Church News: Poor Sunday - What we celebrate today - Why we eat fish

Jesus coming from Bethany to Jerusalem, sent two of
his students and brought him a donkey. And he sat on it for
to enter the city. Christ enters Jerusalem "On sale only".

Ο λαός, hearing that Jesus is coming, πήραν στα χέρια τους βάγια
from palm trees and went out to greet him. And others with clothes
their, others cutting branches from the trees, paved the way from where
Jesus would pass. And all together, they shouted:

The entry of Christ into Jerusalem, at the Church, είναι η
είσοδος στο μαρτύριο, in His earthly life. In a few days it will
testify and be killed on the cross, για να θανατώσει το θάνατο και να χαρίσει τη ζωή.

Vagia in Churches and Customs

On Palm Sunday, all the temples are decorated with branches of vagia, ή φοίνικες δηλαδή από άλλα νικητήρια φυτά, like laurel, Willow tree, myrtle and olive.

After the service they are distributed to the faithful.

Our church established this custom as early as the 9th century since, as the Evangelist John mentions

In the early Christian years, in Jerusalem, the bishop was entering the city "on sale only», representing the event, while in Byzantine it was done "the walk of the emperor», from the Palace to the Great Church. In this journey the emperor distributed to the world bagels and crosses and the Patriarch distributed crosses and candles.

With the vagia the faithful decorate the walls of the houses and their iconostasis.

The "strokes"

They believed that the fertilizing power that these plants hide would
they were transported to the same and one hit the other with the vagia. The
"Strokes" slowly began to be made by the others
women and children imitated them and as they beat each other they wished:

“And time, do not be caught by the fly”.

Thermal and deterrent forces, along with fertilizers,
were attributed to vagia and that is why after the church everything had to be “βατσάσουνFor good.

The trees, the pergolas, the vines, the flocks, the animals, the mills, the boats.

From a twig they hung on fruit trees, to reap in vegetables as well, so that the worm does not catch them.

In Lesvos the children, after church, they decorated one
bunch of laurel branches with red or green cloths from new
dress, they also hung a bell and as they were going from house to house
home chanting and saying exorcisms about fleas and
mice, they also gave a sprig of laurel to the housewife.

In the end, they also asked for their gift:

In Eastern Romulia, the girls were making with them
vagia wreaths, they were tied with a red thread and all singing
together they went and threw them into the stream and as the wreaths took it
water, whoever went ahead she would become "συντέκνησσα”.
First on the return, first in the dance and in her own house her mother will
he would make the beans and kiss them all, along with olives.

The custom of turning the branches is reminiscent of “Irrational”, the fruit-decorated branch, that in the spring festivities children roamed the streets, in ancient times.

The vagias were knitted in many patterns: moons, ships, donkeys, the most common, however, was the cross.

Ιyou
Χριστός
Thεού
Υvirus
Σωτήρ

Although it is still Lent, the Church on Poor Sunday allows fish.

So says the children's song:

“HOSANNA” is a Syrian word, which means according to the translation of O’ (seventy) ρψ ’, 25:

"O Lord, save me, O Lord, ευόδωσον δη ».

-Hosanna < Heb. hōshī῾āh nnā “σώσε τώρα, δεόμαστε”