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Georgios Paraskevopoulos

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PHILOXENIA: GREEK ORTHODOX EASTER
3/16/2008 3:02:58 AM

PHILOXENIA

GREEK ORTHODOX EASTER
© Georgios Paraskevopoulos

I decided to post this today because of the date differences of the Easter Celebration between Catholics and Orthodox Christians. Every 4th year Easter falls on same date.

2009
Easter Sunday for the Catholicism is at April 12th and for the Orthodoxy at April 19th.

2008
This year the difference is 5 weeks. It happens every fourth year.
The week dated 21-27 of April 2008 is the so called Long Week (Megali Evdomada), the Great Week, which is Easter Week for all Greek Orthodox people. This year the Good Friday is on the 25th of April and the Easter Sunday on the 27th of April 2008.

Anyone that has spent this week in Greece will have noticed that it is the most important holiday of the year.


It is traditions to fast before Easter, meaning that we are not allowed to eat various foods such as meat, butter, milk as well as olive oil for the last few days. Then we will go to a priest for confession, and are so allowed to partake in the Holy Communion.

ΑΙΜΑ ΚΑΙ ΥΔΩΡ - BLOOD AND WATER

In Orthodoxy the Easter celebration begins on Good Friday. People go to the churches to see how the priests and monk's take down the icon of Christ off the cross, wrap it in linen and put it in a great casket covered in flowers symbolizing the tomb of Christ. Then the bier is taken through the town or village, with people lamenting the death of Christ.

A scene from "The Passion of the Christ." The film, produced, written and directed by Mel Gibson, depicts the last 12 hours in the life of Jesus Christ.

Click above for Long Friday Hymns

Late on Saturday evening everyone goes to church, carrying with them unlit candles. At midnight the priest announces the Resurrection of Christ ("Christos Anesti") and lets the people light their candles of the Holy Flame taken from Christ's nativity cave in Jerusalem. As everybody does this fireworks and crackers go off and the dark night is filled with light from the candles. After this, everybody goes home for a meal - the fast is over. If their candles are still burning, a cross is made in the doorway with the soot, to protect the house for the coming year.

On Easter Sunday friends and family gather in homes, eating lamb on the spit and dyed eggs. Before the red eggs are eaten, however, you must crack them against your neighbours and friends and whoever wins by having a whole egg at the end, will get all the luck.


ΕΛΕΗΣΟΝ ΜΕ ΚΥΡΙΕ - ELEΙSON ME KYRIE
LORD HAVE MERCY UPON ME


Click above for a nice psalm

SPIRIT-PASSION-EMOTION-MEDITATION
WHO IS THIS MAN
 
Above: Passion as sang by Ana Fairouz in Arabic
Fairouz from Lebanon in a very clear Arabic viocie
dressed in black and kneed infor Mother Of Life, Holy Virgin
gives us a weel performed Greek Orthodox Hymn in Arabic.

HAPPY EASTER
Georgios
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Georgios Paraskevopoulos

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Re: PHILOXENIA: GREEK ORTHODOX EASTER
3/16/2008 3:04:34 AM

PHILOXENIA

GREEK ORTHODOXY
© Georgios Paraskevopoulos

CHRISTIAN ORTHODOX WORLDWIDE

Above: The Most Famous Christian Cathedral under Muslim Occupation
Click for worldwide Orthodoxy tour

Learn More about The Orthodox Wolrd
Lots of Hymns and Psalms

All Pictures are linke to hymns
Axion Esti -Αξιον Εστι

Most Holy Mother
The Blessed ever-Virgin MAry
The Mother of God, is the "Patron Saint" of the Spiritual Republic of Mt. Athos. In one of the magnificent monasteries there is a huge icon on the Blessed Virgin Mary which has been titled "Axion Esti," meaning 'it is worthy to bless Thee, the Virgin'. This beautiful icon was painted in the seventh century and has since graced the sacred walls of the Cathedral of Mt. Athos.
Hagia Sofia-Holy Wisdom

Tempel for Muslim Shows
Click to Enlarge
Hagia Sofia -Αγια Σοφία

The Center of the Orthodox world and the seat of The Orthodox Patriarchy is Konstantinople. The Greatest Cathedral is Hagia Sofia. It is built on an older Temple of Pallas Athena, Goddess of Wisdom
Today the Turkish Authorities use the Cathedral for  shows and and modeling but liturgies are forbidden. Democray of the Muslim world.
Agion Oros, Macedonia

Now and then
Holy Mt Athos- Αγιον Ορος Άθως

The Holy Mount is a self- governed part of the Greek state, subject to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in its political aspect and to the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinopole as regards its religious aspect.
Meteora, Greece

Click above
Meteora

Meteora is an area in Thessaly, Central Greece. What makes Meteora so special is the monasteries on the top of the rock towers. The monasteries, the amound of peaks to climb and the paths for hiking brings in Meteora the whole year many tourists.
Rocky Meteora
St Gregory, Armenia

Click above
Armenian Orthodox Church

Christianity was declared as state religion for first time in Armenia in AD 301. This was largely due to the efforts of St. Gregory the Illuminator. He converted Armenia's king Tiridates III, who had formerly perse-cuted the Christians. It was St. Gregory who built the Mother Church at Etchmiadzin in AD 303.
Moscow, Russia

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Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church traces its origins to the time of Kievan Rus', the first forerunner of the modern Russian state. In A.D. 988 Prince Vladimir made a variant of Christianity the state religion of Russia. The Golden Age of Kiev. The Russian church was subordinate to the patriarch of Constantinople, seat of the Byzantine Empire.
St Basil, Russia

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 St Basil Moscow
St. Basil's Cathedral was built in the 1550's by Ivan the Terrible to commemorate his victory over the Tartars in Kazan in Central Asia.
The edifice sits proudly on the south end of Red Square in Moscow, Russia. It may look like the architectural equivalent of "too many cooks spoil the broth", but the design succeeds.
Karelia, Finland

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 Finnish Orthodox Church

The Finnish Orthodox Church is autonomous Orthodox church that belongs to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. It has about 60,000 members and is led by Archbishop Leo of Karelia and All Finland.
Bucarest, Romania

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Romanian Orthodox Church
In 1859, the Romanian principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia formed the modern state of Romania. In 1872, the Orthodox churches The Metropolis of Ungrovlachia and The Metropolis of Moldaviadecided to unite to form the Romanian Orthodox Church.
Beograd, Serbia


Click above
St Savva Cathedral, Belgrade
A beautiful white structure just behind Slavija square, especially interesting at Orthodox Easter and Christmas, when loud, enchanting bells are rang and thousands of people gather around it. The cathedral is dedicated to  St Sava founder of the Serbian Orthodox Church and an important figure in medieval Serbia.
Sofia, Bulgaria
Kiev, Ukraina
Jerusalem, Israel
Beirut, Lebanon

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St George Cathedral, Beirut
 

The Greek-Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Georges: Until the recent war in Lebanon this church, built in 1767, was the oldest functioning church in Beirut. The decorations on its walls were lost during the war. The cathedral has recently been restored.
Boston, USA
Addis Abeba, Ethiopia
Cairo, Egypt


Tiblisi, Georgia
Pasion Of Christ

The Imperial Hours

St. George's monastery in Raitho

St. Catherine's monastery, Sinai, Egypt.
Holy Week 2007 from The Imperial Hours - Holy Friday Morning.
Father Arsenios & Issa Makdessi
He Is Risen
Ravanica, Serbia

Click above
The Ravanica Monastery
The Ravanica church is the first monument of the Morava School of the Serbian medieval art. Its ground plan has the form of an enlarged trefoil with a nine-sided dome in the middle and four smaller octagonal domes above the corner bays. There are 62 window lights. Valuable ceramic decoration makes use of geometrical patterns, floral motifs, zoomorphic and athropomorphic shapes.

To be updated
THE VATICAN
CENTRE FOR THE CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN WORLD

St Peter's Square in Vatican

Click above - Vatican Good Thursday Mass

The indigenous St Peter's Basilica, nowadays forgotten, was constructed by will of Emperor Constantine around 320 AD in the area where Saint Peter had been martyrized (together with other Christians) close to the circus of Nero that, in fact, rose in the vicinity. For about thousand years the Basilica grew and got enriched, but it was also theatre of pillage in the barbarian hordes.

The first repair and enlargement intervention was ordered in the middle of the 15th century by pope Niccolo V, who entrusted Leon Battista Alberti and his helper Bernardo Rossellino. Later pope Giulio II charged Bramante who in 1506 demolished the old Saint Peter's Basilica planning a new one with a Greek cross plan. But at the time of the death of both pope and architect only the central pillars had been constructed.

AGNUS DEI © Michael W Smith

Blessed be the Lamb of God, who was, and is, and is to come. He is exhalted above all nations, none can stand against Him, none can comprehend His glory and His majesty. He is perfect in all His ways. To Him be all praise and glory. May He who is merciful beyond all measure be glorified and magnified forever and ever. Amen.


Click above

INTERVIEW WITH GOD

Click above (Russian Version)

Kindly regards,
Georgios
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Georgios Paraskevopoulos

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Re: PHILOXENIA: GREEK ORTHODOX EASTER
3/16/2008 3:33:05 AM
ΜΕΤΕΩΡΑ - METEORA

Meteora, Greece

Click above
Meteora

is an area in Thessaly, Central Greece. What makes Meteora so special is the monasteries on the top of the rock towers. The monasteries, the amound of peaks to climb and the paths for hiking brings in Meteora the whole year many tourists.

Meteora means ‘suspended in air’ the name Meteora soon came to encompass the entire rock community of 24 monasteries. There were no steps and the main access to the monasteries was by means of a net that was hitched over a hook and hoisted up by rope and a hand cranked windlass to winch towers overhanging the chasm. Monks descended in the nets or on retractable wooden ladders up to 40m long to the fertile valleys below to grow grapes, corn and potatoes. Each community developed its own resources and by the end of the 14th century, the Grand Meteoron emerged as the dominant community. Its wealth included landed estates, flocks of sheep, and herds of cattle.

Monastery of the Holy Trinity

Click above
A turist attraction - Sounds and Pictures from Meteora

HAPPY EASTER
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Georgios Paraskevopoulos

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5965 Posts
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Person Of The Week
Re: PHILOXENIA: GREEK ORTHODOX EASTER
3/16/2008 4:07:51 AM
AXION ESTI - ΑΞΙΟΝ ΕΣΤΙ
"It is worthy to be"
Axion Esti -Αξιον Εστι

Most Holy Mother
The Blessed ever-Virgin Mary
The Mother of God, is the "Patron Saint" of the Spiritual Republic of Mt. Athos. In one of the magnificent monasteries there is a huge icon on the Blessed Virgin Mary which has been titled "Axion Esti," meaning 'it is worthy to bless Thee, the Virgin'. This beautiful icon was painted in the seventh century and has since graced the sacred walls of the Cathedral of Mt. Athos.

From the WebSite
Miraculous Icon of Axion Esti

© Fr G. Poulos

On June 11, 980A.D. as a group of monks were conducting an all-night vigil before the icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary, they suddenly noticed a monk standing on the right of the icon whom they did not recognise at all. He was unknown to the monks, and no one could explain his abrupt presence. This unidentified monk began to chant the beautiful hymn written by St. Cosmas, but rather began with the words "Axion Esti os Alethos Makarizin Se Tin Theotokon" which means "It is very meet to bless Thee, Theotokos the ever blessed and most pure Virgin and Mother of God." The monk then explained to the others that he was the Arch- angel Gabriel and that these words should be added to the hymn. The Arch-angel then vanished from their sight, leaving the monks amazed at the power of God. Since that day on June 11, 980 A.D. the additional words to the hymn of St. Cosmas have been sung by all Orthodox Christians around the world. The icon of the Blessed Mother Axion Esti is still venerated today in the Cathedral of Mt. Athos.

"It is meet indeed to bless Thee, the ever-blessed and most pure and Mother of our God. Thee that art more honourable than the Cherubim, and incomparably more glorious than the Seraphim, who without spot of sin didst bear God the Word; Thee, verily the Mother of God, we magnify"

The miraculous Icon

Click for the Hymn-Psalmody "AXION ESTI"

Happy Easter
Georgios

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Georgios Paraskevopoulos

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Re: PHILOXENIA: GREEK ORTHODOX EASTER
3/16/2008 4:36:36 AM
Hagia Sofia -Άγια Σοφία

Hagia Sofia-Holy Wisdom

Tempel for Muslim Shows
Hagia Sofia -Αγια Σοφία

The Center of the Orthodox world and the seat of The Orthodox Patriarchy is Konstantinople. The Greatest Cathedral is Hagia Sofia. It is built on an older Temple of Pallas Athena, Goddess of Wisdom. Today Turkish Authorities use the Cathedral for  shows and modeling but liturgies are forbidden. Democray of the Muslim world.

A fast translation of the Hymn

0h Champion General, I your city now inscribe to you
Triumphant anthems as the token of my gratitude,
Being rescued from the terrors, 0h Theotokos.
Inasmuch as you have power unassailable
From all kinds of perils free me so that unto you
I may cry aloud, Rejoice, 0 unwedded Bride.



Hagia Sophia was rebuilt in her present form between 532 and 537 under the personal supervision of Emperor Justinian I.


The Patriarchy in Constantinople
Click for Sunday of Orthodoxy

It is one of the greatest surviving examples of Byzantine architecture, rich with mosaics and marble pillars and coverings. After completion, Justinian is said to have exclaimed, Νενίκηκά σε Σολομών ("Solomon, I have outdone thee!").

The architects of the church were Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles, who were professors of geometry at the University of Constantinople.

Georgios
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