Archangel Michael church to sponsor Greek Independence Day parade

Staff report

CAMPBELL

The parade committee at Archangel Michael Greek Orthodox Church, 401 12th St., will sponsor its annual Greek Independence Day parade at 12:45 p.m. Sunday beginning in the courtyard of the church after the liturgy.

Special guest will be Metropolitan Savas Zembillas of Pittsburgh, the spiritual leader of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis Pittsburgh that includes Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

The Metropolis consists of 53 parishes and six monastic communities.

Bishop Savas was elected in November of 2011.

This is his first Greek Independence Day parade.

Greek Independence goes hand in hand with the Feast of the Annunciation.

Greece, the birthplace of Democracy, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 and endured slavery, hardships and repression of freedom and religion for 368 years until the start of the Greek Revolution in 1821.

Every year on March 25, Hellenes in Greece and across the world celebrate and rejoice in the their freedom and return to democracy.

Greeks struggled during the Ottoman occupation. During this time, the Turks attempted to assimilate and convert the Greeks.

The Greeks resisted this attempt to deprive them of their heritage, freedom and religion.

The Greek Orthodox Church played a pivotal role in helping Greeks retain their identity and religion with the implementation of “Crypha of Scholia” or the Hidden School.

Tradition has it on March 25, 1821, a Greek Orthodox Bishop, Geramanos of Patras, blessed a Greek flag and proclaimed the national uprising against the Ottoman Empire.

The Feast Day of the Annunciation signifies the day when the Archangel Gabriel told the Virgin Mary she was with child.

This day signified a rebirth of Greeks across their nation.