Yesterday, Marash Girl and Marash Boy attended a joint church service held at the First Armenian Church in Belmont, a service commemorating the lives lost during the Armenian Genocide of 1915, "the 1.5 million Armenian martyrs, our forefathers' immense suffering, torture, exile, deportation and killings in the deserts of Der Zor. . ." Tears came far too easily, tears of remembrance, tears of anguish, tears of loss, tears that the passing of time could not erase.
Marash Girl was surrounded by love, by her childhood, by those people who knew and loved her and her family while she was growing up. The service was moving in the extreme, prayers and hymns beginning in the church sanctuary, the sermon by Rev. Avedis Boyherian, the music by talented musicians John Baboian and June Baboian, and prayers outdoors at the Khachkar at the front of the church followed by a time of fellowship and food (of course) in the church reception hall .
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| The caption at the base of this Khatchkar erected in the front garden of the First Armenian Church in Belmont, Massachusetts, reads, "THE ARMENIAN PEOPLE LIVE FOREVER WITH CHRIST . . . Dedicated to the Martyrs of the Armenian Genocide 1915" |
I was in Japan early April, while there I sought out and found an Armenian Khatchkar, called "Peace Khatchkar", which was installed on the grounds of Japan's International Christian University last year to mark the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. I have pictures.
ReplyDeleteIf you email me the photo, I'll post it here!
DeleteAlso see Marash Girl, Saturday, April 2, 2016, for photo of
DeleteArmenian Khachkar in Germany