The beautiful city of Veles
Imagine your 69-year-old grandmother asked you to visit
churches. You would probable go to the
many little old churches around town have lunch in a café and have her home at
2 o’clock for her nap.
In Macedonia they
visit churches very differently. Susie, who
is 66, and my fellow Peace Corps Volunteer, invited me to visit the local
churches with her and her host mother, Branka. Susie’s host mother, Branka, is
73 and her friend who also came along, Vesna, is 69. When I accepted the invitation I had no idea
we would be hiking mountains to explore churches. The previous day I had ran 12.5 miles and was
already sore. I was astonished that they were physically able to climb up the
mountains.
We walked out of town and along the river. We passed many
people fishing in the polluted water. I can only hope that they don’t eat the
fish and are only fishing for leisure but then again I am reminded of the real
poverty here and for some people, this is the best option for a meal. Suddenly
the town was no longer in sight and a sea of mountains surrounded us. The
mountains were very tall with small towns and churches etched into the
mountainsides. The mountains were extremely rocky and different formations
jutted out at various points.
Before climbing up the mountains
St. Friday Church
From the top of the mountain!
We stopped in front of a small church that I would never
have noticed if Branka hadn’t pointed this out. This church had a small bench
and a small place to light candle but had no walls and was completely exposed
on all sides. Beside the church was a path that led up the mountain. I could
see a church far in the distance and my legs were not too happy as I began to
climb up the path. Once getting to the top, I discovered the church is called
St. Friday. There were 2 women standing outside the church wearing blue robes.
There seemed to be a pattern with the robes because when we visited the other
churches, I noticed that all of the workers or volunteers at the churches wore
these same types of robes.
Anyone else wondering what that red/brown thing is in the background?
Upon entering the church, one of the women informed me that
this church has Turkish influence. My Macedonian language skills are limited so
I may have interpreted this wrong considering the Turks are Muslim. The church
was very tiny inside and we lit a few candles. I tried asking if they had a priest
that would come to say mass by using the word “Pope” and trying to signal the
man below him but I didn’t get anywhere in the conversation expect I added more
confusion. I did however see a small room that looked like a confessional and
had a robe that I assumed a priest would wear.
Every open space on the wall is covered with pictures of
various saints and coins are placed all throughout the church on any open
space.
Once we left the church, Branka's friend Vesna, took us to a
small cave that is formed into the side of a rock. The tradition states that
one who goes inside the rock cave and climbs out the other side will have good
health, fetility and a happy life. The person’s family members may also receive
good health. They insisted that I climb in the rock cave. It was
extremely tiny and can be compared to being pushed through a PVC pipe. I
managed to make it through the rock with only a few scratches!
We set off again to see the next church, which we walked
along another path on the side of the mountain. This church was extremely old
and the paintings on the walls were almost entirely chipped off. It was very
dark with a musty smell. We stayed only for a short amount of time because
Branka and Vesna were worried it might begin to rain.
The next church was called St. Nikola. This was the smallest
enclosed church we saw. Before going into the church, we decided to sit down
and have a small bite to eat. There was a canopy with benches and beside benches were candles to light for the church. We sat down next to a family that
seemed to be having some sort of celebration. They came over with plates full
of food which included grilled chicken and sausage, rice with vegetables, a
salad with tomatoes, cucumbers and onions and grilled eggplant. Once they heard
I was a vegetarian, they gave me my own plate of food with extra veggies! Can
you imagine this happening in America? If anything, we would be seen as
interrupting this family’s picnic back home but instead the Macedonians took
this opportunity to share their hospitality with us. I was so incredibly
touched. After finishing the meal, they offered coffee and cookies for dessert.
This moment will be embedded in my mind as I reflect on the culture. I
understand not every Macedonian would do this but it was touching nonetheless.
After finishing lunch, we went inside St. Nikola and once
again there were pictures of saints everywhere with coins on top of all the
picture frames. Where is the collection box? I have never seen money lying
around a church so this is something new for me!
The beautiful 3rd church we saw
We walked down the mountain and were back on the main road,
on our way to the final church. After peering around the bend in the road, a
multitude of colors struck me. In front of this church was a massive garden
with many flowers in bloom. It was truly beautiful and to think its October!
This church had a dome on the top and is called St. Petca or St. Sunday. They
sure love naming their churches after days of the week! Apparently this saint
is from Greece and is very poplar here.
Once stepping inside this church, there was a kaleidoscope
of colors. This church was recently repainted and colors of the saints were
very vibrant. This church was unlike the others churches we visited because it
told a story. On the top row was the story of Mary, in the middle was Jesus’
story including the Stations of the Cross and on the bottom row was the saints.
On the far left of the church were stories from the Old Testament. This was my
favorite church and there was one painting of Jesus that was saved from before
they repainted the church. Apparently this church has healing holy water but I
didn’t know this until I got back into town! I had a wonderful day exploring the churches
with Suzie and her family.
St. Petca
Inside St. Petca
I am so thankful to have Suzie as my good friend. I could not have envisioned that the youngest
Peace Corp volunteer (me) would become best friends with Suzie, who is the
oldest. It reminds me to always have an
open mind and an open heart because you never know when someone will touch your
life.
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