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St. Augustine, FL – The 238th anniversary of Greek Landing Day will be celebrated with festivities on Friday, June 23 through Sunday, June 25, at the St. Photios Greek Orthodox National Shrine. Each year, for the past 19 years, city officials with the Greek Orthodox clergy and their faithful have gathered with the public to celebrate the June 26, 1768 arrival of Greeks in America at a very special place, the St Photios Greek Orthodox National Shrine. Located at 41 St George Street in America’s Ancient City, St Augustine. The twentieth commemoration of this historic event offers opportunity to witness the Orthodox faith and Hellenic history while honoring the memory of those first colonists. Executive Director, the V. Rev Father Nicholas T. Graff, on behalf of His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, invites the public to the St Photios Shrine: Friday, June 23, for a 5:30 p.m. reception. Chairman Archon Nicholas Furris with the Foundation are privileged to recognize Archon Historian Christo Daphnides and Archon Bill Theodosakis for their research and dedication to the events regarding the 1922 Asia Minor Holocaust. Mr. Theodosakis provided the temporary exhibit at the Shrine displaying the historical newspaper photographs depicting the events surrounding the burning of Smyrna. Mr. Daphnides will present the lecture “Remembering the Events of 1922” at 7:00 p.m. in the Flagler Room at Flagler College. The Shrine is grateful to Flagler College for graciously providing this beautiful setting, offsetting any need to charge for this important community educational experience. Admission to all events is free. Saturday, June 24, Father Nicholas with Shrine Chaplain, Father Nikitas Theodosion will hold the memorial service for those first Greek colonists in the magnificent St Photios chapel. His Honor, Mayor George Gardner will read St. Augustine’s Greek Landing Day Proclamation. Then an array of festivities chaired by Gary Peterson will occur 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. across the street at Arrivas house where the Grecian Keys of Orlando will play traditional Greek music, area dance troupes will perform Greek folk dancing and the Ladies Philoptochos Societies of Daytona Beach, Jacksonville and St. Augustine will provide Greek foods and pastries for sale. This is a perfect opportunity to become familiar with a variety of Greek sweets. Boxes of pastries will be available for sale. Stella Cakmis is coordinating this effort. Please join us for this cultural extravaganza. Sunday morning, June 25, religious services will begin with Matins at 9:00 a.m. and Divine Liturgy at 10:00 a.m. The choir of St Augustine will sing the hymns and responses during the liturgy. The Founders’ Hospitality Hour, chaired by Mrs. Connie Gaitanis will follow in the Constantine Sisters’ Courtyard. From 1:00 –3:00 all youth are invited to join the YOUTH RALLY led by Dr Nick Louh of Jacksonville. An amazing race type scavenger hunt will take them through the Colonial Spanish Quarter. The St. Photios Greek Orthodox National Shrine, an institution of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, is dedicated to the first colony of Greek people who came to America in 1768. The shrine includes an Orthodox Chapel filled with Byzantine style frescoes and a historic museum. Special exhibits tell the story of the First Greek Colony in the New World with artifacts, photographs and historical documents. Events Schedule |
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(Posting date 19 June 2006) For more information about St. Photios Shrine, visit the organizaion's website at the URL http://www.stphotios.com or contact them at 41 St. George Street, PO Box 1960, St. Augustine, FL 32085, (tel.) [001] 904-829-8205. HCS encourages readers to view other articles and releases in our permanent, extensive archives at the URL http://www.helleniccomserve.com/contents.html. |
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