All Greek to me...

This morning I found myself at St. George's Greek Orthodox Church in Ocean, NJ (that's Exit 100 off the Parkway). We were invited to come and receive a check from the proceeds of their annual Greek Festival held last year so, as the designated "church lady", I was asked if I could attend. Yes!


I'd only been to one Greek Orthodox service several years ago in a short search for "Do-I-belong-in-another-church". All I could remember was that it was long and the communion bread was huge. I checked the website for St. George's and it had a list of "Etiquette" for the service. In short, don't be late, don't get up during (meaning, go to the bathroom prior to), and stand when you're supposed to. I posted on Facebook about communion, not sure if the Orthodox follow the same protocol as the Catholics=you don't partake unless you are Catholic...I received no response. I remember that before I did not go forward but the co-worker with whom I attended brought me back a piece of bread...not sure if that was kosher or not.


I arrived early, wanting to find a bathroom so I wouldn't be miserable during the service. The building was gorgeous--really beautiful--and as I approached I heard the chanting of the cantors...in Greek. In the narthex it was reverent and still, a few official folks greeting. I smelled incense. I asked where the bathroom was and was directed. I found my contact person and she said she'd bring me to the front row once the priest was finished (vespers were going on). In a cloud of incense and continued chanting I followed my contact to the front row. She deposited me there and said, "Just stand when people stand and sit when people sit. There are a few other organizations that will be coming and I will join you later". Okay.


The 3 cantors were likely in their 80's. They chanted away, sometimes solo, sometimes with one or both doing a low "hummmmmmmmmmmm" underneath the main one...all in Greek. I had no clue what they were saying. They could have been saying, "Glory to God in the highest" or "I want a pot roast and potatoes for dinner"...it was all Greek to me.


A few others joined me. Once the service began, I was front and center in the first row by the aisle. I took a peek at the congregation=everyone was dressed to the 9's, no child was out of line, no phones were out, and every women under the age of 40 was no more that 5 feet fall. We were entering into Divine Liturgy. We stood...a lot. The choir sang...a lot...in Greek. I had no clue what was going on. There were a bunch of young Greek boys that kept going into the "Holy of Holies" (if you will--it's the designated area where the altar is, similar to Jewish culture)...a bunch of shaking of bells and fuming of incense...Stand up, sit down, a lot of venerating and crossing of self (in patterns of 3, I discerned). guys kept coming up and putting lit candles on the altar. The young woman next to me from another agency didn't have a clue either.


Thank God a gracious woman sitting behind us introduced herself and encouraged us to follow along in the liturgy book. We tried. 99% of the service was in Greek and even though there were translations in the book, the priest and cantors kept skipping around. An older woman directly behind me kept poking me, "We're on page 14!" "He skipped to page 28!" so we could follow along.


Finally, there was a "sermon" or "homily" or whatever they call it in the Orthodox faith. This was after readings (in Greek and English) and the presentation of the Eucharist in all it's glory. It seemed like that was the shortest part of the service (and thankfully we were able to sit for that--I did remember to wear flats from my last experience).


Communion time came. The priest made it clear that if you were not baptized into the Orthodox faith you were not welcomed to participate. Hmmmm. I got the up close view of communion--each person coming to the front, thrusting their face under a cloth held by 2 altar boys (if that's what they call them), and the priest dishing out a little wine soaked piece of bread to the parishioner....all the same "spoon"...then each person left, got their hunk of bread from another altar boy, and went back to their seat. It took about 15 minutes and was amazing to watch.


I decided I would not check the time. I figured I'd been there for about 90 minutes so far ( I was right, it turns out). Then there was a commissioning of the new council and the presentations to the non-profits. I went up front to receive our check. Yay. People took pictures which seemed very out of place given all the reverence of the preceeding hour+.


Then we were dismissed and we attended the "coffee hour". Our host kept encouraging me to, "Eat! EAT!" which I refused, confessing a huge breakfast (an orange) and lunch plans (Eh...) She joked that they (Greeks) were like Italians in this way, wanting everyone to eat eat EAT (thank God, I'm not Greek or Italian!). Afterwards, the priest took us into the chapel where he pointed out some specific icons and the history of the Orthodox Church. Example--in the icon I posted above, Jesus is clothed in red and blue, whereas when you see Mary in traditional iconography you'll see her in blue then red. The red=royal, the blue=worldly. Thus, Jesus was first "royal" (=deity) and then made man where Mary was the opposite. Interesting.


What struck me most about this experience was when the priest said that the service/style of worship dated back to the 6th century. Father Steve used to tell me that if Jesus were to arrive today and go to an Orthodox service, it would be familiar to Him but go to any other service He might be like, "WHAT!???" It did give me pause.


As I zoomed back down the Parkway I contemplated all this. It was a lovely church filled with lovely people. Many women slid up to me during the coffee hour to give me a hug and say, "Congratulations!" for being the recipient of the money they gave. The service seemed very reverent and "holy", if you will.  The older woman in the pew behind me knew every work of the liturgy in both Greek and English and sang/chanted/spoke with gusto. Not something you see/hear everyday in my church, at least.


I didn't NOT like it. It was nice and refreshing to be among a group of people where worship was taken seriously, people dressed, and protocol was followed out of reverence (or so it seemed). But...it was all Greek to me. I had no clue what they were saying half the time and didn't get a whole lot out of the service overall. But there was something about the reverence of it all...I typically show up at my church in a tee shirt and jeans, which is "normal" and pretty much expected. but this was different. There was "something"...something.


I have no desire to become Orthodox...but this experience did make me think a bit about how we approach worship, what IS worship, and how do we come to a Sunday service...At my church (and to state--I LOVE my church--we do great stuff and folks are being saved) we don't say the Lord's Prayer, we haven't taken communion as a body in over 15 years ( to my recollection)...I take a bit of exception to that...a BIT...I always find it refreshing when I attend a Catholic service (which has many roots within the Orthodox faith) and am able to participate in these things...Liturgy...ritual for a purpose...I was raised in the Presbyterian church where we had the Doxology and the Gloria Patri and other "expected" parts of worship.


We shall see what may come of this experience...perhaps I'll decide to "dress" to go and worship or go early and practice my own "chanting" of a Psalm or Proverb...all I know about today was that it was all Greek to me...but it did touch a nerve....or piece of my spirit...