Kiss Away Their Past Sins. Unique Feature of the Easter Celebration by the Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity.
P. 20 Greeks from stores and fruit stands, Russians from the sweat shops and factories, swarthy Syrians and even Arabians crowded the Greek Orthodox Church of Holy Trinity, 34 Johnson Street, yesterday to observe the Easter services of their church. Six thousand turned out in holiday attire and spent the day, from midnight until midnight, in feasting, festivities and worship. Bananas, sweat shops and peddling were forgotten, for it was the one great religious celebration of the year.
During the last week services similar to those of the Roman Catholic Church during holy week were observed, but they culminated at midnight on Saturday, when the mass which ushers in Easter was celebrated. Promptly at midnight Dorotheos Vacaliaros, the archimandrite, or priest, of the Holy Trinity Church, arrayed in all the glory of a Jewish Levite, appeared at the vestry entrance of the church. Large chandeliers, each carrying hundreds of pure honeycomb wax tapers, were lighted, and lamps, with pure olive oil from Palestine, added to the brilliancy of the scene. Into this burst of light the priest stepped, with 2with bowed head, and as he passed under a picture of the Virgin Mother he tipped a banner, depicting the resurrection, which he carried.
"Come and take your light from everlasting light, and worship Christ arising from the dead."
"Christ is rising from the dead and stepping over the dead and giving the ones in the grave everlasting hope."
This intonation was the signal for the setting of fireworks in the streets surrounding the church. Skyrockets, Roman candles and firecrackers were used as symbols of glory for all believers of the Orthodox religion. Inside the church, the service continued with the liturgy and the sprinkling of holy water on the congregation and the reading of the resurrection, in the Greek, Russian, Syrian and Arabic languages.
When this was done, and the priest had so commanded all true believers in the orthodox faith, he turned to those near him and kissed them, thus signifying that all past sins were forgiven and forgotten. It was the closing feature of the strange service and was participated in by the people with all the enthusiasm of the southern races.
The exercises were over at 1:30 A:M and until 2 P:M the bands of worshippers made merry in their homes, where whole lambs and sheep were broiled and elaborate feasts spread. At 2 P:M the same service was performed and again the church was crowded, contributions were taken at the doors, for which candles were given out.
At the midnight service $900 was taken and in the afternoon $700.
The services were observed yesterday because the Greeks use the Julian calendar under which yesterday was April. Their Easter falls between March 21 and April 18, being the first Sunday when there is a full moon. Should the day fall on the Hebrew Easter the Greeks postpone it until the following week.
Greek // Attitudes > Mores > Religious Customs and Practices (I B 4) ?
We are calling the attention of the Greek community to the recently organized Committee for Macedonian Aid whose purpose is to help the suffering and destitute Greeks of Krousobos. We beg the presidents of all the Greek societies and clubs to do their national duty as they see fit and as their Greek training and patriotic ideals have taught them. The Star will gladly accept any donations or contributions and suggests that a special collection be taken up in all the Greek Orthodox churches of the United States during the Sunday services and during all special masses for this noble and humanitarian cause.
p. 2- The very much disputed administration of the Greek Community in Chicago is a thing of the past since the official election of last Sunday.
As Judge Brentano had ordered, the rival factions filed affidavits of their candidacy, and the elections took place under the auspices of a mixed committee, Greek and American, appointed by the Court.
Dr. Gregory Papaeliou, president; St. Spyrakis, vice-president; Chr. Ladas, treasurer; Dem. Papantoniou, secretary. The members of the Council are B. Georgacopoulos, Geo. Koteopoulos, Dem. Karambelas, B. Petropoulos, Athanasius Munjuris, Kyriakos Demas, Geo. Tsikhias, Const. Stavrakos, Dem. Chiambas, Philip Kekos, and Nicholas Kokinis.
The management of the Star wishes success to the newly-elected officials and hopes that the prestige of the community will be safeguarded and enhanced.
p. 2- Since the arrival of the Reverend Kyrillos Georgeadis, the Greek church here has begun to show a spirit of activity. Every Sunday the church is packed, and the collection basket (a plate is too small) is filled. Peace, harmony, and friendship reign everywhere. The venerable Greek priest is a real model of religious devotion and reverence, and his presence, in and out of town, is indispensable. His religious services are required not only in Chicago but in other places also, where there is no Greek priest. Inclement weather does not keep Father Georgeadis from responding to the call of ecclesiastical duty.
Because of delays and impediments in transportation the community has resolved to purchase a private carriage for the Greek father so that his services to people may be facilitated. Two weeks ago because of bad weather he was compelled to waste a whole day in the suburbs awaiting proper facilities for travel.
The resolution of the community to buy a carriage for the Reverend Father Georgeadis is enthusiastically approved of by all, since it will be appropriate and dignified for our priest to travel in a manner befitting his station in life.
The meeting of the Chicago Greek community last week in regard to a new and better Church was not dignified, not orderly, not becoming to a religious cause, and above all it was injurious to the Greek community and very dangerous for the Greek race. The Church again comes to the front to divide, destroy, and retard the progress of this flourishing Greek community in Chicago as it did in the past when it let barbarian hordes enslave the metropolis of Christendom and brought on the fall of the Greek race and the dissolution of the Byzantine Empire.
Religion and Church are divine things, but they should not be mixed with affairs of state and affairs of the community as they were in this case. State and Church do not bind. A close combination of the two is dangerous to both. Politics and Church are not built upon the same principles; therefore each should rule in its own domain and according to its own principles and fundamental laws.
Affairs of state should be governed with an iron hand, resembling the immutable laws of nature; whereas the affairs of the Church should be handled in precisely the opposite way, that is with forgiveness, tolerance, kindness, compassion, prayers, hymns, and the like. Two ideas totally opposite are the foundations of these two-politics and Church.
Greeks of Chicago and elsewhere, be on your guard! Remeber the fall of the Empire, and donot let this distructive blunder be repeated to the detriment of our race.
Delving into the depths of history, we find irrefutable evidence to verify our assertion in regard to the cause of the downfall of the race and of the Empire, and here is what we read.
In the first period of the Byzantine Empire Justinian raised it to a strikingly lofty place by organizing a strong and powerful army and developing better economic conditions. In his reign Christendom began to establish itself.
After his death the Church became all-powerful, and began to dispute prerogatives and extra-ordinary powers with the State. This period of conflict covered about two centuries, from 600 to 800 A. D., to the detriment of the Empire. During that period all the so-called prominent public figures and emperors proved to be the most wretched of rulers devoting their time and energy to theological debates, and permitting the Saracens to seize important parts of the empire. In order to realize the depth of the downfall of politics, one has only to look at the history of that period; to his chagrin 'he will discover that everyone of the emperors bore some such cognomen as Iconoclast, Iconomachus, Proskynitis (worshipper), Theologos, and the other titles which decorate the names of Eastern prelatism, neglecting the organization of the army and navy, which were and are the vital substance and pillars of the State.
During the reign of the real pure-blooded Greek emperors, that is from 867 to 1117 A. D., the Empire, thanks to the wisdom of its rulers in keeping state and church in their proper places, not only regained its lost territory but conquered all the lands which were dominated by Bulgarians and other barbarian hordes and made the brave warriors of Arabia, who thrice attempted to storm the Queen of cities, pay the tribute of subjugation.
Until now, owing to the wise and iron rule of the emperors, the Church had been quiet. But this good policy, the result of wise thinking, could not reign forever, for the administrators of the affairs of state could not and would not continue to think wisely. The Church again came to the fore, this time on the war-path not against the State but against itself, dividing itself into factions, rocking the boat of the State by dragging the learned into a theological disputation to wit "Whether the Holy Spirit is delivered also by the Son."
For over two hundred years the battle of the divided Churches, the Eastern and the Western, to settle this point of "Spirit-delivery" continued in full blast, undermining the forces and the power of the Empire and demoralizing it in its dealings with foreign countries. This state of dispute continued to the year 1038, when every connection and relation between the two (Mother and Daughter) Churches was entirely cut off.
The Byzantine Empire again began to lose ground. The capital, as the economic center of the Empire, began to feel the attacks of the heterodox West and onslaughts of the Turks. The latter seized many countries which were left unprotected by the Empire, enslaved their inhabitants, and forced them to accept Mohammedanism. And by this time the whole of Thrace, Macedonia, Sterea, Peloponnesus, and the islands had become the prey of the Latins, the Venetians, and the Franks.
The Empire at this time resembled a pilotless boat in turbulent waters, driven hither and thither by the furious waves. In this predicament the emperors known as Paleologh, sprang up and took hold of the Church-sick.
"The Turk was distinguished for his devotion to his country and his readiness to die in its defense, whereas the Byzantine was devoted to his Icons and left the defense of his country in the hands of the archangels.
O foolish emperors of Byzantium! Why did you not utilize your Greek education and enlightenment? Your wise progenitors used to say, Syn Athena Kai Cheira Kinei-'When Athena helps, withhold not your hand. God helps those who help themselves."
Thus the defense of the city was left in the hands of divine entities and on May 29, 1453, Constantinople fell, as later fell the all Greece, into the hands of those who did not play with church, archangels, Holy Trinity, and speculations on "how the Holy Spirit is delivered."Nations are really nations when enthusiasm and devotion are felt by all the people equally, and the capital does not monopolize things which all the whole nation ought to share. Constantinople was stormed by barbarian hordes, and neither Sterea nor Peloponnesus knew anything about it.
"O foolish and over-churched emperors ! The world knows of your religious blindness. The world is shocked by your neglect to defent the safety of that huge Empire. Were those 10,000 soldiers of yours enough to fight Mahomet's horde 200,000? Why were not the other Greek nation's notified to come to the rescue of the capital?
Your Icons and your archangels brought about the fall of the city, but the Byzantine Empire, which was everywhere, could not have been subdued by the Turks if the organization of the army had been extended into every part of this huge domain. The political organization was neglected for the benefit of the ecclesiastical organization, and thus the great Greek race went into oblivion. "O foolish Emperor Paleologos! No one disputes your bravery in dying sword in hand fighting the infidel, but emperors serve their empires best not by fighting side by side with the army but by ruling wisely. Emperors are supposed to use their brains, not their swords. The emperor is neither a soldier nor a warrior; he is the governing head.
Now, brother Greeks, clergymen and laymen alike, let us not drag the dignity of the church in the mire and cause the downfall of the Greek community in Chicago. Our community here is prospering, progressing, and expanding. Let us not reverse its upward progress. The Church is our own creation to serve the spiritual needs of the community. The Church is not the community; it is an institution of it.
If we want a new and a larger Church, let us all decide upon it, not a few of us who are preoccupied with religion. If we are enthusiastic and interested, the thing will be done quicker and better. The Church is not the property of the few.
And above all , brother Greeks, clergymen and laymen, remember that Chicago is not the exclussive territory of the Greeks and their Church; it is the territory of a commonwealth composed of many nationalities and many crude. So be it, then let us follow the wise axiom, "When you are in Rome, do as the Romans do," try doing in America as the Americans do. Let us have peace and attend to our business like Americans may rightly and justly classify us as barbarious.
Greeks the world over, beware! The blunders of the past must not be repeated. The Church is an institution of spiritual ministration and is not for the administration of the affairs of state.
If we heed the historical facts above mentioned, the life and progress of this Greek empire, the Chicago Greek community, will become great.
p. 2- Through its board of directors the Greek community of Chicago has filed a petition demanding of Dr. G. Papaeliou, its president, an accounting for the community's funds.
They maintain that the president has failed to fulfill his obligation under article 34 of the by-laws of the constitution, which requires him to appoint an examining committee of three, as auditors, to go over the books and report to the board the true condition of the administration.
Mr. President, if the allegation of the board of directors is true, that is, if you are hiding the books and refuse to appoint the auditing committee, then, my dear doctor, as president of the community, you have failed to familiarize yourself with the constitution, which is above all, president, treasurer, board of directors, and everything else. And on the other hand let me remind you of the popular adage, "Clear skies fear no storms."
Mr. President, for the sake of harmony and peace appoint the examining committee, and thus "render to Caesar that which is Caesar's." "A word to the wise is sufficient."
P. 1 - The meeting of Greek businessmen last Sunday packed the Greek Orthodox church. The object of the meeting was to find ways and means to protect their business and their racial prestige against attacks by the Chicago press arising from the conduct of 320 Greeks who accepted jobs as strike-breakers.
Chicago newspapers have raised a hue and cry against Greeks in general, not taking into consideration the facts that by so doing they injure the business of Greeks who are not engaged in strike-breaking, and that they are also throwing mud at a nation friendly to this Republic.
Immediately after the ceremony of the mass, in which over 2,000 took part, the Reverend C. Georgiadis spoke. In a fatherly but businesslike address he brought out what the duties of the Greek businessmen of Chicago are toward those unwise Greek laborers who because of extreme necessity consented to be stigmatized as strike-breakers, taking the bread and butter away from families of their fellow-workers who had struck for higher wages. He further suggested that 2immediate steps should be taken to approach these misinformed Greek laborers and induce them for the sake of the Greek name and likewise for the sake of the strikers' families to abandon their temporary jobs.
The Hon. Dr. N. Salopoulos, Greek Consul General in Chicago, next took the floor and reminded the businessmen that besides the injury to their business the national prestige of Greece has suffered. He consented to head a committee to carry out Father Georgiadis' suggestions; during the day he visited the strike-breakers, and 120 of them gave up their jobs at once.
Other speakers at the meeting were Messrs. N. Stathakos, D. Kalogeropoulos, A. Papachristofilou, and N. Kontaxis, who very explicitly analyzed the situation and suggested means by which such unpleasant occurrences might be avoided hereafter.
This newspaper has time and time again trumpeted in the ears of all concerned the paramount necessity of establishing a society to initiate immigrants into 3American life and look after them until they know what is all about. I do not approve of the press's indiscriminate attack on Greeks; nevertheless, in view of the present disagreeable situation created by the sensation-mongering press, it will be to our advantage to correct our negligence and do the right thing by our greenhorn immigrants.
Greek // Attitudes > Economic Organization > Unions > Strikes (I D 2 a 4) ?
Greek // Assimilation > Segregation (III A) ?
p. 3- Undoubtedly the Greek community of Chicago is very much honored by its president, Dr. G. Papaeliou, and his profession. But it is too bad that the Grecian Aesculapius, in spite of his five years in this country, cannot hold a conversation in English to tell the American people how well he administers the affairs of the community. Besides this he is a very poor mathematician, for when it comes to giving an account of the community's funds, he always experiences great difficulty with figures and numbers. After all, the community cannot expect the learned doctor to be as efficient in figuring as he is in writing prescriptions.
Of course in regard to the $1,500 shortage in the community's funds he is not to be blamed, for doctoring and figuring are not the same art and profession, but when it comes to his inability to learn English, I think that our good doctor is not to be excused. Since he has lived here for five years and is still unable to use the English language as proficiently as he pushes the pencil, something must be wrong. Maybe I am unfair not to take the doctor's head into consideration. That is, he either has an Albanian head, incapable of learning anything, or his head is dizzy with those bothersome figures. Anyway, our eminent doctor-president is preoccupied with things that a mere publisher does not understand.
Greek // Contributions and Activities > Vocational > Professional (II A 1) ?
Greek // Contributions and Activities > Crime and Delinquency > Individual Crime (II E 2) ?
Upon the instigation of Dr. Papaeliou, president of the Chicago Greek community, the Holy Synod of Greece has recalled the Reverend Cyril Georgiadis, who because of his fatherly activities has become popular and beloved among the population of "Little Greece" in Chicago. His interest and his energy in building up the community are outstanding characteristics of his ecclesiastical incumbency. But as a true Hierarch, he took no orders from the president of the community, who in addition to other irregularities has refused to account for the community's funds.
When Dr. Gregory Papaeliou was interviewed by this paper in regard to an affidavit sent to the Holy Synod of Greece and supposedly authorized by the constituent members of the Greek community of Chicago, he very glibly assured us that the affidavit contained an appeal to the Holy Synod for an additional priest because the expansion of the community had rendered too onerous the duties performed by the single priest in charge.
But as we have been informed by the Greek Consulate-General, the purported affidavit was a request that the Reverend Father Georgiadis be recalled, among other unfounded charges alleging as reasons that Father Georgiadis divided the community and neglected his ecclesiastical duties.
The Holy Synod of Greece referred the affidavit to the Greek Consul of Chicago for verification of the charges therein contained. The Consul -General of Greece properly and discreetly investigated the allegations against the priest, reporting promptly that the charges were not only fantastic and absolutely unwarranted, but that the signatures of the board of directors, who signed the affidavit, were obtained by the president 3through deception and guile. The Holy Synod, confronted with the Greek Consul's official denial of the charges, threw the affidavit in the waste-basket.
The imperial and wily president of the community was not to be baffled by such a defeat. He turned his impish mind to other channels of activity in order to accomplish his purpose. The pious and beloved Greek priest must be recalled if he (Dr. Papaeliou) was to dominate the affairs of the community, and by unscrupulous methods he appointed two Greeks of Athens to represent the Chicago Greek community before Church and State: Mr. Krokidas, a member of the Parliament, and Mr. Kanellides, publisher of the Times.
The result of Dr. Papaeliou's appointment of the two above-mentioned individuals to represent the Greek community of Chicago before Church and State is that the Reverend Cyril Georgiadis met with the same fate as his predecessor of a year ago, the Reverend Father Mavrokordatos, who also was recalled by instigation of the same president and for the same purpose.
Is it proper to permit one's self to think that the Holy Synod of Greece is playing politics? Has the corruption of politics penetrated the invisible stronghold of the Church?
As things stand to-day, the answer is emphatically yes. The stately and immaculate "chiton" of the Church is somehow stained with spots of political corruption.
The progressing and rapidly increasing "Little Greece" of Chicago, instead of being aided and promoted by Mother-Church, is divided, handicapped, hampered, and shackled by the decisions of the Holy Synod of Greece.
The Holy Synod of Greece has within a year recalled two faithful servants of the Church from the Chicago Greek community upon the instigation of Dr. Papaeliou, autocratic president of the community, because they both refused to be dominated by the wily doctor.
Petitions and affidavits sent to the Holy Synod by the community's board of directors were not taken under consideration. Official documents of the Chicago Greek Consulate disproving the president's accusations against the priests were heeded not at all by the Holy Synod. The exposure by the Greek press of Chicago of Dr. Papaeliou's being short in the community's accounts had no effect upon the Synod. And now the imminent division of the community is not at all alarming to those who compose that body.
What is behind this unusual phenomenon? Why should the Chicago Greek community be represented in Greece by two individuals whose reputation and character are not above suspicion? Why does the Synod pursue a policy of disintegration? Why are the Greeks of Chicago and elsewhere interfered with in their establishment? Is the Synod Greek Orthodox? Where are the interest and the love of the Church toward the Greeks of America, who are struggling and striving to remain faithful to the Greek Orthodox religion? Is the Church supposed to pacify or to disturb the welfare and progress of the communities?
The answers to all these questions lies with the Holy Synod itself, and before it is too late to undo what is already done, we respectfully suggest to those who compose that supposedly holy corporation to take immediate steps to amend their behavior and correct the evil conditions prevailing in the Church throughout the Greek communities of America.
p. 2- A couple of Chicago newspapers have unwisely and unprofessionally reported the supposed utterances of the Greek priest at the meeting of Greek businessmen last Sunday in the Greek Orthodox Church.
The pious and popular Father Georgeadis, at the meeting of businessmen, in which 2,000 participated, delivered a speech enjoining patience, tolerance, obedience to social and civil law, and above all immediate consideration for the families of the packing-house strikers. He suggested that a committee of prominent Greeks should be formed, headed by the Consul General, to visit these fellow-Greeks of ours who took jobs there as strike-breakers and to induce them, for the sake of the strikers' families, for the sake of the injured business of their fellow-Greeks, and for the sake of the Greek race to abandon their temporary jobs, adding that they would have the blessing of the Church.
This statement is utterly untrue. When we interviewed our sister-publications and inquired about the source of their information, the answer was that some Greeks who were present at the meeting had told them what Father Georgeadis had said.
Excellent journalism, eh? An admirable way to get news of a meeting! And an admirable thing to do, to drag the Church and its servants into disputes of this kind! I suggest for the dignity of the profession of journalism that professional methods of obtaining news be adopted.