Our Woman of the Week is Katherine Demacopoulos! We asked her to tell you about herself:
"My father, Fr. John Orfanakos, served as a priest at St. George Greek Orthodox Church in Clifton, NJ for more than 50 years, and my mother, Presvytera Margaret, served faithfully by his side at our parish.
"Byzantine music was the most consistent soundtrack of my childhood – though I didn’t fully appreciate it at the time. When I was in grade school, Dino Mendrinos (who would later become Fr. Konstantine) taught the Youth of St. George group the hymns of the Liturgy during Friday afternoon sessions at the church. In my middle school years, I distinctly remember being rounded up, along with 4 other reluctant singers, by our very passionate choir director, Dr. George Tzanakos, to sing the hymns of the liturgy in the choir loft, while our friends were happily running around and scarfing down donuts. During my teenage years, my father would quietly sing the Paraklesis to himself as he drove me around – while I listened to whatever was playing on top-40 radio. I have many other memories of him chanting the Paraklesis in the background in front of our home iconostasios, while I did my homework or chatted on the phone to my friends just a few feet away (it was, after all, the only room upstairs with a phone.)
"Twenty years later, when my children were 10, 7, 4 and 1, I worried that they would grow up without learning and connecting to the hymns of our church. While I was a perpetual singer and a serial member of singing groups, I had no experience directing and little formal music training. I certainly didn’t feel qualified to direct a youth choir, but there didn’t seem to be another way to pass on this beautiful tradition to my children and their friends. Through God’s grace, I was able to direct a youth choir at my church of St. Paraskevi in Greenlawn, NY as my children grew up. Sure enough, I became Dr. Tzanakos, chasing the reluctant children and their parents during coffee hour, and trying to find ways to eke a little practice into everyone’s overscheduled lives. Today the teenagers who began singing with me a decade ago beautifully sing the Liturgy together every Saturday of Lazarus and Palm Sunday, accompanied by a young man from our parish playing keyboard. No matter how tired, distracted or overworked I might be feeling when we begin, whenever I hear them singing together, it fills me with joy and hope."
Axia!
Last year, our Woman of the Week, Katherine Demacopoulos, took over an important ministry from her late mother:
"In addition to serving the parish of St. George, my parents also dedicated their lives to serving as national chairpersons of the St. John Chrysostom National Oratorical Festival. For my mother, in particular, the Oratorical Festival was truly a passion project. She served faithfully in this role for 33 consecutive years, growing it from a fledgling program in the mid-1980s, to a program with more than 200 parishes participating across the United States.
"For those who are unfamiliar, the Oratorical Festival is a religious public speaking program of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese for students in grades 7 through 12, with parish, district, metropolis and national festivals. The national festival itself is a particularly exciting affair for the 18 students from across the country who come together to celebrate a weekend of fellowship and festivities in a different city every year.
"My mother loved getting to know the families each year at the national festival and she loved working in close partnership with the national host committees. I was always amazed by her ability to remember not only the speakers, but also the topics they spoke about, from every previous festival. As the years went on, my mother would meet adults who participated in their youth and credited the program for instilling a love of public speaking, or with sparking an interest that influenced their career choice or with helping them discover and learn more about their faith. Many of these parents now encourage their own children to participate – which, believe me, requires pushing, cajoling and convincing, given the busy lives students lead. But students who are convinced to participate once often want to do so again.
"When my mother passed away in August of 2018, I was given the opportunity to step into her shoes and serve as national chairperson. I felt very closely connected to her as I dove into her meticulously-kept files and worked with the local host committee to plan a beautiful event at Archangel Michael church in Port Washington, NY. This year will be my second year serving in this capacity, and I pray the Oratorical Festival will bless my life for many years to come the way it did my mother’s. She gained as much as she gave to the Oratorical Festival, building relationships with faithful and passionate Orthodox leaders and families that lasted her entire life. "
For more on this year’s Oratorical Festival: https://www.goarch.org/-/2020-st-john-chrysostom-oratorical…
We asked Katherine Demacopoulos, as always, about her morning routine:
"My mornings have always been a little frantic. As a teenager, I’d sleep in as long as I could and then race to get ready as quickly as possible (this was in New Jersey in the 80s, so there was lots of makeup and hairspray involved) and then, most often, race out the door without any breakfast, much to my parents’ chagrin. Thirty years and 4 children later, I wish I could say things have changed, but alas they have not. Today’s version looks something like this: snooze at 5:50, wake at 6, wash / brush / dress / primp / kiss kids / grab lunch from fridge / search for phone or purse / grab work things / race to car / catch 6:56 or 7:03 or 7:10 train to NYC, depending on the traffic.
"After the company I worked for on Long Island for 16+ years was acquired and the entire marketing team laid off, the next job I found requires me to work in NYC 3 to 4 days a week. Not going to lie, I dreaded this part of my new job. But 7 months in, I’ve found that there is a lot about my commute and my new job’s location that I have come to appreciate. The hour-long ride on the train gives me some forced sit-still time to catch up with my fellow-commuter next-door-neighbor, a little work or some reading. I love the vibe of NYC. Rather than taking the subway, I walk the mile from Penn Station to my office near Grand Central and I appreciate the exercise, the fresh air, and the thinking time."
Thank you, Katherine!
