In about an hour, I’ll be heading up to our local Orthodox cult center to cut 225+ lbs of lamb for the souvlakia at our upcoming festival. The women will be making pastry all week and the spanakopita, pastitsio and moussaka have been prepared (and we’ll have plenty of ouzo and masticha and, for our Serbian cultist cousins, ljivovica)...all under the benign gaze of the icon of +Ephrosinos the Cook whose assistance we cultists sincerely request.
Local people, especially our Latin cultist cousins, seem to like us Orthodox cultists most particularly at festival time!
Troparion Tone 4
You lived in great humility, / In labors of asceticism and in purity of soul, / O righteous Euphrosynos, / By a mystical vision you demonstrated the Heavenly joy which you had found. / Therefore make us worthy to be partakers of your intercessions.
We went to a Lebanese restaurant last night. Ah, falafel!
Don’t know if the owners were Moslem, Christian, Druse, or what.
Where is your festival located?
St. Louisans always look forward to the annual St. Nicholas Greek Festival on Labor Day weekend. It is the largest ethnic celebration in St. Louis. While it is a great opportunity to learn about the Greek Orthodox faith and culture, it is also an opportunity to enjoy Greek cuisine. I especially like the pastitsio.
Here is a link to the 2015 welcome -
http://www.sngoc.org/content/welcome-st-louis-greek-festival-2015
But you are in a ROC underneath the Pope if I remember correctly.