This year St Georges Day dawned dull. Why, you might ask, is it being celebrated on 2nd May rather than April 23rd when it should be? The answer is simple. When the celebration falls during lent the celebration is moved so everyone can enjoy it without the restrictions of fasting and other church activities.
St George is believed to be a very powerful saint. The little church at Argyromouri, near Exopoli is one which has a long tradition of blessing the sheep.
Before the serve began some of the villagers were preparing the feast.
Boiled lamb and Pilafi being the two main dishes.
This year the little church has new bells - as well as those on the church itself
Some of the congregation found a shady spot under a tree
The makeshift altar was prepared by the pen
The service took place, including processing around the church three times following the icons
The sheep were prepared for the blessing
The priests blessed the sheep with holy water
- and the congregation
The priest threw the bunch of herbs used in the blessing into the flock. The sheep that it landed on was given a bell around it's neck.
The priests and church officials held the robes up as the sheep ran underneath to be blessed.
A new plaque with a special "hymn" for the church
The icon of the church is hundreds of years old and has many stories behind it - I will tell some of them in part 2 of "St George"
There are photos from last year's celebrations on the Apokoronas blog
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