St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1875-04-30
A Sunday in Athens.
e Editor of the C0IedOnidn

the morning of the Sabbath | spent in
Athens. was the ringing of church bells
for morning service. 1t was ii joyful
sound that had become sadly unfamil-
lar to my ears. accustomed to hear the
drawing mueZzin's al" La IL Idhd il
allah! Mohammed ResOul allan !" The
Greeks seem to follow the example of
the Psalmst in ''preventing the dawn
of the morning" with their devotions,
and the same is true with the Armesi-
ans aud other Eastern churches, SO far
us | have observed. The service is
very long. however. So that going to
| was still in season to see an hour of
it and then came away before it was
finished. In doing 50 ran no risk of
being thought disrespectful or irrever-
ant. as people were coming and going
all the time, and no one thinks. | sup
pose. of remaining through the service.
The inside of the church was quite
elaborate with beautiful stained win
dows, large gilt pictures and crosses.
seats, and the audience remained stand
ing. The Greek service does not differ
essentially from the Catholic, except in
one particularly worship. On
entering the church, the first thing that
struck our attention was Il table Oh Ell
ther side of the door. where sat Il priest
/ selling candles for the Use of the wor-
shippers. 1t reminded us of what the
Greeks have evidently forgotten. how
Christ with his whip of small cords,
drove out from the temple them that
bought and sold. saving. Take these
things hence -
As the Greek worshiper enters the
church he is expected to buy candle,
there are small and large. so as to
suit the means of all. and take ii to
the official candle-lighter. who is usual
ly. think. an old woman. She lights
it. places it on Il caudlc->tick. and
in a few minutes eNtingui>hcs it to make
room for another. 1t Is the same thing
to him whether il is all burnt out OF
NOT. He then goes up To one of the
sacred pictures, dcVoutlN kisses it.
making the sign of the cross. and then
takes his stand with the audience. The
Greek crosses himself 10y placing to-
H. l. ,1,t,,,l, Il fl,..
gers of his right hand. ami with their
tips touching his forehead. waist. right
and left breasts. in rapid succession
This form = very impnI tant. for one ct
the essential differences between the
GIeeh and Armenian churches Is that
the latter makes the sign of the Gloss
with the tips of three fingers instead of
tUo.
As we entered the church, the cerc-
noul OF kissing the bible Was going
on. \ priest. dressed in robes. elegant .
y trimmed with gold lace and gilt
crosses. VA. carry ing about among the
audience Il bihl- richly bound with
velvet. hlvin" in the center al lis cover
a picture of Christ oil the cross. This
was presented To each woi shipper in turn.
also the hand of the priest. bowiug low
and making the sign of the cross.
The principal part of the service was
taken up with chanting, responsive.
bN two choir> of men and boys. dressed
i'll black robes. on opposite sides of the
church. Occasionally the priest would
come in from the chanceI. and read Il
portion of the liturgy, or swinging II
censor in his hand would r.a>> around
among the people until the church WIS
filled with the smoke of the burning
incense. We were told that Il sermon
was preached about once i'll Il year.
there being only one preacher for all
the churches i'll Athens.
After leaving the Metropolitan church,
We next attended the Protestant Greek
service conducted by Mr.. Michaelides.
Il Greek missionary To Salonica. 1t was
very interesting to It's to hear him eX
pound the words of the apostle Paul. -
the first missionary to Salonica, Crhes-
salonica.) III the same language that
Paul spoke. OF course We could not
understand much of the discourse. but
with the Greek Testament in our hands.
could follow his reading quite readily
and found little difficulty in putting
the words from our hymn books t" the
old familiar tunes. Naomi, Hamburg,
Old Hundred. There were about 100
people present. The service WAS held
in the chapel of DIR. Kalopothakes. who.
amid great discouragemeniS, opposition,
and some times persecution. is carrying
on the work of Christ among his fellow
countrymen. We were Hospitality en-
tertained at his house. and found him
very earnest in his work. and unyield-
ing in his opposition to the errors OF
the established church. Besides his
work as a minister. he has bible de-
pository. and publishes two religious
papers.-oue of them. IL child's paper
the '.Ephemeris Ton Paidon." having 4
circulation of about 1000 copies.
One of the most interesting assOcia-
tons of Athens. is the visit there OF
St Paul on one OF his missionary tours
The august court of the Areopagus viii
be forgotten long before the zealou:
apostle who stood on the same rock
where they held their sittings and spoke