Percy Bysshe Shelley, the great British Romantic poet (his wife Mary, also fairly famous) said it much better than I ever could:

“We are all Greeks. Our laws, our literature, our religion, our arts have their root in Greece.”

― Percy Bysshe Shelley

You see,  pretty much all of our society is structured around a tiny country on the Mediterranean from 3000 years ago. Yes, our democracy, our schools, our art, and our humanism all derive from Greece.

I fell in love with Greece during my first visit in 1984, so it should not be a surprise that I am a fan of everything Greek, including the Greek Orthodox Church. When you are in the islands or remote areas of Greece on a Sunday, you go to the Greek Orthodox church.

On the occasion of the Greek festival at St. Mark Greek Orthodox Church in Boca Raton, we recently had the opportunity to take a group of students on a visit. We attended vespers, enjoyed a great Greek dinner, and then had a tour of the Church. I really felt at home. Fr. Mark was incredibly approachable, didactic, funny, and really made us feel at home. He answered even the stickiest theological questions with grace and wisdom.

The church is amazing, and their festival and food were equally great, but seeing the students learn about the Church before the Great Schism in 1054 CE, in person rather than from a book, was priceless!

Book the dates for next year’s Greek Festival at St. Mark in Boca. You are welcome!