Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Chur

Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church

Mary Chakales

Title	Mary Chakales Oral History
Creator	Interviewer: Calan Halford
Subject LCSH	Chakales, Mary Asheville (N.C.) -- History Greek Orthodox Church -- History Greek Orthodoxy -- traditions Greek Orthodoxy -- Asheville, NC Asheville (N.C.) -- History
Subject Keyword	Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church; Greek Orthodox Church ; Greek community ; Greece ; religion ; Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church
Description	Mary Chakales grew up in the Bible belt of North Carolina. Growing up, Mary, witnessed segregation, experienced prejudice, and watched as Asheville became more vibrant and interest in the arts grew.
Publisher	D. H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville, NC, 28804
Date	2009-03-10
Type	Sound; text
Format	4 page log, 50 minute cassette tape
Identifier	http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/oralhistory/GRO/chakalas_maria1.html
Source	Greek & Russian Orthodoxy Oral History Collections, Special Collections, D.H. Ramsey Library, Asheville, NC.
Language	English
Relation	Part of a series of interviews in the Greek and Russian Orthodoxy in Asheville (NC): http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/web_exhibits/greek_russian_orthodox_asheville/greek_russian_orthodox_churches.htm Russian Orthodox Church http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/web_exhibits/greek_russian_orthodox_asheville/russian_orthodox/default_russian_orthodox.htm church/default_greek_orthodox.htm
Coverage	1940s-2008
Rights	Any display, publication, or public use must credit the D.H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Asheville. Copyright retained by the authors of certain items in the collection, or their descendents, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Acquisition	Donor number: 342 ; Date of acquisition: May 2008
Processed By	Special Collections staff
Interview Date	2008-02-29
Interview Location	Mary Chakales’ office on the UNCA campus
Biography	Mary Chakales is second generation Greek. She was born in Asheville on November 24, 1946. She was married for twenty-one years and has two daughters: Catherine and Paige. She has B.A. from Meredith College, a Masters in Education from Georgia State University. Mary worked as Director of Asheville City Schools Foundation; Director of UNCA Alumni; Associate Director SAIL - Student Activities and Integrative Learning

List of Names

[1/ 1, 5, 12, 13] Chakales, Catherine

[1/ 1, 5, 12, 13] Chakales, Paige

[1/ 0] Amphissa

[1/ 4] Bethlehem

[1/ 0] Chios

[1/ 4] Holy lands

Side 1:

[0] Mary Chakales is second generation Greek-American. Her grandparents were born in Greece and her parents in the United States. Her mother’s family is from Amphissa and her father’s from Chios. Like Mary her father was born and raised in Asheville and her mother was born in Northern Virginia. Her parents met during World War II and came to live in Asheville.

[1] Mary was married twenty-one years before her husband passed away. She has two daughters and two grandsons.

[2] Mary’s husband was born in Asheville. His father was from Greece but his mother was not Greek.

[2] Mary has been to Greece four times.

[4] On one trip to Greece Mary met up with her mother and grandmother who had visited the Holy Lands in 2001. Holy lands is where Jesus was born in Bethlehem. On a trip in 2004, Mary went to Greece with UNCA students.

[4] Mary felt prejudice growing up in Asheville. Unlike other kids her age her social life revolved around the church. She attended Greek school, and dances.

[6] Growing up, Mary was shy. She was only allowed to date Greek boys but because there were no Greeks boys her own age she did not date.

[6] Like any traditional Greek child, Mary attended Greek school three days a week after regular school. She speaks and writes Greek fluently, which came in handy in college because she was able to break down the meaning of words.

[8] Being Greek Orthodox, Mary was baptized as an infant. She had no choice in being orthodox that was just the way things were. Growing up, the Greek Orthodox community in Asheville had neither regular priest nor church. They had services once a month on the second floor of a building they rented, and a community hall on the first. One of Mary’s strongest church memories is being in the kitchen making candles with her grandmother.

[9] Both Olive oil and a Martyrika are used for a baptism, a Makaria is for a funeral, and Stefana are for a wedding ceremony

[13] Mary’s favorite tradition is Easter because there is a service every night starting with Palm Sunday, and a forty day fast which they end with a midnight service followed by a traditional soup.

[15] Fasting is to remind people that Christ suffered for us and to teach humility.

[15] Greek Orthodox believe that life is a journey and that there is life after death. Feast days are the days saints joined the afterlife. Mary celebrates her feast day on August 15, because she was named after the Virgin Mary. Her daughter, Catherine Chakales, celebrates on November 25. Her younger daughter, Paige Chakales, celebrates on July 26.

[16] When baptized you are christened with a new name after a Greek saint. Even though the name is put on the birth certificate from the very beginning, traditionally parents do not call their children by their Christian name until baptism. Up until her baptism Mary was called Beba, and her brother Honey Boy, now days they do not do that.

[17] Mary enjoys sporting events, reading, walking, antiquing, auctions, and just doing things. She dislikes suspense and scary movies/books.

[19] Mary’s church is like a community. She grew up in the Greek Orthodox Church and knows everyone there, even though she spent seven years in Atlanta, from 1972 to 1979.

[19] Over the years, Mary witnessed segregation and integration. She experienced the separate entrances at the Sear’s store, and separate water fountains for whites and blacks. She watched as the city became more vibrant, and activity in the arts grew.

[20] Many things have changed in the Greek Orthodox community since Mary was a child. The services once completely Greek are now half Greek and half English. Fasting is not as important as it once was, and the last there have not been a New Year’s Eve party at the Hellenic Center like there was when she was a child.

[22] Of Mary’s two daughters only one attended Greek school. The oldest went to both Greek school and brownies. The younger was a Greek school dropout.

[23] Mary was always pressured by her family to marry Greek. She did not instill the same pressures on her daughters. Even so the youngest still ended up marrying another Greek. Mary did not push her daughters to marry Greek but she believed that marrying in the same religion was easier because they had similar beliefs and culture.

[24] One of hardest things for Mary as a teenager was not being able to date. She remembers going off to college and coming home and telling her family that she was dating a non-Greek. Her grandmother cried.

[25] Mary found the concepts of a Greek Orthodox religion to be pretty basic. Everything had a logical approach and a majority of the rules were really teaching healthy living habits.

[27] One of the most beneficial of the Greek traditions for Mary was not having a memorial service for her husband until forty days after the funeral. It helped Mary with the grieving process.

[28] During Mary’s childhood there were only seven families in the Greek Orthodox community. Most are still in Asheville and they still stick together but a lot of the older members of the church have passed on.

[28] Mary loved playing the organ in the church choir. She is involved in the Ladies of Philoptochos Society.

[29] The church was first built in the 1950’s. The Greek Orthodox Church in Asheville is currently being renovated. A side wing and dome are being added to the church. Mary hopes the church will be done in time for the luncheon on March 17.

[31] Over a hundred and fifty families have joined the congregation. Most families came after WWII and then they would bring over their family members. Up until the 1960s the church only had a visiting priest from Spartanburg so they only had church service once a month. In order to hire their own full time priest they had to raise their own money.

[33] Only men can become priests and only males can be altar boys, which Mary found to be extremely unfair when she was younger because her brother got to be up and moving around during the church service while she had to sit still. It used to be only men on the parish council but now there are women too.

[34] Orthodox means “true way.” The Orthodox services have not varied over the years. Other than the hymns and bible readings the services have remained the same.

[35] When Mary was in New York, she attended a Russian Orthodox service. She was able to follow the service completely because it was the same as the Greek Orthodox services, only the language was different.

[36] Gifts of communion is the blood and body of Christ.

[37] As a child a majority of Mary’s friends were non-Greek. She was not allowed to spend the night at other people’s houses. In high school she was to be inducted into a club where the initiation was to take place at a sleep over. So they had the sleep over at her house.

[39] End of interview