Yesterday, some friends and I visited a Greek Orthodox church in Richmond. It was such a neat/different/unique/cultural experience. To make it even more neat, we were there on a church feast day. It was really different.
* The Orthodox Church puts a major emphasis on 2-dimensional icons. This church had icons that were taller than an average door. Very ornate.
* There's a wall facade that the icons are painted on. The facade goes about 2/3 the way up the height of the building. It's on the platform and separates the congregation from the highest part of the platform where the priests assemble the items for the Lord's Supper. It obliterates most of the view into that part of the sanctuary.
* Incense is HUGE in the ceremony. It's pretty intense.
* The music is beautiful. The visit to this church reinforced the concept that I've learned about the emphasis on aesthetics in Orthodoxy. The whole experience was truly beautiful. I felt like a fish out of water; I had no clue of what I should do or when I should do things. Part of the ceremony was in Greek, which I didn't understand.
Thanks for reading! Information overload... sorry!
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1 comment:
was it like my big, fat, greek wedding?
and, if so, did all the women have hair as huge as mine?
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