Nativity Party

Fr. George Johnson and Matushka Deborah Johnson hosted a Nativity party the day after Russian Christmas. We had a wonderful time and there was plenty of music.

Three parishes were represented. The clergy were Fr. George of Holy Apostles ROCOR church, Fr. Daniel, Fr. Gregory of Holy Cross Antiochian Orthodox Church, and Deacon Michael of Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church. Most of the people attending were from either Holy Apostles or Holy Cross.

We sang many songs. Some of them were in arrangements which I had never heard. When we sang Good King Wensislav Tim sang the words of the King and Robert sang the words of his assistant and it was really nice.

For We Three King, somebody decided that the priests would each take the part of a king. Fr. Gregory did not want to do it, but his first bishop, Vladyka Frederica, told him to do it. So he did. Fr. George did the first one, Fr. Gregory did the second, and Fr. Daniel did the third. Fr. Daniel had never heard this carol until now. We were impressed by how well he did it.

Fr. Daniel also treated us to Silent Night in Japanese. It was magnificent!

Fr. John of Holy Trinity always refers to his wife as his bishop. In the Russian Church we often address the bishop as "Vladyka" and we often refer to him by that title before his name. Thus, Fr. George's bishop is often referred to as Vladyka Jerome.

When I left my house to go to the party, I was a few minutes early and when I got to the corner to await my ride, I realized that I was not properly dressed. I did not have my cassock. So I returned home and don it. I'm glad that I did because all the priests were wearing their cassocks also.

Many years ago my former priest, Fr. Michael Clancy, told me to wear my cassock at all church functions, including the Greek Festival. The next time that I did go to a Greek Festival, the man in charge of food kept loading my plate with various items and when I got to the cash register and asked how much, he told me that it was free. Then when he heard that Mr. Tom brought me there, he gave him his food free also.

Once as I was waiting for my ride near the bus stop, a man thought that I was waiting for the bus and he got a copy of the bus schedule and as my ride picked me up, he flagged us down to give me the schedule. He thought that I was a Muslim because he saw me in cassock. A cassock is not a Catholic thing. In the early days of the Church all men wore something like a cassock and in time it became the standard dress of clergy. In fact, men did not wear trousers in the West until the 13th century. It was the Bulgarians who first wore them.