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Good Friday is a day of mourning. Shops do not open till 10 or 11am, after the church service when Christ is taken down from the cross.
Church bells sound the death knoll all day long.
No cleaning or cooking. Most people will fast today. We will be eating boiled potatoes, tomatoes and olives. And no wine.
Hallejulah. A simple meal for once.
Usually there's a candlelight parade along the harbour at 9 pm. The four big churches all join together followed by almost all the local population, plus visitors, holding candles. There was no parade last year and there won't be one this year. However we are allowed to gather this year outside the churches and the service is broadcast over a loud speaker.
We used to go up to the Monastery where there was not such a crush. However the monks have all had covid recently so I don't know what's happening there this year.
K watches the services on TV, as he did last year, broadcast live from the Patriarchal church in Istanbul .
Good Friday is also a day to clean the family graves, make sure the candle is lit and waft around a little incense.
Films showing on our TV channels tonight
The Bible
The Passion of Christ
Jesus of Nazareth
Close to Jesus
Noah
The Ten Commandments
Regular programmes like MasterChef and Survivor are all put on hold till Monday after Easter.
I staked my tomatoes, washed the front terraces, tidied up the front garden which is my domain. I stripped the bed but can't wash the sheets till tomorrow. Actually I could have done some washing. Even K wouldn't have said anything but I left it, remembering years gone by when I was admonished by my mother in law and her elderly sister for doing some sewing. Times have changed.
I don't mind having one day when I can potter and not have that guilty feeling that I should be doing something else.
It's wonderful how you keep the Christian traditions going Linda. It's your day to potter about tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteIt's my husband who keeps them going but in this small place these traditions are quite important.. not so much in the cities I think
DeleteGood Fridays used to be like that here when I was a child. I can remember the baker used to bake the bread but not open the shop so you had to go round the back and buy it in the lane between 7 am and 8 am and then he closed up. Nothing else opened. My mother used to get angry if anybody was seen to be working. Then all of a sudden, I don't know when it was, Good Friday became like a normal day and all the shops opened.
ReplyDeleteThe church hasn't got such a strong hold any more on the people but the whole pomp and ceremony, the joining in and gathering together is something everyone loves here. Although the customs have been eroded the basic principles still apply and many of the younger generation are quite happy to follow along.
DeleteInteresting to hear about Good Friday when you were young.
DeleteIt is interesting to read about the customer there and to see they are still observed, your mother in law upheld the customs obviously! I don't remember life being like this when I was younger , I do remember being taken to church but don't remember which day it was. No doubt Anglican Church in NZ was very different to Greek church.
ReplyDeleteMy m in law was very old school, and unschooled. She could never understand why my Greek was so bad. She thought all the world spoke greek
DeleteStrangely, I really like the idea of eating just boiled Potatoes, Tomatoes and Olives. It would make a pleasant change, and save a lot of time/work.
ReplyDeleteIt's a nice healthy simple meal. Today we had it again with a little olive oil. Even better
DeleteYou said in your first reply -outside the cities life continues at a different pace and with more respect for the glue that holds the communities together. It really surprised me that the city was really bopping. I biked through a laiki in Keratsini about 8am (out on the bike because i expected traffic to be quiet - how wrong!) Kalo Paska
ReplyDeleteI notice from the evening news that life in the cities now seems so different. Much more western and very commercially minded. But all those people go back to their villages or islands at Xmas, Easter and follow the old traditions again. Mind you they take their more modern ideas too and things slowly change
DeleteI always admire how your tradition is preserved, to me it is a very beautiful thing.
ReplyDeleteI rather think I would say the same for your traditions!
DeleteBut they do stick to the old customs here
Here in the U.S., we don't have the strict adherence to the old customs. Your family and neighbors would wonder what was wrong with you :-)
ReplyDeleteNothing wrong with a restful day!