InternationalWestern Diocese holds special service on 20th anniversary of Spitak earthquake
Good Samaritans supported
Published: Tuesday December 09, 2008 in Earthquake 20 Years On
Burbank, Calif. - Darkness shrouded the main hall of the Western Diocese. Only the ebbing light of candles provided a faint glow. The soprano sang "Der Voghormia" in plaintive supplication as the congregants, some kneeling, others with their heads bowed, offered prayers for the departed souls who had fallen victim to the devastating earthquake in Spitak 20 years ago.
The Western Diocese held the special service on December 7 to bring the community together in commemorating the worst natural disaster to hit Armenia in modern times. Deacons and priests chanted the 24 verses of "Havadov Khosdovanim" (I Confess with Faith). The verses, intended for the 24 hours of the day, were written by St. Nerses Shnorhali in the 11th century. The congregants joined the clergy to read the script in unison, as an invocation of spiritual strength in remembering the dead.
"Today we are praying for the 30,000 people who perished in the earthquake and we are also here to pray for family members and friends we have lost in our lifetimes," Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Primate, said. "Prayer is important because it allows to commune with God. Prayer comes from a powerful inner source that helps us carry on and make sense of our purpose. The significance of tonight's prayer is to give courage and support to our faithful members and keep the memory of those we have lost alive."
Archbishop Derderian, who was a priest in Toronto at the time the earthquake struck, remembers how the community quickly mobilized to respond to the disaster. The Canadian Diocese sponsored over 1,200 orphaned children and sent a large amount of medical supplies to aid earthquake survivors. When, a few months after the disaster, the clergyman went to Armenia, he was aghast to see the thousands of graves dotting the landscape in Gyumri, Spitak, and surrounding areas.
"It was just awful to see the same death date on the tombstones: December 7, 2008," he said. The Canadian Diocese continues to maintain an orphanage program today.
After the church service, congregants assembled in the Kalaydjian Hall for a modest meal of lentil soup and bread, prepared by the Diocese's Ladies' Society.
Supporting Good Samaritans
Sunday night's service was sponsored by the Western Diocese's newest humanitarian initiative, the Good Samaritan Organization, which aims to provide support to low-income families in Los Angeles and Armenia. Through monetary assistance, scholarships, and spiritual counseling, the Good Samaritan Organization hopes to help families that are overlooked by other benevolent associations.
Virjine Krboyan is the chairperson of the newly formed organization, which was the brainchild of Archbishop Derderian. "I have always had a need to help people and I feel that the Good Samaritan Organization will be an effective program that will really seek out those families that are living on the fringe of our community," Ms. Krboyan said.
With the guidance of Archbishop Derderian and parish priest Khajag Shabazyan, the 30 members of the Good Samaritan will visit households, perform home-blessing services, and provide needy families with financial assistance.
"It is very confidential," Ms. Krboyan explained. "We don't disclose the names of the families, and our prime focus is to simply help them. We go to the homes, give our contribution, then leave."
Ms. Krboyan said her desire to help intensified after the Spitak earthquake. A native of Yerevan, she had moved to the United States just a month before the earthquake struck. When she heard news of the disaster, she was devastated, especially since many of her friends had perished. At first she felt helpless, but she quickly went on to sponsor an orphan through the Armenian Missionary Association of America. Today Ms. Krboyan sponsors not only a child but an entire extended family.
Caroline and Armond Badkerhanian had brought their two sons, Zori and Zareh, to the church service. The family felt it was important to remember the departed souls and also give thanks for what the Armenian community has accomplished.
"Without remembering death, we cannot appreciate life," Mr. Badkerhanian said. He said he told his kids that the service was "not about death and destruction but the life that comes after it."
Ms. Badkerhanian, who sings in the Cathedral Choir and is a member of the Good Samaritan Organization, remembers the solemn mood that colored the family's Christmas in 1988. "We decided not to celebrate Christmas or get a tree or exchange gifts," she recalled. "That year our family, including our two older daughters, took the money that we would normally spend on gifts and contributed it to earthquake relief."
Their youngest son, Zareh, who was not yet born when the earthquake struck 20 years ago, decided to come to the church service on Sunday instead of going to a birthday party. "It is more important to come to church," he said.
