Reverence

For one of my classes I was assigned to visit the Church of 100 doors and reflect on my experience there.  Bellow are my initial reactions taken while at the church that better explains this magnificent space than I could retell.  The Church of 100 Doors is the oldest on Paros and has a lot of myths that accompany its creation.

" Walking into the courtyard, before even entering the church is awe-inspiring.  The beautiful garden envelopes my senses with brilliants colors and foliage.  It gives me a sense of the churches hospitality and open mindedness.  It is like even though I am not Greek Orthodox, the space here is open for all types of believers.  It is Sunday and once inside, the church is a party (even though there is a service going on).   Children scampering in and out of the exit are filled with impatience while blind to the disapproving looks of their parents.  My ears are then greeted with the sounds of prayer bellowing down the aisle and through the apse and nave.  Everyone around me is dressed in their Sunday best, a symbol I take to mark their reverence for both God and their neighbor.  Although I can’t understand the service, I can feel it.  There is both worship and enjoyment in the faces of those around me.  After the last versus are sung the service lets out and I am surrounded by Greek words of greeting and kisses because everyone seems to know one another.  The demure demeanor some kids managed to hold through the mass begins to slip away, and I can see their eyes plead with their mothers to let them run around again.  I sit removed from the bustling crowd exiting and I start to feel as if I am interrupting something.  I’m sure some of them are wondering what two American girls watching and writing are doing.  If I ever wondered where the Greeks are on Sunday’s, my answer is clear.  Here at the church of 100 doors the old and young converge, a community united for the purpose of prayer."