What is a wooden boat looking for in the middle of the olive grove in the courtyard of a temple? The answer is given by the fully active pastor of the church of Agia Paraskevi, Sidirokastro, Serres, Fr. Pavlos Papadopoulos, who for another year managed to mobilize young and old in his parish, creating a beautiful festive atmosphere.
Every year, the beautiful church of Agia Paraskevi at the entrance of the headquarters of the mountainous municipality of Sintiki, in Sidirokastro, becomes the center of a series of festive events, with the participation of the people, who all these years rejoice with satisfaction from the initiatives and efforts of the father Paul.
So, after three years that in the “heart” of the olive grove, right next to the temple, an impressive three-dimensional manger was set up, this year, following a folk tradition of our place that wants young beauticians to keep a boat, a beautiful traditional wooden boat, fifteen meters long.
Its four sails were painted by people with special needs but also by students of kindergartens and primary schools. Large icons were also placed in the olive grove, with explanatory texts, presenting works by well-known Greek painters, on the theme of Christmas carols, in which it seems that the ship is an integral part of a long Greek tradition, which now tends to be forgotten.
Speaking to APE-MPE, Father Pavlos emphasizes that “this year, the focus of the festive events of Agia Paraskevi will be the traditional wooden boat, wanting to remind that the Greeks have had inseparable ties with the sea since antiquity. The boat symbolized not only the children’s anticipation of meeting their relatives who were far away and working on the boats, but also their own love for the sea. It is no coincidence that often the children who went to sing the carols held a miniature boat, decorated with colored papers and ropes filled with sweets and Christmas bread given to it by the neighbors. We wanted to revive this custom, giving joy to all our young and old parishioners “.
“It is important”, the pastor continues, “the fact that the children and the disabled of the creative employment centers, which are active here in Sidirokastro, painted the sails, participating in this celebration. At the same time, we organized a painting competition, asking all the children to draw a theme from the church tradition of Christmas. So far, more than 120 paintings have been collected and we are continuing “.
The church gave the money for the materials and the parishioners built the boat with great care, on which there is even a tent. On weekends, the members of the choir who sing in the sanctuary of Agia Paraskevi and have a small orchestra play traditional carols from every corner of Greece.
“During these holy days,” notes Father Pavlos, “we try to give joy with small gestures and actions. In this way, the community of people in our area is entertained, they come closer to each other and together we celebrate the great message of the coming of the Godman. With the blessings and support of the most respected pastor, Metropolitan of Sidirokastro Mr. Makarios, this year we traditionally celebrate through the events we organize and which will culminate on Christmas day. After the performance of the second Christmas Divine Liturgy, in the courtyard of our church, in the olive grove, the children’s paintings will be exhibited. The committee will choose the best one and the winning child will receive a tablet as a gift. We will also bake on the brazier, we will offer traditional delicacies and sweets and the children of our orchestra will keep us in beautiful musical company “.
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