Customer Reviews

A guide to Greek traditions and customs in America

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have married into a greek family. All of my questions have been answered. I now have a better understanding of our relationship and can now see what our future will be. It is a wonderful culture to explore and to be part of!

Growing up in a small Greek Church and not having any Greek school, I did not learn all the beautiful customs and traditions of this religion.Now I live where we only have a mission Church, I miss the connection of a regular Church community. My parents tried to teach me some of the traditions but my yia yia and pouli really were a bigger influence on me.THis book explains so much I didn't know and I bought 2 copies for my grown children and hope they stay in the Orthodox faith.

I was born and raised in a Greek household. My grandparents on my mother's side came from Greece and settled in the United States, but passed away when I was very young, so I never had their influence. My mother tried to teach her seven children about the culture, but we were too busy with other things.

There are many things about Greek traditions that I never really fully understood and this book patiently takes each area of Greek tradition and culture and breaks it down in language I can understand.

Now that I'm older and can appreciate tradition, I went on a search to find out more. I was very lucky to find this book, because it answered ALL my questions - and then some.

I'm purchasing three additional copies for my nieces (who are also my goddaughters).

What a great book! I am Greek Orthodox and was born and raised in the Greek Orthodox Church, which I still attend to this day. My religion and heritage are a major part of my life. When my husband and I decided to get married, he wanted to learn about our church and culture so that he, too, could appreciate it as I do, and so that we could raise our children with consistency in our beliefs. This book was a gift from a friend at my husband's confirmation into the Greek Orthodox Church. What a blessing! We both have learned so much, and our relationship is stronger. This book is a wonderful resource for ANY Greek-American. Enjoy it!

Even though all four of my grandparents were immigrants from Greece. I knew only two of them, due to the untimely deaths of my maternal grandparents. As a child I always felt we had a strong bond to the Orthodox Church. Even though we lived in a small town where there was no Orthodox Church. A Priest from another town would come once a month for liturgy and baptisms. However, I felt there was so much that I did not know or understand. Or, that my parents never told me. I married at a young age to a non-orthodox christian and baptized my children all outside the church. Not knowing how wrong it was. But all the while feeling in my heart that I was doing something wrong. There is still no orthodox church here. This book has helped me understand why I feel and believe the way I do. I always have had certain beliefs about things, but never really understood why I felt that way. It explained everything fully and now I feel so much better about why I feel differently about so many things than others. Thanks to this book I have since had my marriage blessed in the church and travel to a Greek Orthodox church often. My children are at the age where I must let them decide if they would like to become a part of the Greek Orthodox Church.

Being in a bi-cultural marriage this book answers all those questions with the directness the in laws don't . So many little things that are instilled in the greek culture from birth are explained so practically. I just loved it and I use it

The book was a gift for an old lady of Greek origin, friend of mine, and she loved it, that's why the five stars rating.
What I've been very pleased with was the short time it took for the book to be delivered to New Zealand; estimated to arrive in approx. three months (standard post), I got it actually after three weeks. Many thanks, great service.

The book is great and very informative. Purchasing this book will help you understand the greek orthodox religion and traditions, so many interesting facts and beliefs. A reader will not regret purchasing this book, whether they are Greek or not.

I bought three of these books. One for myself, one for my adult daughter and one for my adult Godchildren who recently were Chrismated and became Orthodox.

Excellent reference and an easy read.

I am not Greek, but married a Greek, and this book was given to me by my mother-in-law before our wedding. True to Greek form, this book relates Greek customs, religion, and lifestyles as if they are the be-all and end-all, assuming that everyone aspires to be Greek. While I did appreciate the explanations for the various parts of the wedding ceremony and the hows and whys behind various Greek customs, the book actually had the opposite effect of what my mother-in-law was hoping for: it made me want to run very, very far from many of these Greek traditions. I was so sick of hearing about the Greek way of doing everything... it just annoyed me to read yet another account of why Greeks are right about everything and everyone else is wrong. As a gift from my mother-in-law, it seemed to be saying "Here is everything you need to know about why you'll be doing things the Greek way from now on and why that's better." Ugh! No, thank you. Nine years later, we attend the local Episcopal church and neither of our children were baptized in the Greek church. We celebrate both Easters, dying red eggs on Greek Easter and colorful eggs on Everyone Else's Easter. There is only one icon in our home, and is displayed only because it was given to us by a close family friend. Yes, I know how to make Greek cookies, but we prefer chocolate chip.

All in all, an interesting read if you're curious about Greek culture, religion, and traditions... but the style and tone didn't sit well with this outsider.