Mattituck Transfiguration Church Festival offers fun and socializing

Festivals are a break from the stresses of life. A moment of pleasure for children and parents. Seeing people from different places and communities is a great time to socialize. The Greek Orthodox Church of the Transfiguration of Christ in Mattituck held a food festival with vendors from Friday to Saturday July 8 and 9.^e. Sunday July 10^e, free Festival refreshments were distributed at the end of the church services. Welcoming everyone with their generosity with free refreshments at Sunday coffee time is a custom. Many people made the Festival a success. For parish council and volunteer names, contact www.transfigurationofchrist.com and www.facebook.com/TOCCMattituck/.

“Something spiritual in our soul attracts even the most hardened criminal,” Pastor Andrew Cadieux said during his Sunday July 10^e sermon. “Something that has been said cannot be taken back. I challenge everyone to check our mouth. Father Andreas, as many call him, says many philosophical concepts that we think about during the week. He is a kind person, who is the champion of all parishioners. The Greeks have been builders of civilization for 2,500 years. Wherever the Greeks go, they build institutions that perpetuate their civilization. A business community built a church which created a Greek quarter. Mattituck Church of the Transfiguration, Mattituck is the only community within walking distance, after the churches of Astoria. The Greek community is thriving.

“I am happy that Father Andreas is here,” Bishop Elpidophoros of America said, Aug. 6, 2020. There is a new air in the community. He is a father with children. The church is clean and is an example for all churches…. These are difficult times.¹

Father Andreas Cadieux is a true hero of the Covid-19 pandemic. He was hospitalized for five days. He was released, quarantined and performed Lenten services with an oxygen tank. We have seen on Facebook virtual service messages created by Father Andreas on his laptop while he celebrated the liturgy. “When I started my ministry in January 2020, I started an outreach program to inspire parishioners to attend services,” he said. “The parishioners were arriving. Then Covid-19 hit. His Greek is excellent. He has virtual services on the Transfiguration Facebook page that inspires everyone.

It’s the 100^e anniversary of the Asia Minor Catastrophe, which wiped out the Greeks in western Anatolia, limiting their presence to Greece and Cyprus. Leo and Larissa, Eastern Orthodox Christians who come to the Festival every year, said that “there is a small pink church called Chesma after the town your grandparents came from in Western Anatolia (Asia Minor)” .

Demetri and Adriana Nionakis sat down with us at the Festival. Demetri, an electrician, described his family’s experience in 1922. “My ancestors come from Heraklion, Crete. They were enslaved. Life was difficult. They heard that life was easier in Asia Minor. The Greeks were allowed to have businesses. They went and became Greek policemen in Greek communities. The Greek police watched all the towns on the coast of Asia Minor. No more slavery. My grandfather was the youngest child. The Greek army had a bad strategy and pushed deep into Turkey in 1922. They left Constantinople, driving deep into Ankara. They were pushed back into the sea. Most of my grandfather’s family did not survive. At the last moment in 1922, my 22-year-old grandfather was thrown into a boat bound for Chios. He went to Vrontados, Chios. Some survived and were dispersed. Most did not succeed. He met my grandmother, who immigrated to New York in the late 1950s.” These are some of the stories passed down from generation to generation.

A two-day Hellenic festival that will be remembered. “Enjoy every moment you have. Because in life there are no rewinds, only flashbacks. Make sure everything is worth it. – Anonymous

References:

1. https://greekamericanexperience.wordpress.com/tag/transfiguration-of-christ-church-of-mattituck/page/2/
2. https://www.quotespedia.org/authors/a/anonymous/enjoy-every-moment-you-have-because-in-life-there-are-no-rewinds-only-flashbacks-make-sure-its- everything-was-worth-anonymous/

Connections:

The Lost Hellenic Tseme Province Communities

https://www.qgazette.com/articles/the-lost-hellenic-tseme-province-communities-2/: