BOSTON – Parishioners of all ages participated by the hundreds in the Resurrection of Christ at the historic Church of St. George in Lynn, Massachusetts. On Holy Saturday night as early as 11 PM the main nave, the balcony, the narthex, and the sides of the nave were filled by faithful. Entire families with small and older children and teenagers holding white candles in their hands were waiting patiently to receive the Holy Light of Christ from the hands of Protopresbyter George Tsoukalas, presiding priest of the St. George’s parish, while the Chief Cantor Kostas Patayios, with his assistants George Tsonis and George Varoudakis, were chanting the canon known as Kymati thalassis – that refers to Christ as “The One who once buried the pursuing tyrant” – the devil – “under the billows of the sea.”
When Fr. George appeared at the Royal Door and started chanting with his powerful voice, “Come Receive the Light”, the congregants went up to him to light their candles and the nave was filled with light shining on their faces and within their souls.
The Service of the Resurrection was presented by Fr. George Tsoukalas assisted by Fr. Peter Chrysafidis in the narthex as it customary at the parish.
In an interview with The National Herald Fr. George said, “it was very nice and devout throughout Holy Week. We had gotten a little tired but it is a sacred tiredness because it is so nice and satisfying to see the People of God come to church and participate with piety in the Holy Services.”
Photo: TNH/Theodore Kalmoukos
Fr. George, who is completing 53 years in the holy priesthood, said that “every Pascha is a new Pascha.” He added that, “I was remembering those loved ones who have departed from this life. In two weeks we lost very beloved brothers and friends, priests, Fr. Asterios Gerostergios and Fr. Valileios Flionis, who are now in the heavenly kingdom.”
Fr. George also said that, “I remembered nostalgically and thankfully our pioneer Greek immigrants who with hard work and sacrifices without advanced education and without knowledge of Greek established this parish of St. George and of course all our parishes in the United States. They are real heroes.”
Asked about the community’s current situation, he said, “we are more educated but we don’t have the same enthusiasm, nor the same dedication that the pioneering Greek immigrants had. They came here and they found an uncultivated field and they had to cultivate it and they did so. And not only that, but they were thinking about the future of the Church; they built the Theological School, St. Basil’s Academy, and they organized the Archdiocese.”
Fr. George was asked if he is pained by the current situation of Holy Cross School of Theology and she said, “how can it not pain me? The School is our sweet mother, but unfortunately everything changes with the passing of time. This should never have happened to the School, however, and I hope and pray that it will be restored to its previous status because it was and I believe still is the pride of Hellenism of America and especially of Boston.”
He said about St. George, “thank God the people love their parish. They came for Holy Week, many families with their children. My purpose and my mission always was and still is to serve our people, to embrace them – always with love and with an open heart – whatever the situation is, the other person is a child of God, a creature of God.”
Costas Sideridis, prominent businessman and philanthropist, member of the parish council, Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and member of Leadership 100, told TNH that, “Holy Week went very well here at St. George. We had good turnouts, the weather was good, it was all good.”
Sideridis has been in the parish for 22 years but as he told The National Herald, “my roots are from Constantinople, my father from Chalcedon and my mother from the island of Halki.” He was born in Montreal Canada where his parents first immigrated and in 1985 they came to the United States, to New Jersey. He has studied engineering and economics and has his own company, Ferro-Ceramic Grinding in Wilmington, MA. He is married and has two sons.
Fr. Peter Chrysafidis, who assisted Fr. Tsoukalas throughout Holy Week, told TNH that “everything was beautiful and orderly.” Fr. Peter graduated from Holy Cross in 1956 and has served many parishes in the Archdiocese. He blessed the wedding of former Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine, who invited him twice to offer prayers in Congress.
Chief Cantor Kostas Parayios told TNH that “everything went well during Holy Week. I had two assistants, George Tsonis, who is going to enter the School of Theology in September, and George Varoudakis.”
Parayios has been chanting since he was a teenager on the island of Samos and has served for decades – since 1970 – at St. George in Lynn. He said, “every time I chant the hymns of Holy Week it is as if I chant them for the first time.”
The post Every Generation Participated in the Resurrection of Christ at Historic St. George in Lynn, MA appeared first on The National Herald.