St. Euphrosynos Taverna and Ouzeri 38

HandmaidenOfGod said:

Howdy everyone!

So, how many clergymen does it take to serve an Orthodox Liturgy?

Answer: 2 Bishops, and Archmandrite, 6 Priests, and 8 acolytes! (And a partridge in a pear tree!)

Yep, we were clergy heavy today!

As the Archangel Michael is the patron saint of the Atlanta Greek Orthodox Diocese, and yesterday was his feast day, we had a HUGE heirarchal liturgy today!

I was impressed though, we got it done in 2 hrs, which isn't bad for a heirarchal liturgy IMHO. I've seen some take as long as 2 1/2 hours with just one bishop!!

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Only eight acolytes? And no sub-deacons?


What kind of madness is this!?

HandmaidenOfGod said:

Howdy everyone!

So, how many clergymen does it take to serve an Orthodox Liturgy?

Answer: 2 Bishops, and Archmandrite, 6 Priests, and 8 acolytes! (And a partridge in a pear tree!)

Yep, we were clergy heavy today!

As the Archangel Michael is the patron saint of the Atlanta Greek Orthodox Diocese, and yesterday was his feast day, we had a HUGE heirarchal liturgy today!

I was impressed though, we got it done in 2 hrs, which isn't bad for a heirarchal liturgy IMHO. I've seen some take as long as 2 1/2 hours with just one bishop!!

Click to expand...

Was Metropolitan Alexios there? I LOVE his voice when he chants.
The times that I've seen him (when I lived in Florida), I was always been drawn to him....with his round face and white hair/beard...and such a deep chanting voice.

His Eminance, ArchBishop Alexios was there, and he does have a wonderful chanting voice. I later asked for his blessing for the new singles group I'm starting. He does have a very warm persona. It was the first time I had ever spoken to him.

There were no sub-deacons, as I've been told the Greeks view them the same as acolytes, so apparantly doesn't ordain anyone a sub-deacon, and I've also been told the Greeks aren't big on Deacons either. Don't know why.

But I don't think they would have been able to fit anyone else in the sacristy today! lol

Having come from a Slavic background in Orthodoxy, I'm still getting used to how the Greeks do everything BIG. It's quite fun actually!

HandmaidenOfGod said:

His Eminance, ArchBishop Alexios was there, and he does have a wonderful chanting voice. I later asked for his blessing for the new singles group I'm starting. He does have a very warm persona. It was the first time I had ever spoken to him.

There were no sub-deacons, as I've been told the Greeks view them the same as acolytes, so apparantly doesn't ordain anyone a sub-deacon, and I've also been told the Greeks aren't big on Deacons either. Don't know why.

But I don't think they would have been able to fit anyone else in the sacristy today! lol

Having come from a Slavic background in Orthodoxy, I'm still getting used to how the Greeks do everything BIG. It's quite fun actually!

Click to expand...

Very cool.

Next time if you look you will find that most Greek Acolytes are vested as subdeacons. I figured that out after look at pics of Altar-boys from a russian church and noticed they didn't have an orarion. I asked on one of the boards and found out that the the orarion and the way it is tied in most parishes I've been to, is actually the prescription for the vestment of a subdeacon.

It's also true about the deacons. I had actually never seen a deacon until a few years ago when Archbishop Demtrios came to our parish and he had a deacon with him.

HandmaidenOfGod said:

His Eminance, ArchBishop Alexios was there, and he does have a wonderful chanting voice. I later asked for his blessing for the new singles group I'm starting. He does have a very warm persona. It was the first time I had ever spoken to him.

There were no sub-deacons, as I've been told the Greeks view them the same as acolytes, so apparantly doesn't ordain anyone a sub-deacon, and I've also been told the Greeks aren't big on Deacons either. Don't know why.

But I don't think they would have been able to fit anyone else in the sacristy today! lol

Having come from a Slavic background in Orthodoxy, I'm still getting used to how the Greeks do everything BIG. It's quite fun actually!

Click to expand...

I remember the first time I heard him chant....I was looking around to see who that huge voice was coming from.

Greg the byzantine said:

Very cool.

Next time if you look you will find that most Greek Acolytes are vested as subdeacons. I figured that out after look at pics of Altar-boys from a russian church and noticed they didn't have an orarion. I asked on one of the boards and found out that the the orarion and the way it is tied in most parishes I've been to, is actually the prescription for the vestment of a subdeacon.

It's also true about the deacons. I had actually never seen a deacon until a few years ago when Archbishop Demtrios came to our parish and he had a deacon with him.

Click to expand...

I know the acolytes are vested as sub-deacons, but this is different from Slavic tradition. In the Slavic tradition, acolytes and subdeacons are two different ranks and vested differently. From what I understand in the Greek tradition, despite their vesting, the acolytes are not ordained as sub-deacons.

HandmaidenOfGod said:

I know the acolytes are vested as sub-deacons, but this is different from Slavic tradition. In the Slavic tradition, acolytes and subdeacons are two different ranks and vested differently. From what I understand in the Greek tradition, despite their vesting, the acolytes are not ordained as sub-deacons.

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Yeah they aren't ordained. The minor-clergy aren't emphasized in the Greek Tradition. I actually like that the slavic traditions still preserve the different ranks of minor-clergy, I think it allows people to be more involved.

Hi all!

Greg the byzantine said:

It's also true about the deacons. I had actually never seen a deacon until a few years ago when Archbishop Demtrios came to our parish and he had a deacon with him.

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We have an archpriest and a protodeacon which sounds even cooler.

We had the feast of St Nectarios on Sunday and for Great Vespers we had the Bishop and at least 10 priests I think, one of them an Archimandrite (my priest!), a deacon, acolyte Andrew (vested as a subdeacon ), about six altar boys and way too many people.

The next day we had the Bishop again + three priests, an archimandrite and a deacon and even more people. It was insane - we had to kick people out the door in order to have the processions pass through. The minute the procession had passed the gaps were filled back in again - AND there were seats outside full, as many as possible. Insane!

We had so much fun.

Emmanuel-A said:

We have an archpriest and a protodeacon which sounds even cooler.

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What language is your DL in?

-Kyriaki- said:

We had the feast of St Nectarios on Sunday and for Great Vespers we had the Bishop and at least 10 priests I think, one of them an Archimandrite (my priest!), a deacon, acolyte Andrew (vested as a subdeacon ), about six altar boys and way too many people.

The next day we had the Bishop again + three priests, an archimandrite and a deacon and even more people. It was insane - we had to kick people out the door in order to have the processions pass through. The minute the procession had passed the gaps were filled back in again - AND there were seats outside full, as many as possible. Insane!

We had so much fun.

Click to expand...

That is a wonderful "problem" to have

Have you ever been to the Serbian monestary near Sydney?

It is a wonderful problem

And no, one day God willing. I'm headed to the Greek monastery near Melbourne in December though with a bunch of people from my parish. Father keeps trying to get us to go to the Greek monastery near Sydney 'cause it's his home. One day, maybe

I'm back from the beach!

Two wonderful stories from me, one of them scary.. Scary one first:

I was driving to the beach on friday (takes about 3.5 hours to get there). It was very dark outside by the time I got into the 2nd hour or so of the drive, there weren't many people around me for a good distance and the interstate isn't lit by any kind of light poles. I'm driving along, trying to pray, and a bumper of a car from an accident appears in the middle of the road in front of me. It covered the ENTIRE LANE I was in. I slammed on the brakes, swerved to my left (I was in the right lane) and started spinning like crazy. I ended up spinning 180 degrees and in the median. No one hit me, no damage to the car (the median was unblocked at that portion of the road). After calming down and coming to the realization I could drive the car fine, I got out of the median and continued on my way. I stopped at the nearest exit and checked the car from top to bottom for damage but couldn't find a thing wrong with it. Mary has protected me from danger through her prayers. The Lord is truly gracious, Glory to God! If there was anyone around me, if the situation were a little bit different, I could've been killed. Glory to God, who delivers us from dangers and grants us rest!

Second story:
I was in Divine Liturgy (before the service) on Sunday at the beach, thanking God and my Lady for protecting me during the trip, and I hear "Marcus?" beside me. I turn around and see this guy with a beard I can't seem to place. It turns out this was a guy that went to DL at the same church I went to in Columbus. He's off at St. Vlads to discern his calling right now, taking classes and such. It so turns out that he gets off this week for the OCA conference and came down for a pitstop at the beach! I was over joyed to see him, we got to eat lunch together and I marveled at the Lord's timing. I haven't seen or heard from him in months since he went to seminary, and this probably the one time I'll get to see him till only God knows when. It was truly a miraculous weekend, and one that deserves reflection and praise. Glory to God who grants wonderful blessings.

When Bishop BENJAMIN was in town last year to consecrate a church, it was one bishop, somewhere between eight and ten priests, two or three deacons, three sub-deacons, a handful of acolytes and waaaaaaaaaay too many people!

Those who were lucky were right up close in the nave. The rest of the riff-raff, like me , had to resort to crowding the narthex. I remember having one foot on a stair, another on the floor and at most seeing just the bishop's head!

When Metropolitan KALLISTOS (Ware) was in Seattle, the Greek parish had him speak in their parish house which was fully equipped with a stage and sound system. Again, those who were lucky had actual chairs on the floor or were standing all around the chairs. While the rest of the riff-raff, again like me , crowded the mezzanine that went around a part of the room. The lucky ones there had chairs while the rest stood or lay on the floor.

Good times!

Barky, Thank God you are okay... The Lord and Theotokos were with you indeed....180 degrees turn...wow you could have been killed... ...

praise the Lord!!!
Hey Kristos what's up?
Hey Kyriaki is it summer over there yet??? Lucky guys to have summer....I will visit you for the season...haha...!!! are you close to the beach ??

Hey EC how are ya? How is school going ?

School is going well. The quarter ends in about a month and I register for Winter Quarter sometime next week.

I'm going to take all morning classes this time. Our priest is thinking of starting an OCF at the parish which would meet on Sundays (who'da thunk it?). So I figure if I take no evening classes I have more weight on asking Sundays off from work next quarter.
They only have me scheduled twenty hours a week which is just fine by me.

oh...okay. We have Tuesday mornings Liturgy here for OCF and Thursday I think Bible study meetings. The liturgy is way too early 7:30 am so that they are done by 9:15 to go to classes... A really nice idea for those who work on Sundays.

That is good then only 20 hours not bad at all... are you still busing tables though? Hope you are not a dishwasher still...

Say a prayer for me all! Tonight is the inaugural meeting of Orthodox Young Professionals!