I was idly wondering if the Greek karekla and the Arabic kursi (chair) somehow were related, despite being from different language families.  The krk of the Greek matches up with the triconsonantal root of the Arabic krs – the hard k can become an s in certain word travels.  However, karekla is not attested in ancient Greek.  Kathedra in Greek matches up nicely with karekla – the vowels are the same (usually it is all about the consonants in these matters but vowels have a role as well) as is the syllabification.  And as it turns out, karekla does come from kathedra (where we get Cathedral) via Venetian – kathedra went to Latin and then Venetian and came back to Greek as karekla.

The Arabic kursi is in the Qur’an as a word for footstool or throne, and it is cognate to kisseh in Hebrew which also means throne (it is similar in most other semitic languages).  How about the English word chair itself?  Well, it too comes from kathedra, eventually.  More here.

-First of all, it is a good thing to learn a foreign language.  Americans are not great at this, but I think a big reason is that each state speaks the same language (think Europe, where most neighboring states speak different languages and people tend to know more than one).  Greek is a heritage language for many of us at the Cathedral, but learning modern Greek opens the door to learning one of the great classical languages.  I can tell you that I did very well on my verbal SATs partly because if I didn’t know a word I could figure it out from Greek roots.

-Our school is accredited, and the teachers are certified in teaching Greek.  Our students can receive credit in school for these classes.  I should also mention that our teachers are awesome – tireless, dedicated, super-smart and able to make every day fresh and interesting.  Unlike my Greek School experience many years ago, our students are tracked – those who speak Greek at home go on one path, and those who don’t are put on another so they learn at the appropriate pace.

-Greek School at the Cathedral is more than just language.  The students learn religion, history and cultural stuff like dances and poems.  It is a great supplement to Sunday School and other ministries – time spent with fellow students in Greek School means more time at the church and more time with their church friends.

-The various performances during the year get the students comfortable with public speaking in high-pressure situations.  I know that memorizing and reciting poems as a little kid helped prepare me for what I do now; I am very comfortable speaking in public, and I am sure that those early performances (which I dreaded back in the day) were part of it.

I could go on with reasons.  Greek School is worth the driving and time commitment – we are blessed to have such a program.

We had 5 priests in the altar along with 16 altar boys and 2 seminarians, so things were rather crowded.  We ran out of daffodils to give out but fortunately were able to cannibalize the altar flowers and some lucky people at the end of the line received white roses.  Fr. Dean also acknowledged several guests.  Fr. Chris, whom Fr. Dean presented with a cross as we sang “Axios”, is the model for the hockey-loving priest in the movie Do You Wanna Dance, a classic movie about Greek-Americans.  We also honored Gordon Dick, the owner of P A Cleaners on Millbrook St. in Worcester.  Gordon, a devout Catholic, does not charge to clean vestments and church items like altar cloths.  He does the same for police and fire uniforms.  He has saved the Cathedral thousands through the years through this stewardship.  I do not usually endorse businesses here on the blog, but if you have dry cleaning to be done please consider patronizing this business.  Gordon doesn’t do this for us to drum up business nor does he seek recognition, but we are thankful to him – he has a business to run yet does this for our Cathedral and Worcester community.  On a bittersweet note, we also said goodbye to Mike Klezaras today on his last Sunday in Worcester.  Mike’s time here was relatively brief, but he had a positive effect on all of us, and we are blessed to have known him and Kathy.  We will miss them.

The Greek School program was great – many thanks to the students and parents as well as the PTA.  Rubina and the two Elenis did their usual stellar job – people have no idea how much hard work goes into preparing the students and putting on this event.  Rubina’s remarks on the significance of Greek Independence Day were particularly striking – it is indeed an event which we should always commemorate.

Some wood that will soon be going up – Ray, the construction manager, said there is way more on the way:

Two sides of the stage in the Church Hall (what we are now calling the area below the Cathedral) – most of it is now a Greek School/Sunday School classroom, while a small part behind the curtain allows for the altar boys to cut the prosphora, etc.

Another view of the foyer area: