ITHACA, N.Y. – [St. Catherine’s GOC]
The members of St. Catherine Greek Orthodox Church in downtown Ithaca celebrated the 203rd anniversary of Greek Independence Day (March 25th, 1821) with a brief program after services this past Sunday, March 24th.
The parish, founded by Ithaca’s Greek community in the mid-1950’s, has been commemorating GID annually for more than 60 years.
Local officials often join the parish for the yearly commemoration, which coincides with the Christian feast of the Annunciation, and break bread with the community in the parish hall afterwards.
This year was no exception, as two members of the Common Council, Aldermen Patrick Kuehl (4th Ward) and Clyde Lederman (5th Ward) – who are also students at Cornell University – joined Mayor Robert Cantelmo in presenting the community with a proclamation to mark the occasion.
Mr. Cantelmo, who is earning his doctorate in government at Cornell, is the first mayor to serve on the City Council since Ithaca commenced with its new city manager form of municipal government this past January 1st (a city manager runs a city’s day-to-day operations, but reports to the city’s mayor and council).
After the service, there was a solemn procession with the Greek and American Flags, during which the hymn of the Annunciation and both the Greek and American National Anthems were sung by the congregation.
Flag bearers for the procession were Bill Manos, a longtime member of the parish who was once a U.S. Army reservist, and Zach Teeter, a member of the parish council and veteran of the U.S. Army who served in Kuwait.
Evan C. Lambrou, a lifelong member of St. Catherine GOC and graduate of Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Boston (and former editor of the National Herald), led the congregation in singing the national anthems and served as master of ceremonies for the post-service program.
DUAL SIGNIFICANCE
“For people of Greek heritage, March 25th is a holiday of dual significance: ethnic and religious. It’s Greek Independence Day, yes, but it was Annunciation Day long before it was Greek Independence Day,” he told the congregation.
“The Annunciation – ο Ευαγγελισμός της Θεοτόκου – is the day Christians believe the Archangel Gabriel told the Virgin Mary the Good News: that she was chosen by God the Father to be the Bearer of God the Son, our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ, to which she consented, thus making Salvation possible for all mankind thru the Mystery of the Incarnation, η Ενσάρκωση του Κυρίου ημῶν Ιησού Χριστού,” he said.
“And in their zeal to regain their freedom after enduring centuries of brutal Ottoman subjugation, the Greeks wanted to declare their independence – to announce their intention to the world they were determined to once again be free – and to associate their good news with Gabriel’s Heaven-Sent Good News to the Blessed Virgin, once again and forever linking their nationhood with the Greek Orthodox Christian Church and Faith,” he said.
FREEDOM OF RELIGION
The Greek Revolution was therefore also very much about the freedom of religion, Mr. Lambrou noted.
“As Americans, we forget how easy we’ve got it, so we often take things for granted in this country; freedom of religion is a right guaranteed by the First Amendment, after all. That wasn’t the case, at all, for Greek and other Orthodox Christian peoples under Ottoman rule. The Ottoman Turks were Moslems, and they vigorously – and rigorously – imposed their Islamic beliefs on their Christian subjects, either at swordpoint, or thru heavy taxation,” he said.
Over the centuries, he explained, the Ottomans desecrated and destroyed countless Greek Orthodox churches, and effectively wiped out almost all traces of the once thriving Greek Orthodox Christian cultural heritage in Asia Minor, which had been peacefully inhabited by Greek people since the days of Homer, and by Christians since even before Saint Constantine the Great relocated the Roman Empire’s capital seat from Old Rome to New Rome (i.e., Byzantium, which was renamed Constantinople in his honor in the early 4th Century).
“Why else does anyone suppose that Turkey today has fewer Christians as a percentage of its population than any of its neighbors? Only 260 thousand of Turkey’s 85 million people are Christians now; that’s not even 1 percent; it’s only three tenths of 1 percent – three tenths of ONE percent – which is less than Syria, less than Iraq and less than Iran. The Turks were VERY thorough in their Islamization efforts. And lest we think it’s over, let’s not forget that the current Turkish Government reconverted Hagia Sophia – the greatest Greek Orthodox cathedral ever built – back to a mosque in the summer of 2020. That wasn’t even four years ago,” he said.
“But as hard as the Ottomans tried, they ultimately couldn’t remove the Christian faith from the Hellenic soul and collective consciousness. The Greeks were Christians LONG before the Seljuk and Ottoman Turks invaded Asia Minor from the Asiatic Steppes, raiding our lands and massacring our people. The Greek Orthodox Church and faith were central to Greek ethnic and cultural identity, so for the Greek nation, liberty also meant freedom to be practicing Orthodox Christians, without fear of persecution and adverse repercussions. And that was a major driving force behind the Greek struggle against a ruthless adversary which far outnumbered us. And with God’s Grace, we overcame incredible odds to achieve liberty after eight years of heart-rending revolution against a foe that was OBDURATELY determined to keep us under its oppressive thumb. We had to fight VERY hard – inch by bloody inch – to take back what was rightfully ours for over 15 hundred years before Turkish marauders came along to pillage and plunder our sacred land,” he added.
After Mr. Lambrou concluded his remarks, Mayor Cantelmo presented the City of Ithaca’s annual Greek Independence Day Proclamation to Parish Council Vice President Paulette Manos, who herself once served as a member of Ithaca’s Common Council, representing the City’s 1st Ward from 1998 to 2004.
DEEP CULTURAL RESONANCE
Addressing the St. Catherine parish community, the Mayor noted that Greek history and heritage resonate deeply with Americans, whose founding fathers drew inspiration from Greek ideals.
“Ancient Greece birthed Western democracy and inspired America’s own independence leaders to bring forth a new nation modeled on its principles. Greek immigrants and their descendants fled Ottoman oppression to take part in the American story, making the United States home to the largest ethnically Greek population outside of Greece. Modern Greece also stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the United States and its NATO allies to renew these values and resist Soviet tyranny during the Cold War,” he said.
“On a personal level, I think fondly about growing up immersed in stories of Greek heroism; whether through the mythologies translated by Robert Graves or the Byzantine histories recorded by John Julius Norwich. As we celebrate this historical moment of bravery, resistance and liberation, let us also lend strength to the modern struggles for freedom, especially those in Ukraine who continue to courageously resist the neo-imperialism of Vladimir Putin,” he said.
“So allow me to reiterate my thanks for today’s invitation to both commemorate this solemn moment and acknowledge the contributions of Greek Americans locally and across the nation. Thank you very much, and God bless you,” the Mayor added.
Afterwards, Mayor Cantelmo and Aldermen Kuehl and Lederman, who are also students at Cornell, joined the community for a fried fish and spanakopita luncheon in the parish hall.
The fish was purchased for the occasion from TOP’s in Lansing, courtesy of the Lambrou family, which also donated the annual GID cake from Wegmans in Ithaca.
Tasia Stavropoulos brought the spanakopita. Candy Filios brought the γίγαντες (giant lima beans baked in tomato sauce). Katerina Papachryssanthou brought the αρακά (stovetop peas with diced potatoes in tomato sauce). And Paulette Manos brought the Greek olives.
Many thanks to the ladies of the local Philoptochos Society for helping to serve the food, and to Emeline Mandeville and her husband Andy Mosier for picking the fish up from TOP’s and bringing it to the church for the occasion.
