Today, 6th January 2021, is the Epiphany. Though ‘epiphany’ derives from Greek, the feast is called ‘Theophany’ (Θεοφάνια). I have not been following the debate closely, but it seems that the Church and government reached a compromise: the churches could open but the ritual blessing of the waters would be prohibited. This ritual involves priests throwing crosses into the sea and youths diving in to retrieve them.
Emmanouil Dermitzakis, a Greek human geneticist and professor in the Department of Genetic Medicine and Development at the University of Geneva posted a couple of Epiphany photos (including the one below) with the following comment:
“Κατόπιν τούτου μην απορεί κανείς γιατί η Ελλάδα θα βρίσκεται σε αυστηρά μέτρα και lockdown για πολύ καιρό, και ίσως και με κλειστά σχολεία πάλι σύντομα. Κρίμα …” What he is saying is, “Following this [photo], nobody should be asking themselves why Greece will remain under severe measures and lockdowns for a long time, and maybe school closures again shortly. Pity…”
He is of course referring to the disease-spreading method of receiving Holy Communion in the Orthodox Church. It is not too clear from the photo, but the priest holds a chalice filled with bread soaked in wine. In his other hand he holds a thin, elongated spoon with which he scoops out a bit of the drenched bread and puts in the communicants’ mouths. This is then repeated without sterilising the spoon. OK if you’re first in the queue! On top of this unhealthy practice, it seems that the Church has not honoured its side of the bargain. Churches were overcrowded, and in the Peloponnese one priest and two divers have been fined for carrying out an illegal blessing of the waters ceremony. More tragically, in Halkida one young man is now a quadriplegic following a dive into water that was too shallow. There have also been arrests on the seafront in Thessaloniki. Common sense would suggest that the open-air ritual should have gone ahead while the enclosed church spaces should have remained closed.
Though today’s breaches will not have helped, Greeks are slowly getting back on top of the latest Covid surge. Here are some facts taken from www.iefimerida.com covering the 24-hour period 5th – 6th January:
New cases 816
Deaths 48
Intubated 399
Total deaths since the start of the crisis now stand at 5,099 of whom 59% are men and 41% women with an average age of 79. Finally, 95.5% of the fatalities involved people with underlying conditions and/or who were over 70 years old.
Anyway, what’s happening musically? Not much. I have sent Zoom invitations for 2pm, Sat 9th January. One of us suggested we practice the first item on our playlist, a set of three jigs: Brian O’Lynn/Humours of Glendart/Saddle the Pony. I found the three jigs on YouTube but in a different order: Humours of Glendart/Saddle the Pony/Brian O’Lynn.
The group is called King Laoghaire and here is the set: