Dear Friends,

It is difficult to believe that twenty years have passed since the catastrophic earthquake, which struck the northern region of Armenia. More than 25,000 people died and some 500,000 people were left homeless after the earthquake, which measured 6.9 on the Richter scale. The earthquake caused unimaginable hardship particularly in the cities of Spitak, Leninakan (Gumri) and Kirovakan (Vanadzor).

The years between 1987 and 1991 were especially eventful in the history of our nation. During the late 1980’s the Karabagh struggle/movement took center stage for Armenians in Armenia as well as in the Diaspora. Events came to a head with the massacres in Sumgait, Azerbaijan. At the same time freedom movements were building up momentum throughout the Soviet Union.

On the first anniversary of the tragic events in Sumgait yet another tragedy shook our nation – the great earthquake of 1988. At an instant the world recognized our little known land and nations united in providing immense humanitarian aid to our suffering brothers and sisters.

I was a student at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin the following year and served as a deacon at the first Divine Liturgy celebrated in the small chapel erected in literally a few short months in the center of the cemetery in Spitak. This liturgy took place exactly nineteen years ago and the memory of it will stay with me forever. There were thousands of mourners that day, clouds of incense everywhere, and the unforgettable sounds of people wailing and musical dirges. Perhaps what struck me the most was the pictures of the earthquake victims engraved on the tombstones – faces of all ages.

That chapel was most appropriately named “Soorp Harootune” that is church of the Holy Resurrection. The message of resurrection is the only one that makes sense when pondering the magnitude of this disaster. Was it not terrible enough that our small nation experienced so much genocide in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries?

January of 1990 brought yet more sadness with anti-Armenian pograms, rape and massacre in Baku. This began a new wave of Armenian refugee movement into Russia, the United States and other places, Thanks be to God, foreign nations welcomed the refugees and local Armenian communities/churches provided aid and welcomed them as family.

This day as we remember the tragic events some twenty years ago, we give thanks to God for the many nations who came to our assistance. We are thankful that out of the tragedies, Armenian people everywhere came together and demonstrated an unprecedented unity. Out of these tragedies the free and independent republics of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabagh were born. Today not only are we called to pray for the victims of the earthquake, we also pray for those who continue to mourn the deaths of their loved ones. Lastly we pray for the growth of Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh (Artzakh) and the unity of the Armenian people everywhere.

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With prayers.
Hayr Simeon
December 7, 2008