OCTOBER 2013 Tel. (02) 9559 7022 Fax: (02) 9559 7033 E-mail: vema@bigpond.net.au

THE GREEK AUSTRALIAN

VEMAThe oldestcirculating

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10TH NATIONALYOUTH CONFERENCE

A HUGE SUCCESSHundreds of youth and young adults gathered in Brisbane for one of the largest

Youth Conferences ever held by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia.The 10th National Youth Conference was organised this year by the Parish and

Community of the Dormition of the Theotokos at Mt Gravatt.

As part of the Youth Conference over 400 guests from around Australia attendedthe Blessing and Official Opening of the Bribie Island Retreat and Recreation Centre atWoorim on Bribie Island.

*** Full report pages 10/28 and 11/29

$10 million donated to ‘Estia’ FoundationOn the 27th September 2013, the Estia Foundation of Australia held

it's biennial Fundraising Dinner at Le Montage, Lilyfield. The highlight of the evening was the unprecedented announcement

that $10 million was being donated by an anonymous Estia supporter.

It was a historic moment for the Estia Foundation and indeed theGreek-Australian community in Australia.

*** PAGE 2/20

Commemorative photo of delegates and guests following the Opening of the Bribie Island Retreat and Recreation Centre, constructed with the assistance

of the Federal Government

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA2/20 OCTOBER 2013

$10 million to ESTIA from anonymous donor!

LOVING CARE FOR PEOPLE WITH SPECIAL NEEDSBy George Hatzivasilis

If there is one initiative that our com-munity has embraced warmly and sup-ports in every possible way, this of courseis the ESTIA Foundation of the Archdio-cese. An indication of this is the almostunbelievable donation of $10 millionfrom an anonymous great benefactor,which was announced at the official din-ner of the Foundation on 27 September.

People with disabilities are the mostvulnerable, but also the most likeableand the most lovable members of our so-ciety, which I had the good fortune todiscover through the ‘Elpida’ Association.

When we, the able-bodied cry and car-ry on for the smallest misfortune in ourlives, people with special needs not onlydo not complain about their difficult situ-ation, but they respond to it with thesweetest smile, with the unspoiled puritywith which they were born, and no mat-ter how great their disability, the gran-deur of their soul is just as great and they

show this with such love towards theirfellow human beings. These people donot ask much from life except for thenecessary care and affection which theyreceive from their families, but also theirparticipation in society, which is encour-aged by special organisations that edu-cate them even in the most elementary

tasks so that they feel useful and createsocial relations among themselves.

People with special needs are a greatresponsibility for their families. Many ti-mes when I would go to the meetings of‘Elpida’, I would hear the concerns ofparents for the future of their childrenwith disabilities, for when they will nolonger be able to care for them and pro-tect them. With such concerns, and be-cause the community did not help ‘Elpi-da’ as much as it should have when itsmembers found themselves in a difficultposition, they very correctly requestedcare for their children from the Archdio-cese. The Church accepted their proposaland on 29 November 1994 the ESTIAFoundation was established with the b-lessings of Archbishop Stylianos and theproperty of ‘Elpida’.

In the beginning the ESTIA Foundationcontinued the work of ‘Elpida’ by caringfor young Greek Australians with specialneeds every weekend. However, it quick-ly became apparent that their parents orcarers also needed respite, when theycould choose to leave their child for oneor more days in a centre with a familyenvironment.

For this reason the ‘St Andrew’s House’was built next to the church of St An-drew, Gladesville, through the support ofthe government of Bob Carr and theGreek community. It opened its doors on17 April 1997.

In addition, on 22 October 2000, ‘Elpi-da House’ in Roselands commenced op-eration as a respite centre for parentsand carers, with funding from the gov-ernment following intense lobbying andthe generosity of our community.

However the need for permanent careof people with special needs had nowbecome pressing as the parents and car-ers grew older. The first step was taken

with the donation of a building by a fam-ily from Cephalonia in 2004; this is‘Lixouri House’ in Sydney, which perma-nently cares for four young people withintellectual disability in a pleasant familyenvironment.

The ESTIA Foundation offers its servic-es to disabled people of every ethnicityand creed 24 hours per day every daywith five regular beds, and a sixth foremergency cases. In every home thereare permanent cooks to prepare thefood, while there are also carers at alltimes of night and day to serve the resi-dents. ESTIA therefore offers its respiteservices to 150 families every year.

I should also add that ESTIA offers aprogramme of care on the weekendswhich includes activities such as excur-sions and visits to the sites of Sydney,music and dance, crafts, and various the-rapies, such as hydrotherapy. The in-come of ESTIA comes from donations,appeals and government grants whichare necessary for its survival.

In the 19 years of its operation, the ES-TIA Foundation has been highly respect-ed by government services, organisa-tions, families and society in general forits high standard of care and facilities.

The year 2012 was a milestone for theFoundation which successfully achievedtwo goals. The first goal was the recur-rent funding of $1.16 million from thestate government of New South Walesfor the permanent residence of 10 peo-ple with intellectual disability. The sec-ond success of ESTIA was the decision ofthe Supreme Court in favour of the Foun-dation for a 25,000 m² property in Blake-hurst, in accordance with the will of Car-olyn Milne Williams.

The achievements of ESTIA honour notonly the hard-working Father Angelo Ali-fierakis and his worthy co-workers, butalso the Archdiocese and the Greek com-munity in Australia generally. In my opin-ion it proves how necessary harmony iswithin an organisation in order for it toflourish, and how ESTIA, with its profes-sionalism, meets the requirements ofdisabled people with overflowing love. Italso makes our Church a pioneer in theprovision of such specialised services inAustralia.

I imagine that these also were the rea-sons that convinced the great benefactorto entrust the ESTIA Foundation with theenormous donation of $10 million,knowing that this will make a big differ-ence.

The community in general and aboveall the families of people with specialneeds are deeply grateful both to thegreat benefactor and to ESTIA for itsGod-pleasing work.

Source: O KOSMOS newspaper, kindly reproduced by permission, translated by DK

“IF YOU STOP THE TEAR OF JUST ONE PERSON,

THE HEIGHT OF HUMANITY IS RAISED” -

YIANNIS RITSOS

Premier Barry O'Farrell addressing the ESTIAFoundation Dinner

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 3/21OCTOBER 2013

By Mario BaghosAssociate Lecturer in Patristic Studies and Church History, St Andrew’s

From 3-5 October the Very Revd Dr Doru Costache,Senior Lecturer in Patristic Studies, and I represented StAndrew’s at the Early Christian Centuries I conference,hosted by the Centre for Early Christian Studies, in con-junction with the Asia-Pacific Early Christian Studies So-ciety, at the Australian Catholic University, Melbourne.

The conference was on the theme of ‘Men and Wo-men in Early Christianity,’ yet it covered additional top-ics including Patristics, Hagiography, The ByzantineChurch, Byzantine Architecture, Asceticism, etc.With no less than three keynote addresses by Pro-fessors Elaine Wainwright (University of Auckland),Mathijs Lamberigts (KU, Leuven), and Claudia Rapp(ÖAW, Vienna), and a plenary address by ProfessorAndrew McGowan (Trinity College, University ofMelbourne), the event was well attended by ex-ceptional scholars in the fields of late antiquity,Byzantine studies, patristic studies, and other dis-ciplines.

Especially significant for Fr Doru and I was thewelcoming presence of several friends and sup-porters of the College. It was a great joy to be ableto converse again with Professor Pauline Allen, FA-HA (ACU, Brisbane), keynote speaker at this year’sPatristic Symposium. Professor Allen’s paper at theEarly Christian Centuries I conference was entitled:‘How, if at all, to write to a woman in Christian LateAntiquity?’ Equally enjoyable was to meet Dr Bron-wen Neil, FAHA (ACU, Brisbane), programme direc-tor for the Early Christian Centuries conferences.Dr Neil was keynote speaker at our 2011 Sympo-sium on St Gregory of Nyssa and will offer anotherkeynote at our upcoming 2014 Symposium. Herpaper at this conference was entitled: ‘Dreamingof men and women in Gregory the Great’s Dia-logues and a Byzantine dream key manual.’

Another friend of St Andrew’s who welcomed uswas Dr Adam G. Cooper (JP II Institute, Mel-bourne), who gave a keynote paper at our 2012Symposium and will be co-convening the 2014Symposium together with Fr Doru. His paper atthis conference was entitled: ‘Nuptial mystery orsacrament of sin? Maximus the Confessor on mar-riage and sexual intimacy.’ Last but not least, itwas a great pleasure to meet again Dr Anna M. Sil-vas, FAHA (UNE, Armidale), who gave keynote pre-sentations for St Andrew’s 2010 and 2011 Sym-posia. Her paper at this conference was entitled:‘Basil of Caesarea, his silence about Macrina andhis attitude to women.’

After the plenary address on day one of the con-ference, Fr Doru chaired the short paper sessionon ‘Patristic Exegesis on the Creation of Male andFemale.’ During the lunch-break, Dr Cooper and DrSilvas generously invited us to the John Paul II In-stitute for Marriage and Family for a coffee, whereenlightening conversation ranging from patristicsto scriptural exegesis ensued. In the afternoon, Ipresented my paper on ‘The Christocentricity ofecclesial art in Early Byzantium’ in a session on‘The Byzantine Church.’ A highlight for Fr Doru wasa conversation with Professor Hubertus R. Drobner(Theologische Fakultät Paderborn), whose criticaledition of St Gregory of Nyssa’s Apology for theHexaemeron he used in the publication of two re-cent Phronema articles. Likewise, I was thrilled tomeet Professor Claudia Rapp, who made some im-portant suggestions for my current PhD researchon the city of Constantinople.

Continuing this note, on day two of the confer-ence we were overwhelmed to meet the eruditeand humble Revd Professor Angelo Di Berardino,

Director of the Institutum Augustinianum in Rome. FrDoru recounted with joy the fact that he uses ProfessorDi Berardino’s monumental Patrology: The Eastern Fa-thers from the Council of Chalcedon to John of Damas-cus in his patristic studies units at St Andrew’s. The Pro-fessor also shed light on some questions pertinent tomy thesis topic, spending the one hour lunch-breakwith Fr Doru, Dr Adam Cooper, and myself, much to theenrichment and gratitude of all. After lunch, Fr Doru de-livered his paper entitled ‘Saintly perceptions of gen-dered humankind: Ambigua 10 and 41’ in a session on‘Byzantine Perspectives on Gender and the Will’ chairedby Dr Cooper. At the end of the session, Fr Doru was in-

vited by Professor Mathijs Lamberigts and other atten-dees to further expand on aspects pertaining to the wis-dom of St Maximus the Confessor; this resulted in avery lively conversation.

The conference was tremendously successful, andcongratulations must be extended to all involved; or-ganisers, presenters, and delegates. As a final note, forFr Doru and I this conference reinforced the significanceof such events for academics who, in the presence oftheir esteemed peers and in a spirit of mutual learning,are made to feel part of a community that is truly mak-ing a difference to our intellectual, and why not spiritu-al, culture.

THE KYTHERIAN ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA PROUDLY PRESENTS WITH HELEN ZEREFOS OAM

Poems By S. HARKIANAKIS (H.E. ARCHBISHOP STYLIANOS)

Sponsored byPETER & HELEN MAGIROS & FAMILY- FRUTEX AUSTRALIA

Date Sunday 3rd November 2013

Time 3.00pm for a 3.30pm start

Venue Westside Reception Lounge

Address 265 Illawarra Rd, Marrickville

Ticket Cost $20.00 per ticket

Bookings Kathy Samios 9349 1849

RSVP 25th October 2013

Limited seats available so book now to secure your seat.

Music By EVAGGELOS PAPAGEORGIOU

Sung By HELEN ZEREFOS OAM

CDs available at the event for $25.00 each.

Proceeds supporting Alzheimers Research & KAA Aged Care Trust

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EARLY CHRISTIAN CENTURIES: A CONFERENCE TO REMEMBER

OCTOBER 20134/22 TO BHMA The Greek Australian VEMA

PEACE IN THE FAMILY“Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what

is honorable in the sight of all”. (Rom 12:17)By Fr. Peter Mavrommatis

As we discussed in last month’s column, the sanctityof marriage is under attack. While the Church has re-sponded officially to the attacks from the outside, it isimportant to say just a few words in order to empowermarried couples as they navigate the sometimes stormywaters of a healthy and happy marriage. This is not acontradiction in terms! A happy, healthy and longstand-ing marital relationship will no doubt encounter varyingdegrees of difficulties which all serve to strengthen thebond and allow husband and wife to learn, practice andexercise virtue.

There can be no doubt that a number of virtues andqualities contribute to the healthy state of a marital re-lationship, but I would like to draw our attention topeace. Saint John Chrysostom observes that if there is apeaceful coexistence between husband and wife, andconsequently between all members of the family, thiswill not allow anything nasty or hurtful to penetrate in-to the life of the family. Even when the external pres-sures become difficult to bear, the peace that prevailsdoes not allow them to penetrate into the body of thefamily. To achieve this communal peace and harmonyhowever, spouses need to have peace within them-selves. In this way, one is able to help the other and theinternal family peace is not disturbed, regardless of theferocity of the waves outside.

When spouses are not at peace with themselves,there is confrontation and conflict between them. Thisspreads to other members of the family and so children(and grandparents) are also troubled.

One of the main causes of conflict in the family, ac-cording to Saint John Chrysostom, is excessive and lin-gering concern for material things. While this has al-ways been the case, there can be no question that ourtimes are characterised by growing materialism, secu-larism and consumerism. Of course, the suggestion isnot that one becomes lazy with regards to work or in-different to the needs of those for whom we are re-sponsible, but to do so without stress which causes dis-tress. Let us not forget that Martha, the sister of Laza-rus who was fussing over cleaning and serving was re-minded by the Lord that “one thing is needed” (Luke10:42). Her sister was praised for having chosen thebetter portion, that being, listening to the Word of God.

Martha’s worries did not warrant any affirmative ac-tion from the Lord because they were directed at thepresent - jobs to do, food to prepare and people to en-tertain, and had no eternal significance. They contra-dicted the Lord’s instruction to

How is it then that one can attain this peace? Firstand foremost, we must pray that God gives us unity andpeace as He gave to His disciples and accept that it isthrough Him only that we can have peace in ourselvesand our lives. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give

to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let notyour hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid”(John 14:27), again the Lord says, “in me you may havepeace. In the world you will have tribulation. But takeheart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33), whileafter His glorious resurrection He appeared and com-forted His confused and frightened disciples saying,“Peace be with you” (John 20:19).

The greatest challenges to peaceful interactions areselfishness and stubbornness. Insistence and persist-ence in one’s own opinion and will without any com-promise are the causes of many quarrels, and failure tosee things from the other’s perspective lead to heal riftsbecause both partners seek the ‘upper hand’ and try tocome out on top.

The cause of this is a failure to understand that mar-riage provides two people with the opportunity to workout their salvation with a helper. When we are able tounderstand that in a marriage there is no longer aman’s will and a woman’s will but one will, that beingGod’s Will, then both husband and wife have the samegoals and direction and consequently no quarrels. Thisoneness of mind and soul is a basic prerequisite for theprosperity of the entire family.

Saint John Chrysostom compares the unity of the souland body with the union of husband and wife. Just asthe soul is united with the body, so spouses need to beunited with each other. And as body and soul need tobe in unison for the salvation of a person so too, spous-es need to be in oneness of mind as they follow theLord or the relationship will die, just like the body doeswhen it is separated from the soul.

Another important consideration is drawn from thewords of Saint Paul who reminds us that no man everhates his own flesh (see Ephesians 5:25-33). Highlight-ing the need for spouses to love and cherish each other,he reminds us that husband and wife are one body. Bydoing harm to the other, one hurts him/herself. The oldadage “cutting one’s nose to spite one’s face” holdstrue in this instance. Unfortunately, too many spousesare more than happy to mistreat the other because ofpast wrongs against them. This is not only un-Christian,but self-harming!

While most would naturally agree with what has been

stated, we cannot deny that there are circumstancesthat attack the peace of the family. At these moments,we ought to recall the words of Christ Who says, “cometo me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will giveyou rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me,for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find restfor your souls”, (Matt 11:28-30).

Christ Himself is the “Prince of Peace”, the source andmodel of peace from Whom we are called to learn.

Orthodox church set on fire in Calabria

An Orthodox Church located in the district ofSbarre in Reggio Calabria, Southern Italy, was set onfire in broad daylight. Sbarre is one of the mostdensely-populated districts of the southern part ofthe city.

The episode has shocked the believers and thecitizens, who rushed to the scene as soon as theyheard the news.“This city is very good at throwingmud at itself,” the pastor Daniel Castrizio said. “Wedo not want anything from anyone but the city can-not leave its children in this state of ignorance andtotal anarchy. How can you speak well of a cityburning churches? I believe that this is the case togive a sign, not for the Orthodox Church, but forourselves, for the region, for the chance to pick our-selves up.’

“not worry about your life, what you will eat; norabout the body, what you will put on. Life is morethan food, and the body is more than clothing.Consider the ravens, for they neither sow norreap, which have neither storehouse nor barn;and God feeds them. Of how much more valueare you than the birds? And which of you by wor-rying can add one cubit to his stature? If you thenare not able to do the least, why are you anxiousfor the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow:they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you,even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed likeone of these. But seek the kingdom of God, andall these things shall be added to you.” (Luke12:22-27, 31).

TO BHMA 5/23OCTOBER 2013 The Greek Australian VEMA

Our Primate’s View

10th NATIONAL YOUTH CONFERENCE ADDRESS

“THE TERMINOLOGY AND THE PSYCHOLOGY

OF SOCIO-POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN MODERN TIMES”

A) INTRODUCTION

The previous National Youth Conference, which was al-so held here in Brisbane between 25th-28th of January,2007, had the general topic “The responsibility of Youthin modern Society.”

This year’s National Youth Conference likewise, as weshall see below, will attempt to offer deeper insight intothe problem of the responsibility of Youth. Consequently,we will try to see how the ‘names’ and their correspon-ding ‘meanings’ are ‘differentiated’ (in various periods oftime), in order for our current theme to arise: “The ter-minology and the psychology of socio-political develop-ments in modern times”.

And it becomes apparent that the mentioned integrat-ed theme should not be considered as a problem ofYouth exclusively. This is because the twin terms ‘signifi-er’ (that is, the word as such) and ‘signified’ (that is,whatever the word refers to) had already occupied thethought of the ancients - especially Parmenides, inwhose footsteps we must say that the renowned modernAustrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein (with his uni-que dissertation Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus) fol-lowed. Yet, the major characteristic features of Youthmake them, in any historical period, the closest subjectof thought, being the most vulnerable section of society,which undergoes the changes that occur in the twinterms ‘signifier’ and ‘signified’.

Let us then first see the major characteristic features ofYouth, so that we can understand why young peopleshould be considered a subject of terminology and psy-chology more than any other age group.

However before mentioning the major features ofYouth, we must define the age-bracket that normally cor-responds to this term.

In today’s society, Youth are normally considered to bebetween 13 and 20 years of age, known internationallyas ‘teenagers’. However, in our special Conferences, weconsider Youth to include young people of 25 or 30 yearsof age, to ensure that they have the necessary maturityfor a serious dialogue, which is the goal of all our YouthConferences.

1. The first and most likeable feature of Youth, in everyhistorical period, is of course their honesty and unre-served manner when dealing with every situation. Ayoung person lacks the experience of life, but preciselyfor this reason he or she has not learnt to be hypocriti-cal, and therefore speaks with optimism and enthusi-asm and with the confidence of being capable of anytask.

2. Another characteristic (closely related to the previ-ous one) is the rush - or what we normally call ‘impa-tience’ - of young people to know and become ‘famil-iar’ with, or rather to ‘conquer’, everything aroundthem. Deep down, this desire to rush ahead is really theboundless optimism of the age group to which the childor adolescent belongs within the miracle of life.

In most cases this self-confidence of the young per-son is neither ‘self-deception’ nor ‘audacity’. When bi-ological reflexes are still fresh and in full strength, aperson thinks that everything can be achieved in recordtime.

Today, with modern technology, especially with themeans of digital communication and information, wesee how quickly children and young people in particularfamiliarise themselves with it, as they always havegreater flexibility in adapting to new situations.

3. A third basic, yet complex, feature of Youth, is theirwillingness to wake up to themselves and the speedwith which they can rectify their former life which, due to superficiality, involved wasting valuabletime and energy on ‘vain things’ or completely non-ex-istent values - much like the Prodigal Son of the Gospelreading.

A classic example of youthful frivolity was the YouthMovement in France in 1968, under the fiery leadershipof the anarchist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, whichcaused turmoil not only for Europe and America, butrather for the entire planet.

Using surrealistic slogans such as “imagination in gov-ernment” and “down with authority” together withother irresponsible expressions, they managed in just afew hours to set up roadblocks and to dissolve every notion of order or sense of responsibility throughoutthe entire terrified society of Paris.

The foolishness of such enthusiasm - coupled withthe fear felt by the multitude of peace-loving citizenswho were all very unjustly and demeaningly callednames such as “compromised” or “sold out” or “slavesof the establishment” etc - naturally gave rise to two di-ametrically opposed extremities, from which the mod-ern world is yet to be redeemed.

That is to say, on the one hand, movements undervarious names, that were usually leftist or anarchist,spread everywhere and grew. On the other hand, reac-tionary groups of excessive conservativeness and fearalso sprung up, which even led to phenomena of unac-ceptable fascism.

It is at any rate noteworthy that many of the well-known instigators of that burst of anarchy in Pariswere, only two decades later, appointed to positions ofcentral power in public organisations, and they admit-ted their regrets in interviews. These are the fruits ofmaturity!

Those who have responsibility for the upbringing ofyoung people from childhood to advanced adolescentyears must admit, then, that there are two areas thatwe should not overlook for the good of all humanity:

- On the one hand there are the studies in humani-ties, which can monitor and direct any progress madeby science and technology

- On the other hand, equally necessary - if not moreso - is the worship of the divine in general, regardless ofwhich religious tradition the modern person belongs to.

Otherwise, the ‘one-dimensional person’ inevitably ari-ses. And whenever this kind of person speaks of ‘devel-opment’ and ‘progress’, he or she always means eco-nomic and technical comforts and ‘improvements’. Butthe human person is of course more than just the stom-ach!

Our observation concerning the ‘one-dimensional per-son’ leads us, already, to a few characteristic examples inwhich the ‘spoken words’ do not have a balanced analo-gy with ‘what is meant’. In such cases, the result is ironi-cally the exact opposite of what was intended!

B) SEVERAL CHARACTERISTIC EXAMPLES OF THE‘SIGNIFIER’ AND THE ‘SIGNIFIED’

Following the above introduction, which was so neces-sary for our topic, we shall attempt to present severalcharacteristic instances of the signifier and signified,which clearly show how thinking has been decisively‘steered’ in recent times.

(Cont. page 6/24)

By ARCHBISHOPSTYLIANOSOF AUSTRALIA

TO BHMA6/24 OCTOBER 2013

Who is the most famous painter of the 20th centu-ry? You would be wrong if you said something like aPicasso or a Warhol.

According to the New York Times in 1994, WarnerSallman (1892-1968) was considered the best knownartist of the 20th century.

You have probably seen this image many times. It iscalled the Head of Christ (1941). It is the work of Sall-man and it is a fitting tribute that more than 500 mil-lion have been sold.

Head of Christ

A copy used to hang in our dining room at theMaroubra Mansions for many years. This was a timewhen Byzantine iconography was scarce in Australia. Iused to think it was an actual picture of Jesus. Some-how or other I had the vague impression it wasCatholic.

The Head of Christ was originally a charcoal sketchfor the cover of an evangelical magazine. Later sever-al different versions were painted in oil. It was hand-ed out as wallet-sized cards to servicemen during thewar. In 2010 it was even released as a postage stampfor the Aland Islands, an autonomous province of Fin-land.

Quoting from one admirer:

How powerful is his work? The New York Times re-ported - “Immediately after the earthquake in Los An-geles in January, newspapers across the country car-ried an Associated Press photograph of a womanwho, as the tremors levelled her house, managed toescape with her children, her rosary and Sallman’spainting.

Sallman was an immigrant from Finland. He trainedas a commercial artist at night school in Chicago. Hesang in the church choir.

Other paintings by Sallman include Christ at Heart’sDoor, Christ in Gethsemane, the Lord is my Shepherdand Christ our Pilot. They are very familiar.

Here is a testimonial about Christ at Heart’s Doorfrom the website.

These works speak to many hearts. As a kid I alwaysloved these images because they allowed me to re-late to the goodness of Christ. The constant theme isthe assurance of Christ and his love.

Christ our Pilot always impressed me and for somereason I always thought that it was Greek in origin. Itis a bold statement. It says that no matter what trou-bles occur and no matter what storms there are inlife, Christ is at the helm.

Sallman once said of his work, “I give God the gloryfor whatever has been accomplished by my efforts tobring joy and happiness to people throughout theworld.” Thank you Mr Sallman!

The collection of Sallman’s works is held at theJessie C Wilson Art Gallery at Anderson University inIndiana. See www.warnersallman.com

letterfrommaroubra@gmail.com

Letterfrom

Maroubra

The Greek Australian VEMA

…you can feel Christ’s presence… I seerighteousness, strength, power, reverence,respect, fairness, faithfulness, love, compas-sion. From the way the hair in the image ishighlighted in the back and highlights aroundthe front of the head and face there seems tobe a holy radiance emitted from the image(Correspondence file, Sallman Archives, An-derson University).

Neighbours took me to Sunday Schoolwhen I was a child. It was a small church, andthere was a large portrait of Christ at theDoor. In my teens I wandered away fromGod. One night in my early twenties I lay inbed sorrowing over the path I had taken andwondering how to get right. Then I remem-bered that painting and that verse from Rev-elation. I asked Christ to come into my heartand forgive my many sins. That was over 50years ago ... I thank God for that painting.(Nadene Cheney, Dec. 21, 2012)

Christ in Gethsemane Christ at Heart’s Door

The Lord is my Shepherd

Cont. from previous page

· When this imbalance is striking, then we onlyuse names euphemistically. A common exam-ple of this is the Black Sea, which in the Greeklanguage is called the ‘friendly sea’ (εὔ-ξεινοςπόντος) only with obvious irony, so as not tocall it what it really is: an ‘unfriendly sea’ (ἄ-ξε-νος πόντος). We have the same situation withthe Pacific Ocean, which is everything but pa-cific (i.e. peaceful).

· In political life, there is normally a Depart-ment that deals with the strategic relations be-tween various countries. And while this has todo with matters of war, we do not call the rele-vant ‘portfolio’ the Department of War, butsimply the Department of Defense!

· Similarly, in post-war Greece, when variouspolitical Parties were formed, the new Party ofAndrew Papandreou used the emblem of agreen sun (thereby monopolizing hope and op-timism). And the Left which broke away fromthe Communist Party was called ‘The Coalitionof the Left and of Progress’ (!), as if that Partyhad an exclusive hold on humanitarian sensi-tivities and progressiveness among all otherParties.

· Yet, despite all the ‘intrigues’ that politiciansof so-called modernity engage in, so as not tobe committed to all their statements towardstheir electorate, they were eventually obligedto invent in their vocabulary the term ‘political-ly correct’. This was in order to avoid any nega-tive criticism in their discussions, somethingwhich undoubtedly comprises, to some degree,an element of sincerity.

· A more recent example of our times, whichshows how deep the connection between sig-nifier and signified can be, is the term ‘samesex marriage’. Those who are attempting to im-pose the marriage of homosexuals within thevarious Parliaments of western nations, are re-

ally trying to force a change in the traditionaldefinition of Marriage, which has been in exis-tence since the time of Roman Law.

As we know, the definition of Marriage, accord-ing to Roman Law (which was also adopted by Euro-pean systems of Law subsequently) was expressed as‘‘the union of man and woman, for the sharing of theirentire life’’.

In closing this exploration concerning the signifier andthe signified in modern times, we should perhaps notoverlook the philosophical irony with which the tragicEnglish writer George Orrwell made a sharp critique ofsuch correlations, especially in his famous work ‘AnimalFarm’.

As a summary of all that we have said thus far, what be-comes clear is the value of Ethics - especially ChristianEthics. The foundation for this was of course pro-claimed in the most categorical way, to both the wiseand the unwise, through the famous command of Godincarnate, who is Jesus Christ:

“Let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’, ‘No’; for what-ever is more than this comes from the evil one”

(Matthew 5:37)

10th NATIONAL YOUTH

CONFERENCE ADDRESS

“THE TERMINOLOGY AND THE PSYCHOLOGY

OF SOCIO-POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS

IN MODERN TIMES”

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 7/25OCTOBER 2013

This month we continue reviewing Lisa Gurnsey’sbook ‘Screen Time’1, which looks at how electronic me-dia affects preschool children’s cognitive, emotionaland educational development2.

Which videos are too scary for my child?

It is disturbing that many young children are allowedto watch violent films. Do the parents not believe thattheir children will be affected by this violence? Whatdoes the scientific research say about this?

Very young children do not think logically like we do.Therefore their interpretation of what they see will bewidely different from how we will see it. For example, inone study after the terrorist attack of September 11,young children did not believe that it was just 2 planesthat crashed into the towers. Having seen the endlessreplays of the terrorist footage, they were convincedthat many more planes were involved. If that’s the caseof news coverage of a real event, how would they inter-pret fantasy or other non-fiction? It is not until after age4 that children start to realise that things they see onthe screen may not be able to happen in real life. There-fore, any fearful scene that they see at that age (even ina ‘G’-rated cartoon, such as Toy Story) may be leavingtraces of anxiety that are hard to erase.

These findings are enough to befuddle any parent,especially when they can readily purchase for their tod-dlers pyjamas, underwear and other merchandise offigures such as Spiderman, Madagascar and Shrek, all ofwhich are of films with scary scenes not recommendedfor the under-4 age group.

Guernsey makes the point that different childrenhave different sensitivities, and parents ought to be tu-ned in to those, shielding them from seeing things theywould struggle to cope with. Parents should be espe-cially wary of movies that show characters separated

from their loved ones - this is a toddler’s worse fear.The overall recommendation is that children under 5years should be exposed to no scary scenes. If thesechildren are to be inadvertently exposed to suchscenes, removing them temporarily, using comfortinglanguage, giving them a hug and perhaps asking themabout their fears are all helpful strategies to minimisethe harm.

What is Educational about“Educational” TV?

There are some so-called educational films aimed atpre-schoolers, such as Baby Einstein’s Baby Mozart andLanguage Nursery that do not have good evidence ofeducational value. And there are other shows, includingSesame Street and Barney that do have such good evi-dence.

What makes a show truly educational for pre-school-ers? Guernsey notes that they should be tested with re-al children and they should work on specific goals, suchas recognising letters and matching sounds with instru-ments. They should be reviewed and approved by child-hood experts to ensure they are developmentally ap-propriate. The stories should be linear and easy to fol-low, and the pace should be slow and steady. Further-more, research should be undertaken after a show goeson air to find out if children are really learning from it.Admittedly, most of that information, if available, is dif-ficult to attain for the average parent.

Research has also shown that whether the childlearns from electronic media depends on how the fam-ily uses it overall. If the family uses it purely for enter-tainment, the children glean very little educational val-ue from it. In families that use it for more serious pur-poses, children are able to exert the necessary mentaleffort trying to learn from what they see on screen, andare able to retain this material better.

Could the Right DVD Teach my Childto Speak?

Developmental psychologists and other experts all a-gree on one point: that language development in pre-schoolers requires real, person-to-person contact: “thisinteraction is something that televisions, DVDs or even

interactive computer programs cannot replicate”.And yet, parents are often anxious about their child

development. Some parents even feel compelled to doanything to try and accelerate children’s development,and may try these educational DVDs, even though theauthors of these materials themselves caution againstsuch use of these materials. These materials, however,can be useful when they provide ideas to parents for us-ing language with their children. Again, context is every-thing.

What about using DVDs to learn a second language?After all, aren’t pre-schoolers better able to learn a sec-ond language than adults? Again, while pre-schoolerscan pick up occasional foreign words when embeddedin a show (e.g. in Dora the Explorer), this is not the sameas learning language. While pre-schoolers can pick up asecond language through direct communication withanother person, the research has shown that electronicmedia has little role to play in such contexts.

Can Electronic Media Enrich my Child’sVocabulary?

It is often the case that pre-schoolers do learn newwords from television and other media; depending ontheir age and type of show. Does this phenomenontranslate into meaningful effects on their education anddevelopment? In a landmark study, what made themost difference to pre-schoolers’ vocabulary growthand subsequent IQ was the amount of talking at home.Children from middle- and upper-income families hadhigher vocabulary and IQ scores simply because theytalked more at home; about feelings, plans, present ac-tivities, past events, etc. Words on shows such as Se-same Street seemed to make an impact if there wasrepetition of them inside the house.

Comment

A major challenge for today’s parents is to juggle theparenting tasks together with their job and so manyother commitments. Unfortunately the parenting tasksoften get a lesser priority, at an era when children havethe greatest need for guidance. The science reinforcesthat the safest and best tutors for pre-schoolers are theparents. The electronic media are shown to be verypoor substitutes for parents when it comes to learning.While these parenting tasks possibly get the leastrecognition on earth, they certainly get the greatestrecognition in heaven, as they are a work of love.

Our good Lord requests of us to follow His instruc-tions, but firstly He gave so much to us, above all Hissacrifice on the Cross. And if we expect our children tofollow our own instruction, we need to first sacrifice tothem - not just to meet their basic physical needs, butjust as important to meet their emotional, developmen-tal, spiritual and all other needs.

Hopefully these thoughts will help us when makingdecisions as to how we allow electronic media to influ-ence our children.

Growing up fast and furious

Media’s impact on our children:

Into the Minds of Babes: How Electronic Media Affects your Young Child: Part 2

“My son, hear the instruction of your fatherAnd do not forsake the law of your mother”.

Proverbs 1:8

By Fr George LiangasChild and Adolescent PsychiatristParish priest, St Nectarios Church, Burwood, NSW

1 Gurnsey L. Screen time: How electronic media - from babyvideos to educational software - affects your young child. NewYork: Basic Books; 2012.

2 Astute readers would have noticed that last month’s articlereferenced Gurnsey’s book ‘Into the mind of babes’ rather thanher book ‘Screen time’. In fact, ‘Screen time’ is simply a neweredition of ‘Into the mind of babes’. This column has kept the sub-title ‘Into the minds of babes’, but will be referencing the newerbook from here on.

7 OUT OF 10 GREEK ORTHODOX CHILDREN IN STATESCHOOLS DO NOT HAVE A SCRIPTURE TEACHER

Volunteer to become an assistant in 2014 – see your parish priest

TO BHMA8/26 OCTOBER 2013The Greek Australian VEMA

The Kytherian World Heritage FundA concept devised by Angelo Notaras and George Poulos

The Kytherian World Heritage Fund is a concept de-vised by Angelo Notaras and George Poulos in 2003.

Briefly the objectives of the Kytherian World HeritageFund are for:

· Preservation of Greek and Kytherian Heritage for thebenefit of all

· Raising funds to publish books in the English and theGreek language

· All profits of book sales to be used to finance , pub-lish and stock more books and literature includingtranslations where required

· To finance and support the Kytherian website To date they have translated, printed and published

the sale of fifteen books with 4 more now being pre-pared for publication early next year.

The Book launch will cover four new titles:Kytherian Surnames was published in the Greek Lan-

guage about 15 years ago. The translation and historicaladditions took the last 10 years to complete. It is 800pages and covers the history of over 250 family namesfrom the Island of Kythera going back to the times ofantiquity.

It was written by Emmanuel Kalligeros as a labour oflove over many years. Emmanuel is one of Greece’sprominent, if not the most eminent scholar for names,not only of people, but also of places.

Two more books will be published soon covering hisacademic efforts. He was recently honoured for hiswork.

The second book to be translated is ‘Potamos’ whichis by Kosma Megalokonomos. Kosma is a noted surgeon

and spent many years on Kythera attending to the is-land’s needs, as it will be of great interest to future gen-erations to know of their ancestors.

‘Potamos’ was written about 4 years ago and coversthe history of the principal town of Potamos on the is-land of Kythera. There are many hundreds of photoswhich most readers will find to be most interesting andinformative as to the past history of the area.

The third book to be launched is “One Year onKythera” It is about a young lady, Kristina Williamson,who visited Kythera for a short holiday, fell in love withthe place and spent more than a year there as a “ Full-bright Scholar” to photograph and record her impres-sions in an artistic manner .

It is a beautiful book with scenes of the Island and itspeople as never seen before.

The fourth book called “Kythera from the Air” was agreat project undertaken by James Prineas who is thedesigner and manager of www.kythera-family.net web-site, which over the years has gained international fameand is used by Universities in Germany and England andmany other countries as a model of the history of agroup of people. Overseas universities have sent stu-dents to visit Sydney to do their PHD thesis on this web-site.

It contains over 19,000 entries and would take atleast a year to read and digest all of its contents.

This website also goes from strength to strength. Re-cently James turned his energy to photographing“Kythera from the Air” and then producing a 270 pagelarge coffee table book that is brilliant in its photogra-

phy and concept. Each page carries a panorama of over105 individual villages and places on the island.

There is no other Greek publication that can matchthe brilliance of this book.

The production of these last two books also has abenefit for the island of Kythera in promoting Tourismand bringing income to the island, during this verystressful financial problem Greece is having.

Other books on sale including Hugh Gilchrist’s “Aus-tralians and Greeks” Volumes 1,2 and 3, the bible ofGreek and Australian togetherness from 1826 to 1950.

“George” - all about a Greek migrant who walkedaway from his family and earthly possessions, with theaim to raise funds to build a “Home for the aged andsick” in Byron Bay in the 1970’s.

From this humble beginning, we now have 14 ‘ FerosAged Care Homes” in NSW catering for thousands ofolder Australians. A most wonderful book written by hisdaughter Ruby Feros , who is a well-known author andcook with many of her recipes included. As it incorpo-rates a cook book, it is excellent value.

Many other books such as “Life in Australia”, the firstGreek book published in Australia in 1916 and now inthe English language.

“Diggers and Greeks” about the Second World Warand Crete, and many more.

Please come to our Book Launch and support our ac-tivities to bring these books to all of us for our enjoy-ment.

Ten per cent of the proceeds will be going to St Spyri-don College.

(02) 9349 1849

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 9/27OCTOBER 2013

GREEK ORTHODOX ARCHDIOCESE OF AUSTRALIA

Greek Orthodox Parish and Community of Sts Anargyri Oakleigh

The Parish Priest, Reverend Father George Adamakis, Management Committee, Principal of Oakleigh Grammar, Board ofTrustees, Philoptohos and Fellowship invite you to:

Oakleigh Greek Glendi – Unity through Diversity Sunday 27 October

Our Community together with our partners the Victorian Multi-Cultural Commission and City of Monash; our generous sponsorDelphi Bank and the Traders’ Association of Oakleigh is hosting a free multi-cultural event.

The Glendi is designed to celebrate “Oxi Day”, when Greece denied the Italians right of passage through Greece, and thus ledGreece into World War II and the Battle of Crete; and to bring various cultures together in celebration, unity and harmony.

At the completion of Liturgy, we will parade from Oakleigh Grammar, through Eaton Mall to Warrawee Park, where a wreath willbe laid.

The celebration will continue at a performing arts stage throughout the day, involving local businesses and showcasing folkloricdance, performances by young people, traditional music and a multicultural program celebrating performance traditions of manycultures.

Mark this day in your diaries as it promises to be a cultural and social highlight of the local Community and a celebration of funand tradition.

Sts Anargyri Feast Day events 7:00pm, Thursday 31 October: Great Vespers presided by His Grace Bishop Ezekiel of Dervis and inclusive of a large partici-pation of Parish Priests from other Melbourne Parishes.

7.30 - 11.00am, Friday 1 November: Orthros and Divine Liturgy, presided by His Grace Bishop Iakovos of Miletoupolis andinclusive of a large participation of Parish Priests from other Melbourne Parishes.

7.30 - 11.00am, Sunday 3 November: Orthros and Divine Liturgy presided by His Grace Bishop Iakovos of Miletoupolis.

To celebrate our Feast Day this year (in conjunction with the 50th Anniversary of our Community and 30th Anniversary of ourSchool) we will be holding a luncheon in the Community Hall.

There will be Greek dancing from our students and music by DJ George Ross for what promises to be a great afternoon for all.

Tickets will be limited and will be allocated on a first in basis. For ticket reservations please contact members of theManagement Committee through the Church Office on (03) 9569 6874.

Cost is $50 for adults and $30 for children under 12 years inclusive of food and drinks.

TO BHMA - OCTOBER 2013 TO BHMA - OCTOBER 201310/28 11/29

10th National Youth Conference a huge success

The Greek Australian VEMA

Over 500 guests from around Australia at-tended the Blessing and Official Opening ofthe Bribie Island Retreat and RecreationCentre at Woorim on Bribie Island. As part ofthe 10th National Youth Conference, youthfrom around Australia gathered to witnessthe Blessing of the Centre and enjoy the fa-cilities of our Centre.

The day commenced with a Divine Liturgy at the Pana-gia Theotokos Chapel. The Blessing and Official Openingcommenced at 11am. His Grace Bishop Seraphim ofApollonias blessed the Centre on behalf of His EminenceArchbishop Stylianos in the presence of their GracesBishops Ezekiel and Nikandros. Many dignitaries werepresent to witness this special event. They included MrWyatt Roy MP, Federal member for Longman and JennyHarrison, Lynne Nicholas and Darren Hooper, FederalGovernment departmental represenatives. Other guestsincluded Mr Tsambico Athanasas, Deputy Consul ofGreece in Queensland (representing the Consul-Generalof Greece, Mr Jim Raptis) Harry Jordan from the GreekOrthodox Archdiocese, Theo Bacalakis and MichaelAnastas from the Archdiocesan Council, Dr Eve Fesl -Elder of the Gubbi Gubbi people, Parish Presidents andMrs Athena Vafeas.

Following the speeches His Grace Bishop Seraphimunveiled the commemorative plaque with the assis-tance of Jenny Harrison - a milestone in the develop-ment of this Centre. Lunch followed with guests beingable to view the cabins and facilities. Ladies from theAuxiliaries and Philoptochos of the four SE Qld parishesprepared and served the food.

After lunch youth gathered and walked the 100m tothe beach to enjoy the afternoon by the sea. The guestswere overwhelmed with the facilities and look forwardto their return when their parishes and communities or-ganise to book the Centre.

For more information or to make a booking, pleasecontact Helen Passaris on (07) 3349 7647 or Lexie Po-teri on 0414 601 979.

SPEECH OF HIS GRACE BISHOP SERAPHIMAT THE OFFICIAL

OPENING OF BRIBIE ISLAND

Your Graces, Bishops Ezekiel and Nikandros, the Hon-ourable Wyatt Roy - Federal Member for Longman, MrTsambico Athanasas - Deputy Consul of Greece inQueensland representing the Consul-General of Greece,Mr Jim Raptis, Ms Jenny Harrison - Branch Manager, Federal Government, Department of Employment, MsLynne Nicholas - Assistant Director, Federal Govern-ment, Department of Employment, Mr Darren Hooper -

Qld State Manager, Federal Government, Departmentof Employment, Reverend Father Dimitri Tsakas - Vicar-General for Queensland, Dr Eve Fesl - Elder of the GubbiGubbi peoples, Mr John Panaretos - Chair of the BribieIsland Retreat and Recreation Centre ManagementCommittee, Reverend Clergy, Presidents and Repre-sen-tatives of the Various Parish-Communities of Queens-land, other distinguished guests, delegates of the 10thNational Youth Conference of the Greek OrthodoxArchdiocese, Ladies and Gentlemen.

It was indeed a great honour and joy today to conductthe Agiasmos service for the official opening of this Cen-tre.

Very shortly, we will open this wonderful Retreat andRecreation Centre here on Bribie Island - this multi-pur-pose youth and community facility which will encouragethe spiritual, social and cultural development of ouryouth in an Orthodox Christian framework. A truly his-toric moment for our Greek Orthodox Archdiocese ofAustralia!

I’m sure that I speak on behalf of all here present to-day, in expressing our sorrow, that His Eminence Arch-bishop Stylianos, due to a small health issue, was notable to be present with us here today. His Eminence al-ways had a dream that such a Centre for our youth beestablished - but for many years, due to financial con-straints this could not be realized. Today, however, wesee that His Eminence’s dream and vision has become areality!

His Eminence was responsible for making direct con-tact with the then responsible Minister, the HonorableAnthony Albanese and requesting if there was any pos-sibility of assisting us in developing such a Centre. Final-ly, after many meetings with the Minister, His Eminencewas successful in securing a federal government grantto complete what we see in front of us here today. Itwas these actions by His Eminence, which have broughtus to this wonderful moment to be here today and to beopening this first-class Centre in an official way.

On behalf of His Eminence, our Archdiocese, and allthe faithful throughout Australia, I would like to expressour thanks to the Federal Government for the generousgrant of 1.9 million dollars.

There are many people who have assisted in this en-deavor from the very beginning: from when we first re-ceived the land to today.

But, I do not wish to talk about the long history of Bri-bie island. Only I would like to mention the Tom Lemnosfamily.

What I would like to do, however, on behalf of His Em-inence, is to thank all those who have worked so hard,firstly for the Church to be built followed by the con-struction and completion of the modern self-containedaccommodation cabins together with maintaining thewonderful surroundings here.

Moreover, I would like express warm thanks to all

those who, from last year in May, when the federalgrant was first announced and received, have workedtirelessly, sacrificing their time, their families in order tomake this happen today.

I do not wish to mention names here because thereare so many people who have helped and I am afraid Iwill leave somebody out. I have to refer, however, to:

- Mr John Panaretos, the current Chair of the CentreManagement Committee and the members of his com-mittee;

- the Architect, Mr Steve Costi, who submitted the ori-ginal plans;

- but also to Mr Theo Bacalakis, President of theParish of Cairns and and his son-in-law, Mr Costas Stra-tikopoulos, the Project Manager who has been instru-mental with Government compliance issues.

I would also like to thank the priests of Brisbane andmore broadly of Queensland who, in different ways,have helped in keeping the Bribie Island project alive inorganising Retreats, celebrating Liturgies and so manyother events, responsible for frequently bringing peopletogether here at this place.

Moreover, I would like to thank the representatives,from the various Government departments who,throughout the entire work, helped us, so that this Cen-tre could comply with Government policies.

From today, therefore, my beloved youth, you, whoare all present here today, it is with great pleasure thatwe will declare this Centre open; and it will remain openfor all the youth of Australia. It will be our joy to seecharacters and personalities formed in a way that ourChurch wants, but also in a way that will be for the good

of the community at large, namely a place where ouryouth will learn “their yes to be a yes, and their no ano”, to recount the passage from the Bible which sobeautifully summarised what was said yesterday duringthe Conference deliberations.

A sincere thank you to everybody; and I end by con-veying to you all the paternal love and blessings of ourArchbishop and Father of our Church, His EminenceArchbishop Stylianos.

Thank you!

SPEECH OF JOHN PANARETOSCHAIR, BRIBIE ISLAND RETREAT

AND RECREATION CENTRE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

Welcome to the Bribie Island Retreat and RecreationCentre at Woorim on beautiful Bribie Island. I welcomeyou on behalf of His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos. Iwelcome Bishop Ezekiel of Dervis, Bishop Seraphim ofApollonia and Bishop Nikandros of Dorileou.

I would also like to welcome the Honourable WyattRoy, Federal Member for Longman, Mr Tsambico Atha-nasas, Deputy Consul of Greece in Queensland repre-senting the Consul-General of Greece, Mr Jim Raptis, MsJenny Harrison, Branch Manager, Federal Government,Department of Employment, Ms Lynne Nicholas, Assis-tant Director, Federal Government, Department of Em-ployment, Mr Darren Hooper, Qld State Manager, Fed-eral Government, Department of Employment, Rev-erend Father Dimitri Tsakas, Vicar-General for Queens-land, Dr Eve Fesl, Elder of the Gubbi Gubbi peoples, Rev-erend Clergy, Presidents and Representatives of theVarious Parish-Communities of Queensland, other dis-tinguished guests, delegates of the 10th National YouthConference of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, Ladiesand Gentlemen.

We thank His Grace Bishop Seraphim for the OpeningBlessing (AGIASMOS) of this Centre on behalf of His Em-inence Archbishop Stylianos. We welcome you all withopen hearts and with the generous support of ourQueensland parishes and the State Philoptohos Societyof Qld that today will be a highlight of your Conference.

This journey started some 40 years ago when TomLemnos, a humble man and not a wealthy man, was in-spired by a vision of the Panayia to leave his worldlywealth to the Church for the benefit of future genera-tions. Despite difficulties, this nest egg was shepherdedby the Vafeas and Costi families and with the foresightof His Eminence and people such as Jim Fouras, StathiEfstathis and Harry Jordan, the idea for a youth campwas conceived. Father Gregory formed the originalcommittee that was instrumental in finding this magnif-icent seaside acreage. Stage one - the Church of PanagiaTheotokos, the infrastructure and amenities block was

then completed. The number of people who have con-tributed to its success makes me reluctant to list themall. Nevertheless, I have to mention a few and beg for-giveness of those I neglected:

• Fr Dimitri Tsakas and the Greek Community of StGeorge who have donated equipment, furniture andtime as well as financial help

• The Reverend Fathers from all parishes in South EastQueensland who along with their parishioners have do-nated money and time and who support us by organis-ing Divine Liturgies and other events

• The 10th National Youth Conference OrganisingCommittee - Dormition of the Theotokos, Mt Gravatt

• Kastellorizian Association of Qld• The Philoptohos Societies who work tirelessly for us• Parish of St john the Baptist in Cairns• AHEPA Assoc of Qld• All the Associations including the Rhodians, Cretans,

Samos and others• Families who have directed donations to Bribie at fu-

nerals of their loved ones• And of course, my Committee, the countless num-

ber of volunteers and helpers who are here come rain orshine, including Helen Passaris and her mother Stella,Peter and Barbara Cassimatis and Ann Dommett, and allwho support our events.

At this point I make mention of Peter Antonopoulos ofLe Sands Restaurant in Sydney who facilitated the meet-ing with His Eminence and the then federal Minister forInfrastructure Mr Anthony Albanese, who both had thebelief in the project and faith in its potential to unitepeople in a common cause along with the youth of to-day and future generations. They have inspired us tolook beyond ourselves and generously give of our timeto inspire our youth to greater things.

The centre provides cabin accommodation for 54 anda hall catering up to 250 people. We look forward to theenergy and drive of young people filling this Centre withtheir activities, discussions and music. You will agreethis is $1.9 million well spent.

But look outside!! With this money we’ve built half acircle of cabins. We intend to complete the circle tocater for groups of over 100. We need your help to fitout the hall and to complete the vision.

Delegate, all we ask of you is when you return to yourhomes in the various parts of the country, that you tellyour communities and your parishes and schools aboutBribie Island Retreat and Recreation Centre, inspirethem to bring their youth to support the activity pro-grams that this Centre will host.

This project was delivered in partnership between theGreek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia and the feder-al government of Australia which provided the $1.9mil-lion grant. We thank them both.

From the Blessing of the Water (from l to r) Presvytera Dr Kokkinos, Bishops Seraphim, Ezekiel, Nikandros and Dr KariatlisPlenary session

Bishop Seraphim Mr John Panaretos

Cabins at the new Bribie Island Centre

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA12/30 OCTOBER 2013

For the fifth year in a row, the monthof September proved to be another rich-ly blessed, kairotic time in the life of StAndrew’s Greek Orthodox TheologicalCollege.

Indeed, due to the annual St Andrew’sPatristic Symposia, traditionally organ-ised since 2009 in the beginning of theOrthodox liturgical year, the month ofSeptember has become for us, those lov-ing the Fathers of the Church, a space ofrenewal, a time of joy and enrichment.

Thank God, this year’s Septemberbrought us perhaps more enjoymentthan ever before. The College was visitedby a number of awesome scholars, goodfriends and supporters of our undertak-ings, which in recent years have addedtheir gracious and competent input tothe growth of our small community in avariety of ways, from sharing with ustheir advice and wisdom to actively con-tributing to our efforts. The blessing rep-resented by their presence among uswas completed this September, as graceupon grace, by the delight of making newfriends through the intermediary of thefifth patristic symposium. But let’s have alook at the events as they unfolded.

Having just arrived in Sydney that verymorning of Wednesday 18 September,Professor David Bradshaw from the Uni-versity of Kentucky (Lexington, KY USA),with his wife, Mrs Mary Bradshaw, ateacher of English in Lexington, expres-sed their arduous desire to pray togetherwith us, fellow Orthodox, in the chapel ofSt Andrew’s. And they did. Fighting thejetlag, they joined me, the members ofthe Faculty present, Mr Dimitri Kepreo-tes and Mr Mario Baghos, and our stu-dents, for the evening prayer. Our com-munal joy increased with the arrival of DrAdam Cooper, from John Paul II Institutefor Marriage and Family (Melbourne,VIC), who joined the group during the in-spiring moments when both David andMary shared with us their ‘travel impres-sions’ into Orthodoxy. As readers mightknow, Dr Cooper, a senior lecturer intheology and patristics, has visited ourCollege numerous times in recent years -after several more years in which hecompetently and gracefully assisted uswith the peer review process of many ar-ticles submitted to Phronema, the Col-lege’s theological journal, and as a con-tributor to our collective volume, Cap-padocian Legacy: A Critical Appraisal(Sydney: St Andrew’s Orthodox Press,2013), which I co-edited with my col-league, Dr Philip Kariatlis. More precise-ly, Adam was our keynote speaker forthe fourth St Andrew’s Patristic Sympo-sium (2012) and recently contributed tothe forum held at the College this year inJuly, on St Maximus the Confessor. Inturn, with the blessing of our Dean, HisEminence Archbishop Stylianos, Profes-sor Bradshaw, an eminent scholar ofclassical philosophy who is deeply im-mersed in the patristic Byzantine tradi-tion, visited St Andrew’s, and indeedAustralia, for the first time. Nevertheless,there are several years now that David

has been with us - from a distance -through his wise advice, the patient andcompetent review of our journal articles,as a member of Phronema’s editorialboard and by his contribution to thesame volume, Cappadocian Legacy.

Thursday 19 September. Both Profes-sor Bradshaw and Dr Cooper gracefullyaccepted to join me in introducing thestudents enrolled in the course unit ‘Ear-ly Christian Patristic Theology’ to the fas-cinating universe of St Athanasius theGreat. The pleasant surprise of the stu-dents at the sight of the two eminentguests was exceeded only by the qualityand freshness of the latter’s crash-coursein the Athanasian corpus. Indeed, whilstDavid treated the On the Incarnation andthe soteriological teachings therein,Adam addressed the complexities per-taining to St Athanasius’ Orations againstthe Arians. A highlight of this encounter -alas, all too brief - was the lively dialoguethat erupted at some point between thethree speakers, which referred to theAthanasian cosmological thinking. I con-cluded the intense, one-hour lecture, bynotes on Against the Gentiles, its speci-fics and Psalm-founded worldview.

The three speakers then moved to theMain Hall of St Andrew’s for the long-awaited and, thankfully, well-attendedround table on ‘The Christian Transfor-mation of Philosophy in the World of theFathers.’ The starting point of the forumwas the selection of patristic texts (fromSt Justin Martyr, Clement the Alexan-drine, St Neilos the Ascetic and St JohnDamascene) offered by Professor Brad-shaw, which dealt with the meaning andusefulness of philosophy within theChristian tradition. The speakers analy-sed the significance and implications ofthe passages, highlighting the variousways in which the Church Fathers andother early Christian authors addressedphilosophical thought. Whilst allowingour guests space to develop their views, Iconcluded the evening by pointing outhow, alongside more radical early Chris-tian writers who demonised philosophy,the mainstream Fathers illustrated acomplex approach which entailed the el-ements of continuity, appropriation andtransformation of the philosophical ideasin the process of theological reflectionand proclamation of the Gospel withingiven cultural contexts. The one and a

half hours allocated for the round tablecould not suffice, of course, and so thethree speakers freely interacted with theaudience one more hour after the clo-sure of the event!

Friday 20 and Saturday 21 September.

The highlight of the month was undoubt-edly the fifth St Andrew’s Patristic Sym-posium, dedicated to St Cyril of Alexan-dria and co-convened by the under-

Cont. page 15/33

September 2013: A peak month at St Andrew’s College

Round Table Forum 19 September

Professor Pauline Allen, Professor David Bradshaw and I. 20 September

Professor Bradshaw together with the abbot of the monastery, Archimandrite EusebiosPantanassiotes (right), and Fr Arsenios (left)

TO BHMA 13/31OCTOBER 2013 The Greek Australian VEMA

TO BHMA14/32 OCTOBER 2013The Greek Australian VEMA

Gallipoli Before and Beyond Anzac: Part IIBy Dr Panayiotis Diamadis*

The first part of this series on GallipoliBefore and After Anzac provided a broadoverview of the issues as they have de-veloped. The focus of Part II is how edu-cators may develop an understandingamong their students of the relationshipbetween the Anzacs and the indigenousChristian peoples of Gallipoli and the restof the Ottoman Empire.

Studies by scholars such as Peter Stan-ley, John Williams, Vicken Babkenian andothers are demonstrating that the Geno-cides of the Hellenes, Armenians and As-syrians are as much part of Australianhistory as the landings at Anzac Cove.The challenge now is for educators - ofall levels and across subject areas - to in-tegrate this into teaching programs.

From 2014, all Year 9 students acrossthe country will have to undertake studyof Australia’s involvement in World WarOne. This study includes an overview ofthe causes of the wars, why men enlistedand where Australians fought. In ‘TheEthnic Cleansing of the Greeks of Gal-lipoli’, John Williams documents how theOttoman Turkish state systematically de-stroyed the indigenous Hellenic popula-tion of the Gallipoli Peninsula. Williamssummarises the study in the followingwords:

Waiting on Lemnos, a young ColonelJohn Monash stated that the liberationof Gallipoli first, then Constantinople,would be a victory ‘which will stir thewhole world’.2 The young Anzacs assem-bled on the Hellenic island of Lemnos be-lieved they were on a mission to liberatethe great city of Constantine, in serviceof freedom and democracy.

Seven years later, at the height of theglobal campaign to rescue survivors ofthe Hellenic, Armenian and AssyrianGenocides who had managed to reachHellas, Loyal Lincoln Wirt, InternationalCommissioner for the New York-basedNear East Relief organisation, recordedthe following:

The link between Anzacs and Helleneswas clear from the outset. Educatorshave the duty to promote these links,across curriculum areas and across years.In the History classroom, the syllabusdictates the teaching of Anzac.

In the Modern Greek classroom, thesyllabus incorporates aspects of Aus-

tralian Hellenic heritage including ‘theimportance of symbols to create a senseof identity’, ‘changes that occur in lan-

guage and customs through cross-cultur-al contact’, ‘the importance of traditionto a sense of cultural identity’, and ‘iden-

tifying and reflecting on representationsof culture’.

Australian heritage in the HellenicWorld provides opportunities for cross-curricular teaching and learning. It makeslearning about Hellenic language and cul-ture relevant to other subjects consid-ered to be ‘core’, especially English andHistory.

Thousands of Anzac servicemen pas-sed through Athens, Lemnos, Thessa-lonike and elsewhere, documenting inword and image what they saw and ex-perienced. Women such as Stella MilesFranklin and Jessie McHardie-Whitewere nurses in Macedonia during WorldWar One. Others served on Lemnos,nursing back to health the sick andwounded from Anzac Cove.

Primary school students could respondin Hellenic to simple questions derivedfrom photographs Anzacs took duringtheir time in places such as Lemnos,Crete or Macedonia. Year 9 studentscould develop an Anzac Day tribute inHellenic. The senior syllabus includes atheme on ‘the individual’ as well as ‘theGreek-speaking communities - specialtraditions (festivals, celebrations and na-tional days)’. Both of these are designedfor the exploration of the Australian-Hel-lenic symbiosis by Australian-born Hel-lene students.

This rich collection of written docu-ments, photographs and film is being de-veloped for use in Australian classroomsto teach Anzac across the curriculum.4

The Genocide Education website (www.armeniangenocide.com.au) is where ed-ucators may find a range of activities forAustralian secondary students on theGenocides of the Armenians, Assyriansand Hellenes: download, print and deliv-er it to your students.

Hellenic studies (language, culture, his-tory) must adapt to this reality. HellenicStudies constitute ONE continuum ofteaching and learning across primary,secondary and tertiary education. If weare to maintain Hellenic studies at all lev-els of education in the Antipodes, wemust make these studies relevant to ourstudents. We must draw upon their ex-periences to ensure we are able to pur-sue our own research interests.

Part III will continue the educationtheme, looking at the unique story of theLochs and their place in inter-war Aus-tralian history. From their home at Oura-noupolis’ landmark medieval tower inthe shadow of Mount Athos, Joice andSydney dedicated their lives to groups ofHellenic Genocide survivors who hadbeen left there.

* Dr Panayiotis Diamadis lectures in GenocideStudies at the University of Technology, Sydney.He also serves as President of the AustralianHellenic Educators’ Association NSW-ACT-QLD.

1 John Williams ‘The Ethnic Cleansing of the Greeksof Gallipoli’ Quadrant April 2013 No 495 Volume LVIINo 4, page 33.

2 Jim Claven ‘The Constantinople Spirit’ Neos Kos-mos English Edition 11 May 2013, page 16

3 Loyal Lincoln Wirt The world is my parish Los An-geles: Warren F. Lewis 1951, p. 219.

4 Australian War Memorial Collections database(www.awm.gov.au)

Once the peninsula ceased to be awar zone, Turks could return. Butnot Greeks. Some reached Greecebut most died; either way, a thriv-ing Greek community of 32,000dating back 2,000 years, had itspopulation obliterated and wasexpunged from history.1

Four thousand bags of Australianflour passed tragic Gallipoli, wheremany brave Anzacs from Australiaand New Zealand had laid downtheir young lives, face to the foe.And now the unhappy victims ofthis same foe were to be fed withbread from their homeland, as if tocomplete the work for which theydied. Anzac bread!3

Macedonia, April 1941. Three Diggers ride donkeys along mountain roads near Florina.Negative by George Silk.

TO BHMA 15/33

Health

OCTOBER 2013

MEASLES

There have been several cases of measles reported inAustralia in the last two months.

The measles virus is therefore circulating in the com-munity and so there is ongoing risk of transmission ofmeasles.

What is measles?

Measles is an acute viral illness. Measles is highly con-tagious. Due to immunisation, measles infection hasnot been common in recent years.

The complications of Measles can be dangerous, andthe threat of illness must be considered serious.

Who is at risk of measles?

Those at risk of measles are children or Adults bornduring or since 1966 unless they have received two dos-es of measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine or hadconfirmed measles in the past.

Adults and children planning or returning from over-seas travel who have not received two doses of MMRand people who report recent contact with measleswho have not received two doses of MMR.

The symptoms of measles

The illness starts like a heavy cold; and for the firstthree days, the person is miserable with a high fever(>38 degrees), runny nose, red and watery eyes and adry hacking cough.

On the third day, tiny white spots (called Koplik’sspots) appear inside the mouth. By about the fourthday, a blotchy red rash appears which usually starts

behind the ears, and on that day may spread to theface and by the next day, to the body and then to thelimbs.By about the sixth day, the rash starts to fade.Usually all the symptoms will disappear after a week.

How is measles spread?

Measles is one of the most easily spread of all humaninfections. It is usually spread when a person breathes

in the measles virus that has been coughed or sneezedinto the air by an infectious person.

Once inside the body, the virus has an incubation pe-riod of about ten to fourteen days. The patient is infec-tious for about five days before and five days after therash appears.

What are the risks?

Most patients recover from an acute measles infec-tion with lifelong immunity. Some patients may devel-op secondary complications affecting the ear or chest.

Unfortunately, a few patients may develop measlesencephalitis (inflammation of the brain) which can leadto permanent brain damage.

How is an acute measles infectiontreated?

The patient must rest in bed at home. The fevershould be treated with paracetamol. The cough can betreated with cough linctus. There is no specific treat-ment and antibiotics are not required unless the pa-tient develops a secondary infection, such as an ear in-fection or pneumonia.

Exclusion from school

Children with measles should be kept away fromschool until they have recovered, or at least five daysfrom the appearance of the rash.

How is measles prevented?

While a person is infectious with measles (ie: up tofive days after the onset of the rash) it is important thatthey remain at home to reduce the possibility of

spread to other people. The best protection againstmeasles is thorough immunisation measles-mumps-

rubella vaccine (MMR). This vaccine provides protec-tion against infection with measles, as well as againstmumps and rubella.

MMR vaccine should be given to children at agetwelve months and a second dose was previously givenat four years of age.

However from 1 July 2013 the National ImmunisationProgram Schedule was changed so that children nowreceive a second combined Measles, Mumps, Rubellavaccine with a new combined Measles, Mumps, Rubel-la and Varicella (Chicken pox) vaccine at eighteenmonths of age .

Children who turned eighteen months prior to 1 July2013 and who have already received their eighteenmonth Varicella vaccination should still be immunisedfor Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) at four yearsof age.

So the four year old scheduled Measles, Mumps andRubella (MMR) vaccination point will remain until allchildren aged between eighteen months and four yearsof age as at 1 July 2013 reach the age of 4 years - that is31 December 2015.

MMR vaccine is a safe and effective vaccine that hasbeen used worldwide for many years. It is safe to havethe vaccine even in those who have had previousmeasles or vaccination.

While many older adults are immune to measles be-cause they were infected as children, young adults mayhave not either had measles or received measles immu-nisation.

Anyone born in or after 1966 who is not immune tomeasles should have two doses of MMR immunisation.

In light of the recent outbreak of measles, discussyour family’s immunisation status with your doctor to-day.

* The information given in this article is of a general natureand readers should seek advice from their own medical practi-tioner before embarking on any treatment.

HEALTHNEWS

The Greek Australian VEMA

WITH DR. THEO PENKLIS *

Cont. from page 12/30

signed together with Dr Philip Kariatlis.Officially inaugurated by His GraceBishop Iakovos of Miletoupolis, who con-veyed the blessing of His EminenceArchbishop Stylianos, the conferencetook as catalysts the keynote papersoffered by Professor Pauline Allen, FAHA,from the Australian Catholic University(Brisbane, QLD), and Professor DavidBradshaw. The ‘Queen of patristic stud-ies in Australia,’ as I introduced her,Professor Allen offered the first keynotepaper, which explored aspects pertainingto the personality, work and pastoralministry of St Cyril within the frameworkof episcopal pastoral strategies in LateAntiquity.

In turn, Professor Bradshaw addressedmatters pertaining to St Cyril’s Against

Julian, focusing on the use of philosophytherein and the significance of the Cyril-line typological understanding of the re-lationship between scriptural meta-phors and realities. Needless to say, bothPauline and David stirred the audience,which resulted in a range of questionsaddressed to them both within the re-spective sessions and during the breaks.The two keynotes were followed by a se-ries of challenging papers offered - a-longside those of our Faculty members -by old and new friends of the symposia.Among the former, it is my pleasure tomention the contributions of Dr AdamCooper, Fr Jonathan Hicks and AndrewMellas; among the latter, the contribu-tions of Fr Hugh Bowron, Rebecca Bur-gess, Dr Bernard Doherty, Fr JeremyKrieg, Dr Anita Strezova, Kevin Wagnerand Archimandrite Fr Kyrillos Zisis. A

number of friends of the College, such asAssociate Professor Daniel Anlezark andRev Dr Joseph Lam, who could not pres-ent their papers, were sorely missed. Iconcluded the event by thanking Philipfor all the support he gave me toward or-ganising the annual patristic symposiauntil now, and wishing him all the bestwith convening the first ever St Andrew’sTheology Symposium, in September2015.

I also welcomed Adam as my co-con-vener of the St Andrew’s Patristic Sym-posium 2014, and thanked the twokeynote speakers, the other presentersand the participants, for their love to-ward the Fathers and our College. Lastbut not least, I thanked our registrars,Tasos and Steven, the ladies of the Philo-ptochos Committee of the Cathedral ofthe Annunciation, and our students, for

their tireless and selfless support of theevent.

Sunday 22 September. One by one,our guests returned to their own busi-ness... As for my St Andrew’s colleaguesand myself, we extended some morehospitality to David and Mary in the re-maining days of their visit. I shall men-tion here only the other spiritual land-mark of their trip to the Antipodes,namely, the visit to the Monastery ofPanagia Pantanassa in Mangrove, Cen-tral Coast, and the warm welcoming onthe part of the Abbot and the Fathers.

Is September the month of all blessingsfor St Andrew’s? By all means. Δόξα τωΘεώ!

Protopresbyter (Dr) Doru CostacheSenior Lecturer in Patristic Studies

St Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Theological College

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA16/34 OCTOBER 2013

By Guy Freeland*

So begins the vesperal Psalm 130 (129LXX). But what are the depths? Depths ofwhat? And what can come out of them?Now, regular readers will know that I liketo “shoot from the hip”, tell you what’swhat in the first couple of sentences; andso save you from having to read the arti-cle. But not on this occasion.

This article is about a puzzle to whichthere seem to be no satisfactory an-swers. Sometime in the future sciencewill almost certainly provide answers,but for now all I can do is try to throw alittle more light than I have in previousarticles into a murky area. I will turn toan analogy to introduce my topic.

The Strange Behaviour of the Bosporus

As anyone will know who has had theenjoyment of taking a ferry from Istanbulup the Bosporus, vessels plying north-eastwards in the direction of the BlackSea past stately palaces and defensiveforts have to struggle against a continu-ous strong current flowing southwards.

A number of rivers, five of them verylarge, flow into the Black Sea. Theamount of fresh water from the riverscollecting in the Sea, combined with rain,exceeds loss of surface water throughevaporation.

But while there are many inlets there isonly one outlet, that through the narrow27km channel of the Bosporus whichseparates Asia and Europe. The conse-quence is that a turbulent river continu-ously flows through the Bosporus fromthe Black Sea, maintaining its level.

But now one comes to the weird bit. Ithas been known from time out of mindthat not one but two rivers flow throughthe Bosporus, one above the other. Atsome time in the remote past a boatmandiscovered that when some heavy objectwas lowered into the water attached to arope the boat, instead of moving southwith the current, started to ply northeast. Beneath the surface river theremust be another river strongly flowingfrom south to north. Boatmen from thenon lowered a basket of rocks from theirvessels when proceeding northwardsand sat back and puffed at their hookahs.

How this strange phenomenon cameabout is that c.5600 BC the rising level ofthe Mediterranean resulted in the seabreaking through the previously blockedBosporus and flooding the land-lockedBlack Sea basin until the water reachedthe level of the Mediterranean. In alllikelihood, it was folk memory of this ca-tastrophe which formed the basis of thestory of Noah in the Old Testament (seeArticle 1 in Windows to Orthodoxy*).

Salt water from the Sea of Marmarahas continued to flow through theBosporus till this day. But much fresherwater from the surface level of the BlackSea flows in the opposite direction abovethe lower river.

The phenomenon was first studied sci-entifically by Luigi Ferdinando Marsigli in

1680. Marsigli fed out a weighted linefrom an anchored boat to which were at-tached white-painted cork markers. Atfirst the markers flowed south west withthe surface current, but then he sawmarkers which had dipped below thesurface level flow in the opposite direc-tion with the deeper current and passunder the boat.

Experimenting with water of higherand lower salt concentration correspon-ding to the heavier Mediterranean waterand the Black Sea surface water with halfthe concentration of salt, Marsigli found,when allowed to mix, the more concen-trated water accumulated at the bottomof a tank and the less salty at the top.The heavier water flowing from theMediterranean displaces the Black Seawater flowing in the opposite direction.

Now, the two rivers of the Bosporusseem to me to provide a pretty goodanalogy for:

The Conscious and the Unconscious

Most (if not all) of us have moments inlife when light suddenly breaks through,dispersing the darkness of ignorance.One such personal “disclosure” event isrelevant to the present topic.

Having spent much of my universitystudent years studying experimental psy-chology, it wasn’t until a couple of de-cades later that in a sudden flash of in-sight I realised that all of our cognitive/mental processes take place below thelevel of conscious awareness. (Had Ibeen taking a bath at the time I wouldcertainly, like Archimedes, have boundedout and run naked down the streetshouting “eureka”.) It was so incrediblyobvious (and probably seems so to read-ers) but it had never occurred to me.

When I hit a block; in writing or in try-ing to fathom a cryptic passage in theBible, Kant or Maximus the Confessor, Iusually wander out into the garden andpull out a few weeds, prune a rose ortwo or change the water in the bird-bath. My mind will be preoccupied withdark thoughts about onion weed, thesearch for an outwards facing bud, or thetechnicalities of bird-bath maintenance.As far as the problem solving is con-cerned, I will not be aware of any mental

activity whatsoever.Yet, I will know by a certain feeling of

tension, and an even greater degree ofabsent mindedness than usual, that I amthinking, and when I return indoors Ifind, even if I haven’t got the solution tothe problem, at least I will have someidea in mind.

What goes for problem solving goes forcreative acts. Some interesting com-ments, which fit snugly with our Bospo-rus analogy, were made by my favouritecontemporary composer, Philip Glass, ina TV interview:

“My experience of music is that it islike an underground river that is alwaysthere, and like an underground river youdon’t know where it comes from and youdon’t know where it is going … I don’tthink of [my music], I listen to it. In otherwords, it is already there, it is not some-thing that has to be imagined, it has tobe written down … What I have becomecontent with is to see music as a mys-tery.”

The same is true, Glass observes, withdrawing, dancing or poetry - the artist,choreographer or poet is simply attenti-ve to the conscious reverberations orechoes of the unconscious flow.

Of what is going on in the hidden riverwe are unaware, but images, ideas, im-pulses, decisions and emotional reac-tions rise up and penetrate the upper riv-er, the stream of consciousness. Fortu-nately, however, we can train ourselvesto be selectively attentive to unconsci-ous swells. It is rather like my strainingmy ears to hear the gurgling of the creekbelow our garden after heavy rain.

There is a consensus amongst neuro-scientists and psychologists that only asmall fraction of our total cognitive activ-ity surfaces into consciousness. It is in-creasingly looking as if our conscious ex-perience is, as a number of philosophershave held, simply an epiphenomenon, asort of film show produced by uncon-scious processes; like marsh gas given offby a bog which can suddenly ignite as aghost-like will-o’-the-wisp.

In a previous article on the heart (Ve-ma, February 2011) I referred to recentscientific work which suggested that asignificant portion of the hidden process-ing is performed by what has been

dubbed “the little brain in the heart”.However, little is known at present aboutthe actual neurophysiological processes.

Fully understanding the processing,however, will elucidate only half the my-stery as the lower river possesses con-tent: the ideas, images, tunes and sensa-tions which bubble up into conscious-ness. This deep river content can be sin-gularly bizarre, as we know from dreams.

Whether we are born content-free, aswhat the philosopher John Locke called atabula rasa, a blank slate, and the ma-rine life of our hidden river is entirely de-rived from sensory input, or whetherthere is a sort of ancestral memory is oneof the mysteries science needs to solve.

Christianity and the Hidden River

In the Eastern Christian tradition theheart is seen as the seat of a person’s in-ner being and knowledge of the heart,cardiognosis, intrinsic to spiritual enlight-enment. Christ knew the secrets of theheart (Mark 2:68, John 2:25) and in Mark7:20-22 declares that it is the evil thatcomes out of the heart that defiles a per-son. But lest one thinks that this textlends grist to the Augustinian doctrine oforiginal sin, in Luke 6:45 Christ, in a pointechoed by Eastern Fathers of the Church,observes that it is not only evil which is-sues from the heart but also good. So itwould seem that if there were such athing as original sin, there would alsohave to be original righteousness:

“The good man out of the treasure ofhis heart produces good, and the evilman out of his evil treasure producesevil; for out of the abundance of hisheart his mouth speaks (RSV).”

But the Gospel texts leave undetermi-ned the issue of the extent to which thecontents of the heart, if at all, are innate.

The contents of the hidden river seemseriously disorganised. On to this disor-der we impose order, transform psychicchaos into comprehensible cosmos. It isperhaps in this way that conceptions ofHeaven and Hell have arisen in many cul-tures. By imposing moral categories ontothis maelstrom what is good and holy isdistinguished from that which is evil anddiabolical, creating two opposing realmsof being.

These conceptual realms of coursehave a subjective reality; Heaven andHell are realities which humans experi-ence in the depths of their inner being.Indeed, so strong is this conception thatwe naturally objectify or reify that whichis intrinsically subjective. Hell is not somefiery furnace in the bowels of the earth,Heaven is not some aerial domain whereangels perch on clouds twanging harps.

Heaven and Hell, though allegoricallypictured in the Bible as places, are notplaces but states of being.

Anyone who really wishes to under-stand all of this could do a lot worse thandip into Dante’s Divine Comedy. Heavenand Hell (also Purgatory, as Dante ad-heres to Catholic teaching) are depicted

“Out of the Depths I Have Cried to You, O Lord”

Windows to Orthodoxy

The Bosporus, Turkey

The Greek Australian VEMA TO BHMA 17/35OCTOBER 2013

Windows to Orthodoxy

Cont. from previous page

in the most realistic images imaginable;yet Dante conceives of the whole poem asan allegory of the realities of the humancondition and destiny, not a description ofphysical objective reality. Dante’s graphicconstructed cosmos forces us to confrontthe existential dividing of the ways onwhich our salvation hangs.

Christ’s descent into Hades likewise isnot a physical but a mystical descent intothe deep river that flows through our innerbeing; it’s a mystical reality, not a descrip-tion of the destruction of a physical place.It is this inner Hell which Christ lays wastethrough the Paschal Mystery of His Cruci-fixion, Descent into Hades and Resurrec-tion.

It has been suggested that the heart isthe seat of an intuitive emotional intelli-gence which balances the rational intelli-gence of the brain. Highly spiritual personsdo seem to be able to access the deeperriver below the turbulent river of oureveryday conscious experience. In rarecases, the gift of spiritual insight, whichChrist frequently manifests in the Gospels,amounts to clairvoyance. A deeper knowl-edge that goes beyond that which can beacquired through the senses of sight, hear-ing, touch etc, can, it would seem, be ac-cessed.

So, our hidden river might not be entire-ly subjective and unique to the individual,but might constitute a tributary of a migh-ty river running deep below the everydayworld of all humankind. Certainly, therehas been an all but universal belief thatthere is a hidden world of influences thatunderpins and gives meaning to mundanephenomena.

Also, there has been a virtually universalbelief, though the form it takes is cultural-ly determined, that the universal river canbe accessed to a degree by spiritual indi-viduals or through special techniques. Thisis a massive, confused, speculative andcontroversial area and I will pursue it nofurther, other than to take a single illustra-tion.

The famous Bayeux Tapestry (actually anembroidery) was produced following theNorman invasion of England of 1066. Ap-proximately 70m long and 50cm high, ittells a continuous story of the backgroundto the Conquest and William’s victory atHastings.

The historical narrative forms the centralband but above and below there are nar-rower continuous borders. In the bordersthere are numerous birds and animals,and little scenes of human activity. The

creatures are obviously symbolic andsome have been interpreted. Both theseand the human scenes clearly relate andgive meaning to the events that are goingon in the central band. The Tapestrynetherworld, however, is, in accord withChristian cosmology, divided into an upperand lower region bordering the historicalnarrative.

The illustration depicts Halley’s Cometwhich was visible in 1066 shortly beforethe Battle of Hastings. The comet wouldhave been understood as a portent of badthings to come. What was portended is re-vealed in the lower border by the depic-tion of invasion boats.

But there is more to spirituality thansimply acquiring the ability to lower aweighted basket down into our hidden riv-er. Profound spiritual insight is achievedthrough ascetic struggle, long years ofprayer of the heart and life in Christ.

The heart is also, the Bible teaches, thedwelling place of the Holy Spirit. For theheart to be filled with the Holy Spirit -though of course one mustn’t forget thatthe Spirit interpenetrates the whole of ourpersonhood, indeed the whole creation - aspace must be cleared for both the Spiritand the presence of Our Lord by purifyingthe heart of evil.

That our Bosporus analogy is in harmonywith New Testament thought is borne outby a significant verse (v.38) in the Gospelpassage prescribed for the Liturgy of Pen-tecost/Trinity Sunday (John 7:37-52, 8:12)in which Christ speaks of the Holy Spirit:

“He who believes in me, as the scripturehas said, ‘Out of his heart shall flow riversof living water’.”

And it is in the Spirit, welling up from thedeeps, that the believer cries out to the Fa-ther, with all the anguish of the humancondition:

“Lord, hear my voice … For there is mer-cy with thee (Psalm 130:1b,4a BCP, 129LXX).”

*Guy Freeland is a member of the Faculty of StAndrew’s Greek Orthodox Theological College,Sydney. A collection of his Vema articles, Win-dows to Orthodoxy, has been published by St An-drew’s Orthodox Press and is available for pur-chase. An e-book edition will be available shortly.

ApologyIn transmitting photos for the September issue

of the Vema two adjacent similar-looking photoson our computer were unfortunately confused;the illustration whose caption declares it to bethat of the interior of St Paul’s, Jarrow is in fact ofthe predominantly nineteenth-century interior ofSt Peter’s, Monkwearmouth. Sorry.

Parish & Community of Sts Constantine & Helene (WA)

2013 SHORT COURSE IN ORTHODOX STUDIES

A Short Course in Orthodox Studies will be held every Sunday evening from 27 October until 8 December 2013 at the Church of Sts Constantine & Helene

(Corner Francis & Parker Streets, Northbridge, WA).

Time: 6.00 – 8.00pm

All Welcome to Attend

All Talks Delivered in English

For more information contact Fr Elpidios at p.karalis@bigpond.com or on 0407 260 071

Sunday 27 October 2013 Topic: Why are we here? What is our purpose on earth?

Rev. Fr John Athanasiou Barrister & Solicitor

Graduate of St Andrew's Greek Orthodox Theological College (NSW)

Sunday 3 November 2013 Topic: Taking a tour through an Orthodox Church

Very Rev. Archimandrite Elpidios Karalis Teacher - St Andrew’s Grammar (WA)

Graduate of St Andrew's Greek Orthodox Theological College (NSW)

Sunday 10 November 2013 Topic: Bishop Nectarios of Madagascar: An Orthodox Missionary Worker. His life in Adelaide-

Athens-Madagascar: A Man of God. Dr George Frazis

Manager of Modern Greek at St George College (SA) Coordinator of Modern Greek Studies at Charles Darwin University

Sunday 17 November 2013 Topic: I believe in Jesus Christ, so why do I need the Church?

Mr. Angelo Karantonis Retired Associate Professor in Land Economics at the University of Technology (NSW). Graduate of St

Andrew's Greek Orthodox Theological College (NSW)

Sunday 24 November 2013 Topic: Protecting our children from the dangers of the online world: medical, psychological

and spiritual perspectives. Rev. Fr George Liangas

Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist (NSW)

Sunday 1 December 2013 Dual Presentation

Topic Part One: The inclusion of children with Special Needs within our community.

Ms Maria Gogos Clinical/Educational Psychologist and Lecturer in Education & Psychology

Topic: Part Two: Role Balance for the Working ‘Sandwich Generation’

Ms Kiah Evans Occupational therapist and researcher at Edith Cowan University (WA)

Sunday 8 December 2013 Dual Presentation

Topic: Depression & Anxiety; Today’s Epidemic Rev. Fr Dimitrios Tsakas

Mental Health Social Worker Graduate of St Andrew's Greek Orthodox Theological College (NSW)

Presvytera Michelle Tsakas Mental Health Social Worker

The Bayeux Tapestry. The appearance of Halley’s Comet. Photo: Wikipedia.

Never Judge a Book...By Dr Ann Coward

A media release, drawing attention to a new bookby Australian writer Lana Penrose, recently appearedon my computer screen. The title of this, her thirdmemoir, is Addicted to Love. Neither this, nor the ti-tle of her previous book, Kickstart My Heart, sig-nalled to me that either publication would hold anyinterest. However, the title of her first book did cap-ture my attention: To Hellas and Back. However, un-like the contradictory cover image of To Hellas andBack, the titles, I found as I read each of the threebooks, are very apt. The cover image of the firstbook, appropriately coloured blue and white, showsa smiling Lana against an unmistakable Greek back-ground. The smile is misleading and neither the im-age, nor the back cover upbeat blurb, prepares thereader for the book’s contents.

I’d like to draw attention to these memoirs in thehope that you will read them, but be warned: youwon’t enjoy them. They’re not that sort of books.Lana (an Australian of Maltese and British back-ground) writes well, but leaving Sydney with her Aus-tralian-Greek boyfriend to live in Athens was, quiteliterally, more than she could bear. There is no ‘hap-py ever after’. Possibly had I the insight of a migrant,I may have been more patient with the way Lana re-sponded to living amongst strangers. Instead, as Icontinued to read about the disintegration of her lifeand relationship, I found myself increasingly irritatedby her failure to cope, her spiralling depression, andself-destructive behaviour, particularly the recurringbinge drinking.

Try as I may, being a witness by virtue of readingher memoirs, to what is essentially a time in her lifewhich has since passed, my constant attempts to findanswers to her dilemmas by asking, “what if...shehad done this, not done that, or done the other”, on-ly served to highlight for me the sense of helpless-ness Lana, herself, experienced.

These books don’t contain answers. One problempossibly lies in the fact that a memoir, by its very na-ture, is only one person’s view of a situation, andthis, I think, is the key to the many problems Lana’sbooks raise. While they include the familiar and obvi-

ous ones relating specifically to migrants (lack of lan-guage skills, distance from family members andfriends, and so on), it is ultimately responsibility (tooneself; between friends, acquaintances, colleagues;between parents and parents-in-law and their adultchildren; and between spouses), or rather, a lack ofresponsibility, which the book highlights. What doesresponsibility entail? What happens when freedomto do as one or one’s spouse likes is not matched byan equal sense of responsibility? How useful, really,is it for a friend to simply ‘be there’?

Despite the publisher’s attempts to promote a con-trary image, these books are serious. A cover quotefor To Hellas and Back states that, “You’ll laugh ‘tilyou cry”. Wrong. This first memoir in the trilogy, setvariously in Sydney and Athens, describes the almosttotal destruction of Lana’s mind, and along with it,her sense of hope. The publisher’s subtitle for Kick-start My Heart, set in London, is “A Carnival of DatingDisasters”. Wrong again. Lana’s determination, fu-elled by alcohol, to destroy what remains of herself,results in anything but a carnival. While, certainly,the rules of dating may be modern (with partners ‘re-lating’ - if that’s the right term - via text messaging),the characters are familiar regardless of the genera-tion. The final book, Addicted to Love, is set on the is-land of Kythera (Cerigo). Unlike the first two books,this one’s back-cover blurb is more accurate, describ-ing the book as “a haunting page-turner”.

The ten years outlined so vividly by Lana in hermemoirs may very well be described as a Greektragedy, yet she is to be recommended for her skilland courage in writing about her experiences. Al-though the final memoir, Addicted to Love, dealswith specific instances in her life, all three books arepossibly best summed up by her final sentence, di-rected to the reader: “...although I don’t have anyanswers, I guess I just wanted you to know thatyou’re not alone”.

Lana’s books are of our time, and the issues theyraise are important. While there are sprinklings ofself-deprecating humour throughout, these memoirscould not be described as easy or enjoyable to read.But they are worth reading and worth contemplat-ing.

Écoutez!Arts Review

Byzantine Ecclesiastical Music

by Basilios Psilacos(Sydney, 2010)

This is a little gem for everyone interested in Byzan-tine ecclesiastical music, and especially for anyonewho wants a practical introduction to Byzantine musictheory and notation as it is used today. It is also note-worthy as it is written in English and, although rudi-mentary ability to read Greek is an advantage, it is oneof the few truly accessible publications for Englishspeakers who don’t speak or read Greek fluently. Psi-lacos, who was born in Australia and has studied bothhere at St Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Theological Col-lege and in Greece at the Aristotelian University ofThessaloniki, brings a wealth of knowledge and experi-ence to his book. His practical exercises for learningthe Greek musical alphabet (equivalent to sol-fa),rhythm, duration and so on, and to read the notationfor these, are clear, carefully structured and accessiblefor anyone with a rudimentary understanding of mu-sic. This is especially so if one assumes, as Psilacosdoes, that the book will be used in conjunction withtaking lessons from a chanter.

On a more academic level, Psilacos’ explanations ofthe theoretical aspects such as tuning and modes aresome of the clearest I’ve encountered and are to berecommended to musicians, researchers and especial-ly musicologists interested in Byzantine chant. It is asignificant asset for any English-speaking researcherwanting to derive their understanding of the field notmerely from older academic texts (the English lan-guage ones being somewhat scarce and also some-times questionable in their accuracy), but also fromscholarly practitioners such as Psilacos, who are partof the living tradition of Byzantine ecclesiastical music.Perhaps reflecting the fact that Psilacos was alsotrained as a violinist, he clearly expects that Englishspeaking students of Byzantine music are likely to befamiliar with Western notation/theory. He frequentlygives Western notation/theory equivalents where it ispossible to do so, greatly aiding the understanding ofsomeone such as myself, who, despite being Ortho-dox, of Greek descent and used to hearing Byzantinechant, has been trained in Western music theory andtradition. For anyone interested in the origins of West-ern music theory, and also in the descriptions ofrhythm used for example in discussing poetry, there isalso much food for thought. I hope that we might seean audio CD to accompany this publication in the nearfuture, as it would add to its usefulness, especiallywithin a tertiary education or research setting.

Dr Imogen CowardMusicologist & Music Teacher

The Greek Australian VEMATO BHMA18/36 OCTOBER 2013

Arts, Food & WineEditor: Imogen Coward

TO BHMA 19/37OCTOBER 2013 The Greek Australian VEMA

The Greek community of Australia is keeping alivethe issue of the return of the Parthenon Marbles, sto-len property housed in the British Museum, which re-fuses to give them back and claims they belong nowto England.

Minister of Energy and Multicultural Affairs of Vic-toria Nicholas Kotsiras raised the issue again, futilely,in a recent trip to London. Entreaties from Greece andPhilhellenes around the world continue to fall on deafears as British Museum officials don’t want to give uptheir lucrative draw.

Kotsiras went to the museum to see the marblesstolen from Greece by a British diplomat, Lord Elgin,nearly 200 years ago and heard a speech about themat the Hellenic Club.

Although he visited London in his capacity as a Min-ister of Energy and Resources, however, Kotsiras had

contacts with the Orthodox Archbishop of Britain, theexecutives of Diaspora and Spyros Merkouris (brotherof late famed Greek actor and Minister of CultureMelina Mercouri) and others.

The Second World Congress for the Return of theParthenon Marbles, entitled Parthenon, an Icon ofGlobal Citizenship, will be held Nov. 16-17 at the Uni-versity of Sydney and will attract scholars, speakersand activists from around the world. The topics of theconference will consist of four main sections: Educa-tion, Activism, Economy and Law/Legal.

According to www.kkjsm.org, the coordinator of theconference, Dennis Tritaris said: “In the first topic, thetraining, we will examine the role of the educationcommunity to understand the importance of the Par-thenon.” It will also examine the role of the museumas an educational tool.

Kotsiras wants Parthenon Marbles returned

Greek inscription onHiroshima Peace BellHiroshima Peace Memorial Park, in the center of Hi-

roshima, Japan, is a park dedicated to the legacy of Hi-roshima as the first city in the world to suffer a nuclearattack, and to the memories of the bomb’s direct andindirect victims (of whom there may have been as manyas 140,000).

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park has three bells. Oneof the three, called the Peace Bell, was built out in theopen on September 20, 1964. The surface of the bell isa map of the world, and the “sweet spot” is an atomicsymbol, designed by Masahiko Katori.

But why should a Bell in Japan be interesting toGreeks? An ancient Greek quote is written there alongwith its translations in Japanese, and in Sanskrit.

The inscription says ΓΝΩΘΙ ΣΑΥΤΟΝ which means“Know thyself”.

The Greek embassy donated the bell to the PeacePark and picked out the most appropriate ancientGreek philosophical quote of Socrates. The Sanskrit wastranslated by the Indian ambassador, and the Japaneseby a university lecturer.

Aged Care Car RaffleThe Kytherian Association of Australia recognises

that we have an ageing population and that it is timefor a greater investment to be made in aged care-re-lated facilities.

To this end the Kytherian Association Aged CareTrust was established and registered under the Aus-tralian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission, toraise funds for the establishment of a suitable AgedCare Centre or other Aged Care support, in New SouthWales.

For many decades Greek-Australians have had a de-sire to establish Aged Care services for their relatives,friends, and associates from the Greek community.This initiative by the Kytherian Association will provideus all with the opportunity to try and help fulfil thisaim, benefiting all fellow Greek-Australians, now andinto the future. The trust aims to generate enoughfunds to be able to look at various possibilities and op-tions as to how best to provide different types of agedcare support.

This might be in the way of “professional home caresupport” or simply providing basic member to mem-ber support or any other way that would benefit theaged.

Help us to achieve this, by purchasing a ticket in ourAged Care Car Raffle and you will be in the running tohave a chance to win one of three great prizes. ONLY1,000 will be sold.

A Dinner dance will also be held on the 15 February2014, at The Grand Roxy, Brighton, to draw the prizes.If interested in attending please call Kathy Samios on(02) 9349 1849 and book a table.

Any funds donated or raised for the Aged Care TrustFund will be retained solely for this purpose. The Trustis independently audited.

TO BHMA20/38 OCTOBER 2013The Greek Australian VEMA

S T S P Y R I D O N C O L L E G E

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