Ode to the Greek Church

Last year, while sitting in class, me and my friend Ray composed a sonnet to the Greek Orthodox Church in North America. It is a wonderful piece of poetry that we feel quite accurately highlights the main goals and traits of the Greek Church. We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed writing it. Enjoy!

Ode to the Greek Church
By: Theodore Paraskevopoulos & Roland Ray Fulmer III

The Greek Orthodox Church in America,
Built on the blood of the Archons,
Guided by the vision of a one-eyed bishop,
Taught by the valedictorians of summer school.
Supported by the elderly,
Renounced by the spiritual,
contained in the building,
Hallowed by the iconostas.

Lo, though all the forces of decay and rot set upon it,
It shall not waver in its singular commitment to it Lord and Master;
Byzantium.

When the need is great, countless sacrifice,
To establish and maintain a working and Holy Greek School.
For the Greek language gave us Christ,
And He will judge all believers in their native tongue.

As God told Abraham in the Septuagint,
"I Bless you that you be a blessing to all nations."
Now the covenant has passed to its true inheritors,
And in the fullness of time the Messiah will restore Hagia Sophia,
And the gentiles will come to learn the Law,
Being justified by their nationality.

As the Apostles, these saints of the Gospel,
Will come to mount Olympus, the new Zion,
To hear the Word that is never read.
To pray for the Eucharist that is never consumed.
For them, Christ is broken but never distributed,
He is given but never received,
for the Greek Word sustains us. Amen.