EUROPEAN DAY OF LANGUAGES

 

EASTER WISHES

 

Sending Easter blessings by the dozen 

and wishing you a day colored with every hue of Happy!

NEW YEAR WISHES

 

CHRISTMAS WISHES

 

Let's go fly a kite!!

 Flying a kite on "Clean" Monday!!

Enjoy the Mary Poppins version!

"Clean" Monday

Clean Monday (Greek: Καθαρά Δευτέρα), also known as Pure Monday, Ash Monday, Monday of Lent or Green Monday, is the first day of Great Lent throughout Eastern Christianity and is a moveable feast, falling on the 7th Monday before Pascha (Easter).

The common term for this day, "Clean Monday", refers to the leaving behind of sinful attitudes and non-fasting foods. It is sometimes called "Ash Monday", by analogy with Ash Wednesday (the day when the Western Churches begin Lent).

Liturgically, Clean Monday—and thus Lent itself—begins on the preceding (Sunday) night at a special service called Forgiveness Vespers, which culminates with the Ceremony of Mutual Forgiveness, at which all present will bow down before one another and ask forgiveness. In this way, the faithful begin Lent with a clean conscience, with forgiveness, and with renewed Christian love. The entire first week of Great Lent is often referred to as "Clean Week", and it is customary to go to Confession during this week, and to clean the house thoroughly.

Clean Monday is a public holiday in Greece and Cyprus, where it is celebrated with outdoor excursions, the consumption of shellfish and other fasting food, a special kind of azyme bread, baked only on that day, named " lagana" (Greek: λαγάνα) and the widespread custom of flying kites. Eating meat, eggs and dairy products is traditionally forbidden to Orthodox Christians throughout Lent, with fish being eaten only on major feast days, but shellfish is permitted in European denominations. This has created the tradition of eating elaborate dishes based on seafood (shellfish, molluscs, fish roe etc.). Traditionally, it is considered to mark the beginning of the spring season. Kite flying is also part of the tradition, as it symbolises "trying to reach the Divine".

ST. PATRICK'S DAY

Looking at celebrations throughout the year, like Christmas or Easter, there is one which isn't celebrated in Greece, unless you are of Irish decent. 

St. Patrick's Day is a global celebration of Irish culture on or around March 17. ... It particularly remembers St Patrick, one of Ireland's patron saints, who ministered Christianity in Ireland during the fifth century. St Patrick's Day is celebrated in countries with people of Irish descent.

 

 

CHRISTMAS WISHES

 May your days be jolly and bright!

Merry Christmas to all

and a Happier and Brighter

New year!!

CHRISTMAS WISHES

 

Celebration Vocabulary

"Remember, Remember...."

November 5th- Guy Fawkes Day or Bonfire Night

Who was Guy Fawkes? Everything you need to know about the 5th of November.

We all know the rhyme "remember, remember, the 5th of November", when crowds gather to watch effigies of Guy Fawkes being burnt on a bonfire.

But why do we commemorate Bonfire Night with spectacular pyrotechnics, who was Guy Fawkes and what did he do to deserve such a fiery fate?

What is Bonfire Night and why do we celebrate it?

Known as Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes Night, November 5 marks the failure of the 1605 Gunpowder Plot. A group of English Catholic conspirators, incensed by anti-Catholic sentiment during the reign of King James I, planned to blow up the Houses of Parliament and assassinate the monarch in the process.  

Thirty-six barrels of gunpowder were transported to Westminster and placed in a cellar beneath the Houses of Parliament, where they were guarded by Guy Fawkes. On November 5 1605, guards were alerted to the threat, leading to a search of the cellars and the discovery of both the gunpowder and Guy Fawkes.

Who was Guy Fawkes?

Although he was not the ringleader of the gang, Guy Fawkes has gained the most notoriety. As the member charged with the task of lighting the fuse that would set off the explosives, he was the one caught guarding them during a search of the cellars beneath Westminster.

After his capture Fawkes was to be hung, drawn and quartered - a gruesome death sentence which involved cutting off of prisoners’ genitalia and removing their entrails before their eyes.

However, he managed to avoid this horrifying fate by jumping from the scaffolding where he had been taken to be hung, causing instant death from a broken neck.

How is Bonfire Night celebrated?

Guy Fawkes Night is celebrated with firework displays, whose sparks and flashing colours are intended to resemble the sights and sounds of the explosion that would have been. In the immediate aftermath of the failed plot, bonfires were lit in honour of King James’ survival. This tradition continues today, with effigies of Guy Fawkes made by local communities being burned.