When I decided to come to India, to the Orthodox Church orphanage in Kolkata and announced it to friends, they all asked me the same question: “And where will you spend Christmas? Will you at least have someone of your own there?” I replied, “Yes, I will have my aunt, Sister Nectaria”! It is true that Christmas is a family holiday and you spend it with loved ones. But I came to Calcutta and was welcomed by an extended family. More than 100 boys and girls, who live in the orphanage, received me like a brother and we spent these Holy Days together. A few days before the holidays, the big girls made offerings for the Divine Liturgy in our Greek Church in Kolkata, as well as in the church at the Girls’ Orphanage. The orphanage grounds were in a mood of festive preparations. On Christmas Eve, the big girls went to clean the church. They polished all the utensils, swept, mopped and decorated it with colorful flowers so that it would be ready to welcome the believers who would come to the church to celebrate the birth of Christ. Boys, girls and many believers from the village and the surrounding area arrived in the evening for the Christmas Eve service. The girls of the orphanage were in the psalter, singing the hymns to Byzantine music in Greek, English and Bengali. From the 7-year-old boy to the elderly gentleman, everyone attended the Mass without speaking and silently participated in the Sacrament. All these people came to know Christ, were baptised and became believers in a country where Christianity is a minority and bigotry is strong. They are true Christians and I felt boundless admiration for them and will hold them up as an example for my own personal and spiritual life. After the end of the Mass, we all gathered in the dining room of the orphanage to drink tea, eat cake and the ladies sang Christmas songs. At noon on the morning, we all gathered in the same room to enjoy the Christmas table. The atmosphere was so nice and festive! The children were happy and the food was simple but delicious.
In the afternoon, with a group of boys and girls, we visited the Holy Temple in Kolkata. Sister Nectarya had told me that on such a day many people come from the morning to worship. But what I saw I had not imagined. We sat in the church for a few hours to see it and worship, and in those hours thousands of people came by to light a candle and worship. The queue outside the church was huge the whole time. But the striking thing is that these people were not Christians. They were Hindus, who nevertheless acknowledge and respect Christ. Once again I was so impressed by the reverence of this people. Inside the church they were calm and peaceful and when they came before the image of the Virgin Mary with Jesus Christ, they bowed down to worship and pray. Indians of all ages passed through the beautifully decorated Orthodox church. The sight was unprecedented and unique. The church inside was so beautifully lit and so beautifully decorated! Outside, both the building and the surrounding trees and manger were lit up with spectacular lights. Everything was decorated with admirable care and attention, a sign of devotion and Faith, love and gratitude to the atoned Savior Christ. The flourishing of the Mission in this distant country is a blessed work, which promotes Orthodoxy as a religion of love and giving to one’s fellow man and honors all those who support it, both materially and morally. May God enlighten all those responsible for this remarkable work and give them strength and health to continue their daily struggle to change the lives of even more people in need.
Hector Roumeliotis
