The official name of the church of Greece is the Greek Orthodox Church. The Greek Orthodox Church is in third place in terms of the number of parishioners, yielding Russian with its 100 million and Romanian with its 20 million.
Story
The penetration of Christianity in this country occurred in the 1st century along with the arrival of the Apostle Paul in the territory of Hellas. The first city he visited was Philippa. There he preached to the locals. On the very first day, one of the local residents, the rich woman Lydia, was baptized. With her submission, her close circle was also baptized. She was one of the first Christians in Europe, which even now the local settlers proudly recall. This was the foundation of the Christian community in this city, and then in Thessaloniki, Veria, Achaea, Athens and Corinth. In all these cities, many settlers were converted to Christianity.
Throughout his life, Pavel constantly closely interacted with representatives of all these communities, serving as a shepherd for them. In the New Testament, several apostle addresses to these ancient Greek communities of the first Christians were preserved.
At the same time period, the Apostle Luke also worked on the creation of the Greek church. It was he who created the "Gospel for the Hellenes." The apostle Andrew the First-Called also made his contribution to the development of the Greek church.
In just half a century, all the major Greek cities have acquired their Christian communities. The first representatives of the country's Christianity were inextricably linked with the Roman bishop, since Greece was part of the Roman Empire. For many centuries, up to the 9th century, Orthodoxy was the basis of the Roman Church, and all sorts of prerequisites for a schism were carefully removed.
The influence of Byzantium
At the beginning of the 5th century, Greece became part of the Byzantine Empire. In many ways, the rites of the Greek church fell under the influence of Constantinople. Dioceses of Greece were subordinate to the Byzantine Patriarch. The most important stronghold of Christianity in Greece was the city of Thessaloniki. It was he who gave the world many saints of the Greek church. The natives of this city are including Cyril and Methodius, Gregory Palamas. The sacred place was Mount Athos, where monasticism flourished.
Martyrs
The Greek church survived, despite the brutal persecution in the 13-14th centuries from the crusaders who occupied a large-scale territory of Hellas. In the 15th century, the Ottoman yoke, difficult for the country, began. With the fall of Byzantium in 1453 and the rule of the Sultans, the era of the New Martyrs flourished, which lasted 400 years. Hundreds of thousands of people gave their lives for the Greek church and their faith.
The teachings of Orthodoxy were often secret — monks and clergymen secretly organized night-time societies secretly from the ruling regime.
Exemption
It was the Greek church that played the most important role in the struggle for the liberation of the Greek population from oppression. The rebellion of the nation was led by Archbishop Herman, with his submission the liberation struggle began to be in full swing in 1821. With its end, by the end of the 19th century, Greece threw off the Ottoman yoke and became an independent state. The Orthodox Church of this country also gained independence.
What is the difference between the Greek Church and the Russian
The Orthodoxy of Russia and Greece is essentially one religion. The dogmas and canons do not differ in anything, nevertheless, due to the different geographical location and mentality, many differences remained in the church practices of these countries. The central difference is the attitude of the clergyman to his parish.
Attitude
So, in Russian realities, simple believers, coming to the temple, are exposed to a feeling of isolation of priests from the everyday world. They are represented by a separate caste, which is fenced off from the parishioners by a certain wall. In Greek traditions, the clergy are in close relationship with the parish. In everyday life in Greece, a deep respect for priests is accepted - they are usually given way to public transport. Often, even the youngest representatives of the holy orders in public places are asked for blessings. There is no such thing in Russian reality.
Severity
The Greek Church implies a stricter attitude towards the ministers of the church. For example, those who entered into a relationship before marriage, divorced or in a second marriage cannot become priests.
Greece is a rare country that has preserved the ancient tradition of the existence of a church court. There are no candle shops or candlesticks in the churches of this country. For the candles are vestibules. There is never payment for candles; everyone gives any amount of their choice.
Splendor
Every foreigner is amazed at the magnificent services held in Russia. In the rites of the Greek churches, democracy and simplicity are felt throughout. All services last a maximum of 1.5-2 hours, while Russian liturgies can last more than 3 hours. In Greece, it is a custom to utter all secret prayers aloud.
The order of prayers is also significantly different. Such a large number of candles, as in Russian churches, never happens in any church in Greece. Greek choirs never include female voices. Although in Russian realities this is universally practiced.
Procession
Significantly different and the conduct of this ancient ritual. In Russian Orthodoxy, all services are magnificent, and in Greek - much more triumph is concluded in the procession. He is accompanied by brass bands in Hellas, the echoes of marches are heard everywhere.
The action itself resembles a parade. This is a unique feature of the church in Greece, which is never the case in Orthodoxy in any country. The procession is held not around the church, but right in the city, along its central streets there is a crowd performing songs. In a circle of a huge number of participants, a scarecrow of Judah is burned. After this colorful action follows a real festival, whose beginning is marked by crackers.
Ceremonies
Communion and confession are very different in the traditions of these two countries. Communion among the Greeks is customary to be held every Sunday, and confessions take place once a year. Russian Orthodox do not receive communion with the same frequency. The rules of the Church in Greece give confession only to blessed hieromonks who have arrived from monasteries. There is no such strictness in Russian traditions.
In Greek churches you will never meet long lines customary for the Russian parish for undergoing the procedure of confession. The first conclusion may be the lack of confession as such. However, the whole point is that people of Greece come to confession at a pre-agreed individual time, which eliminates the possibility of fuss. The Greeks who find themselves in Russian churches are perplexed about the lines for confession. Many do not understand how a priest at a time is able to profess the entire parish of several hundred people.
The Greek Catholic Church had a great influence on traditions. So, the influence of the West was reflected in the fact that Orthodoxy in Greece uses the New Julian calendar. That is, the Greeks celebrate Orthodox festivities 13 days earlier than the Russians living according to the Julian calendar. Appeared in Greek temples and stasidia instead of benches and benches characteristic of Russia.
clothing
Greek women walk freely in churches without covering their heads and in trousers. While in Russia, laws have remained more severe for women, according to which it is still prohibited. It is believed that in this way the influence of Western culture was reflected, in which, on the whole, the position of the patriarchy was weakened in comparison with Russian realities.
There are also differences in the headgear. So, differently in the traditions of the two churches the wearing of mantels is carried out. In Greece, they are always painted black, while in Russia there is a complete variety of colors. The daily headdress for clergymen in Russia, the skufu is never used by the Greeks.
The Bible of the Greek church is also distinguished by its content from the Slavic tradition. These differences are insignificant, but nevertheless, the composition of the books included in the Bible varies between Greece and Russia.
Greek Orthodoxy in Russia
The culture of Greece and Russia has much in common, which is the merit of the once powerful Byzantine Empire, which gave life to the Orthodox culture of many countries. In Russia, there are many prints left by Greek culture. Present on its territory and special temples built in the traditions of Greek Orthodoxy. The clearest example of such a phenomenon is the Greek Church of St. George, located in the Theodosius since the 15th century. The influence of Hellas Orthodoxy reached even the Northern Capital of Russia. So, the Greek Church on Greek Square has been operating in St. Petersburg since 1763.
Conclusion
The Greek church at the moment is very strong in the whole state. So, in this country, in the only constitution in the whole world, Orthodoxy has been fixed as a state religion. Orthodoxy is endowed with a crucial role in the life of Greek society. Even marriages are not recognized by the state unless an Orthodox wedding ceremony has taken place.