Religion 1101- 02
Site Visit
April 2nd, 2015
For this paper I decided to attend a service at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church. The address to the church is 8401 Ridge Boulevard in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. I attended on March 15th to the 9:45 AM service. I have always been interested in Greek Orthodox and wanted to see what their ceremonies were like. I went to Bishop Kearney High School in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, which is a Catholic high school, and had a few Greek Orthodox friends who were involved with their churches. I always wondered why they were always so involved so last month I got up early on a Sunday to go visit Holy Cross Greek Orthodox church. Upon getting to the church I was amazed. It was nothing I thought …show more content…
I wanted to know how to dress and what I should know before I went. She told me that people should be quiet and respectful when in the Nave and during the service. She told me to dress fancy and wear appropriate attire. When I went there I understood why because there was women in dresses and men wearing suits. I was told that it was not right to leave during the entrance, consecration of gifts, the gospel, or when the creed is being read. After returning to our seats after receiving the Holy Communion, you must say the prayer of Thanksgiving. After talking a little more about it she told me the rules of the church, which were no eating, drinking, or chewing gum, no talking and phones should be turned …show more content…
I did not feel comfortable going into a different religions service that I did not know anything about. Before deciding where I would attend I looked into mosques and synagogues and from the pictures I was seeing a lot more men were attending than women and I did not feel comfortable. I went into the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church thinking it was similar to my own Catholic Sunday mass and was completely wrong. We may believe in the same God, but what happens during our services is different. The service I attended at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church has exceeded my expectations. I was expecting to feel like I was at a catholic mass and I definitely did not. Everyone participated, there were kids of all ages that were involved in the service, songs being sung, and everyone was enjoying it. When you enjoy it, you will put all your heart and soul into it. When going to this service, I saw everyone enjoyed going to service and learn about his or her faith. Going to Holy Cross Greek Orthodoxy Church was such a great experience and I hope to one day go back and even build up the courage to go to different religious services to see what those are like