Churches Dedicated to Theological Concepts & Events
Each church is a Ιερός Ναός (Ieros Naos), “Sacred Church”. The word νᾱός is an ancient word, going back to Homeric Greek: “Temple”, “shrine”. The Classical meaning seems always to a structure, whether permanent like the Parthenon in Athens or a small portable shrine. Later it seems more appropriate to translate the word as “church”, since it can refer to the building or the congregation of people who come together to worship. Paul plays with this double-meaning—“church” as building and “church” as congragation. In the First Letter to the Corinthians, 3.16, he says to his followers, “Don’t you know that you are a church of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you!” (Οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι ναὸς θεοῦ ἐστὲ καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν ὑμῖν οἰκεῖ;).
Kavousi boasts four churches dedicated to the Divinity, one way or another.
There is a Church of the Holy Trinity (Naós Hagías Triádos, Naos Hagias Triados), dedicated to the “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit”. This is the main church at the center of town. Almost every town we visited had a Naos Hagias Triados.
There is a church dedicated specifically to the Holy Spirit (Naós Αγίου Πνεύματος, Naos Hagiou Pneumatos), representing the “Third Person of the Trinity” (after the Father and Son). It is up a little road, above the city.
Most of these churches are not normally staffed with priests. Their doors stand open so the faithful can enter, pray, and perhaps light a candle and burn incense. On the religious holidays associated with a church’s namesake the local people will come with the priest for a special service. This Church of the Holy Spirit will be the site of a special service on “Holy Spirit Monday”, which is a Greek Orthodox holiday marking the end of the season of Easter.
Holy Spirit Monday is the day after Pentecost, a holiday falls on the the fiftieth day after Easter (Greek πεντηκοστή [ἡμέρα], pentēkostē hēmera, means “fiftieth day”). In the Book of Acts, this is the day that the Holy Spirit came down and landed on the Apostles. This marked the moment that the whole Trinity was together, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit enabled the Apostles (temporarily) to speak in many foreign languages and thus to preach to the diverse community of Jews in Jerusalem. This is described in Acts 2.1-2.31.
The Book of Acts is not without humor. With all of the Apostles suddenly speaking strange languages, Peter was obliged to assure the people of Jerusalem that, “It isn’t the case that they are drunk, as you suppose—it is only 9:00 AM after all!” (οὐ γὰρ ὡς ὑμεῖς ὑπολαμβάνετε οὗτοι μεθύουσιν, ἔστιν γὰρ ὥρα τρίτη τῆς ἡμέρας.) (Acts 2.15).
There is a Church of the Ascension of the Lord (Ιερός Ναός Αναλήψεως του Κυρίου, Ieros Naos Analēpseōs tou Kuriou). Ἀνάληψις (analēpsis), from ἀνά (“up”) and λαμβάνω, (“I take”), refers to the moment when Jesus, who had risen from the dead and spent a while with his disciples, went up to heaven. The Bible offers different versions of these events, but our Naós Hagías in Kavousi is dedicated to the Feast of the Ascension, on the 40th day after Easter, ten days before Pentecost.
The last church dedicated to some aspect of the Trinity is the Church of the Transfiguration [of the Savior] (Ιερός Ναός Μεταμορφώσεως του Σωτήρος, Ieros Naos Metamorphōseōs Sōtēros).
The Transfiguration—in Greek, literally, “metamorphosis”—was an event in the life of Jesus when he led his followers to a mountain, ascended the mountain, began to shine with divine glory, and is joined by Moses and Elijah. Wikipedia has citations to biblical texts and a good discussion of the theology.
The Feast of the Transfiguration is celebrated in August, either the 6th or the 19th depending on which calendar (Julian, Revised Julian, or Gregorian) is used.
I am no theologian, but it seems to me that the Transfiguration (Jesus goes up a mountain and reaches the regions of the divine) and Pentecost (the disciples suddenly speak many foreign languages) might “complete” the story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11.1–11.9, where humans try to build a tower to heaven, and are thwarted when God divides the workforce into different and mutually incomprehensible language-groups. (Genesis doesn’t say “Babel”, just “a city and tower”, πόλιν καὶ πύργον).
Kavousi has a Church of Agia Eirini, Αγία Ειρήνη, which is the “Holy Peace”. Εἰρήνη is one of a kind of “trinity” of attributes of, or blessing from, God. The Roman Emperors set up shrines to these three in Constantinople: Holy Peace (Εἰρήνη), Holy Power (Δύναμις), and of course the most famous, the Hagia Sophia, Holy Wisdom (Σοφία).
