The one-hour documentary filmed in Turkey and the United States, includes interviews with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Archbishop Demetrios of America, Bishop Kallistos Ware, Spalding Lecturer in Eastern Christian Studies at Oxford University and other noted theologians and historians.  The use of dramatized voices brings to life primary texts from the early Fathers and Church writers; early texts are juxtaposed with visuals of today’s religious services including a Divine Liturgy celebrated by His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in Cappadocia.

Participants in addition to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Archbishop Demetrios and Bishop Kallistos include: Rev. Dr. Robert G. Stephanopoulos, Dean of the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, NYC; Rev. Dr. Demetrios Constantelos, Professor Emeritus of History and Religion, Richard Stockton College of New Jersey; Rev. Dr. Forrest Church, Minister of All Souls Unitarian Church, NYC; Dr. Helen Evans, Curator for Early Christian and Byzantine Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC; Robert Ousterhout, Ph.D, Archeologist, Professor of Architectural History, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and narrator, Robert Aubry Davis.

Produced by Frank Frost Productions in cooperation with the Greek Orthodox Office of News and Information and GOTelecom, the documentary was funded by the Archbishop Iakovos Leadership 100 Endowment Fund, The Aegean Free Trade Zone and Faith & Values Media.

DVD and VHS  copies of this program are available for purchase at $20 each, plus $6 shipping. Call GOTelecom at 1-800-888-6835. (Bulk orders available)

For more information and to find Hallmark stations in your area log on to: www.hallmarkchannel.com

“It felt so good working hard all day for someone else,” said Caroline Dickinson, a senior at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, who traveled to Project Mexico and St Innocent Orphanage. “To fall in bed at night, exhausted and sore because I did something important for my brother, is an awesome feeling. To look around at everyone I was with, and realize that we were all there for that same selfless purpose, was overpowering.”
 
In addition to the three groups of students who traveled to Project Mexico and St Innocent’s Orphanage in Tijuana, Mexico, other work sites included Hogar Rafael Ayau Orphanage in Guatemala (two groups), Rafael House in San Francisco, CA, Holy Monastery of the Twelve Apostles in Greece, and for the second consecutive year a group of students traveled to a an orphanage in San Salvador, El Salvador. Orthodox Christian students participating in Real Break also joined thousands of other college students this year from throughout North America in Louisiana’s Gulf Coast through a Hurricane Relief project to help Americans rebuild their lives after last summer’s two devastating hurricanes, Katrina and Rita.
 
Helping to assist in the on-going clean up of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in New Orleans left a lasting impression on eight OCF Real Breakers.  “Our five days at Holy Trinity started when we began to wipe off the muck of flood waters, and ended with the moving of boxes and the beginnings of setting up a new home, and a renewed life,” one student recalled. “All in all, the eight of us were all deeply affected by the tragedy we witnessed, but also the resiliency of those who have endured and fought to regain their previously peaceful lives.”
 
Rachel Cattell, a junior at Penn State University in State College, who has participated in previous Real Breaks trips, was one of a group of students who traveled to Rafael House, a shelter for children and families. Adding to the students' experiences this year was an extended visit by The Rt. Rev. Bishop BENJAMIN, Bishop of Berkeley (CA), Diocese of the West (Orthodox Church in America).
 
“The whole week was amazing,” Rachel Cattell offered. “It was a once in a lifetime experience to be able to spend so much one-on-one time with a bishop. Bishop Benjamin was washing dishes and working right along with us. He showed us that he is a real person. In the process we were able to show that college students care and are willing to give up their Spring Break in order to spread the love and life of Jesus Christ.”
 
Real Break has historically been a time for great personal spiritual development, increased prayer, and fellowship. Above all, Real Break provides each student with an opportunity to live the Gospel of our Lord, to grow into a meaningful life in Christ, and hopefully to contribute to their very own salvation. Traditionally, Real Break is a week of personal sacrifice that demands physical work, and a time for selflessness. It provides each student with an opportunity to look into the eye of their brother, sister  and each child they encounter, and to know with great clarity they have served their neighbor in Christ. A Real Break trip is indeed life-changing.
 
Mr. Joseph J. Samra III, Program Director for the OCF, has seen the growth of Real Break through its seven years. It astounds him to know that hundreds of Orthodox Christian students are forever changed because of their Real Break experiences.
 
“The importance of Real Beak is significant in the lives of so many young adults, especially at such a critical time in their life,” he said. “Being able to offer our Orthodox students the possibility to participate in these short-term mission trips, will hopefully keep them not simply connected to the church, but inspire them to devote always a part of or their entire lives to assisting those throughout the world who are in such great need. Real Break has a major role in the landscape of the Orthodox Christian college student. To be able to say Real Break has had more than 500 students participate in just seven years is quite significant. We look forward to the continued growth of this outstanding ministry.” 
 

The Orthodox Christian Fellowship is the official campus ministry program of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA). It is a Pan-Orthodox effort which is overseen by an Executive Committee and assisted by a Student Advisory Board. Additional information on Real Break and all OCF programs can be found on the OCF website at www.ocf.net, or by calling toll-free at 800-919-1OCF (1623).

Orthodox Christian Fellowship
P.O. Box 300249
Boston, MA 02130
1-800-919-1623
www.ocf.net

"Our expression of thanksgiving to God for His greatness is a defining hallmark of Pascha", says Archbishop Demetrios, spiritual leader of 1.5 million Greek Orthodox Christians in America and Chairman of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas, in his Easter Encyclical. "One such expression of our thanks for His greatness is revealed in the service of the Agape Vespers of Pascha, when we joyously sing the words of the Psalmist, 'Who is so great a God as our God?  For You are the God, Who alone works wonders' (Psalm 77:13-14).  The wonder worked by God which we celebrate with joy and awe on this day of Pascha is one of ultimate victory; namely, the total reversal of the devil’s claim upon the fate of human beings, which was secured by the descent of Christ into Hades and His Resurrection from the dead."

Archbishop Demetrios will officiate at Holy Week services in Greek Orthodox parishes in the New York Metropolitan area, including Good Friday Lamentations and Resurrection Services Saturday at the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (319 East 74th St. New York City). Good Friday services will begin at 8:00 p.m. and Resurrection Services Saturday at 11:00 p.m.

Centuries-old religious services which recall the passion, crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ are conducted each morning and evening throughout Holy Week in Orthodox Christian Churches: Greek, Russian, Romanian, Antiochian, Bulgarian, Carpatho-Russian, Albanian, Serbian and Ukrainian, which serve some 7 million faithful in the Americas.

On PALM SUNDAY during the Divine Liturgy, palms are blessed and distributed to the faithful commemorating Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem.

On HOLY WEDNESDAY, the faithful are anointed with the Sacrament of Holy Unction, blessed oil, which cleanses, renews and strengthens both spiritually and physically.

On Holy THURSDAY evening, the Service of Holy Passion takes place, during which the Twelve Lessons of the Gospel are read. After the Fifth Gospel a solemn litany begins. A large crucifix is carried in a procession led by the clergy as the mournful hymn of Crucifixion is sung.

On GOOD FRIDAY AFTERNOON, the Vespers of the Descent from the Cross are offered. The Body of Christ is taken down from the Cross, wrapped in white linen and is prepared for burial.

On GOOD FRIDAY evening, the Lamentations (special hymns referring to the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross and His burial) are sung during the Epitaphios Service, which symbolizes the burial of Christ.

On HOLY SATURDAY evening, the Easter Resurrection Service begins with Matins at 11 p.m. At midnight, the Church is completely darkened and the faithful wait in joyous expectation for the Bishop or priest to come forth carrying a lit white candle, chanting, “Come, Receive the Light, the Light of the Resurrection.”  The light is passed to the congregation until the Church is ablaze with the glow of candlelight. A procession of altar boys, choir, chanters and clergy joined by the people move outdoors where the Gospel, proclaiming the Resurrection of Christ, is read. The triumphant hymn, “Christos Anesti, Christ is Risen” is joyously sung by the faithful. At the conclusion of the Resurrection Liturgy, red Easter eggs, which symbolize the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, are distributed to the congregation.

On EASTER SUNDAY, the Vespers of AGAPE (Love) are celebrated with the Holy Gospel of the Resurrection read in several languages emphasizing the universality of Christ’s teaching of love and peace.

The Orthodox date for Easter is based on a decree of the Council of Nicaea, Asia Minor, held in 325 A.D.  According to this decree, Easter must be celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon of the vernal equinox but always after the Hebrew Passover to maintain the Biblical sequence of events of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. The Orthodox Christian churches have adhered strictly to this formula, but the Easter of other Christian churches is not necessarily preceded by the Passover.

In 1978, the then-Greek Orthodox Diocese of Detroit under the spiritual leadership of Bishop Iakovos of Apameia (now Metropolitan Iakovos of Chicago) was accorded the honor of hosting the Clergy-Laity Congress for what proved to be an unprecedented historical event. It was the first time Detroit served as host to the Congress, which nearly 30 years later is now host to the 2006 Clergy-Laity Congress. The Congress also was highlighted by His Eminence, Archbishop Iakovos’s official recognition of the National Forum of Greek Orthodox Church Musicians as the "musical arm of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America." And third, the Congress was the first to institute the participation of large, combined choirs for the Opening Divine Liturgy, which has been continued for every Clergy-Laity Congress thereafter.
 
The 1978 Clergy-Laity choir consisted of 130 singers from the Mid-Eastern Federation of Greek Orthodox Church Musicians and an additional thirty singers from other diocesan church music federations across the country, all members of the National Forum. The choir sang representative hymns composed by Dr. Theodore Bogdanos, Dr. Frank Desby, Presvytera Anna Gallos, Demetrios Pappas, and Dr. Tikey Zes. George S. Raptis of Detroit served as choral director, and Viola Peponis, also of Detroit, was organist.
 
His Eminence Iakovos was so elated by the outstanding singing that, at the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, he said to the congregation, "Never before have we heard such a fine choir at a Clergy-Laity Liturgy, and if you wish, I invite you to applaud them."  They did so, most enthusiastically, and the choir responded to His Eminence's gracious remarks by singing his favorite Greek folk song, "To Eklissaki." These closing moments are also captured on the CD.
 
The Commemorative 2-CD Album includes the entire Divine Liturgy of that summer of 1978, with extensive historical information about the event, the church musicians who participated, and the composers. George S. Raptis and Dan Dallas, both of Detroit, served as the production team for the re-mastering.
 
The Album may be ordered from the National Forum at a cost of $20.00 plus $4.25 shipping and handling. For multiple CD's, shipping and handling is 20% of the total order. Bulk discounts are available for parish bookstores and other organizations. All proceeds from the sale of the CD will go toward support of the National Forum's church music programs for choir directors, chanters, organists, singers, clergy and parishes, and Church School/Greek School music educators. To order and/or for further information, contact Vicki Pappas at 3814 Regents Circle, Bloomington IN 47401 or via email: pappas@indiana.edu.
 
For further information contact:
Vicki Pappas
812-855-8248