On the 20th of November 2011, a ceremony to honor Virgin Mary was celebrated by the primary school together with the neighbouring church. “Panagias Ereithianis” is not just this celebration’s name but also the name of the school and also of the church.
In the morning we helped in the primary school at the preparations for the ceremony that was about to take place in the evening. The student’s mothers were bringing flowers and other plants to decorate a icon of Virgin Mary. The children’s and our task was to put flowers together to bouquets which then had been put on a frame around the icon. Outside, some of the mothers were preparing an altar with carpets where the icon should be presented in the evening.
In the evening, not just the students and their families, but also former students and neighbours gathered at the primary school to take part at the ceremony. The sixth class was starting the religious service by singing a traditional song. Afterwards, a priests and his chanters were continuing. At a certain moment, some of the students had the special honour to carry the icon to the church where a two hour service was held.
After the service, everyone that left the church received a small package with traditional food. Next to the church, in the community hall, there were served some traditional snacks with hot tea. We were sitting on a table with some girls from the school and had a lot of fun eating and talking with them.
This experience made us even more familiar with the Greek culture and more over to feel part of the school and the community.
To see all the photos go into our gallery!
