Dimitra Alexandraki spoke about what she experienced during the procession of the Epitaph at the Penteli Monastery, where she went with her partner. More specifically, she wanted to express her strong annoyance for the mob, which did not allow her to attend the service. While she then urged those who want to tell their news instead of attending the sacrament to go to a coffee shop instead of arriving at a church.
As she described via her Instagram story on Holy Saturday: ‘Yesterday I went to Epitaph at the Moni Penteli Monastery. My boyfriend told me to go there. It’s a very nice monastery. I imagined it would be quiet. What I saw, I haven’t seen it in a church for many years and specifically in the churches I go to you don’t hear anything except the words of the priest. Most people came there to tell their news.
Controlled kids, drones flying overhead. A racket and you couldn’t hear the Mass. Shame, just sorry. I’m a sinner first, but I’m not disrespectful. If you want to tell your news, go to the coffee shop, not the church.”
On the video posted by Dimitra Alexandraki, she wrote: “Respect is not a choice, it is an obligation. We don’t go to church to meet socially, but to calm our souls and listen to the Divine Liturgy and the Word of God. A little respect for the space, the moment and the people around us makes a big difference.”
Talk and noise deprive everyone of the opportunity to pray and participate meaningfully. If we cannot respect the silence and the sanctity of the space, we are better off staying out. Let us remember why we are there.”
