Greek School in the US in 1896
Καλή Σαρακοστή!
Copyright 2025, Maria Athanassiou-Papaefthymiou. All rights reserved.
Where your Treasure Is....
....There Your heart Lies also!
Greek Language Is our Treasure!
The Entire Treasure of all texts published in the Greek Language, including all Patristic and religious texts until the 20th Century can be found at TLG, Thesaurus Linguae Graecae, hosted by the University of California and funded by the Packard Foundation thanks to the love and philanthropy of David Packard and the labor of love of Dr. Maria Pantelia, former instructor of Koine at the Holy Cross College:
On January 30th we celebrate the protectors of Greek Letters, Saint Basil the Great, Saint Gregory the Theologian and Saint John Chrysostom.
Today Greek Schools and Greek Education celebrate.
Χρόνια Πολλά σε όλους!
School Philosophy
We are here to teach and learn Greek. We believe in and are committed to the importance of the Greek language and culture within its Orthodox context. We work for the dissemination of the Greek language according to the Guidelines and Mission statements of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and the needs and life of our community.
The Greek language is beautiful and its history mirrors the experience of the people who use it in their daily lives. It is the language of the forefathers of this community, who laid its foundation and left it for us today. Our interest in it, is a show of gratitude and respect to them. To those of us with a mixed background or no Greek background we owe the same to all our origins.
Greek is the language God chose for His Bible, His entire Bible, at the time of Christ. We Greeks, are a remnant in the Biblical sense. We have many blood brothers and sisters, who abandoned their religion and language. If the language is lost, which God will not allow, then we will have lost touch with the richness of our past, of our history, of our Orthodox tradition and of our Orthodox future.
Μικρά ζύμη, μεγάλο φύραμα ζυμεί.
ΤΣΑΜΙΚΟΣ
Στα κακοτράχαλα τα βουνά
με το σουράβλι και το ζουρνά
πάνω στην πέτρα την αγιασμένη,
χορεύουν τώρα τρεις αντρειωμένοι:
Ο Νικηφόρος κι ο Διγενής
κι ο γιος της Άννας της Κομνηνής.
Δική τους είναι μια φλούδα γης,
μα εσύ Χριστέ μου τους ευλογείς,
για να γλιτώσουν αυτή τη φλούδα,
απ' το τσακάλι και την αρκούδα.
Δες πώς χορεύει ο Νικηταράς,
κι αηδόνι γίνεται ο ταμπουράς.
Από την Ήπειρο στο Μοριά,
κι απ' το σκοτάδι στη λευτεριά,
το πανηγύρι κρατάει χρόνια,
στα μαρμαρένια του χάρου αλώνια.
Κριτής κι αφέντης είν' ο Θεός,
και δραγουμάνος του ο λαός.
TSAMIKOS
Up on the stony mountains,
They play their flute and their zurnas.
Upon this rock that has received the Holy blessing,
three brave men are dancing:
Nicephorus (Phokas) and the Guard of the Borders, Diogenes,
and the son of Anna Comnena.
Just a sliver of land is theirs,
but you, my Christ, you bless them,
so they might save it, this sliver,
from both the jackal and the bear.
See how Nikitaras dances!
While drums of war turn into nightingales.
From Epirus to Morea,
the darkness turns to freedom.
The feast rages eternal,
on Death's marble threshing floors,
God is the only Master and Judge,
And the lowly ones are his dragomans.
To allow for proper class constitution and no disservice to any registered members of the class:
You can discuss your general interest in Greek during orientation sessions and present any personal questions during that time.
Admission to the program will be only by application and exam. The instructor reserves the right to refuse admission.
Tuition does not represent fair remuneration of the teacher’s time commitment, rather tuition represents a show of the student’s commitment to the class.
Tuition in language schools is inversely proportional to the number of students attending. The smaller the number of students per class the higher the tuition. However, since parishioners show commitment to the Church through multiple channels and Greek School is a ministry of the Church, tuition for Greek School is set at a low/reasonable price and discounts are at the discretion of the Priest.
Registration can only be completed after completion of the admission process.
The instructor reserves the right to refuse registration to anyone for bad behavior or past non-payment issues
Registration constitutes commitment to attend and do the work.
Registrations not accompanied by tuition will not be accepted.
No access to the first class will be allowed, if full payment has not been made
No access to class materials will be allowed after the second week to those who have dropped out.
Refunds will be issued until the end of the first week of class.
Class time is not your personal time to address personal problems, communication issues or grievances. You all have personal information to text, call and email the teacher on your own personal time.
Creating problems during class time is a reason for permanent expulsion from the program.
"Where your Treasure is, there your heart lies also" - Matthew 6:21
Why Greek School is a ministry for the Church
Greek is the original language of the New Testament and the language which most accurately preserved the Old Testament tradition, in the Septuagint. Although simplified, Modern Greek maintains most of the morphology and vocabulary of the language of the Apostles and it connects us with our forefathers and their country of origin. When we value the Greek language, we value this treasure that was left to us by our forefathers, as intended by the founders of our church since its beginning in Irvine. Greek Language is a treasure and we are its keepers that is why the instruction of the Greek language is designated by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America as a ministry of every Greek church. In honoring our Greek language, within our current rich and varied cultural milieu of Parishioners, we honor the original language of the Church, our spiritual forefathers and the founders of Saint Paul's.
Saint Pauls' Greek School Objectives
Saint Paul’s Greek School aims to make this treasure of the Greek language accessible and enjoyable to children and adults. Through distinct instruction programs, Saint Paul’s Greek School would like to provide families and individuals with instruction in the Greek language:
1) as used in daily conversation by Greeks in Greece, in order to strengthen our ties with our place of origin;
2) as it is experienced during Church Services, in order to strengthen our understanding of our Greek Orthodox traditions and Church Life, as well as to provide a reading and interpretative ability of the Bible in in original language.
In order for language to be learned, it has to be treasured, it has to be a commitment, hopefully a long-term one and some sort of a priority, it cannot be at the bottom of the list of other commitments. Language learning can be fun rather than drab but no one can succeed in it without commitment.
It is important that no-one that wants to learn Greek should be discouraged by financial considerations. Please, talk to Father Steve regarding a reduction/removal of fees and/or multi class/ multi person discounts.
Tuition paid to Church (indicate whether in person or online). Tuition amount is not finalized but it will not exceed $600/person/class ($15/instruction hour) for 20 weeks for the Winter and Spring of 2025.
Donate to purchase all Potamitis books in Greek and English
https://potamitis.us/collections/greek/products/grand-box-get-all-168-potamitis-publishing-s-books-in-one-go?variant=21268105986107
https://potamitis.us/collections/greek/products/grand-box-get-all-168-potamitis-publishing-s-books-in-one-go?variant=21255968686139
2 X $899
Make donation to Saint Paul's and designate: Greek School Materialshttps://stpaulsirvine.org/stewardship-donations/
About Greek School
The webpage is still under construction and multiple changes in the program may arise. We will keep you updated.
Resources
Resources
https://potamitis.us/
https://www.greek-language.gr/certification/
https://bit.ly/3CajC0e