Love-Filled 65th Anniversary!
On Sunday, November 19, over 230 parishioners celebrated the Armenian Church of the Holy Martyrs 65th Anniversary with a festive fellowship, following Divine Liturgy. The lunch was organized by a team of volunteers who decorated the auditorium with a Thanksgiving gratitude theme; prepared “Hye Gobbler” and ham & cheese sandwiches; donated side salads and desserts; and yalanchi prepared by Cooking in the Khohanotz participants.
The Lousaper Youth Choir set the tone by singing “Hey Jan Ghapama” while parishioners representing the Parish Council, Choir, Woman’s Guild, ACYOA, and Basketball danced in the center aisle with four pumpkins stuffed with rice and dried fruit, lovingly prepared by Armenuhi Bagdasarian.
Fr. Abraham offered some opening remarks and then asked Fr. Arshen Aivazian, who was the guest celebrant and homilist, to offer the opening prayer. Together they lit the sparkling candles on the anniversary cake to officially commence the program.
Welcoming all parishioners to the fellowship was Donna Sirounian, PC Member, who also greeted Fr. Abraham & Yn. Karine Malkhasyan, Fr. Arshen & Yn. Sirarpi Aivazian, Yn. Yefkin Megherian, our oldest Holy Martyrs founding parishioner at 99 years old, and Dn. Ardashes Nishanian, who is also 99 years old and two months younger than Yn. Yefkin.
“We are a diverse parish with members who come from all over the world, and each Sunday we travel here from across New York City and Long Island. We represent many interests and perspectives … but we are all Armenian Christians. Remember this JOY today. THIS is a true Christian Spirit!” shared Donna.
Parishioners who were descendants of the Holy Martyrs Founders were asked to stand so everyone could recognize their legacy, as well as anyone who has served on Parish Council, Women’s Guild, Altar, sang in the Choir, attended Sunday School, Armenian Language Day School, Holy Martyrs Armenian Day School, ACYOA, and Basketball Sports Program, stood to show how they have been involved in the parish over the past 65 years. There were rounds of applause as each parishioner proudly stood.
Dr. Arthur Asadorian then introduced a Pomegranate Fundraiser to raise needed funds for the forcedly displaced Armenians from Artsakh and shared that all money raised will be matched and donated to the Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR). Beautiful pomegranate ornaments, lovingly prepared and donated by Lynn Jamie, who gift wrapped them with a team of volunteers, and includes an Armenian tricolor ribbon lapel pin donated by Martha Derderian, are available for sale through December in the church vestibule and events. Pomegranates have a suggested donation of $20 each. Donations can also be made for just the tricolor lapel pin to bring awareness about what has happened to Artsakh.
A new parish logo was unveiled for all to see, a gift for the entire parish on our 65th Anniversary. “We have never had a logo but have always represented our parish with a rendition of our church or its steeple. So we thought it was time to make something old, new again,” stated Donna Sirounian. She then explained that the carving above our sanctuary’s golden front doors, a symbol of faith chosen by our church fathers in 1958, has been selected as our new church logo with a few modern twists.
The end of the program was the icing on the cake with all three schools performing for the audience. With angelic voices, students in the HMADS and HMALS jointly performed “Mangoutioon”, followed by the Language School performing “Dzayn muh Huntchetz," Then Lousaper sang a touching Thanksgiving song and the Sunday School ended with a homemade prayer written by the students. There was also a brief Sunday School trivia segment emceed by two upcoming 2024 Sunday School graduates Shant Andonian and Lucine Ciamcian.
The afternoon ended with all the students leading the entire room in singing the Hayr Mer. Fr. Abraham shared some closing remarks and ended with a prayer.
Please click here to view the photos.
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