Churches, churches and more churches!

We have made it to Greece where we will be most of the next of the next six weeks.  We have settled into Thessaloniki and began exploring churches yesterday on Pentecost.  I know you’ll think I’m confused as Pentecost was two weeks ago, but in the Greek Orthodox Church, which follows a slightly different calendar, Pentecost was yesterday.  We got to celebrate twice this year.

So we began our exploration of churches in Thessaloniki in worship yesterday morning, May 27th at the Metamorphosis Greek Orthodox Church of Kalamaria around the corner from where we are staying.  It was packed - standing room only.

Mike and I stayed near the back of the crowd being very aware that we did not know what we were doing and understood very little of what was being said because it was all in Greek. (We later learned from an Orthodox friend that many parishioners don’t understand what it being said because the language is Byzantine Greek and most of it is chanted or sung.) Mike and I didn’t actually feel like we needed to understand every word to be able to worship God.  The low melodious chanting combined with the incense, bells and the symbolic actions of the priest and the worshipers is mesmerizing and fills one with a sense other worldliness.  I found the music, in particular, to be very moving.  It is called Byzantine chanting and sounds almost like it is in the Aeolean mode which differs from our major and minor scales.  For the musicians reading this blog, you can take a look at this link for more information:  http://www.apostoliki-diakonia.gr/byzantine_music/en/ymnografoi/ymnografoi.asp?main=hxoi.him.  For those of you who would just like to hear what the chanting sounds like, try this link:  https://youtu.be/VcK26_mYD4Q.

Traditionally worshipers in the Orthodox Church stand for the entire service and the worship service is long!  Fortunately churches now have seats and the congregation is invited to use them for some of the service.  A few of the faithful, however, refuse to sit although they periodically fall to their knees on the hard stone.  Mike and I could not find any information either at the church building or online  as to when the service began so we just showed up at 9:00 AM.  The sanctuary was full and we learned later that they probably began around 7:00 AM.  We left around 10:00, and they were still going strong.  Interestingly people came and went while we were there and somewhere in the middle one of the priests clearly stepped forward and did announcements.  Then they began the chanting again.  They did celebrate the Eucharist (communion). Surprisingly, only a small portion of the congregation came forward to receive, and afterwards people around us in the back seemed to be carrying several large chucks of bread they were munching on.  I don’t think this was communion bread, but perhaps bread for the poor.  We found the same large portions of bread at the entrance of another church we visited this morning.  There are a lot of poor people in Greece these days.  All in all worship was a strange and lovely experience.  We will go again, perhaps to a different congregation next Sunday.

This morning we ventured into the heart of the city to visit some of the oldest churches in Greece.

They are all in Thessaloniki.  I lit a candle to pray for the Presbyterians in La Porte in the Hagia Sophia - the church of Holy Wisdom.  Christ is revered to as the “Word” in John’s gospel which in Greek is interchangeable with the word Wisdom.  The church dates back to 795, but was built on an existing church built in the 5th century mostly destroyed in an earthquake in 620 AD.  The church is beautiful and inspires a sense of awe in it’s ancient construction.  The Fresco in the dome dates back to the 9th century and some of the columns to the 5th century!

Just when it seemed it couldn’t get any more amazing than Hagia Sophia we stepped off the bus at St. Demetrios. The church of St. Demetrios appears to be a newer church until you step inside.  The church was severely damaged in the 1917 great fire of Thessaloniki - something like the great Chicago fire!  So the exterior was largely rebuilt in the first half the 20th century.  But inside the church is an amazing tribute to the early church of Thessaloniki.  The church was built in 413 AD

over the site of the Martyrdom of St, Demetrios.  Demetrios was a Christian in Thessaloniki during the reign of three different Roman emperors - all of whom persecuted Christians.  Demetrios was also endowed with leadership skills that were recognized by the Emperor Galerius who made him a member of the senate and General of Thessaloniki.  When it was discovered, however, that he was a Christian Demetrios was imprisoned in the Roman baths, tortured and eventually martyred for his faith.

One of the extraordinary features of the St. Demetrios church is that the crypt is the old Roman baths from the 3rd century where Demetrios died!  This part of the church has ancient mosaics dating from the 4th century.  In the church proper we found additional frescoes and mosaics from the 5th, 6th and 7th century.  It was astounding to sit in this church and pray where Christians have prayed for over 1500 years.




 We rounded out the day with a visit to the Rotunda, built in 306 AD for the Emperor Galerius, either as a temple to Zeus or as a mausoleum for the Emperor.  In the fifth century, however, the Rotunda was reconstructed by Christians to become a Christian cathedral.  What impressed me most in this place was the mosaics high up in the dome.  They are possibly as early as fourth century.  The mosaics are of the saints of the church.  All of them are in long robes with their hand stretched out to each side in the ancient pose for prayer.  They surround the dome.  I counted 15, which means there were probably at least 20 originally. (Some are missing).  They are beautiful and give the worshiper the impression one is surrounded by the Great Cloud of Witnesses praying for the perseverance of the Christians of this day.

We have had a blessed beginning in Thessoloniki.  I had the sense today that the church has marched faithfully through many centuries and now it is our turn to carry Christ’s message of grace.

Impressions of the Impressionists

Paris was a whirlwind of activity - churches, museums, historic sights, amazing food!  The highlight of our last day (May 25) in Paris was a visit to the D’orsay Museum which houses the Impressionism and post impressionist paintings.  I think in some ways it is fitting the Impressionists have a museum to themselves because they had such a time getting any recognition in the 19th century from the established art world in France called the Salon.  The term Impressionist comes from a critic, Louis Leroy, who dismissed a work by Claude Monet suggesting it was only an impression of a painting. I don’t pretend to be an expert on Impressionism at all, but do note the impressionists intentionally sought to paint “real” subjects and loved to paint outside in particular which was unusual at the time.  They employed a new brighter color palette and focused on changing light patterns during the day.  They also used a broader brush stroke that could be easily detected.

I love impressionist and post impressionist painting and the Orsay Museum has the finest collection I have ever seen. It was amazing.  My son, Terry, asked us to take lots of pictures, so here are some of my favorites.

Renoir

Cézanne 

Renoir

Monet

Signac

Van Gogh

Van Gogh

Van Gogh

Van Gogh

Van Gogh

Van Gogh

The Pride Part

I took a quick look at the blog I posted late last night and realized I only wrote half of what I originally intended to write.  I think I must have been a little weary after the long trip to Paris.

On the way to Paris we stopped at the American Cemetery in Luxembourg where over 5000 American soldiers are buried.  These mostly are the soldiers who died in Germany, France and Luxembourg in WWII, particularly during the Battle of the Bulge.  I couldn’t help but think of Jack Lay who fought in the Battle of the Bulge and had pretty horrific stories to tell about it!

Our guide told us his parents were living in Luxembourg when the Germans invaded for the second time.  The first time, at the beginning of the war, they annexed Luxembourg and conscripted all the young men to fight for Germany.  When they invaded the second time they created a bulge in the Allied lines as they attempted stop the Allied offensive.  They completely occupied Luxembourg at this time and our guide’s parents fled to Belgium.  The Allies prevailed, but lost 19,000 soldiers.  The Germans lost 23,000.

During and after the war many of the American soldiers who died were buried at the American Cemetery in Luxembourg.  General Patton is buried there.  His wife at one point asked to have his

grave transferred to the US but the queen of Luxembourg prevailed to have it remain.  Our Guide said the people of Luxembourg consider Patton a hero because he liberated Luxembourg from the Germans.

Our French guide said something similar on the way into Paris.  She said children in Paris all make a compulsorary visit to the American cemetery to make sure they understand the depth of sacrifice the Americans made to help secure France’s freedom.  She said that even thought the French sometimes appear standoffish, they remember what Americans did in the war and appreciate America.

Prayers and Pride

We finally have good internet again!  We have been on the River Cruise where internet is sketchy at best.  We have safely arrived in Paris tonight and the hotel has high speed internet.  I am ready to post about our adventures!

First, I wanted to tell you, I prayed for the Presbyterians in La Porte yesterday on Pentecost day in a church that was built in the early part of the 4th century - 313 to 329 to be exact.  According to Medieval tradition, Helena, the mother of the Emperor Constantine donated her house to the Trier Bishop Agnitius who converted it into a Bishop’s church, and as soon as the Edict of Tolerance guaranteed religious freedom to the Christians, he began constructing a Cathedral.  It was significantly enlarged by Bishop Maximinus (329 - 346) to include four Basilicas and a baptismal font the size of a swimming pool.  The footprint of these early church structures was enormous!  Today the original Cathedral has been damaged and altered many times as one might imagine.  One of the Cathedrals was replaced with a 12th century gothic cathedral right next to the first one.  The other two cathedrals and the swimming pool baptismal font are gone.  The picture is below.  It was an amazing experience to pray for you all in such an ancient church!

Interestingly this church also claims to have the seamless robe of Jesus.  Constantine’s mother was quite a mystic.  She made a trip to the Holy Land at one point and identified many of the significant sites of Jesus’ life including where the crucifixion took place and where the empty tomb were.  Now... she did this through spiritual insight rather than archeological evidence.  Amazingly, these are still the sites the church holds as “original.”  Helena also returned with many relics including the seamless robe of Jesus.  Before you get too excited, you need to know that there was no mention of this relic in writing until the 11th century.  However, when the alter was taken apart at one point, a robe was found.  It is kept in a holy place high above the high altar at the very front of the church.  I made my way up to the location and peered into the hole where the box was, but one really cannot see anything.  I was impressed by the people around me who were awestruck by standing so close to what they believed to be the seamless robe of Jesus.  I was more curious than anything.  Here’s what I saw!

You might also be interested to know that the people of Trier yesterday and the people of Luxembourg and France today were on holiday because it was Pentecost yesterday.  They take this Holy day seriously.  That is, they have serious fun.  Everyone had the day off, and yesterday there was a party with music and food outside of Trier Cathedral.  They were having a marvelous time even in the pouring rain!  So Happy Pentecost to you all!

Strasbourg, Worms, and Heidelberg

We have enjoyed a couple of long and amazing days.  Tuesday, May 15, we went to Strasbourg, France.  I really had no idea what to expect and so was incredibly surprised at what a lovely city is Strasbourg!  First of all, it’s French and it was fun to be back on French speaking soil - secondly, it’s old.  There are half timbered houses that date back to the  Middle Ages (1400s and 1500s).

The Cathedral of Notre Dame and the St. Thomas churches are both Romanesque - construction started in the early ninth century (roughly 1015 and 1020 respectively.  They were

stunning - both of them.  I preferred the style of St. Thomas which is Protestant, but the sheer size of the Cathedral of Notre Dame is overwhelming. The other joy of Strasbourg was the food!  We picked up the most amazing gingerbread, chocolate caramel eggs and macaroons in the afternoon.

Today, Wednesday, was the trip to Worms and Heidelberg.  Our guide figured out early on that several of us were interested in Reformation history and so walked us through the big event in Worms - Martin Luther’s refusal to recant his writings and teachings.  Luther had already been excommunicated by the Pope, but was called by the Emperor to give an accounting of himself at the Diet of Worms.  He was called to the Bishop’s quarters at the Cathedral in Worms and asked directly if he was willing to recount.  He actually asked for 24 hours to consider and then firmly refused.  At this point the Emperor removed all of Luther’s rights and Luther became fair game for anyone who wished to assassinate him.  Fortunately for Luther the Prince of Saxony, a supporter, had him kidnapped on the way home to hide him from enemies.  The Bishop's quarters were actually destroyed in the 17th century by the French but we got to see the place next to the Cathedral where they stood.  The picture below is of the Reformation Monument to Luther and other Reformers.  It’s built in the shape of a castle to call to mind Luther’s hymn, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.”

We also toured the city and our guide drove us up to the ruins of Heidelberg Castle which are quite stunning!

Monday (5/ 14) in our tour of Zurich’s old town, I was surprised to discover I was in the cradle of the Swiss Reformation.  After our “official” tour, Mike and I made our way back to two of the oldest churches in town: Grossmünster and Fraumünster.  Both of these churches were in the thick of the Prostestant Reformation in Switzerland in the early part of the 1500s and are still Reformed.  Being Presbyterian, I am quite familiar with John Calvin’s contribution to the Reformation, but Calvin was preaching and teaching in French speaking Geneva.  I was less familiar with the Swiss reformation which started a decade earlier in Zurich with Ulrich Zwingli and his successor Heinrich Bullinger.  Both Zwingli and Bullinger were pastors at the Grossmünster cathedral.

I found myself engrossed in their story when I first stepped into the Grossmünster church.  It was simple in decor as one might expect from a Reformed Church.  There were few ornaments, pictures or statues.  As Mike and I sat down in a pew to gaze at the sanctuary, Mike leaned over and asked me, “Where’s the table” meaning the communion table.  I looked to the center of the chancel where it should have been and found a large baptismal font.  I wandered the sanctuary for a while and finding no table I approached the information desk.  “Where’s the communion table?” I asked.  When the man behind the desk seemed confused, I assumed I was having a language problem and asked instead, “Where’s the altar?”   “OH, no, no, no!” He said with some alarm.  “There is no mass here.  This is a Reformed Church.”  Again, assuming I was having a language problem, I asked where the congregation celebrated communion.  He assured me they didn’t do that in Reformed churches.  What???  He had to be confused!  I gave up and we moved on to the Fraumünster Church built in 853 AD!

The Fraumünster church was also at the heart of the Swiss Reformation because the Abbess supported Zwingli in his reform efforts and asked him to preach at the Fraumünster church as well as at Grossmünster.  I was delighted to discover the Fraumünster church had a digital tour you could rent at the door that was very informative.  I quickly noticed the communion table was also missing in this church, and similarly to the Grossmünster church, had replaced the table with a large baptismal font. (See the picture above.  The flowers at the center bottom of the picture are sitting on top of the baptismal font!)  I was hoping to find some answers as to the missing table in the recorded information.  I learned that at the time of the Reformation in Zurich the 15 altars in the sanctuary of Fraumünster had all been removed along with the statuary and the organ.  (Zwingli thought the organ was too prominent in Catholic worship at the time.)  Likewise many of the ancient frescos had been painted over.  I also learned that Zwingli had quite a time fending off the Anabaptists who wanted to refuse infant baptism.  In reaction, Zwingli made baptism very prominent in the new Swiss Reformed churches.  That explained the baptism at the center of the church where the table usually was.

Things had changed since the 1500s and the Fraumünster church now boasts a beautiful pipe organ in the back balcony.  Some of the frescos have been uncovered and partially restored.  The most stunning feature of the church, however, is the set of beautiful Chagall windows that were added in the 1970s to the “choir” - the very front of the church which includes a very small, unimpressive “table” which holds a Bible and two small lamps to illuminate it.

Still wondering about the celebration of communion, I did a little research this morning into the early Swiss Reformation.  Did they indeed abolish communion? No, but they did make some pretty major changes!  Whereas the “Mass” was celebrated daily in the Catholic Church at the time of the reformation, the Swiss Reformers understood they were replacing Mass with Holy Communion.  Zwingli wrote a new liturgy for this new celebration.  They also greatly reduced it’s frequency so people would stop thinking of the sacrament as something magical.  It was primarily celebrated on the high holy days: Christmas, Good Friday, Easter and Pentecost.  The reformers intentionally shifted the focus away from the sacrament to the preaching of the word of God with a special focus on Jesus Christ.

So that’s your Swiss Reformed Theology lesson for today.  I find this really interesting!  Congratulations for having read through to the end!

We made it safely to Zurich!  We flew through the night last night and landed this morning at about10:00 AM Zurich time.  That’s about 3:00 AM in La Porte.  Mike and I were determined to reorient our body clocks quickly, so we have spent the day getting oriented to our new surroundings.  This evening we hopped the tram into the old city.  It’s remarkable - very old with quaint small streets no bigger than an alley.  Switzerland is known for cheese, so we had fondue for dinner tonight.  Then we took a walk along the river.

Suddenly at 7:00 PM one of the church towers began to strike.  I though it was striking the hour, but it kept going and another church bell tower joined in.  Soon all the church bell towers on either side of the river were ringing and kept ringing for 15 minutes.  It was such a remarkable sound I video taped a little of it (above).  I’m not sure why they were ringing but it was a stunning reminder of the historic presence of the church in this part of the world.

P.S. to the session:  Thank you for the thoughtful celebrative Champaign and chocolate you arranged for Mike and me as we boarded the plane last night.  What a wonderful way to begin the trip!