The evening began with an opportunity to view vespers, which is the evening prayer service. Following vespers, guests were treated to a buffet of Greek hors d'oeuvres. These included pita bread topped with hummus and taramasalata (caviar dip), feta cheese, meatballs, sausage, stuffed grape leaves, tiropites (phyllo pastry filled with cheese) and spanakopita (phyllo pastry filled with spinach and feta). While everyone was enjoying their food, we were entertained by a speaker who explained the process of creating Greek iconography. We also took a few moments to celebrate Bethlehem being designated as a historic landmark, which is a fairly rare designation in the United States.
Guests were invited to visit the cathedral to learn more about the faith and the church. Father Nicholas Palis made everyone feel very welcome as he explained all of the imagery within the cathedral. He informed us how the topmost images on the ceiling told the life of Christ, while the images beneath them related to St Nicholas. According to Father Palis, iconography in earlier times served the function of teaching religious stories to people who couldn't afford a Bible or who couldn't read.
The final treat of the night, after a brief visit to the small chapel adjacent to the cathedral, was the dessert table. Of course, there was baklava. Other desserts included karythopita (walnut cake), katafifi (a nut-filled pastry that looks like shredded wheat), galatopita (baked semolina pudding), kourabiethes (sugar almond cookies) and koulourakia paschalina (Easter cookies). We listened to another speaker telling us about the history of the Greek Orthodox church.
It was the perfect conclusion to a wonderful evening. We're already looking forward to next year.
More photographs from the evening can be found on my webpage dedicated to 2012 events in the Lehigh Valley.
