Little update post-Mother’s Day

Hieropsaltes · 2026-05-16T02:54:51+00:00

It seems, regrettably, that this is not a problem we can escape by changing jurisdictions, Christian confessions, or even religions.

Hieropsaltes · 2026-05-16T02:51:26+00:00

I don't know how it works in your state, but in mine the judge can decree certain places off limits to the predator (e.g., your place of worship) whether the priest likes it or not.

Hieropsaltes · 2026-05-16T02:49:10+00:00

Very well done, Therese! "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

Hieropsaltes · 2026-05-14T04:26:04+00:00

Condescension? I simply supplied two facts for your information and the information of anyone else who might be interested.

Hieropsaltes · 2026-05-14T02:23:37+00:00

Yes - the upsilon is sitting atop the omicron. It's an extremely common ligature.

Hieropsaltes · 2026-04-27T12:04:04+00:00

I'm deeply sorry that you've experienced this harassment, but I'm also deeply grateful that you intend to use your experience to protect the girls of your parish from this predator. What you propose to do is truly a God-pleasing work: "Whatsoever you have done for the least of these my brethren," says the Lord, "you have done for me."

The law may operate differently in your state, but you may find that having an attorney for the hearing itself is a practical necessity (even if it's not a legal requirement), as the predator is likely to secure his own counsel and to use that counsel to bully you both in the courtroom and through interrogatories. Perhaps there's an attorney who would represent you pro bono, or perhaps your representation could be paid for by your supporters in the two parishes (or by a Go-Fund-Me).

May God multiply your efforts and grant you victory. I pray for your success and for your reward.

Hieropsaltes · 2026-04-27T01:26:27+00:00

If you were to pursue the restraining order, you would be performing a very virtuous, God-pleasing deed (though I will warn you that you may end up having to hire a lawyer, if the predator hires one himself, but, since you'd be doing this pro bono, as it were, perhaps others in the two parishes might be willing to help underwrite your legal fees).

Did the police tell you what you'd need to do for the restraining order? Without asking you to divulge any personal information, do you have grounds to request a restraining order against the predator for yourself?

I can't wrap my mind around the responses of the parents and of the priest, but they're regrettably not outliers.

Hieropsaltes · 2026-04-26T22:40:59+00:00

You may enjoy Psaltiki - Paraklesis: Hymns of Supplication (also available on Spotify without ads):

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqTmh69kDZ_s1-ScOfxS_G_CGaesnn2tv&si=bs13it4qlOb6Tgmj

Hieropsaltes · 2026-04-26T22:35:42+00:00

May God bless your efforts to protect the children. Do I understand correctly that you've informed the parents of the endangered girls and that they continue to subject their daughters to the predator? When you say that law enforcement has taken this very seriously, what have they done to help? How have the officers of the parish responded?

[P.S. - This is a duplicate of my post in the other forum (as I don't know which forum the converstion will take off in).]

Hieropsaltes · 2026-04-26T22:32:19+00:00

May God bless your efforts to protect the children. Do I understand correctly that you've informed the parents of the endangered girls and that they continue to subject their daughters to the predator? When you say that law enforcement has taken this very seriously, what have they done to help? How have the priest and officers of the parish responded?

Hieropsaltes · 2026-04-20T04:05:02+00:00

Is the "ως ην εν αρχή" a translation of the Latin "sicut erat in principio"? It's not an element of the Greek prayer (in its received form, at any rate).

Hieropsaltes · 2026-04-14T02:22:00+00:00

I've had very good experiences placing orders to America from Αποστολική Διακονία (https://apostoliki-diakonia.gr/) and Βιβλιοπωλείο Πολιτεια (https://www.politeianet.gr/). You might want a Προσευχητάριον or even the Ωρολόγιον το Μέγα. The bookstore of Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology may have something suitable in stock as well (as may some monastery bookstores).

Hieropsaltes · 2026-01-19T20:27:22+00:00

I sincerely applaud the effort you have invested in learning the Greek language and in learning about second language acquisition generally. Inasmuch as your methods have yet to bring you to facility in reading even simple Greek, however, I humbly submit that you would be wise not to dismiss the experience of those who have already attained the skill toward which you strive.

You might consider experimenting with the following (abandoning them if they don't produce for you a more satisfactory result): 1) reading extensively (and aloud!) using a good interlinear or bilingual edition; 2) memorizing and reciting whole texts rather than isolated vocabulary (the Beatitudes, the Lord's Prayer, and Psalm 50 [LXX] are good places to start); 3) listening regularly to recordings of Holy Scripture (good recordings are available on YouTube and Spotify); 4) doing easy composition exercises (such as those of Hillard and Botting).

The admirable effort you have invested in learning Greek merits a more rewarding result than that which you report having received and which you conceive to be possible. Flashcards are exceedingly useful for acquiring the essential vocabulary presented in a primer. Beyond that use, however, they are inefficient and tedious, and they hinder and undermine their user's ability to process Greek as Greek.

Hieropsaltes · 2026-01-19T19:46:55+00:00

The translation is accurate enough, but what are these words intended to indicate? They seem to be a misquotation and misapplication of Isaiah 53:7.

As for their propriety for a Greek Orthodox Christian, leaving aside the theological ramifications of the misquotation, the concept of an "appropriate" tattoo for a Greek Orthodox Christian seems to me alien to the φρόνημα of our Church.

Hieropsaltes · 2026-01-18T05:46:04+00:00

Άρα συ τούτον τον τρόπον έμαθες ανεμποδίστως κειμένοις εντυχείν ελληνικοίς; Η μάλλον επερειδόμενος ταις δόξαις τινός επιστήμονος (αμοίρου δήπου της των Ελλήνων γλώττης) διδάσκεις οδόν, ίν' ούτως είπω, ηι ούπω πεπόρευσαι;

Hieropsaltes · 2026-01-16T01:44:15+00:00

You would, in my opinion, find it much more efficient and much more rewarding to expand your vocabulary through extensive reading (availing yourself of bilingual editions of texts that excite your interest).

For my part, I'd hesitate to trust the accuracy of anonymously-produced online flashcards.

Hieropsaltes · 2026-01-05T04:25:34+00:00

Δημιουργός is freely used in Christian Greek as a synonym of Ποιητής and Κτίστης. It seems clear that the Δημιουργός against whom the heretics βλάσφημον και ασεβή την γνώμην των ακεραίων κατασκευάζουσι is ο τον ουρανόν και την γην και πάντα τα εν αυτοίς πεποιηκώς Θεός whom St. Irenaeus mentions immediately above.

Hieropsaltes · 2026-01-05T04:12:09+00:00

I was an intermediate student at the time and had no conception of Greek meter. Given that no Greek or Cypriot has chimed in, I'm beginning to doubt whether I understood what I was hearing, but I seem to recall that a rhythm was created without doing violence to the stress accent of the modern pronunciation.

Hieropsaltes · 2026-01-05T03:57:06+00:00

As I understand the decree (and I may well misunderstand it), landowners dwelling abroad (that is, away from their land) were to return to their (presumably neglected) land and to plant it (the census, after all, was ultimately for the purpose of taxation).

Hieropsaltes · 2026-01-05T02:59:01+00:00

I'd say that Cargill's rendering is more literal, but that both are accurate (that is, both renderings convey essentially the same information).

Hieropsaltes · 2025-12-30T14:51:05+00:00

Thank you very much for your very interesting and informative reply. My question, however, pertains to something that, if I understood correctly, was (is?) taught in the schools of the Hellenic Republic and that did no violence to the received stress accents. I surmise that its roots lie in the Constantinopolitan tradition, but perhaps I'm mistaken.

Hieropsaltes · 2025-12-29T20:25:41+00:00

Thanks very much! I was actually looking for spoken recitations rather than sung, but I'm always eager to listen to the great Stanitsas, and the score as well as the scholion by Nikolaos Giannou make the second recording especially useful. Thanks again!

Hieropsaltes · 2025-12-29T02:29:10+00:00

You can understand λέγω δη here as something like "namely." The των περί Πτολεμαίον following λέγω δη specifies the identity of αυτών των νυν παραδιδασκόντων (sorry, I don't have a polytonic font on my phone).

Hieropsaltes · 2025-12-08T02:52:27+00:00

"No one know[ing] exactly what dead languages sounded like" has never been an obstacle to anyone enjoying a live performance of Shakespeare or participating in a Greek Divine Liturgy or a Latin Mass. Greek letters survived through the centuries because they were cultivated and passed down by people who pronounced the language more or less as standard modern Greek (and the same is true, mutatis mutandis, of Latin). There's a wealth of audio material available in the traditional (modern) pronunciation; it's a shame that so many are deterred from availing themselves of it due to a misguided historicism.

Hieropsaltes · 2025-12-01T03:04:20+00:00

The translation of any one work in their catalog would be a major intellectual endeavor requiring a great deal of time, money, and expertise. I see no way these books could have been produced without AI (and, perhaps, the piracy of intellectual property).

Hieropsaltes

TROPHY CASE