BOSTON — The annual Greek Festival of Saint Athanasius Greek Orthodox Church in Arlington, Massachusetts, was held with great success beneath the enormous white tent erected across the parish parking lot. Many visitors also gathered inside the community hall to enjoy traditional Greek foods, pastries, and hospitality.
Dozens of volunteers worked for weeks preparing and operating the four-day festival, including many young people who assisted with everything from serving food to cleaning tables. The festival and its proceeds play an important role in supporting the parish and its ministries.
The festival is considered one of the area’s most popular annual events, attracting Greek-Americans and non-Greek visitors alike from Arlington and neighboring communities, including Cambridge, Somerville, Watertown, Lexington, Woburn, Lowell, and even parts of New Hampshire. Attendance reaches many hundreds, if not thousands, who come to enjoy the food, music, dancing, and festive atmosphere.
As he does each year, Metropolitan Methodios of Boston visited the festival and was welcomed by parish leaders headed by Parish Council President Stephen Bouboulis and the presiding priest, Protopresbyter Robert Arhon.
The president of the Parish Council of Saint Athanasios in Arlington, Massachusetts, Stephanos Bouboulis, gives Metropolitan Methodios a tour of the Greek festival. PHOTO: METROPOLIS OF BOSTON
Metropolitan Methodios told The National Herald that “I was pleased to see this success and the spirit of philotimo among the members of the community, who work tirelessly for Saint Athanasius.”
He also said, “I try to come every year, but I also attend as many other community festivals as I can.”
The Metropolitan further noted that “the Saint Athanasius community is made up of faithful and devoted people, good family-oriented individuals.”
He added, “I was pleased to see so many young people participating and contributing to the festival and, more generally, to the life of the community.”
According to the parish history, written by George Makrides and posted on the community’s website, Saint Athanasius traces its origins to the 1940s and 1950s, when many first-generation Greek-American Orthodox families began settling in Arlington after leaving nearby communities such as Somerville, Boston, Watertown, and Cambridge.
Members of the Parish Council and festival volunteers of the Saint Athanasios community in Arlington. PHOTO: METROPOLIS OF BOSTON
As their families grew, traveling back to their original parishes became increasingly difficult, particularly for Greek afternoon school classes and other parish activities. In the early 1960s, local residents began exploring the possibility of establishing a Greek Orthodox parish in Arlington.
Their efforts came to fruition on September 9, 1964, when, through the faith, sacrifices, and financial support of parishioners, the future church of Saint Athanasius was purchased at 735 Massachusetts Avenue.
Over the following decades, the parish experienced remarkable growth—approximately 600 percent—and eventually outgrew its original church building. Because expansion was not practical, parish leaders and faithful began searching for a larger facility that could accommodate the needs of the growing community.
Metropolitan Methodios blesses the young child of a parish couple from the Saint Athanasios community of Arlington during the Greek festival. PHOTO: METROPOLIS OF BOSTON
That opportunity arose when the former Roman Catholic Church of Saint James the Apostle became available. Despite the significant financial challenges involved, the parishioners of Saint Athanasius moved forward with confidence and ultimately acquired the church complex.
The final Divine Liturgy at the original church on Massachusetts Avenue was celebrated on November 27, 2005, marking the end of one chapter in the parish’s history. Ten days earlier, however, oΑwnership of the new church at 4 Appleton Street had already been transferred to the Saint Athanasius community.
When the first services were celebrated there on December 3, 2005, a renewed spirit spread throughout the parish—one that, according to parish leaders, continues to this day.
