Sophomore Nicholas \"Curly\" Kosewski's father was a Polish catholic and his mother was a Greek Orthodox believer. As a result of this religious difference, Kosewski's dad had to convert to the Greek Orthodox faith and Nick subsequently adopted this faith as well.
When Kosewski came to Wayland, he felt \"distanced from [his] church,\" and thus \"decided to check out all the other churches in town.\" After the tour of Beaver Dam, Kosewski moved on and found Assumption Greek Orthodox Church in Madison, which stands \"about eight times longer than the other churches.\" Kosewski also belongs to the Chicago diocese \"which basically incorporates the entire Midwest.\"
In regards to other followers of Christ, Kosewski said, \"we are fairly similar to other Christian denominations; we stick to the old beliefs.\" But, Kosewski added, \"we have a different Bible than everyone else.\"
The website of the Assumption Church said in explanation of the Greek Bible, \"By Holy Scriptures we mean the Old Testament (including the Apocrypha) as translated in the Septuagint Bible, and the New Testament in its authorized version in the Greek Language in which it was originally written.\"
The Eastern Orthodox faith is well-known for its use of icons. However, other Christian groups have a hard time understanding this use of images, considering the famous Old Testament passage: \"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them\"(Exodus 20:4-5a).
Kosewski was quick to clarify the meaning behind the icons. \"We do not worship the icons. They are aides to worship; in other words, windows to the faith.\"
Another difference in the Greek Church is that the virgin Mary is called the \"Theotokos.\" According to Kosewski, \"she is not as emphasized as in Roman Catholicism, although it appears that the Catholics are not emphasizing her as much as they used to.\"
Like other Christians, Greek Orthodox followers make the sign of the cross across their shoulders, chest and head. However, unlike other churches, the Greek Orthodox church makes the from the right shoulder to the left; other churches reverse this direction.
The sacraments are a central theme of the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Assumption Church website stated, \"these four Mysteries we talked about, Baptism, Chrismation, Communion and Confession, are absolutely necessary for our salvation.\"
The significance of the sacraments begins at birth. A newborn receives communion and baptism and then must wait 40 days until he or she is allowed into the church.
Some churches play bingo to raise money, but Kosewski's home church hosts a Greek Fest to raise money. This festival involves food, games and dancing.
Kosewski explained, \"I am on the road to priesthood.\" Along this path, in an act called Tonsure, Archbishop Iakovos cut off some of Curly's hair. \"Tonsure symbolizes that I was not afraid to change for God.\"
The reason for remaining upright, he said, is that \"standing shows reverence to the Big Three.\"
Kosewski felt it important to add that \"gyro is pronounced euro, as in European,\" and concluded that you can picture the movie \"My Big Fat Greek Wedding\" to get a slight idea of Greek Orthodox Culture
When Kosewski came to Wayland, he felt \"distanced from [his] church,\" and thus \"decided to check out all the other churches in town.\" After the tour of Beaver Dam, Kosewski moved on and found Assumption Greek Orthodox Church in Madison, which stands \"about eight times longer than the other churches.\" Kosewski also belongs to the Chicago diocese \"which basically incorporates the entire Midwest.\"
In regards to other followers of Christ, Kosewski said, \"we are fairly similar to other Christian denominations; we stick to the old beliefs.\" But, Kosewski added, \"we have a different Bible than everyone else.\"
The website of the Assumption Church said in explanation of the Greek Bible, \"By Holy Scriptures we mean the Old Testament (including the Apocrypha) as translated in the Septuagint Bible, and the New Testament in its authorized version in the Greek Language in which it was originally written.\"
The Eastern Orthodox faith is well-known for its use of icons. However, other Christian groups have a hard time understanding this use of images, considering the famous Old Testament passage: \"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them\"(Exodus 20:4-5a).
Kosewski was quick to clarify the meaning behind the icons. \"We do not worship the icons. They are aides to worship; in other words, windows to the faith.\"
Another difference in the Greek Church is that the virgin Mary is called the \"Theotokos.\" According to Kosewski, \"she is not as emphasized as in Roman Catholicism, although it appears that the Catholics are not emphasizing her as much as they used to.\"
Like other Christians, Greek Orthodox followers make the sign of the cross across their shoulders, chest and head. However, unlike other churches, the Greek Orthodox church makes the from the right shoulder to the left; other churches reverse this direction.
The sacraments are a central theme of the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Assumption Church website stated, \"these four Mysteries we talked about, Baptism, Chrismation, Communion and Confession, are absolutely necessary for our salvation.\"
The significance of the sacraments begins at birth. A newborn receives communion and baptism and then must wait 40 days until he or she is allowed into the church.
Some churches play bingo to raise money, but Kosewski's home church hosts a Greek Fest to raise money. This festival involves food, games and dancing.
Kosewski explained, \"I am on the road to priesthood.\" Along this path, in an act called Tonsure, Archbishop Iakovos cut off some of Curly's hair. \"Tonsure symbolizes that I was not afraid to change for God.\"
The reason for remaining upright, he said, is that \"standing shows reverence to the Big Three.\"
Kosewski felt it important to add that \"gyro is pronounced euro, as in European,\" and concluded that you can picture the movie \"My Big Fat Greek Wedding\" to get a slight idea of Greek Orthodox Culture
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