Wednesday 12 April 2017

Holy Wednesday

Today is the day our family give the traditional easter presents to our god children.

Traditional presents are a pair of new shoes and a coloured candle decorated with ribbons for the midnight mass on Saturday.

Nowadays the candles are attached to big boxes with Power Rangers or Barbie dolls and there is usually a large chocolate egg and maybe a  sweet bread called tsoureki.





My girls were often given lacy frilly dresses and pink jackets or coats.  They wore these to the Friday and Saturday church services holding their pink sparkly candle.  Boys were given long trousers and matching jacket and a plainer blue candle.




These days the rules are far more relaxed.  Mothers and Godmothers chose the latest fashion from an online store and the child will most often have  a say as well, even the boys.  Spiderman might have been ok a few years ago but  now it is, heaven knows what.  I'm out of that loop.  We have three Godsons, all grown up.

When you're becoming a Godparent you must stick with either boys or girls, never both.  It is not done for two God children of one God parent to marry.

There are church services every evening this week, ending with a candlelight parade on Friday night and midnight mass on Saturday night.  Churches are full.  People come and go all during the evening.  Young children wander around from parent to aunt to grandparent.  Small boys scream around outside.  Men disappear outside for a chat and a cigarette.

Everyone entering the church will leave a few coins and pick up a small brown beeswax candle which they light from other candles and push into a container of  sand.  They will usually then kiss one or two of the icons and during easter file up to the front to kiss the feet of the icon of Christ, crossing themselves each time.

In days of old there was a rule that women sat on the left hand side of the church and men on the right.  This no longer applies.  Also you should not sit cross legged in church.  Why,  I'm not sure but my mother was told off by an old man once for doing so.

K goes up to the Monastery where the service takes place earlier, there is plenty of parking and he can probably find somewhere to sit.


8 comments:

  1. Again it's a feeling of community that is so lacking in many other cultures now, have a lovely Easter xx

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    1. Hope you have a peaceful Easter too! Have fun

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  2. Only once have I been asked to be a godfather. I had to refuse on account of my being a strict atheist. I shall give just one present this Easter; a Lindt chocolate bunny for my cute little neighbour Sara.

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    1. God parenting as far as I can see is all about presents,easter, Xmas, name day, birthday and not much else.
      Chocolate bunnies here are mostly disappointing . Lots of wrapping and showiness and inedible chocolate. Lindt would be nice!!

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  3. Thank you! I love reading about all these happenings and I could almost hear the rustle of those frilly dresses and smell the candle wax.

    I'll be baking those biscuits today - young Merry (Frankie in real life) is sure to have a great time shaping them. So shall I.

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    1. GOOD LUCK. Merry little Frankie will have loads of fun. And they taste great too.

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  4. We never did get fancy candles. We just got white ones and we added something to stop the wax coming down and help protect the flame from the cold wind so that we could bring the phoss home usually just some aluminium shaped like a cup

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  5. The children love their fancy candles and usually make some for Nana and Pappou as well. I have the remains of the last five years candles here waiting for a long blackout!!! We let them burn for a few hours but then blow all but one out.

    We use plastic protecters from wind and wax but they catch on fire if left in little boy's hands. Aluminium foil is the best

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