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The implications of music in the liturgical life of the Church

I will praise the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.(Ps 146:2)

Like with any of the other arts employed by the Orthodox Church in its worship, the music does not serve a purpose in itself. Once used in Church the music drops its role as simply embellishing the services and it is elevated to convey, on a deeper level, the meaning of the prayer contained in the hymns of the church and make them resonate with our souls through its melodies. Great saints of the Church, like John Damascene, Ephraim the Syrian, Roman the Melodios, Andrew of Crete, Joseph the Hymnographer, Kosmas the Poet, John Koukouzelis and many others, have carefully matched the meter of… Continue reading

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My Big Fat Greek Festival

Reposting this older article as we get closer to the 30th Greek Festival in Eules, October 7,8,9 2011.

Festival page here

We just closed the doors of another Greek Festival at Saint John’s. We are all happy, but tired, and some may think, and we cannot blame them, why we do this every year? A short answer would be: we need the money! And it is a good answer, but maybe we could find other ways to raise the needed funds. Still I think, even though we might manage to get there, we should continue doing the festival. And I will present my argument for it.

In the present times the… Continue reading