Pastor G's Sabbatical: A Closer Look at the Greek Catholic Wooden Churches

May 2nd
     I thought that I should sit down while the experiences with the Greek Catholic Wooden Churches are still fresh in my mind and write down things that might help others to better understand, and for me to better remember, some of the more in-depth information.
     One of the things that has impressed me in my visitations of these Wooden Churches of Northeastern Slovakia is the simple fact that no two are the same. The question comes....why? Being an "eyeball builder", each of the seven boats I've built are built by "eyeball" with no plan, no two the same, different materials based upon what I have on hand and different colors to suit my mood. Over the period of time these churches were built, late 1600's to early 1900's, many different people with many different skills and ideas created these churches without plan and in the image of their idea. Wood was plentiful, they were skilled with wood, hence the wood construction. One of the things that is striking about the various designs is that all of them show a great deal of attention to shedding rain and snow with protective miniature roofs covering even the edge of the foundations.
     Technically, most of the churches we have viewed to date fall into what is called the "Lemko" style of architecture. Lemko is the name given to the Slavic group that early on inhabited this mountainous border region. They are typified by a three part construction with the three domes going east to west, with the highest dome in the west. This high dome defines the entrance area, or , as we call it, the narthex. The center dome, covering the center part of the structure, is the nave, and that has in some ways changed in use over time. The small dome over the third part of the church covers the altar area. One question that I have, and have yet to find the answer, is why the churches on the Polish border, or northern area, typically have three domes, while the ones on the Ukraine border mostly have tow domes? It is very obvious in observing the absolutely unique design of the churches and a beauty not replicated anywhere, that the men who built them were men blessed by a vision from God.
     I suppose that being somewhat timid in our approach to the expedition into these tiny places has inhibited our ability to see the insides of these churches. I just can't explain to you how we felt. I will simply describe it in this way: You come around a corner and you find yourself in this tiny village, no sidewalks, no right of way, very little room between the car and the houses you are passing, people working right beside the road, people walking in the road, perhaps a tractor or a horse drawn wagon in the road and folks looking at those strange (remember the French license plates?) people coming through their village, and finally you must walk between their houses, in many cases, to get up the hill to their beloved church. Do you have the picture? As a result, we have very few interior pictures of these churches. They are all locked for good reason; they are a repository for absolutely priceless religious objects that have been in their church for, in some cases, hundreds of years. Having been in a few, I can tell you that the iconostasis wall that separates the nave from the altar area usually contains a great number of icons. The iconostasis typically has three doors with the center door being for the priest and it is called the royal door. The iconostasis itself contains four levels of icons, or religious paintings. We begin at the bottom, or the first row called the local row. In this row are found Jesus on the right of the royal door and Mary on the left. On either side of them are usually St. Nicholas and the patron saint of the particular church. The next level is the festival level with paintings, or icons, of church festivals. The third row is referred to as the Deesis row and contains the icons of the twelve apostles. The top row, called the upper row, is reserved for the Old Testament prophets. Symbolism and iconography are a very important part of the Greek Catholic tradition, coming mostly out of the Byzantine heritage. Many of us have visited various orthodox churches, and whether Greek, Russian, Assyrian or Eastern, they all have these interior furnishings or holy objects. What is unique about the churches we visited is that they are so small and yet manage to wedge in an amazing number of objects. Many of these icons have a history of several hundred years. Most are original, some have been restored, but the commonality is color, vibrant color with a lot of red and gold. The depictions run the gamut of Biblical history but seem to focus on Jesus, Mary and the apostles, with quite an array of sainted bishops and archbishops. It is, in fact, a thing of beauty even though to our Lutheran eye it tends to diinish our focus on the Word.
     The construction methodology of the churches differs a bit from place to place, but they all exhibit a construction which has been able to withstand all the elements for centuries. We start at the roof. The roofs all have a steep pitch which adds considerable strength and load bearing capability as well as shedding weather. The steep roof, coming in some cases almost to the ground, also acts as a foil in the wind. The roofs are predominately shake or shingle with some lapped as we lap them. Others lap one over the other on the vertical edge and yet others are dovetailed into the next on the vertical edge. These roofs, and on some of these churches are many, are supported by a rafter system which, in turn, is held up by columnar wall construction in the towers. The three major sections are woven in various styles of horizontal log construction. The logs are hewn somewhat square and the corners are made using what I call Russian dovetail. A bit of exterior bracing is seen, particularly on overhangs. Inside, mainly in the towers, cross-bracing is used. The design of the foundations would indicate that these builders were well aware of the erosive powers of water. The foundations are mostly stone, fitted and laid flat. Another of my unanswered questions is "how in the world did they make the onion domes?" And then they shingle them! You probably will notice the two or three crosses on top. They are made of steel and are great lightening conductors, hence the wires that run from cross to ground.
     My mind is awhirl and my heart is warm, Jesus is Lord and I have been so blessed! While we certainly do not ascribe to all of the doctrine, we do ascribe to giving all glory to God, and these men and women of the Eastern Carpathians have certainly done that as they have raised up these places of worship with their own hands to the glory of God. I hope you, too, are blessed.