July 24, Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, Maitland, Florida

Okay, so this church is VERY different from those I have been visiting. While most of the churches that I have visited are typically contemporary in nature, Holy Trinity’s service has changed very little in 1700 years! Home church of my Dad and Step Mom, the Orthodox liturgy is sung or spoken alternately between the priest, deacon or cantors, and the congregation, both in English and in Greek (a printed liturgy helps you keep track if your Greek isn’t in top form). The order of worship leads from an admission of God’s presence and greatness through petitions on behalf of self, the church, church leaders, civic leaders, travelers, and a call to peace and full devotion to Christ. Following the petitions are the Antiphons, or hymns, that are sung alternately between the priest, cantors, and people. The way that these hymns have been sung has not changed in centuries- a real music history lesson! An epistle and gospel reading follow, which in turn is followed by the priest’s homily. More petitions and confessions of faith lead up to the climax of the service, the celebration of the Eucharist (Lord’s Supper). The service concludes with a prayer of thanksgiving and a personal visit to the Priest for a blessing. Virtually nothing is done without specific or symbolic purpose. While a bit too “high church” for the family, I found the service quite stimulating and worshipful. Especially noteworthy was the musicianship of one of the cantors. With a simply angelic voice, she has mastered the very difficult ability to sing in “quarter tones”. Traditional in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern music, these tones break up our usual 8 note scale into a scale of 32 notes! When sung incorrectly, it simply sounds as someone is tone deaf! Sung correctly, it is very exotic and beautiful. I believe that I have resolved myself to visit this service at least once each year- just to keep myself rooted in the foundations of early Christian worship.
As an aside, a very nice “coffee hour” followed the service (if you’ve seen “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”, you know that there is no such thing as a “simple” coffee hour! Try assorted fruit, brie with raspberry sauce, and a variety of homemade fruit pastries. Only a tour of the new restaurant quality kitchen got me away!) I was privileged to share this time with one of the members of Holy Trinity Church, Antonio “Tony” Alexatos, a world renowned executive chef. During the administrations of Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush, Tony would be the President’s personal chef whenever they visited Florida. My Dad had been begging Tony to bring some of his scrapbooks to church, and this just happened to be the Sunday that he did. In the books were pictures of him with the various Presidents and some of his creations and culinary awards. Let’s just say that I got the church cookbook and that you’ll be tasting some of the recipes at a future North Avenue pot luck! Needless to say, Tony had a hand in designing the church kitchen which is used to serve over 5,000 people each October during Greek Fest. Kali Orexi! (Hearty Appetite)