Met with Father John again today at the Greek Church. He's a really nice man, BUT HE GAVE ME A POP QUIZ! He quizzed me on information I haven't studied yet! I missed 3 questions, but on the whole I did okay.
The wort part was this question: What are the seven main sacraments in the Orthodox faith?
Um....er.....well...
1)Baptism
2)Confession
3)Communion
(I drew a blank at this point, and came up with the first thing to come to mind)
4)John
5)Paul
6)George
7)Ringo
We shared a good laugh about it. Then he made sure I could repeat to him what the seven sacraments really were. Sadly, none of them are from Liverpool.
I also asked him what the box of sand was called that propped up the candles that you light before entering the church. He asked me what I called it. I said "God's Catbox." He laughed and said "Well, at least it isn't God's Cathouse. Then we'd have a problem."
Hee hee hee. A priest made a hooker joke. I like it.
Posted by Jen at June 29, 2004 3:36 PMI don't know the answer to this question (Presbyterians only have to remember 2 sacraments), so I'm going to guess. Tell me if I'm right:
1. Baptism
2. Communion
-----------
3. Holy Orders
4. Marriage
5. Confession (going off of your answer)
6. ??
7. ??
I thought I could do it, but I can't. Are they pretty much the same as the Catholic sacraments?
Posted by: JennySmith at June 29, 2004 4:05 PM1) Baptism
2) Chrismation
3) Confession
4) Communion
5) Matrimony
6) Unction
7) Ordained Priesthood (Is that the same as holy orders? My guess is yes)
Does Chrismation have anything to do with ornaments, lights and trees?
Posted by: susan at June 30, 2004 7:02 AMYeah, what's Chrismation?
Having no knowledge of Greek Orthodox (or Roman Catholocism, for that matter), I'd take an educated guess and say that ordained priesthood is the same as holy orders. Not sure...
Posted by: JennySmith at June 30, 2004 9:39 AMChrismation is symbolically receiving the holy spirit. I think the Catholics call it confirmation. The fancy pants explination is here: http://www.oca.org/pages/orth_chri/Orthodox-Faith/Worship/Chrismation.html
Posted by: Jen at June 30, 2004 9:42 AMBut I especially enjoy Susan's comment :)
Posted by: Jen at June 30, 2004 11:22 AMunction?
orthodox unction, what's your function?
Posted by: kat at June 30, 2004 11:22 AMHooking up healin' and preservin' and forgivin'.
Posted by: Jen at June 30, 2004 11:32 AMi think i just peed my pants.
Posted by: kat at June 30, 2004 2:33 PMThere isn't a sacrament to fix that. You might want to find the Holy Wee Wee Pad of Antioch.
Posted by: Jen at June 30, 2004 3:48 PMToo bad John isn't Greek or he could write you a song about so you could remember them easily.
Posted by: susan at June 30, 2004 5:24 PMWell it may not be Greek and it isn't by John but do you know the Vatican Rag?
First you get down on your knees,
Fiddle with your rosaries,
Bow your head with great respect,
And genuflect, genuflect, genuflect!
See the complete lyrics and even hear the tune:
http://home15.inet.tele.dk/lioness/Access/texts/Vatican_Rag.htm
That's funny. And while the Greeks do say Kyrie Eleison an average of 562 times during the service, the rosaries are a Catholic invention, so you'll never see them in a Greek church. The Catholic and The Orthodox churches are like semi-amicably divorced parents; they are polite in front of the kids but deep down can't stand each other.
BTW, I love Tom Lehrer's songs. My favorites are The Masochism Tango and Poisoning Pigeons in the Park. John, did you listen to old Lehrer records when you were a kid? It wouldn't surprise me.
Posted by: Jen at July 1, 2004 9:07 AMYes, he's one of my favorites - funny, intelligent lyrics and twisted humor. The irony of the Catholic/Orthodox hatred makes me think of his song, "National Brotherhood Week", one of my favorites.
but, sad to say, they weren't "old" records when I listened to them as a kid.
Posted by: John at July 1, 2004 10:29 AMShhh...I was being nice.
Posted by: Jen at July 1, 2004 12:40 PM