Tuesday 26th April 2011 - Kastraki, Meteora, Greece

We woke to light rain and occasional light showers and overcast skies were the order of the day. We sat and read and listened to CDs until we heard some chanting, loud enough to be heard above the music in the van. We both had the same thought – a procession. We had our shoes on and were out of the van in no time hoping to track down the route. Jane said that they would have to return to the church and she was right. As we approached the main street we saw the procession heading up to the church and square. I ran on to get ahead of it, passing many people carrying icons and relics and a tall wooden cross. As we approached the church, the bells rang out but the procession continued past the church and into the square where the priest gave a short service before wishing the congregation 'Good health' and 'Many Years'. After the priest had blessed the icons and icon carriers by sprinkling them with holy water, the congregation queued up to be similarly blessed before they processed round kissing every one of the many icons and relics. I found out that these icons and relics had been brought from every church in the area for the blessing.
The rest of the day was spent reading and catching up on the blog.
Photos: The procession approaches the church; Blessing the icons (and the photographer and camera!); Blessing one of the icon bearers – he kisses the silver cross whilst being sprinkled with holy water.