The official name of the church in Greece is the Greek Orthodox Church. The Greek Orthodox Church is in third place in terms of the number of parishioners, behind the Russian with its 100 million and the Romanian with its 20 million.
History
The penetration of Christianity into this country occurred in the 1st century, along with the arrival of the Apostle Paul to the territory of Hellas. The first city he visited was Philippi. There he preached to the locals. On the very first day, one of the local residents, a rich woman, Lydia, was baptized. With her filing, her inner circle was baptized. She was one of the first Christians in Europe, which even now is proudly remembered by the local settlers. This is how the Christian community was founded in this city, and then in Thessalonica, Berea, Achaia, Athens and Corinth. In all these cities, many settlers were converted to Christianity.
Paul constantly throughout his life quite closely associated with representatives of all these communities, serving as a shepherd for them. The New Testament preservedseveral addresses of the apostle to these ancient Greek communities of the first Christians.
The apostle Luke also worked on the creation of the Greek church in the same time period. It was he who created the Gospel for the Hellenes. Apostle Andrew the First-Called also contributed to the development of the Greek Church.
In just half a century, all major Greek cities have acquired their own Christian communities. The first representatives of the Christianity of the country were inextricably linked with the Roman bishop, since Greece was part of the Roman Empire. For many centuries, until the 9th century, Orthodoxy was the basis of the Roman Church, and all prerequisites for a schism were carefully eliminated.
Byzantine influence
At the beginning of the 5th century, Greece became part of the Byzantine Empire. In many ways, the rites of the Greek Church fell under the influence of Constantinople. The dioceses of Greece were subordinate to the Byzantine Patriarch. The most important stronghold of Christianity in Greece was the city of Thessaloniki. It was he who gave the world many saints of the Greek Church. Among the natives of this city are Cyril and Methodius, Gregory Palamas. Holy Mount Athos, where monasticism flourished, became a cult place.
Martyrs
The Greek Church withstood, despite the brutal persecution in the 13-14th centuries from the crusaders who occupied large-scale territory of Hellas. In the 15th century, the heavy Ottoman yoke began for the country. With the fall of Byzantium in 1453 and the reign of the sultans, the era of the New Martyrs flourished, which lasted 400 years. Hundreds of thousands of people gavelife for the Greek Church and their faith.
The teachings about Orthodoxy were often secret - monks and clerics secretly from the ruling regime organized underground societies that operated at night.
Liberation
It was the Greek Church that played the most important role in the struggle for the liberation of the population of Greece from oppression. The uprising of the nation was led by Archbishop Herman, with his submission, the liberation struggle began to be waged in full swing in 1821. With the end of it, by the end of the 19th century, Greece threw off the Ottoman yoke and became an independent state. The Orthodox Church of this country also gained independence.
What is the difference between the Greek Church and the Russian one
Orthodoxy of Russia and Greece is essentially one religion. Dogmas and canons do not differ in anything, nevertheless, due to the different geographical location and peculiarities of the mentality, many differences have been preserved in the church practices of these countries. The central difference is the attitude of the clergyman towards his parish.
Attitude
So, in Russian realities, ordinary believers, coming to the temple, are subjected to a feeling of isolation of priests from the everyday world. They appear as a separate caste, which is fenced off from the parishioners by a certain wall. In the Greek tradition, the clergy are in close relationship with the parish. In everyday life in Greece, a deep respect for the priests is customary - it is customary for them to give up their seats in public transport. Often even to the youngest representativesholy orders in public places are asked for blessings. There is no such thing in Russian reality.
Severity
The Greek Church assumes a stricter attitude towards the ministers of the church. For example, those who were in a relationship before marriage, divorced or in a second marriage cannot become priests.
Greece is a rare country that has preserved the ancient tradition of the existence of a church court. In the churches of this country there are no candle shops and candlesticks. For candles are porches. There is never a payment for candles, everyone gives any amount of their choice.
Splendor
Any foreigner is amazed by the magnificent services held in Russia. In the rituals of the Greek churches, everything is democratic and simple. All divine services last a maximum of 1.5-2 hours, while Russian liturgies can last more than 3 hours. In Greece, it is customary to say all secret prayers aloud.
The order of saying prayers is also significantly different. Such a large number of candles, as in Russian churches, never happens in any temple in Greece. Greek choirs never include female voices. Although in Russian realities this is widely practiced.
Religious Procession
The conduct of this ancient ritual is also significantly different. In Russian Orthodoxy, all divine services are magnificent, and in Greek - much more celebration is concluded in the procession. Brass bands accompany him in Hellas, echoes of marches are heard from everywhere.
The action itselflooks like a parade. This is a unique feature of the church in Greece, which never happens in the Orthodoxy of any country. The procession is not held around the church, but right in the city, a crowd singing songs passes along its central streets. In the circle of a huge number of participants, an effigy of Judas is burned. After this colorful action, a real festival follows, whose beginning is marked by crackers.
Rites
Communion and confession are very different in the traditions of these two countries. It is customary for the Greeks to take communion every Sunday, and confessions take place once a year. Russian Orthodox do not take communion with the same frequency. The rules of the Church in Greece give the right to conduct confessions only to hieromonks blessed for this, who have arrived from monasteries. There is no such strictness in Russian traditions.
In Greek churches you will never meet the usual Russian parish long queues for the procedure of confession. The first conclusion may be the absence of confessions as such. However, the whole point is that the people of Greece come to confession at a predetermined individual time, which excludes the possibility of fuss. Greeks who find themselves in Russian churches are perplexed about the queues for confession. Many do not understand how a priest is able to confess at the same time the entire parish of several hundred people.
The Greek Catholic Church had a great influence on the traditions. Thus, the influence of the West was reflected in the fact that Orthodoxy in Greece uses the New Julian calendar. That isGreeks celebrate Orthodox festivities 13 days earlier than Russians who live according to the Julian calendar. Appeared in Greek temples and stasidia instead of benches and benches typical for Russia.
Clothes
Greek women go to church freely without covering their heads and wearing pants. While in Russia, more severe laws for women have been preserved, according to which this is still prohibited. It is believed that in this way the influence of Western culture was reflected, in which, in general, the positions of patriarchy have weakened compared to Russian realities.
There are also differences in headgear. Thus, kamilavkas are worn differently in the traditions of the two churches. In Greece, they are always painted black, while in Russia there is a full variety of colors. Having become an everyday headdress for the clergy of Russia, the skufia is never used by the Greeks.
The Bible of the Greek Church also differs in its content from the Slavic tradition. These differences are insignificant, but nevertheless, the composition of the books included in the Bible is different for Greece and Russia.
Greek Orthodoxy in Russia
The culture of Greece and Russia has much in common, which is the merit of the once mighty Byzantine Empire, which gave life to the Orthodox culture of many countries. In Russia, there are many imprints left by Greek culture. There are also special temples built in the traditions of Greek Orthodoxy on its territory. The clearest example of this phenomenon is the Greek church of St. George,located since the 15th century in Feodosia. The influence of Greek Orthodoxy even reached the Northern Capital of Russia. Thus, the Greek Church on Grecheskaya Square has been functioning in St. Petersburg since 1763.
Conclusion
The Greek Church at this point in time is very strong throughout the state. So, in this country, in the only Constitution in the whole world, Orthodoxy was enshrined as a state religion. Orthodoxy is endowed with the most important role in the life of Greek society. Even marriages are not recognized by the state if an Orthodox wedding ceremony has not taken place.
