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5 THE SHEPHERD • DECEMBER 2022 • SAINT SPYRIDON GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF SAN DIEGO GREEK LANGUAGE SCHOOL Χαίρετε! Hérete! On October 29th, our community gathered to commemorate and celebrate the hero- ic “ΌΧΙ”, with which the Greeks responded to the Italians on the 28th of October 1940. Our community’s event was a great success! It was particularly signi cant for our Greek school as, through that, funds were raised to support the e orts and mission of our educa- tional and administrative team. ose funds are essential for us to be able to expand our resources and explore novel avenues so we can continue to provide the best possible educational experience for our students. All of us at the school are sending our sincere gratitude to all the people who graciously contributed with their generous donations. Special thanks go to the AHEPA Chapter 223 for organizing the event and for essentially supporting this cause. Sign Up for Spring Semester! With the end of the rst semester of classes being only a few weeks away (end of January 2023), we are looking forward to welcoming new students for the Spring semester! If you are interested in joining our classes, please, make sure to reach out to us as soon as pos- sible at stspyridongreekschool@gmail.com and / or (619) 800-8355. In the meantime, Christmas is right around the corner, and in Greece, as in numerous other countries around the world, people can’t wait to honor and celebrate the customs associated with the holidays. Christmas Carols in Greece All over Greece, on Christmas and New Year's Eve, we have the “κάλαντα” (kálanta / carols) that spread the news of the Birth of Christ. e word “κάλαντα” comes from the Lat- in “calenda”, which means beginning of the month. eir his- tory goes very deep into the past and is connected to Ancient Greece. It is believed that the children of that time were carrying around an e gy of a ship representing the arrival of the god Dionysus. Sometimes they held an olive or laurel branch from which hung red and white threads. e household- ers' o erings were tied to the threads. Carols are a Greek custom that is still pre- served today with children going from house to house, two or more together, and singing the carols accompanying their song with the triangle or even guitars, accordions, lyres, or harmonicas. e hosts would reward them with some amount of money and oc- casionally o er them Christmas treats, like “μελομακάρονα” or “κουραμπιέδες”. Greek Christmas Traditional Sweets e “μελομακάρονα” (melomakárona) and “κουραμπιέδες” (kourabiédes) are the tradi- tional sweets of the Christmas holidays and are not missing from the Greek festive table. e word is a combination of “μέλι” (méli / honey) and “μακαρόνια”, which comes from the ancient Greek word “μακάρια” (makária / blessed). Melomakárona are egg-shaped made from our, sugar, orange zest, cinna- mon, and olive oil. A er baking, they are im- mersed for a few seconds in cold syrup made of honey and sugar dissolved in water. Final- ly, they are decorated with pieces of walnut. e word κουραμπιές comes from the Per- sian Qurabiye, which means biscuit, made of our and butter, and typically with al- monds. Kourabiédes are sometimes made with brandy, mastiha or vanilla for avoring. Kourabiédes are shaped into small balls, then baked till slightly golden. ey are usually rolled in icing sugar while still hot. Favorite Greek Destinations in December: Zagorohória / Ζαγοροχώρια Ζagorohória is a cluster of 46 villages in the area Zagori, which is located at the Pindos mountain chain, in the state of Epirus, in northwestern Greece. e villages are scat- tered at the foothills of Pindos. ey are all stone-built and are famous for their pictur- esqueness, well-preserved architecture and unique natural beauty. If you wish to support our e orts by gra- ciously submitting a donation, please visit our website at stspyridongreekschool.org On behalf of the entire educational and administrative team, we wish you… Καλές γιορτές! Καλά Χριστούγεννα και Ευτυχισμένο το Νέο Έτος! Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! eocharis Papatrechas Greek Language School Director intertwined. I think of the friends I have from Latin America, Italy, Portugal, Germany, and Spain who tell me that when they moved here it was hard to nd people like themselves, because their communities didn’t organize around a church like the Greeks did. We re- cently went to a Greek festival where a young man and his wife pushing a baby carriage kept passing by us as if they were hoping to capture our attention. He nally walked up to my husband and asked (in Greek) “Where do the Greeks hang out around here?” My husband who was standing under a tree on the church grounds talking to friends said “Here!” and welcomed him to the group. I could send my daughters to ballet lessons (and I do!). I can have them learn Spanish as a foreign language (as I did) and I can send them to classical piano, clarinet or vi- olin lessons. All beautiful, worthwhile pur- suits. So, why send them to learn about the Greek dance, music and language? Because, these are all intertwined with our faith. e “panigyria” in Greece, are celebrations of Saint feast days. e weddings and baptisms we dance at, celebrate the Holy Sacraments. e church hymns we sing in the choir are translated from Greek, so to read the origi- nal text brings us an even deeper sense of our faith. For me, having my children participate in these church ministries creates a tighter bond with their faith. And it gives more con- text to the dance, music, and language they are learning. Having that connection means they may be more likely to hold onto it into adulthood, rather than a language, instru- ment or dance learned without context and connection to something deeply personal. Seeing children of 3rd generation Greeks and children who aren’t Greek participate in Greek dance, brings me incredible joy and makes me think perhaps I’m not the only one who sees it this way. If you are interested in St. Spyridon’s Greek Dance and Choral program, please reach out at stspyridondance@gmail.comor 619-940-5167. Timmy Paraskevopoulos Greek Dance and Choral School 4 YOUTH MINISTRIES