing and I could tell it was coming from the heart!

As the last prayer, "Δι ευχών," was said, I prepared to leave. All of a sudden I heard a girl's voice chanting "aaah-naah-nesss," an "επίχυμα" (sp?), or starting pitch, for certain Byzantine hymns. The whole choir then started chanting "O Pure Virgin" in Greek (Αγνή Παρθένε). I moved to the inside of the choir and stood next to a guy holding ison (base note/drone), to help me practice. It was amazing...I had flashbacks of CrossRoad last summer, when we all chanted that together.

As Αγνή Παρθένε finished, people venerated the Icon of the Theotokos once more, and started leaving, while a few took out a cell phone and said "hello, Mary," and proceeded to talk to Mary on speaker. I heard something about just getting back from ICU, and both Mary and the people talking to her were all crying because Paraklesis was so beautiful. I don't know who Mary is, but, again, I will ask tomorrow, if it is any of my business. Please pray for her.

So, after going to talk to Gabriel for two minutes, half an hour later I am back in my dorm room blogging, and now it's been almost an hour since I left. Oh well...I just hope I can manage time when classes start on Thursday. I'll have to be more disciplined then and not just chant and chat whenever I feel like it, as I've been doing.

God bless.

Good night for real! (I hope!)

Pray for me!

Class scheduling

Today I got up at 6:40 to go running at 7, and no one showed up. :(

I found out later from Irene that she and Cody decided to run earlier - 6:45 - and had texted me (but my phone was off) so when I showed up at 6:55, they were long gone. Oh well...in the future there will hopefully be better organization of running times.

Today we scheduled classes...I am taking fifteen credit hours with my classes bing World History I, Philosophy of the Person I, Biblical Heritage I, and Introduction to Sociology, all of which are required for Religious Studies B (my major). English Composition I is also required, but thanks to Miss Vent's AP Brit Lit in 11th grade, I placed out of that, so in that slot I have College Algebra (blech!) which I would normally take next year. I wanted to move up Byzantine Music I (which is a sophomore course) but the class time conflicts with Philosophy of the Person, so I can't :(

Each of the above classes is three credits, which adds up to fifteen.

There is a soccer game going on now in the gym but between blogging and going to bed late last night (1:30, which, I hear, is early for HC), and getting up to go running this morning, AND taking an hour walk with Theo and Sophia this afternoon around Jamaica Pond (which was awesome), I'm pooped. I'm on the Oratorical Festival Conference Call right now with Manoli A. and Alicia, from National Oratorical 2010. We do conference calls with Small Compline on Tuesday nights as a way of staying connected. We're talking now and we will start praying shortly. There is also church tomorrow morning for the Nativity of the Theotokos. To accomodate our schedule, Orthros begins at 6:30, with Liturgy starting somewhere between 7:30 and 7:45. Good night, all! Blessed Feast day!

Monday, September 6, 2010

FYI

The time posted at the bottom of everything is Pacific time, so add three hours, and that's what time it is HERE (in this case 1:33 am)

For those of you following the saga with baby Leo (and those of you who haven't been following it), please keep him and his family - Justin, Anna and Nika - in your prayers. For regular updates, go to leoclement.blogspot.com.

Intro

I started this blog as a way of easily keeping in touch with friends around the country and around the world with whom it may be nearly impossible to maintain contact for various reasons, while at college. It will also serve as a journal for me, when I (God willing) graduate, to look back on my time here, especially since I type much faster than I write. I would like to post every day but I know it's not realistic, so check back every few days for updates, if you're interested.

The name of my blog is a dedication to my amazing GOYAns of last year at Dormition of the Theotokos (my home parish) in Aliquippa, PA. They named me superman for whatever reason (not sure that I'm really that super, but I'm going with it), and then added an "oli" on the end to make it Super Manoli haha.

I moved on campus on Saturday, midday, and went to the weekend's services - Vespers, Orthros, Liturgy - here on campus. Sunday afternoon we left for a retreat at the Metropolis of Boston's camp in New Hampshire, sponsored by the Office of Vocation and Ministry (OVM). It was a good time...we prayed, had a campfire, talked, hung out, discussed stuff, took a hike and went lake swimming - all in 24 hours. We got back today around 6pm-ish.

I'm exhausted right now because I stayed up talking last night with Sebastian, who was my roommate at the Retreat. The Hellenic College dorm rooms are singles, but at the Retreat it was a hotel-like setup with two double beds (we each got a whole one to ourself). Sebastian and I didn't know each other well so we stayed up talking about many different topics, until about 2:30...I woke up at 7:23 this morning and I am exhausted. I also am getting up to go running at 7 tomorrow, so I'm waking up at 6:40.

One last quick tidbit...we had a "Boston T-Party" tonight, where we rode the T (the Boston Subway) and became familiar with it and its various lines that go to various parts of the city. I was with a group that went to the Harvard area of Boston...we took a walk in Harvard Yard and I got a piece of chocolate cheesecake at a nearby bookstore/cafe. We met Frankie J, this black guy from the Caribbean with a cool accent. We hung out with him a little bit as he played reggae music on his guitar. It was really awesome.

Clarification: Only the new students are here now. A few upperclassmen can be seen wandering around, for various reasons, but the campus is by no means full. Everyone else arrives Thursday. I have made friends with just about everyone that's here so far (college and grad students) and have thoroughly enjoyed the first three days here :)

On a side note, unfortunately, I have noticed a few cliques develop within our class. I have also "clicked" with several people, among whom are Theodosi, Gabriel and Sophia, whom I knew before coming to Hellenic. A goal I want to set, though, is to not make the "click" a "clique" and only hang out with the same people all the time. I HAVE FOUR YEARS HERE, DUDE! I can spend as MUCH time with them as I want, but NOT exclude the others...I want to establish deep friendships with all my class- and school-mates and not just a few.

PS - EVERYTHING we do is OPTIONAL (except the OVM Orientation retreat)...this is college, dude! They can't make us do anything...I voluntarily went on the T-Party but I very well could have stayed back on campus. Not being a "seminarian," I don't HAVE to go to church. I don't HAVE to be at meals at a certain time, and I don't HAVE to go to bed at a certain hour. This will take a bit of getting used to, as I am used to high school/GOYA/church events that have a structure and a chaperon has to know your every move :P