In a message to the faithful, Diocesan Primate Fr. Mesrop Parsamyan called on the faithful to pray for our fellow Armenians and other victims of Monday’s earthquake. Read his message here.
Prayers for Earthquake Victims
I send my blessings and warm wishes to all our faithful. I am writing to you in regard to the terrible earthquake that struck the near east early Monday.
The earthquake cut through the heart of what was once the medieval Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, affecting cities and towns that were major Armenian centers for hundreds of years, before the Genocide of our people. Memories of our ancestral cities—Adana, Dikranagert, Malatya, Aintab, Marash, and so many others—echo through the news reports and maps of the disaster zone.
Several Armenian churches are reported to have been damaged, including severe damage to the Armenian Church of the Forty Martyrs in Iskenderun.
The city of Aleppo in Syria was especially hard hit, and I understand that the Armenians of that city are enduring great suffering. May God keep them in His merciful hand.
His Holiness Karekin II, the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, has sent a message of condolence to Syria’s president and people, and we join our Catholicos in his sorrow over the losses in this disaster.
Today I sent a message of condolence to His Beatitude Archbishop Sahak II Mashalian, the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople, and spoke to Bishop Armash Nalbandian, the Primate of Syria. In both cases, I expressed the prayerful concern of the faithful of our Diocese, and our willingness to help our fellow Armenian Christians affected by this calamity.
For now, I ask all of our clergy and faithful to keep the victims of this earthquake in your prayers, and to pray especially for our Armenian brothers and sisters, alongside our dear countrymen in Artsakh and Armenia.
As was the case thirty-four years ago, when our homeland was ravaged by natural disaster, in such moments of pain the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ takes on a deeper meaning for us, as does the hopeful promise of his resurrection. May our risen Lord keep all our people in his tender mercy, now and always.
Prayerfully,
Fr. Mesrop Parsamyan
Primate
Above: The heartbreaking devestation near the earthquake epicenter.