Victoria Mindova
I can not say that I am a believer, nor righteous, but my meeting with Father Alexandros made me look in a different way at the Christian Church. So far, the Church for me as well as for many others, I guess, was just another public institution without any particular significance for my personal path in life. Maybe it will remain so for the future as well, but I can not tell about the goodness when I meet it.
This is the story of Father Alexandros, who is only 29 years, a man in his prime (as would say Karolson who lives on the roof) and has undertaken the uneasy task to build a temple in the small municipality of the capital Nea Chalkidona together with people of his parish. I found myself in his small church occasionally. What struck me were neither lavish iconostasis, or high-domed temple, because there was nothing like that. On the contrary. The church of Nea Chalkidona is housed in a modest hut of bricks and steel. What impressed me the most was the pioneer enthusiasm of the priest and his parish, who are determined to build a temple of their own in the small suburb of Athens. For the first time I felt that Christianity can really give a sense of belonging and importance by making good or just by building a church that brings people together, and not dividing them.
The presence of Father Alexandros in the Street in stories of GRReporter is not accidental. He says that perhaps raising the temple is somewhat mercenary work, but my opinion is that if all mercenary works in the world were like his, the problems on Earth today would be much less and much more righteous. He agreed to tell us about his work and his thoughts about life, religion and modern Greece. This is his story:
How did you decide to become a priest
I liked the idea of being a priest since my childhodd, although I was a very live and even a naughty child. As a young man I was hanging out with friends, having fun, we had different companies, but inside I needed also something else. The idea that you are useful and you can help people, and you are also in constant touch with the world around you. As a priest I am able to constantly keep in contact with people from the parish, we talk about various issues, we discuss the problems of everyday life and I help with whatever I can. These are things that I like and they predetermined my decision to become a priest. Nobody influenced my decision I just knew what I want. I went to study theology in Athens and took on the path I chose for myself.
Theology
Theology as a science is very misunderstood ... I've noticed that many people believe that theology deals only with God, but this is not true. Indeed, it deals in depth with the philosophy, the inner life and human history, present and the nature of things that surround us as a whole. Gospels reveal not only the history of Christianity, but also the everyday life of people in the old days. Theology is in its essence a science. It does not contradict the scientific approach to perception of the world, just the theological understanding stops at a level from which on is God. Science in turn tries to unravel the secrets of the divine. This is the only difference between theological and scientific. There is no other difference.
New Parish
When I finished my studies and served my military service, I was ordained a priest and I sent in one church for three years. Then I came to Nea Chalcedon. When I started here four years ago, there was no church and no parish. First I found only about ten people from the municipality, but the need for believers to have their own church and priest with us is great. It gives a sense of belonging. Many years before I show up, citizens of Nea Chalcedon have attempted to build a neighborhood church. Of course the familiar problems with the state institutions have made this impossible, especially when the region itself has not been allocated by the Church as a separate parish. To light a candle, to pray or simply to attend a liturgy people were supposed to go to close or more distant neighborhoods. People generally need a temple of their own, which they may attend and perform traditional Christian rites. However, when you are away from the church it is difficult to establish lasting contacts with other members of the parish or to become a member of the community. When they heard that in the neighborhood has come a new priest, people started flooding.
Ever since I came we slowly and gradually built the small church that you see together with people from the parish for only three months. Small, clean and tidy the church is now working normally and started to develop its own community. The next step was to start building the new church, which will be our new temple. We've already fineshed the hardest, but we still have work. The problem as always is that we don’t have the money. This of course will not stop us, it will just slow us down a bit from the initial plan.
In Greece, generally are built smallrr churches. This gives citizens a sense of community and belonging. From ancient times in Greece, the church is a place for meetings and communication. After a Mass in the villages, and even in the towns people leave the church, go to the local square, where they all know each other. They will drink a cup of coffee in the adjacent cafeteria, they will discuss the problems of everyday life and the church in general becomes a kind of second home for our citizens. The meaning of the word "church" has the meaning of kindness and gather in one league.
The crisis in Greece is in the first place spiritual and moral, and then economic
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