The Dissolution of the Orthodox Monasteries in Greece Under the Bavarians

On this day, September 25, 1833, under the Bavarian Regency, a royal decree signed by the young Otto ordered the closure of all Orthodox monasteries with fewer than six monks, imposed the compulsory removal of the monastic habit upon nuns under the age of forty, required the removal of all novices from the monasteries, established specific measures governing the movement of monks, prohibited the customary donations made for the benefit of the Church, and placed under sequestration the monasteries’ landed property, sacred vessels used in worship, icons, vestments, liturgical books, furnishings, and anything else useful for sale as “spoils” that was found in the monasteries that were to be sealed. Whatever was deemed “useless,” on the other hand, was thrown into the fire — “with the monks mourning all around”! (The monasteries of the Roman Catholics, of course, remained untouched, as did their property.)

The Hidden Greatness of Greece

“Scattered across the surrounding hills and throughout the entire rural amphitheater are an astonishing number of churches.

The immeasurable depth of Orthodoxy, with the houses of God that you encounter everywhere in Greece, whether you make your way through the ravines and mountains or along the sea-washed shores of this maritime land, three-quarters of which is surrounded by the sea, where the people have always found the foundation of their spiritual truth: 'that you may know how one ought to conduct oneself in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.'

Faith and language, peasant and fisherman or sailor—the two primordial, indestructible cells, bound together in the form of a cross, like the lion, the angel, the ox, and the eagle upon the Tetramorph, or again like the four primordial elements, those four so celebrated, inexhaustible sources, flowing abundantly through life and death, ever-flowing springs that sustain a people who are the guardians of one of the most wondrous religions and languages in the world. […]

Greek Customs and Traditions Associated with the Monday of the Holy Spirit

The Monday of the Holy Spirit (Δευτέρα του Αγίου Πνεύματος) is one of the most beloved feast days of the Greek springtime. Throughout Greece, the feast combines liturgical celebration with customs rooted in traditions from Byzantine and Ottoman times, local village life, Pontic customs, and in some cases even practices that some believe preserve echoes of ancient Greek communal festivals. While the feast is centered on the worship of the Holy Spirit and participation in the Divine Liturgy, it is also marked by pilgrimages, fairs, dances, athletic competitions, horse races, communal meals, and unique local celebrations.

The most widespread custom is attendance at the Divine Liturgy, especially in churches and monasteries dedicated to the Holy Trinity (Αγία Τριάδα). Since many Trinity chapels are built on mountains and hills, pilgrims often travel long distances, sometimes on foot, to attend the feast. After the services, large communal meals and festivals frequently take place. Roasted lamb, goat, local cheeses, bread, wine, and seasonal foods are shared. In many villages large cauldrons of food are prepared and offered free of charge to all visitors. This custom survives particularly in Epirus, Macedonia, Thessaly, and parts of Thrace.

Throughout rural Greece, the feast is associated with πανηγύρια (village festivals). Families gather, relatives return to their ancestral villages, traditional musicians perform, and local dances continue well into the evening. In many communities this is one of the most important annual social events. 

Morals and Customs Targeted for Deconstruction

Archimandrite Philip Hamargias,
Protosyngellos of the Holy Metropolis of Messinia

With sorrow and great surprise I read the news:

“An appeal to block Tsiknopempti in schools sent to the Minister of Education by the Federation,” and then the justification of the Panhellenic Federation NEMESIS, which, as stated on the same website, “sent letters to the Ministry of Education asking that a ‘brake’ be put on the now-established school events with grills and souvlaki.” Continuing in the article, we see the same Federation presenting the following reasons:

1) Tsiknopempti is not a school holiday and events of mass meat consumption within school premises are irregular and unlawful, with possible legal consequences for those who organize them,

2) it violates the pedagogical role of education,

3) it creates pressure and exclusion for students with different dietary choices,

4) it conflicts with the principles of inclusion, non-violence, and animal-welfare education.

Greek Folk Customs for the Feast of Saint Andrew

Any Cretan housewife who does not make pancakes today will have a hole in the pan, this is what the custom that accompanies the feast of Saint Andrew, also called Trypotigana, commands.

But how did this custom come about? First of all, we are going through a period of fasting but also the beginning of the olive harvest season and the production of the first oil of the year, so it was not difficult to combine the celebration, on the one hand, with a fasting meal and on the other hand with a sweet that would contain oil to honor the blessed product that entered every household.

In his book "Folk Rituals in Crete" the author and journalist Nikos Psilakis writes: "... At the end of the month, however, the first olives should have been ground and the new oil should have reached every household. Frying on Saint Andrew's feast day (or the eve) was to be done with oil from the new harvest. The use of the new olive oil incorporated a special ritual. They often poured the oil into the pan crosswise while saying a wish, such as 'good luck' or 'and next year'. It is probably an echo of its beginnings, the custom of sharing the first fruits of the harvest or offering them to the gods."

Saint George the Drunkard, Saint George the Poor, Saint George the Sower

Throughout Greece on November 3rd the Orthodox Church celebrates a second feast of Saint George the Great Martyr and Trophy-bearer, whose main feast is on April 23rd, which honors the translation of his relics from Nicomedia where he was martyred to Lydda of Palestine, where his sacred relics rest to this day. Because Saint George, whose name means "farmer" in Greek, is such a venerated Saint by the Greeks, and this feast falls around the time of the harvest in Greece since ancient times, rural Orthodox Christian farmers have appropriated ancient pagan festivities to November 3rd.

Some Orthodox have even gone so far as to create an entirely new Saint George to distinguish him from Saint George the Great Martyr and Trophy-bearer, and for this reason they call this other one "Saint George the Lesser" (του Μικρού), and what this Saint George celebrated on November 3rd by these rural and poor Orthodox Christians is known for is tilling and sowing the land and getting drunk on the new wine. This is why he carries the epithets of "Saint George the Drunkard" (Μεθυστής), "Saint George the Poor" (του Φτωχού) and "Saint George the Sower" (Σποριάρης). Therefore, in many parts of Greece, sowing is done on November 3rd, and the barrels with the new wine are opened on this day.

The Eight Times the Icon of the Panagia of Axion Estin Left Mount Athos

The Panagia of Axion Estin icon is widely considered the most important treasure of Mount Athos, and is normally kept in the Protaton Church in Karyes, the capital of the Holy Mountain. The miracle associated with the icon goes back to the year 980, and for nearly a thousand years after that it never left the Holy Mountain. However, beginning in 1963, it has come out of Mount Athos on eight occasions to be venerated by the faithful for special reasons. These eight occasions are as follows:

1. 1963 - The first time the Panagia of Axion Estin icon left Mount Athos was during the celebration of the Millennium of the Athonite Monastic State, or the thousand year anniversary since the establishment of monasticism on Mount Athos as it was officially recognized by the Roman Empire. On April 17th 1963 the icon arrived at Piraeus from Dafni of Mount Athos with the warship ASPIS. In Athens, it went up by roadway via Neo Faliros and Syngrou Avenue. After it was received by Archbishop Chrysostomos II in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, it was taken in a procession to the Metropolis and placed in the Church of Saint Eleutherios, where it was venerated by thousands of the faithful, among them the then King Pavlos of Greece. It returned to Piraeus on April 25th 1963 where it boarded the warship PIRPOLITIS bound for Dafni of Mount Athos.

Greek Customs and Folk Traditions Associated With the Feast of Saint Athanasios the Great

"Ai-Thanasis" is especially beloved among Greek Orthodox Christians. In the villages and towns, where there are parish churches dedicated to him, his winter feast (January 18) is celebrated in them. This is when people named Thanasi, Thanos and Athanasia celebrate their name day. However, for the May 2nd celebration, this is when chapels or cemetery churches that bear his name celebrate.

The people use the etymology of his name (Athanasia = Immortality) and for this reason have dedicated several cemetery churches to his memory, to banish death. The expression is also common in several regions of Greece: "He is ready for Ai-Thanasis," that is, he is about to die.

The paretymology of his name is due to some funeral customs or acts of longevity of the people. In Eastern Thrace, for example, on his feast day, in January, they slaughtered a rooster "for their health," while on the May 2nd festival in many places in his cemetery churches the Divine Liturgy is held and they share kollyva (combining his memory with the memory of the dead).