The Akathist Hymn to the Most Holy Theotokos

Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America ^

[Kolokotronis]

"The Greek letters "XC IC" floating above the halo are an additional clue. They stand for "Xristos Iesous", Christ Jesus." Yup. And just in case the viewer is a real dummy, the iconographer has inserted the words "Ο ωΝ" within the halo, meaning "The Being Who is the Source of Being", or words to that effect; GOD! Its unlikely anyone could misunderstand this, especially those who believe that the HS leads them to a personal and inerrant understanding of scripture. I mean, if they have that grace, what's a few Greek words, right? BTW, Iscool, are there many Protestants who believe God is a midget? Is this a commonly held concept?

[Kolokotronis]

You are very welcome. The women chanting the Akathist are sisters and all the wives of Greek Orthodox priests.

[FormerLib]

...so even the dull and ignorant would be able to figure it out.

Proving once again that no system is foolproof when you underestimate the ignorance of the fools!

[Tax-chick]

What do the rest of the Greek characters represent? I don’t recognize any of the words we’ve learned - no second-person singular verbs :-).

[Kolokotronis]

“What do the rest of the Greek characters represent?”

At the top left and right are abbreviations for “Mother of God”. Underneath that are the words “The Unfading Rose”.

[Kolokotronis]

“Proving once again that no system is foolproof when you underestimate the ignorance of the fools!”

Except YOPIS; YOPIS is inerrant! :)

[redgolum]

I will check out the hymn after quick time loads.

When does the EO Lent start?

[Tax-chick]

Thanks. We haven’t learned any of those words yet :-), let alone the abbreviations. But we can say, “The brother reads the words of an apostle,” which is worth something. Maybe more useful than saying, “Please give me three red pens and four blue pencils,” in Japanese.

[Kolokotronis]

“When does the EO Lent start?”

March 10.

[Kolokotronis]

“But we can say, “The brother reads the words of an apostle,” which is worth something. Maybe more useful than saying, “Please give me three red pens and four blue pencils,” in Japanese.”

In Greek school about 100 years ago, the Papas taught us the Our Father in Greek (actually our mothers did but we let the priest think he did. He also taught us “Give me one piece of chocolate cake, please.” I was a miserable sinner even at 8 and preferred the latter to the former

[Tax-chick]

The only sentences I remember from Japanese class are, “Where is the bathroom?” and “Shut up and die!” My father, the Captain, recommends, “Please give me two beers!” as the most useful sentence in any language :-).

I’m past the part about your namesake in the History of Modern Greek, but haven’t reached the part about Crete after World War I. Anoreth was stuned to find that “modern” Greece started in the 4th Century!