Pilgrimage to the Holy Land

One week ago today, my dad and I made our first pilgrimage to Jerusalem, while my mom and Pelagia stayed here with the babies. We left early Tuesday morning on a flight to Athens, and then underwent an extremely thorough screening process by the Israeli airline to board a flight for Tel Aviv. From Tel Aviv, we took a shuttle to Jerusalem, which dropped us off at the Damascus Gate into the Old City, and we were in our little hostel by 2 PM (Jerusalem is actually in the same time zone as Greece). Above you can see me carrying our bags down toward the Damascus Gate.

Damascus Gate leads right into the heart of the Muslim Quarter, which was where our hostel was located (and less than 5 minutes walk from the Holy Sepulchre). The photo above was our first impression as we stepped into the Old City -- i.e., total chaos. People were swarming everywhere, minarets were blasting a Muslim prayer, and I was trying to figure out which of the labyrinthine alleys to take to get to our hostel.

After dropping off our bags at the hostel, our first destination was, of course, the Holy Sepulchre. Above, you can see my standing in the courtyard outside the entrance to the Church. Several things struck me here -- first, like everything else in the Old City, it's actually somewhat difficult to find. Second, it is simply flooded with tourists, some of whom have a spiritual interest, others not. Third, the inside of the Church, like the streets of the Old City, is a complicated mess.

The central piece, of course, is the cave itself, which is covered by what appears to be a small house (see above). Originally, it seems, there was here a series of tombs dug into rock. When St. Constantine's mother, St. Helena, visited Jerusalem in the early 4th century and began establishing the city as Christian, St. Constantine's architects, in an engineering feat, cut away the rest of the rock and isolated Christ's tomb. They then built the Church around it. Today, opposite the tomb, stands the main church within the church, which is the Orthodox church. All around, however, in every conceivable nook and cranny, are chapels belonging to the Roman Catholics, the Coptics, etc.

Above, my dad is walking inside the Orthodox church directly opposite the tomb in which Christ was buried and rose again.

Here you can see the line circling around Christ's tomb. Clergy from the Orthodox Church, and representatives of the various Christian factions, take turns controlling the flow of traffic into the entrance of the tomb. As a priest, I was fortunate to be allowed to bypass the line and go immediately to venerate inside the small cave. My dad and I were given about 2 minutes to pray before someone yelled for us to hurry it up.

Surprisingly close, up a flight of stairs in one part of the Church, we came to Golgotha, the place on which Christ was crucified. The Orthodox have a chapel on the spot, with glass covering the actual rock. The altar, as you see in the photo above, stands over the spot where Christ was crucified. When not in use, the antimension and all the altar vessels are, of course, taken away and stored (given all the tourists who have no regard for such things), and the people then crawl underneath the altar to venerate the site of the Crucifixion.

Coming out of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and being somewhat dazed and confused by the whole experience, I noticed a sign in the courtyard for a Metochion of Gethsemane. Looking up the narrow staircase, I saw a Greek flag, so I decided to walk up and see what I could find.

There we ran into two nuns and few devout Greek laypeople (see above), who were happy to show inside the Metochion's small chapel, which housed the icon of the Panagia that they carry around the Holy Sepulchre during the procession for the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos on August 15/28 (see photo below).

The abbess, Gerontissa Melania, was a Greek who grew up in Australia. Her English was a welcome relief for my dad, and she was extremely helpful and kind to us. She suggested we meet her the next morning inside the Patriarchate for Liturgy with the Patriarch, and then showed us how to find the Patriarchate. On the way, we ran headfirst into a procession of strangely dressed Catholics, and then, near the Patriarchate, we ran into the abbot of the Orthodox monastery located at the tomb of the Theotokos (see above).

After seeing where the Patriarchate was and taking our leave from Gerontissa Melania, my dad and I made our way to a recommended restaurant in the Armenian Quarter, and had some very good and interesting Armenian food.

Stay tuned for more posts about our eventful trip. For more photos from the first day, click here.

Christmas with My Parents and the Babies

Well, my parents arrived last Monday, December 21, to see their grandchildren (and us too, I suppose). :)

In the days just before they arrived, Pelagia had her hands full, so to speak (see above).

Here, Paul is signing a Christmas card to his godfather, Paris. He actually made a big scribble mark on the bottom.

My parents were the latest to join us for the daily afternoon walk ritual. Here, my dad carries Phoebe on his back.

And here Benjamin is all smiles with his mother.

Here we are at the cemetery, a favorite place to walk to in Panorama.

On another walk to the post office one morning, my mom carried Phoebe.

In the week leading up to Christmas, the babies got to try solid foods for the first time. Their first food was pumpkin. They all really liked it.

Benjamin loves being upside down.

Here Benjamin is getting a bath from my mom.

On Christmas day, we had an early morning liturgy (6:00-9:30 AM), as is the parish custom here in Greece, and then we celebrated the feast with our dear friends and neighbors the Lillies. Here, the babies are all seated for lunch in the Lillies living room. On Christmas day they got to try their second food, carrots.

James Lillie turned a party favor crown into something that fit little Phoebe -- and went with her Christmas dress.

Here we are enjoying the feast. At left, the Lillies son, John, holds his new spiritual brother, Benjamin.

Here the babies are opening their Christmas presents.

The weather was beautiful this weekend -- highs around 70 -- so Saturday we headed downtown with Paris to take a walk around Aristotle Square. Here, Phoebe is enjoying herself in the stroller.

We stopped for a coffee near the waterfront. Here, Paris holds his godson Paul, while my dad holds Phoebe. Paul, meanwhile, had become really interested in one of Phoebe's shoe, and was here chewing on it.

A family portrait in Aristotle Square.

Near Egnatia, a temporary ice rink was set up. Here, Paris and Paul take in the action.

For more photos, click here, here, here, and here.

Babies!

Today, I celebrated two years since my fateful ordination to the diaconate by celebrating the Divine Liturgy with some of the kids at the Apostle Paul school. I thought I'd extend the celebration to you all on the blog by putting up something besides my appeal for money. :)

Above is a photo from last week of our Greek yiayia (grandma) and landlady Kyria Maria holding the two peanuts -- Benjamin (left) and Phoebe (right).

On Sunday afternoon, our Serbian friend Maya came again to help out with the babies. The weather was nice, so we headed out on our afternoon walk. As soon as we got outside, we could hear that there was a soccer game up in the woods above our house, so we walked up there first. Above, you can see Maya cuddling Phoebe in her cute purple monster outfit.

Here Pelagia and Paul are watching the game.

With the boys.

Phoebe and Maya swinging, as another Serbian friend of ours, Branislav, looks on.

Branislav feeding Paul at bedtime.

Since Rebecca left, our neighbor Ann has been helping out a lot with the babies. Here she is with the boys.

This is one of those photos that would make a good album cover when they come out with a record.

Phoebe.

Phoebe playing with a big teddy-bear that Paris' parents gave the babies a couple week ago.

The babies got to practice sitting in a high chair this week. They're not actually eating anything -- just chewing on spoons. Here it was Phoebe's turn.

For more photos, click here and here.

"Monetizing"

Well, once again it's that time of year in which I try to "monetize" this blog by appealing to you for a gift to the tax-deductible "Seminary Fund" which helps support my studies here in Greece.

Even though we are not in the US at the moment, we are aware of the economic strain, which has also affected Europe. So we know that it is even more difficult now than usual to ask for financial support.

Nevertheless, we are making this appeal to you to help support our goal, which is for me to finish my studies here in Greece and return to the US to serve the Church there.

There are several ways you can help. First, you can make a tax-deductible donation by writing a check to: "Holy Cross Orthodox Church" (please write "Seminary Fund" in the note field). It can be mailed to: Holy Cross Orthodox Church, Attn: Maria Meals, 706 Stewart Street, Yakima, WA 98902-4473.

Second, you can make a donation right now via Paypal by clicking on this link.

Third, you can support my studies by purchasing one of the books I need from the following list.

Alternatively, you can check out the wishlist that Pelagia has put together for the babies, if you just want to get the cute triplets a Christmas present. :)

Thank you for indulging this plea. It's tedious to write, but unfortunately it is necessary, and it helps me justify the time I spend updating the blog the rest of the year. :)

God bless you, and may we all complete a fruitful Lenten (Advent) season.

Farewell, Rebecca!

Well, Pelagia's spiritual sister, Rebecca, who has been living with us the last two months or so, left today to return to the US. So we're a little short-handed around here until my parents arrive later this month. Fortunately, we have great neighbors and the people from the parish help out a lot.

As a final tribute to Rebecca, here are a couple of nice photos with her and the babies. Above, she's with "the peanuts," as I call them, Benjamin and Phoebe. Below she is with Paul.

After Liturgy on Monday morning for St. Andrew the First-Called, I went downtown to the Theology School to do some things in the library.

Thessaloniki is building its own subway, and one of the first stops that they're building is actually right in front of the Theology School. Of course, this project has been going on for years, and there's no end in sight. Why? Well, every time they dig, they run into some ancient archaeological monument. I hate when that happens! :)

I took the two photos above from the top floor of the Theology School. You can see that the workers have hit on something, and they've had to slow down and dig carefully around the ruins. If I had to guess what it was, I would say the circular bit could possibly have been a baptistery, and the walls (above it in the photos) could be part of a church?

On the Waterfront in Peraia

Sunday was another beautiful day -- sunny with highs in the mid-60s -- so we went with Paris on another outing to the waterfront. This time, we went a bit further east to Peraia.

Restaurants and cafes had tables and seating out on the beach like it was summer -- and it was the end of November! (Unfortunately, starting yesterday, the weather cooled down a bit, and I think the days of highs in the 60s are behind us for awhile.)

Above, you can Pelagia taking Benjamin out to the water.

We also walked out on the long pier. Here, Benjamin is sitting at the end of the pier, with Peraia in the background.

To Pelagia's right, you can see Panorama in the background, stretching up the hill. Thessaloniki is just outside the photo to the left.

The boys are enjoying the sunset over Peraia.

Here's Phoebe grabbing a handful of wet sand.

We then stopped for a quick coffee on the beach, and the babies got to hang out on the sand.

For more photos, click here.