04 July 2015

An Introduction to the Liturgy
for lay ministry trainees (2)

The Eucharist ... does the rector have to do everything?

Patrick Comerford

The Church of Ireland Theological Institute

4 July 2015,

An Introduction to the Liturgy,

Lay Ministry trainees Dublin and Glendalough.

11.30 a.m. Session 2:
The Eucharist/Holy Communion; other services, including Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriages, Funerals

Part 1: The Eucharist/Holy Communion

In most of our parishes, the rector usually does almost everything at the Eucharist. The choir may lead the signing, there may be a rota for the readings and for the intercessions – although they too are often written for people by the rector – and the churchwardens present the collection.

But the rector does not have to do everything. On the contrary, the people should be doing almost everything. Indeed the word liturgy means the work of the people: the work comes from the Greek λειτουργία or λῃτουργία, which in turn comes from the Greek words λαός (the people) and ἔργο (to do or to work). The word liturgy means the work of the people ... even the work on behalf of the masses, the riff-raff, the beggars

A poster for the Beggars’ Opera in Rethymnon, Crete ... the word liturgy means the work of the people ... even the work on behalf of the masses, the riff-raff, the beggars (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2012)

Why does the priest as the President at the liturgy, so often do all the work of the people?

What does the President do at the Eucharist?

The President presides at the whole event. But how is that shown? The Presidency is related to the whole event, and is not merely about or restricted to saying “sacred words” at one “sacred moment.”

The opening greeting, “The Lord be with you …” gathers together the Assembly. Beforehand, we are scattered people, who are coming together. And so it is essentially a Christian greeting that gathers us together as a congregation, and this is not the same as and should not be reduced to a mere “Good Morning.”

But the liturgical greeting also establishes the dialogue, between God and the people, and between the president at the liturgy and the people, it establishes the horizontal dimension to our worship and our liturgy.

It establishes who is presiding, who is responsible for the worship of the church. It tells us that this is the person who is going to:

● Guide the community
● Release the gifts of the community
● Oversee what is happening.

That presidency is expressed, audibly and visibly, by the President conducting the following parts of the service:

1, The Greeting.
2, The Collect of the Day
3, The Absolution
4, The Peace
5, The Eucharistic Prayer
6, The Blessing.

But this leaves plenty of scope, plenty of room for others to participate. And not just to play bit parts but to show that we are co-celebrants (not concelebrants), and the Liturgy is truly the work of the people.

For example, the Old Testament and Epistle readings ought to be read by lay people, the intercessions are supposed to be the prayers of the people, the offering is supposed to be the offering of the people.

Why, so often, do the clergy insist on assuming all these roles?

The readings may be the only message people hear on a Sunday morning. And so reading them is an important, vital ministry of the laity. It is not good enough to be handed them on a scrap of paper five minutes before we begin on a Sunday morning.

How would your parish organist react to receiving the hymn numbers a few minutes beforehand?

You need time to think, time to rehearse, time to read out loud, time to cope with difficult pronunciations and to get a feeling for emphases, time to reflect and pray.

If you do not know what the reading is about, how can those present hear what it is about?

Who writes the intercessions? The rector? Or the people leading the intercessions? Who listens to the prayers the people want to pray and need to pray?

When it comes to the Offertory, the offering is not about the collection of money being brought up to the rector for a blessing. The Offertory first and foremost symbolises that we, the people, offer ourselves, our bodies, our lives, our whole being, to God, as a royal sacrifice.

Bread and wine symbolise this in a very profound way. They are gifts of food and drink that God has given us, but only become food and drink because of the work of human hands. What God offers to us, we now offer to God, and in return God becomes present among in Christ, in word and sacrament.

The bread and wine ought to be placed on the altar, already prepared, before the Liturgy begins. The altar could be prepared at the offertory by lay people, even children, especially children. The gifts ought to be brought up by lay people, from among the body of the people. That is an authentic and visible sacramental expression of lay ministry.

Do the gifts have to be restricted to bread and wine alone?

[Discussion]

The gifts of God for the people of God!

When it comes to the distribution of the sacrament, it may be very appropriate for the presiding priest to (a) be ministered to by someone else and/or (b) sit in the president’s chair.

It is wholly appropriate for lay people present to assist at or to take responsibility for the ablutions

After the blessing, it is once again appropriate for a lay person who has been involved in the ministry at the liturgy to pronounce the dismissal.

Questions:

How much preparation do you need for this aspects to or dimensions of lay ministry in the Liturgy?

How much can you take part in?

[Discussion]

Part 2: Other services, including Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriages, Funerals.

Parish clergy often talk dismissively of our role at Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals as a role of “Hatch match and dispatch.”

But I think that is too dismissive, and too unfair to people who seldom come to church except on these occasions.

These are moments of crisis for these people, sacred moments for God, and, moments of mission for the Church.

Always remember, never forget, that people will always remember and never forget when you behave inappropriately, lazily or without preparation on these occasions. If you do it right, they may never remember what you say or do, just simply that you were there. But get it wrong, and they will remember for ever.

And so, on these occasions, make sure you are prepared, over and over again. You may get plenty of time to prepare a couple for a baptism of their child or for their marriage. Unlike having perhaps a week or two, maybe more, to prepare for a parish service or a sermon, you may have no time at all to prepare for the death of a parishioner. You may get no time at all to prepare for a funeral.

So, always have the preparation in mind if these are tasks being committed to you in your parish.

Be mentally prepared in your memory – down to the point of remembering how to dress properly.

You may have to prepare a couple for the baptism of their child, or for their marriage.

You will be surprised by the relationships you come across.

You will have to put aside your personal views about single parenthood, remarriage after divorce, and your propensity to rush to judgment not only about the people who are being buried, but the family circumstances of those who mourn.

It is for good reason that these are called pastoral offices.

You may have to take responsibility for receiving a coffin into your parish church on the evening before a funeral, or for doing a committal at a graveside or in a crematorium.

Hopefully you will be involved in assisting at many, many baptisms. But they are not always cute and comfortable occasions. There are baptisms of adults, there are baptisms of children with real medical problems that are causing true anxiety for the parents. There are difficult relationships that cause problems at baptisms ... and at marriages and at funerals too.

Hospital visits may also be your responsibility. Consider then that you may be asked to be, you may want to be, involved in the consequent baptism, marriage or funeral.

[Discussion]

● Baptisms: p. 345 ff (especially p. 357 ff).
● Confirmation, p. 382 ff.
● Renewal of Baptismal vows, p. 398 ff.
● Marriage (especially pp. 416 ff).
● Ministry to those who are sick (pp 440 ff; Anointing with Oil, pp 448-449; Prayers, pp 450-453; preparation for death, pp 454-456; A celebration of wholeness and healing, pp 457-464).
● Funeral Services (pp 466 ff, especially pp 480 ff; see the notes on p. 480; A Form for the Burial of Ashes after Cremation, p. 501; The Funeral Service for a Child, p. 504; Prayers, p. 510; and a Form of use in the Home, Funeral Home or Mortuary, p. 514).

[Concluding questions and discussion]

Concluding Prayer:

Yesterday [3 July 2015] was the Feast Day of Saint Thomas the Apostle. To get to this stage, many of you will recognise how you have gone through stages of faith and of doubt. So let us pray in the words in The Book of Common Prayer for the Collect of the Feast of Saint Thomas:

Almighty and eternal God,
who, for the firmer foundation of our faith,
allowed your holy apostle Thomas
to doubt the resurrection of your Son
till word and sight convinced him:
Grant to us, who have not seen, that we also may believe
and so confess Christ as our Lord and our God;
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Resources:

Raymond Chapman, Hear Our Prayer: Gospel-based intercessions for Sundays, Holy Days and Festivals, Years A, B, & C (Norwich: Canterbury Press, 2003).
Frank Colquhoun (ed), Parish Prayers (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1967, 2005 ed).
Frank Colquhoun (ed), Contemporary Parish Prayers (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 2005 ed).
Frank Colquhoun (ed), New Parish Prayers (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1982, 2005 ed).
Common Worship: Times and Seasons (London: Church House Publishing, 2006).
Dorothy McRae-McMahon, Liturgies for Daily Life (London: SPCK, 2004).
Dorothy McRae-McMahon, Liturgies for High Days (London: SPCK, 2006).
Brian Mayne (ed), Celebrating the Word: Complete Services of the Word for use with Common Worship and the Church of Ireland Book of Common Prayer (Norwich: Canterbury Press, 2004).
Harold Miller, The Desire of our Soul (Dublin: Columba, 2004).
Janet Morley, All Desires Known (London: SPCK, 1988/1992).
Janet Morley (ed), Bread for Tomorrow, Praying with the world’s poor (London: SPCK/Christian Aid, 1992).
New Patterns for Worship (London: Church House Publishing, 2002).
Opening Prayers: Scripture-related collects for Years A, B and C from the Sacramentary (Norwich: Canterbury Press, 1992).
Lisa Withrow, Occasions of Prayers (London: SPCK, 1999).

(Revd Canon Professor) Patrick Comerford is Lecturer in Anglicanism, Liturgy and Church History, the Church of Ireland Theological Institute. These notes were used at a half-day workshop, ‘An introduction to the liturgy,’ with Lay Ministry trainees in the Diocese of Dublin and Glendalough on 4 July 2015.

An Introduction to the Liturgy
for lay ministry trainees (1)

Baptism and Eucharist … celebrations of Creation and worship in communion with the Trinity (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

The Church of Ireland Theological Institute

4 July 2015

An Introduction to the Liturgy

Lay Ministry trainees, Dublin and Glendalough

Programme for the Day:

10 a.m. Session 1:
Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, Service of the Word, Informal Services

11 a.m. Coffee break

11.30 a.m. Session 2: The Eucharist/Holy Communion; other services, including Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriages, Funerals

10 a.m. Session 1: Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, Service of the Word, Informal Services

Opening Prayer:

Almighty and everlasting God,
by whose Spirit the whole body of the Church
is governed and sanctified:
Hear our prayer which we offer for all your faithful people,
that in their vocation and ministry
they may serve you in holiness and truth
to the glory of your name;
through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Introduction:

The Collect we pray tomorrow [5 July 2015, the Fifth Sunday after Trinity], is for use throughout next week. It prays for the whole Church and for all faithful people, in our vocation and ministry, that we may serve God in holiness and truth.

This morning we are talking about the whole Church, not simply the ministry of those who are ordained, but of all faithful people, and this prayer values the vocation and ministry of all, and affirms that ministry as serving God in holiness and truth.

But first, may I begin with some opening questions about fears and anxieties:

What if I am left on my own?

What can I do at a funeral?

What are the boundaries when it comes to what I can do?

Where do I found resources for prayer and prayers?

What do I do if I dry up?

What if I lose my place?

Does the rector have to do everything?

How do I relate all this to my own spiritual life and life of prayer?

[Discussion]

Part 1: Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer

Our basic resource and workbook for these workshops is: The Book of Common Prayer (The Church of Ireland, 2004).

Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer (see the Book of Common Prayer (2004), pp 83-116) are the daily offices of the Church.

They derive from the monastic offices, especially the cycle of daily prayer in the Benedictine tradition, and were adapted by Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Anglican reformers and their successors, bringing daily prayer out of the cloisters and into the daily life of parishes in the villages, towns and cities.

It was their intention not that these offices should be the main Sunday service in our parishes, but that they should be said daily throughout the year (see The Book of Common Prayer 2004, p. 84).

As prayer designed for the whole Church, for the whole people, it is appropriate that it should be led by lay people. Historically, it is worth recalling that most of the monks in a Benedictine monastery were not priests.

There are some parts of the service that are reserved for ordained priests – namely, pronouncing the words of absolution (see pp 86, 102) and the blessing (see p 116).

But there is no provision for a blessing in the original form (see p. 100), and in the new format a blessing is only an option (see p. 116).

How familiar are you with Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer?

Are these offices used daily in your parishes, as The Book of Common Prayer expects?

[Discussion]

How is Morning Prayer used in your parish as the principal service on Sundays?

[Discussion]

How do you set the tone of the day?

[Discussion]

Become familiar with the options, notice the different places where the Psalm is used in Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer

[Discussion].

How do you find the Psalms, the Readings and the Collects?

[Discussion]

Are you familiar with how the Canticles are chosen?

Are you aware of the hymn versions of the Canticles in the Irish Church Hymnal?

How do you write intercessions?

[Discussion]

Are there parts of Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer you should memorise?

[Discussion]

Are you familiar with the shortened forms of Daily Prayer for Weekdays (see pp 136-137), the simple structure for Daily Prayer (p. 138) and the Weekday intercessions for Monday to Saturday (pp 139-144)?

Have you ever drawn on the resources headed “Some Prayers and Thanksgivings” (pp 145-153)?

Part 2: Service of the Word, Informal Services

The one service that many of you will be asked to lead is the Service of the Word (p. 165, followed by notes running to three pages, pp 166-168).

At first, this looks like one of the simplest services to organise. But it is probably the most difficult.

Too often, we merely adapt the shape to the way we have always organised Morning Prayer or Evening Prayer, which defeats the purpose of introducing this service.

Too often we take the outline (p. 165) as a rigid structure, rather than as scaffolding, and then wonder why the edifice crumbles around us.

Too often we start off with the best of intentions, but fail to take heed of the advice and guidance offered in those three pages of notes.

Too often we want you a new service, a new approach to worship, but fail to do anything about the setting, including the seating and the part of the church we use.

Too often, we fail to see it as a Service of the Word, and give more emphasis to other sections than the Word itself.

Too often, we fail to set the tone, to think about why we are using this service rather than any other, and then wonder why it does not work, why it falls flat, or why it becomes stale through constant use in the same old familiar way.

In your parish, who structures a Service of the Word ... the rector, the person leading it, a group of people?

It is totally appropriate, for example, in a parish where a Service of the Word is the fall-back option every time there is a fifth Sunday in the month, for someone in lay ministry to take responsibility for organising that service, even though they do not have to lead it.

You could theme those Services of the Word: not just around children, which is the normal fall-back position, but: around the elderly; around the beatitudes, affirming those who live out the beatitudes in your parish, who make peace, who mourn, who hunger and thirst for righteousness, who demand mercy, &c; focus on unemployment or the current financial, economic and political crisis in our country; Lent or Advent; the five points of mission in the Anglican Communion; and so on.

In small groups, let us look at the notes on pp 166-168 and see what they say about what we can do?

[Discussion]

Are there other ways to adapt and use this service?

Bishop Harold Miller, for example, suggests it can be used as the Liturgy of the Word before the Liturgy of the Sacrament at the Holy Communion or the Eucharist.

[Discussion]

Other, short services you may consider using include Compline (pp 154-161), A Late Evening Office (pp 162-164) and the Litany (pp 170-178).

Could we discuss appropriate venues and appropriate occasions for using some of these services?

[Discussion]

Go into small groups and discuss what is appropriate for using in one of the following situations:

● A school assembly
● A group of mourners gathered in hospital after the death of someone you have been visiting as a pastoral carer on behalf of the parish
● A prayer session with the Mothers’ Union after a speaker has failed to turn up.

Let me say a word about having everything prepared beforehand and having everything in one file rather than a pile of books scattered around your feet and at the base of the prayer desk.

What image does this create for people trying to catch a glimpse of the holy?

Can you imagine how easy it is to forget which colour ribbon you used to mark a particular page or reading?

Next:

11.30 a.m. Session 2: The Eucharist/Holy Communion; other services, including Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriages, Funerals.

Resources:

Raymond Chapman, Hear Our Prayer: Gospel-based intercessions for Sundays, Holy Days and Festivals, Years A, B, & C (Norwich: Canterbury Press, 2003).
Frank Colquhoun (ed), Parish Prayers (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1967, 2005 ed).
Frank Colquhoun (ed), Contemporary Parish Prayers (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 195, 2005 ed).
Frank Colquhoun (ed), New Parish Prayers (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1982, 2005 ed).
Common Worship: Times and Seasons (London: Church House Publishing, 2006).
Dorothy McRae-McMahon, Liturgies for Daily Life (London: SPCK, 2004).
Dorothy McRae-McMahon, Liturgies for High Days (London: SPCK, 2006).
Brian Mayne (ed), Celebrating the Word: Complete Services of the Word for use with Common Worship and the Church of Ireland Book of Common Prayer (Norwich: Canterbury Press, 2004).
Harold Miller, The Desire of our Soul (Dublin: Columba, 2004).
Janet Morley, All Desires Known (London: SPCK, 1988/1992).
Janet Morley (ed), Bread for Tomorrow, Praying with the world’s poor (London: SPCK/Christian Aid, 1992).
New Patterns for Worship (London: Church House Publishing, 2002).
Opening Prayers: Scripture-related collects for Years A, B and C from the Sacramentary (Norwich: Canterbury Press, 1992).
Lisa Withrow, Occasions of Prayers (London: SPCK, 1999).

(Revd Canon Professor) Patrick Comerford is Lecturer in Anglicanism, Liturgy and Church History, the Church of Ireland Theological Institute. These notes were used at a half-day workshop, ‘An introduction to the liturgy,’ with Lay Ministry trainees in the Diocese of Dublin and Glendalough on 4 July 2015.

Γονεις χωρις δουλεια
πωσ θα ζησουν τα παιδια …
If the parents have no jobs,
how will the children survive?

Reflecting on what the future holds for Greece … the harbour in Rethymnon, Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Sunday’s preparations are complete. I have finished working on my sermon for Sunday morning, I have gone over the readings, the Collect and Post-Communion Prayer again and again, and I hope everything is in place.

Tomorrow looks like a busy day, with a full morning workshop with lay ministry trainees form the United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough, and an afternoon in Maynooth for the launch of Treasures of Irish Christianity, Volume III, a new book to which I have contributed two chapters: one on martyred missionaries from Ireland in China, and another on Sir Richard Church from Cork who became a Greek patriot, commander-in-chief of the army during the War of Independence and a life senator.

Church became involved in coup attempt against the monarchy that had been imposed on Greece by the European powers and was a strong advocate of Greece’s rights and the country’s fledgling democracy.

This afternoon, two of us headed out to Bray, Co Wicklow, to clear our heads in preparation for this busy weekend, and for a walk along the seafront before a late lunch in Carpe Diem.

But despite clearing my head with the sea air and the sound of the waves this afternoon, it was impossible not to think of so many beach walks in Greece. And it is impossible this evening to think about Sunday next, or about Sir Richard Church and his idealism, and not to think about the referendum in Greece on Sunday and the problems and divisions the people of Greece face at this moment.

A branch office of the National Bank of Greece in Rethymnon in Crete … what is going to happen to the people of Greece after Sunday’s referendum? (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

I saw a film-clip on social media this evening of one protest in Athens this week, with a parent wearing a T-short that asks: «Γονεις χωρις δουλεια πωσ θα ζησουν τα παιδια», “If the parents don’t have jobs, how will the children survive?”

In what appears to be a call for a Yes vote on Sunday, Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece warned yesterday that Greeks must not allow the poison of division to seep through the souls of Greeks and said we need to guarantee for our children that Greece will remain within the European family core.

In his message to the Greek people, he said what Greeks are experiencing today is “perhaps the most crucial in the nation’s course, after World War II.”

Archbishop Ieronymos called for unity, and acknowledged that “above everything and everyone,” in each institution in the country, in all political parties, in the Church, in every Greek individual “there is a sense of patriotism and love for the homeland, a sense of anguish about its present and future situation that unites us all.”

“There is nothing separating us. That is why we must not allow the poison of division to seep in our souls. It is a crime against the future generations,” he said. “We need to make Greece a country of growth and progress for our children”



But, I wonder this evening, no matter which way Greeks vote, what is going to happen to the children of Greece after Sunday? And I found myself thinking about Never on Sunday (Ποτέ Την Κυριακή, Pote Tin Kyriaki) a 1960 Greek black-and-white romantic comedy film starring Melina Mercouri, who was one of the potent figures in resistance to the oppressive junta of the colonels in Greece almost half a century ago.

The theme song, “Never on Sunday,” also known as Τα Παιδιά του Πειραιά (Ta Pediá tou Pireá, “The Children of Piraeus”), was written by Manos Hadjidakis and became a hit when it was released with film score on 1 October 1960.

The Greek version has been recorded by Melina Mercouri, Nana Mouskouri and Pink Martini; English versions have been recorded by Bing Crosby, Lena Horne, Doris Day, Andy Williams, Trini Lopez, The 4 Seasons, Connie Francis, Julie London, Eartha Kitt, Petula Clark, Lale Andersen, and The Chordettes; and there are instrumental recordings by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass and James Last.

The movie tells the story of Ilya, a self-employed, free-spirited prostitute who lives in the port of Piraeus in Greece, and Home Thrace, an American tourist from Middletown, Connecticut – a classical scholar with a romantic view of all things Greek. Homer feels Ilya’s lifestyle typifies the degradation of Greek classical culture and he attempts to steer her onto the path of morality. At the same time, Ilya helps the uptight Homer to loosen up.

The film, starring Melina Mercouri (Μελίνα Μερκούρη) and Jules Dassin, won the Academy Award for Best Song and was nominated for numerous other Academy Awards. Melina Mercouri also won the award for Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival in 1960.

Jules Dassin was the director, producer, writer and main male actor in the movie. Like the character he plays, Dassin was actually from Middletown, Connecticut. He was from a Russian Jewish background, but became completely immersed in Greek life and culture after he met Melina Mercouri at the Cannes Film Festival in May 1955 and simultaneously discovered the literary works of Nikos Kazantzakis.

The couple married in 1966, and he became a Greek citizen (spelling his name Ζυλ Ντασέν). She went on to star in many of his subsequent movies, including Phaedra (1962), Topkapi (1964) and Promise at Dawn (1970).



She played the title role in Phaedra (Φαίδρα), an adaptation by Margarita Lymberaki of Hippolytus, the tragic drama by Euripides about how the wilful actions of parents can have devastating and deathly consequences for their children. The film is set in Paris, London and the Greek island of Hydra. The music was composed by Mikis Theodorakis and her recording of Αστέρι μου φεγγάρι μου (Asteri mou, Fengari mou, “My Star, My Moonlight”) remains a popular song in Greece.

With the colonels’ coup in 1967, Melina and Jules fled Greece and in 1970 they were accused of financing a plot to overthrow the regime. The charges were dropped but the interior minister, Colonel Stylianos Pattakos, revoked her Greek citizenship and confiscated her property.

When she was stripped of her citizenship, she said: “I was born a Greek and I will die a Greek. Pattakos was born a fascist and he will die a fascist.”

When the colonels fell in 1974, Melina and Jules returned to Greece, where they lived out their lives. Alongside Andreas Papandreou, she was a founding member of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK).

In 1977 she topped the polls when she was elected to Parliament, and in 1981 she was the first woman to become Minister for Culture in Greece. She was a strong advocate for the return to Athens of the Parthenon Marbles, which remain in the British Museum in London.

When PASOK returned to office after the election in 1993, she returned to the Ministry for Culture.

When she died in 1994, the Greek Prime Minister, Costas Karamanlis, said: “Greece mourns the loss of a rare human being, a significant artist and true friend. His passion, his relentless creative energy, his fighting spirit and his nobility will remain unforgettable.” She was honoured with a state funeral at the First Cemetery of Athens, where she is buried close to the grave of Sir Richard Church.

Olive groves in Crete above the harbour and city of Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Last month, another woman achieved prominence in PASOK. Fofi Gennimata is the first woman to become the leader of the beleaguered socialist party when she defeated two male candidates, Andreas Loverdos and Odysseas Constantinopoulos, for the presidency.

She is seeking to bridge the gap with other centre-left parties in Greece, including Democratic Left, which was part of the coalition government in 2012-2013, and the Movement of Democratic Socialists launched by the former PASOK leader George Papandreou in January.

PASOK, along with most other opposition parties, is calling for a Yes vote on Sunday, showing the divisions within the Greek Left remain open fissures.

Jules Dassin was captivated by the literary works of Nikos Kazantzakis, probably the greatest Greek writer of the last century.

In his introduction to Report to Greco, Kazantzakis says “My entire soul is a cry, and all my work the commentary on that cry.” The author’s grave on the bastion above Iraklion is marked by a simple cross and an epitaph carved in his own handwriting, with his own words:

Δεν ελπίζω τίποτα.
Δε φοβάμαι τίποτα.
Είμαι λέφτερος


(Den elpizo tipota. Den fovamai tipota. Eimai leftheros, “I hope for nothing, I fear nothing, I am free”).

Whatever, or never, happens in Sunday’s vote I shall continue to hope. But I shall also worry about the children of Greece and the freedom and the future of Greece.

The grave of Nikos Kazantzakis on the walls of Iraklion (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)