Tuesday, November 01, 2005

All Saints Eve Party




So at our church (St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church in Portland, OR), instead of Halloween, we have an All Saints Eve party. The children all come dressed up as their favorite saint or Biblical character (including animals from the Bible). We eat dinner, play games, get lots of candy, and the kids have a great time:) This year Pavlos decided to be St. Nektarios (the last two years, mommy decided he would be St. Paul (Pavlos) and St. Seraphim). Pavlos' middle name is Nektarios and he has an icon of St. Nektarios over his bed (along with his icon of St. Paul). We have even been to Aegina when we were last in Greece (two and a half years ago) and were able to go to the Church dedicated to him and see his relics. My dad, who goes to Greece at least once a year, always makes a stop to Aegina to visit his "friend" St. Nektarios. And he always brings me back holy oil. Thanks, dad.
Back to the All Saints party. Pavlos had a great time. Here is a picture of him dressed as St. Nektarios... And, yes, our little St. Nektarios has a sucker in his mouth:) We video tape each of the children telling us which saint they are and something about the saint. Pavlos said he was St. Nektarios and when we asked him what St. Nektarios did, he replied, "played the drums". So there you have it... a little known fact about St. Nektarios (in fact, I think Pavlos is the only person to ever know this little fact). Here are pictures of Pavlos as St. Paul (2003) and St. Seraphim (2004).
Today is the feast of the Holy Unmercenaries Kosmas and Damianos. They were two of my yiayia's favorite saints. I remember hearing her pray to them (and to the Theotokos). Pavlos and I went to Liturgy this morning in honor of yiayia. May her memory be eternal! As Pavlos entered into the communion line he looked at me and said, "I love communion." And then headed on up to receive communion (later, we met papa for lunch and Pavlos told him that he loved something else (something fairly unimportant but I can't remember what it is)... so Pavlos loves many things).

7 comments:

Christina said...

pardon the picture layout... it's the first time i've ever posted pix and they didn't quite end up where I wanted them to be (the blogger set up thing showed them all in a row and then published them as you see them). hopefully the next time i post pix i can do a better job:)

Xenia Kathryn said...

Oh Christina!
Pavlos looked so cute as St. Nektarios (and a drum-playing St. Nektarios at that--lol)! I absolutely love that hat you made him (I know it has a more specific name than "hat).

I was a wee bit tired yesterday, as you already know, but it was so much fun. And I do look forward to dressing up my own little "pumpkin" next year... as I'm sure you are, too! :D

I had fun with Pavlos Sunday afternoon when my sister took him with her to lunch. He's such a little firecracker! So animated, always singing, etc. Steve and I enjoyed taking him to Starbucks where he got his "ice cream sundae." Good practice!

I'm glad he loves communion, too :)

love,
Katie

p.s. Thank you for descending into the depths of blogging despair and rescuing me from myspace. Please note that I have updated my "real blog," and I was very glad to do so. Take care! :D

Anonymous said...

too cute!

Mimi said...

Great photos! I love the costumes. And, I have to admit, I have the same issue with Blogger putting photos where I want.

Also, I love Communion is such a wonderful quote. Lord have Mercy.

Memory Eternal to your dear YiaYia!

Fr. Matthew said...

Great Pics

Anonymous said...

sweet post.

layne (herman) said...

1. Too cool fact about St. Nektarios and playing the drums.

2. Blessings to little Pavlos as St. Nektarios is commemorated tomorrow (11/9) on the New Calendar!

3. Thank you for posting the pics; i hadn't seen them until today, but they were mentioned during a dinner i was at on Sunday nite!

and 4. Can you tell us any more about St. Nektarios playing the drums?