St. Euphrosynos Taverna and Ouzeri 44 (6)

prodromos said:

Wow,
I just came across this and am incredibly impressed. For any of you who keep bees and don't already know about it, check it out.
They recently started a Kickstarter crowd funding effort to raise $70,000 for tools in their factory, and instead raised over $12 million, as well as receiving orders for 24,000 bee hives.

Just awesome!

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That is really cool!!

I definitely need Vespers on Wednesday. When the extrovert is drained by being around people ... it's been a long, long weekend/early week.

made me smile I must say

http://www.refinery29.com/2015/10/9...book.com&utm_medium=politicspost#.v4oyh9:MKVx

Just home and oh boy I could do a really superb rant about things liturgical this morning

Suffice it to say










ARGH !!

Anhelyna said:

Just home and oh boy I could do a really superb rant about things liturgical this morning

Suffice it to say










ARGH !!

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That bad, eh?

Anhelyna said:

Just home and oh boy I could do a really superb rant about things liturgical this morning

Suffice it to say
ARGH !!

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Sounds like it is time you spent a few days in a monastery so you can bask in the beautiful order, where everything just flows beautifully from beginning to end and everyone knows exactly what to say and do when and where they are supposed to. I can't imagine what went on to make you feel this way, and I certainly hope you don't have to go through it again any time soon.

John - me too

I need to go and visit Fr Confessor - 48 hours with him will sort me out

Oh he's not an ogre He's a good friend as well - just a trifle far away

Anhelyna said:

Oh he's not an ogre He's a good friend as well - just a trifle far away

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I was laughing about the 48 hours. When we've had issues it is usually sorted after 30 minutes with Father. I can't begin to imagine what would need 48 hrs

Time to fly over to him He's in another country - not the UK

I hope things get better!

I am thankful to have made it to Church today. I sat out of the choir though, as I am croaking like a frog right now. I must do something about my immune system if I'm going to keep my job.

I thought it would be a blessing though - iirc it's been about three months since I sat in the congregation when the choir was singing. It is a tremendous experience, so I was looking forward to it. Well ............. Lord have mercy. I'm sorry to say, it was the worst, by far, I've ever heard them. A mistake here and there - a little one - is normal. Today, there were many. Too many it count. I watched the chanters wince. I don't know what was wrong. There were only a few up there - I'm not the only one who is sick. The choir director was there. Even Father started singing from inside the altar - he will usually do whatever is necessary to correct and get things on track. But anyway ...

I tried to just deal with my disappointment and appreciate the Liturgy anyway. There were some other challenges to that, but it's good practice, right?

(Also, we had first-time visitors who are interested in the Church and have been coming to lectures about the faith. I felt badly about that.)

I will say something though. This might sound unbelievable. I don't think my husband believed me. Around the time of the cherubic hymn, EVERYthing changed. I almost think maybe it was my ears? But no more mistakes, and suddenly the choir sounded full, and the sound was awe-inspiring, as usual.

Anyway, thank God. It was much easier to focus on the Liturgy after that. And as always, the Eucharist is there. Bible study starts again this week. And beginning next week, we have two Liturgies most weeks.

And hopefully I can get rid of the frogginess soon and sing along with the choir next week.

Kylissa said:

I will say something though. This might sound unbelievable. I don't think my husband believed me. Around the time of the cherubic hymn, EVERYthing changed. I almost think maybe it was my ears? But no more mistakes, and suddenly the choir sounded full, and the sound was awe-inspiring, as usual.

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I have heard others make mention of this, so you are not alone

prodromos said:

I have heard others make mention of this, so you are not alone

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Thank you, Prodromos.

It was a pretty amazing difference and I'm not prone to imagining dramatics. I tend not to believe my own eyes/ears when unusual things happen.

But this was unmistakeable. I'm glad it's not unheard-of!

I hate it when the priest tries to "help" from the altar!

gzt said:

I hate it when the priest tries to "help" from the altar!

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That's the first time I can remember him doing that with the choir.

Father is very talented at chanting, and normally only does that when there is no chanter, or when someone makes a mistake or fails to supply something.

It's not discordant, or a "power struggle" or anything. Just a sign that things are seriously lacking or in error.

Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

gzt said:

Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

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Yes, of course I'm not familiar with it from any other priest. And it's pretty rare in our Liturgy. Our priest has several areas of his own particular talent, according to the parishioners who have known many priests and are much more able to compare than I am. But apparently his skill in the liturgy is very impressive to them. (It's too bad many of them don't know what a good Confessor he is, but I'm told they are a bit uncomfortable given that he came from the parish as a much younger man and this isn't usually done in our jurisdiction.)

All I know is that I really love the Liturgy in our parish.

I can imagine it could be a mess if not well done. But I've not heard that. It may also be, since we have only one priest and no deacon, Father has to do EVERYthing in the Liturgy, so he's certainly not looking to add "extra parts" and takes things only as a very necessary corrective. I've actually seen him let minor things go, or adjust something like the parts he's currently doing in Greek or English to accommodate mistakes made by the chanter, for example.

Our choir had been without a director since the first of the year. Our choir is small, but most of us have been in it a long time so we know the music and the service well. But we aren't music majors or great sight readers and we can't always start on the right pitch, so even though things go along swimmingly for awhile, all of a sudden we'll start wrong and the rest of the hymn just falls apart. I can only imagine how it sounds to the rest of the congregation. But thanks be to God, our Matushka agreed to be our director (in spite of having young children to look after!), and as soon as she started directing everything improved. She keeps us on pitch and in time, and improves our phrasing, and everything else! It's amazing what a good director can do.

Mary