WORCESTER — Armenian-American residents of Worcester County, which is the oldest Armenian community in the US, held a series of united events to mark the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
On April 24, people from all the churches and their respective clergy met at the outdoor Armenian Khachkar Monument on the lawn of the Armenian Church of Our Saviour, the first Armenian Apostolic church in America.
Rev. Tadeos Barseghyan of the church, joined by Rev. Ardag Arabian of Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church of Worcester, Rev. Mikael Der Kosrofian from Holy Mother of God Armenian Apostolic Church of Whitinsville, MA, along with Rev. Avedis Boynerian, held a Prayer Service for the Holy Martyrs of the Armenian Genocide of 1915.
As traffic hummed in the background and drivers turned their heads to watch, parishioners from all the churches prayed and sang for their lost ancestors and renewed their faith in the Armenian Churches and in the hopes that someday earthly justice would be achieved for their families and heritage, especially for those who recently were ethnically cleansed from Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) by Azerbaijan.
Throughout the week Armenian Genocide memorial anniversary events took place at the other locations throughout the city of Worcester. Many of the attendees left the ceremony to view film, “Invisible Republic,” by Garin Hovanessian, about the 2020 war in Karabakh, and one young journalist’s story about life and death under bombardment in 2020, showing at Worcester State University.
