[Rev. Elias Skipitares]

Skipitares, Rev. Elias

Jacksonville, United States, Florida

1939-10-16

7

wpalh000464

emigration and immigrationgreecegreek churchhealth careimmigration/ethnicitynarrativesorthodox greeksreligion

Document text

UOteber 16, 1920.
Wrr.'Aliow okipitttres.
'Minister,
mastern mellenic vrthedes.
Uonmunity dburoh,
"The mevelution of
ot. John pivines
Uor. Laura und. Union-ets
Juuksoaville, ploridu.
nose ahepheri, writer.
UT.ialIAX Santo Mai (GX LiX) X X 11, ,R,
(Interview II)
Continuing along hie nedioul observutions, gev. Mt.
akipitures siij
"Dootore someetime to very bud things. If they ounnot
oorreotly diugnese a oasa, they just give •u tonio or u little
stimui...ting prescription, saying: 'Take this, it will muke
you fool bettor, und aome hack tomoixowle
41n thie teem 1 try out di farint madioines in md own
body, Lu observe tho result --1 eis.nt myself to see the
ekfmot of o)rtain drugs.
nag,, if I it sick I uall phyei4Aan. I follow his
direutions and exosot him to help ma, but I do not deqend
on him a.t.togither. I use my own things, too.
"lasting is sometile 'Tout help. we have the uustom
from Graeue, it rests tit, physioul body unit develops the
spiritual body, produoiiag act's grout gift, the ubilit4 to.
foretell and foresae. 'For two or three yours I fasted fist,
wont'', tut I gave it up, now observing only tha reliiious
daye of fastiin; and prayer.
"You know it is written in the ‘bible where the Graeks
went to Jesus, f,d, 1 tuliod with them, exnlitininy; that mak is
to glorify
26093

Rev. Okipitares 4.
"Re gave the hew Testament to the Greeks, euyind:
'If the world goes ureide down, my Word
"Christ, Himself, fasted for forty the. The
Orthodox Greeks fan% four times 4 year, oomeemortting
the four corners of the earth, the four alsoiples, the
four arohanes, bind the our pillars that hold the earth.
Heaven moves, but not the earth, acoordifo: to the Bible.
That is why the sun gets so hot it is set in one plaoe.
Aud it is like the lord of God 'The earth and heaven
may be removed My vord is not removed.'
"Tit* rw,son for aome and so many religious beliefs?
Oh, that is because the heads of the church at differ-
ent periods of the world's history, hve set up their own
translations, deleting wiut they oould not interpret, d in
sorting statements and theories they wished incovlorate.
In other words, they fixed un the Holy Blive to ewit them-
selves. That is why we now have so iik4V different denomina-
tions.
•'Prom 4 modioal standlloint, I have come to the conoiu-
di011 that the mother's mind has ,aerat influence on her unborn
child. You will remembr the article in the nowsoar,er just
a few days ego, Alava phillipine mother gave birth to a
136.14 with its heart outside its little body. The mothqr
a Catholic, she w,ls under the tutelage of a Catholic prieet,
with probaLly a picture of the Sacred Heart in the room, or

itev. ki itaras 6.
probably she wore a (lord around bar nook with a piuturo
attaohed modAl of thq same illustration, whieh she auger-
od and looked at constantly. This pro -natal influohne affeotam
ed thm Onild, resultile: in a freak birth.
"It is my opinion that a preplan* mother uan make h r
uhild anythin,! he wants. That iu poyohology.
"It ooaos from a arlek word. 'Toby obilos meaning you
find the secant of Jour soul. ,s uhild in Gramm I was
taught not to seek so muuh material things, but as the bible
says 'The Kingdom of God within.' I vntad to have the
great gift from within intuition. Lots of things a mother
knows oomes so guicsk she Loes not know where she gets' it. It
is an impression diraut from the soul.
Gomm
"whom I was u young child I knew ont life/from the sun;
that thalifo ourrente enter throwrh the solar Amid, the
sun center; that a blow on the solar pleais was to be avoiclot,
beuattee it Wo.e fatal to life.
"The front of the body is positive the kaeli is negative.
Ii i itomall has a pain or haudaoho in tha buo, of her nenk, do
not lot the heat of the sun shine on the nerve (mut*: there,
but pl4ue her so that the mu shines on her throat, opposite
the pain, aul it will oar, it.
"But sad to say, the dbotor Rivas an aneethotio for p.ain,
puttin the ilar7es to aleop, or the person trying to relieve
himself takes a hsadaohil potter, uontaining what he knows not,
inetlad of naine,. tha anolent treatment.

Nal. 4kipitarins 4.
"We uuhnot liv* tithout the uun. If there were no.
sun, there w, '14 ba no life on thiu plunet. Our pAysioul
life und our,Phiei4ue is tied up with the sun's vibrutions.
If people were removed from the eleutriuul fore, of the
sun,' or compellee to live undr different planetary coudi-
'tions, they would either beoeme weuk or not survive at ull.
"The nun ulse (muses the fruits and vegetables to grow
aud ImAtur40- und used us food, they arequioker und more
eutief,utory in restorin the normal eondltion of dieeased
-body thin drug* .4isd meat.
"Getting n.ck to T,re-nut41 inn ono*, the futher u.Ago
hus influenue upon the wiborn ohild it certain period.
You see uhild up to the hinitp-d.y period is nothing but
flesh, the. it begins to move and beuomes a little warm
I.
ititer ninety dayu, if the father und mother, *my, .t the
tmble, begin to quurrill over ome trivi.1- thing, or if they
hk-,ve other Andrea acid there are harsh words .34 tivarreliug,
it is very harmful. The mother takes in these hutefUl sights
and uounds, and it Produces a hadeful, quurreleoms Wind.
or slay, pregnant mother vitro eittin here sewing, +And u
neighbor cowee in +And piJks up something und yuike awuy with
it u bottle of milk, or an rtiule of +clothing; then when
questioned lieu about the inuident. The moth,r takes this
in throuh hr eyes, 4L4 it is forued oh the unborn uhiid,
who will become 14ter a thief .nd liar., He is mp,r4ed before
he is. born, his destiny iniliuted upon him through his. mother
havih4T 1Mes, foroed to witneus 4nA p.su throult this ukfortunute
1

3kipitures b.
"Bofors he au, born Christ te le us in the
blot Psalm shore vietsys ha wadi term from hie mothert•
belly. Our people of lresote know thAet mother* tet‘oh
it At homo to thiir
"The GrooloAns are (I topple of fiAith eAnii devout. The
Orthodox (Irloks to not believe in limitation of familios.
Of course, the younger generations over hero, I coAlsot s.
I str)poee they turt retard thi modern birth uontrol idles,
whioh, I um sorry to 04, or. first promulgo.ted bet CUAtholio
prieat, tau .7 t to his purrishioners.
"But the ()risks bailey* this: If 4ou bring one htutdrod
Lubies into the vorld, onuh ham its st•euial gift and contri-
bution to ta,Ake to oivilluition.
Not eo long aiscr 41. youliAt man of ay church u,..I!*tm. ul
sAAid he wiAled to Tet mtaried, ;,ut •;cti.t not .....fford it. He
aties druggist and struggling to n.,4..4 tiy. I
.441 to him tit iti,:ria.ge is tic) oroper et too for f..an, and
if the trirl v ere wi1ii,g, o hoeAd C..itt not think eo 11911.h
bout fin:awes und whut money 111 buy. They were rs.rrisd
in my ohtueutt. 'obeli the 0oung wif heo-m• )r)Kni&lit. the
hue0and u .1431 me vemAly weeria4, .4644ritir her time w.Au .eur
aatd h4 did not h,ve 1,oney to mend iscir to the
hospital. I sk.i4 "Sell the drug vtore. The biaby that is
utzeing to worth 41.1 th., drug uto,.et± in th crlt. lie will
•more Ake up for yr,ur t anoreAry iauiJ. iffiuulties.'"
will, hi old the drug Otore a.nd thi if* v *Lit to t.h, hognial.

HWY. Aipitar e 6.
She U:AM 0 through fine, Ri vi ng birth to a h5.iit$ ful
b,.by uody. The haabaud went to ork as a t;l:ork in a
friend'a drug store. d.ftisr 41 bills were paid, hO started
addini to wh4t left oV the two thaus.s4d dollars he
roalizel from th 4.Lø of his business. He had luok,
and new, Volvo years later, he is prosperous .At haPpY,
has three drug -torso and six uhildren.
"The Greek women are nrobably .Jonsidernd old famhioned,
they defer to their husbands, muking kiwi of partn,rehip,
like 'we 1, we are starting u life together, we till do the
boot v e uun, we will work, labor und love, and ba hAwloy, and
maybe a w tll proewer, maybe we won't Whatever God wishes
um to (10. That is marriage baeed on tho right prinuipl lea"
shown a nowepunar illustration of the wedding party of
-W coati/nit hdonis Jim Londe') wh se pafriage reported
..uguet 10, 19.5..r, 3. the :ao:ida. 7imee-Unioll. of Jaukeonli/141
cioniod Irom a overly Hills, eii.orIAis, nel-epaper 4rtiolot
and eked 'About the flower aromas used in the Groek o romoney,
3kipitureo Jaid:
"Jim Londow ma,Tiedl H -m -m- yea, i lam, him very
WILL, fin.) le low. toll, tho ibis sups rioh Lan had
two 00d0; 044 took his inhiritanoe and left, later uoming
bauk to his futher, aXter fooloug away his proporty on
Jira Londoo is
mute:J.1 things, .ind ate with tho pigs.

ICY. kipitares 7.
married. 'moll, I wish him all tha lauk in tha world.
"about the flower orowns
NO fall
martyrs went to their
death vAth urown on their head wid ring from the people
who lovedthem. ,hen on, beuomee king, he le invoet'a with
a heavy orown; when Ohriet !lent to the oroas, ha Awd orown
of thorne. In the Iraek.weading 04•emouy, th4 crown of
flower', the two tied together, means tha uouple ie united,
to -live together until de,..th nurie them. and thly ammo*
together the ree-onsibilitiee whidh Na may sue to uome
their way.
"The prayer ahunted ut tha time they ure crowned as
bride i.A.1)1 groom La ior thair hanpinese and ateadfuetnees
in God's eight.
"Well,,Pire got to go Wow. I 4M rarked everti;.e down-
Jtaire if 1 do not co't my oar out r“ht 4w6., get 4
red tioket, ,nd I know ;icu do not wa4lt mfi to 4.ora to io to
the pollue otation.
"If mny additional in ormAion in needed that I on
supply, I ahall ba ,,J;,id to hava you cull on t4e Ruin."