Viewpoint: Archbishop Demetrios Visit Inspires, Remembrance of Families and Enhances Transfiguration Mattituck Church
By Catherine Tsounis
“When good men die, their goodness does not perish,” – Euripides. A community makes or breaks a church. Worshippers beautify the service with their sincere religious faith. His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of the Greek Orthodox Church of America, accompanied by Deacon Aristidis Garinis, celebrated the liturgy for the third consecutive year on Sunday, August 3rd, at the Transfiguration of Christ Church in Mattituck, Long Island, New York. An inspired choir gave the performance of a lifetime. Their ill choirmaster, Demetrios “Jimmy” Talas passed away hours before at Peconic Bay Hospital, Riverhead. His Eminence said, Demetrios Talas left us to chant with the angels in Heaven.” The hymn, “Soson Imas Yie Theou” (Save Us, O Son of God) was sung with passion unheard of on former Sundays, in memory of their beloved choirmaster.
Viewpoint: The Last Feast Day at the Original Building of the Greek Orthodox Kimisis Church of the Hamptons
Viewpoint: The Last Feast Day at the Original Building of the Greek Orthodox Kimisis Church of the Hamptons
By Catherine Tsounis
“This is God’s Country,” said Geri Goehringer to his wife Barbara, dick and Charlotte Mullen and us at Judge Willie Thompson’s summer party in Mattituck. This statement “God’s Country” has been said to me since the 1960’s when my teacher Mr. Cohen came to visit with the Heralder’s Club of Bryant High school, Astoria. We were reminiscing on the origins of the Transfiguration church. Stanly and Helen Sledjeski sold parts of their original farm below market value to the North Fork Greek Association, because of their deep religious faith in Christianity. Families of the North Fork have moved to the South Fork of the East End of Long Island to witness an unheard of event in economically depressed America: the building of an Orthodox Church complex to act as an internal religious center of Orthodoxy.
The Armenians: Unsung Supporter of Hellenism
The Armenians: Unsung Supporter of Hellenism
By Catherine Tsounis
“The Armenians are our brothers,” said Mr. Constantine Parthenis my Modern Greek instructor at St. Demetrios Greek American School in 1950’s Astoria, New York. Dr. Emory, a medieval historian at Queens College, explained in a 1969 undergraduate class that “the Armenians are not recognized significantly in the Byzantine Empire.” Throughout the years of research and readings of the former Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America and current Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, the Armenian contribution to Hellenism is not explored.
