For the Armenians

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This khachkar cross-stone in Jerusalem's Old City  recalls the Armenian genocide, a painful and complex chapter of history still waiting for wider recognition.

Yesterday, after prayer, eighteen Jerusalem churches rang their bells one hundred times to mark the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the genocide.
Today, after a memorial Mass at St. James, wreaths were laid at the monastery in the Armenian Quarter.
At noon there were demonstrations at the Turkish consulate in Jerusalem and at the Turkish embassy in Tel Aviv.
In the afternoon all the Patriarchs of Jerusalem gathered at the Holy Sepulchre for a memorial Mass.

In Armenia one and a half million victims were yesterday canonized.
There is also a  video of today's ceremony at the monument in Yerevan, Armenia, to which Israel sent an official delegation of several Knesset members.
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For more about Armenian Christians in Jerusalem see my earlier posts.
May justice be done, as we remember this tragedy.
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To learn more:
 http://www.timesofisrael.com/imploring-for-recognition-jerusalems-armenians-to-mark-100th-anniversary-of-genocide/

 http://www.newsweek.com/souls-vanished-armenian-genocide-1915-and-so-did-stories-323851

Video of "Face the Shadow," Armenia's 2015 song for the Eurovision contest.
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For the Armenians

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In honor of this day, let's visit the Catholic church of the Armenian rite located in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City.

This khachkar, or stone-cross, greets you in the courtyard.
Yes, today, April 24, is the Armenian Genocide Commemoration Day.

I read on an Armenian website that "A liturgy for the Armenian Genocide victims will take place in Armenian churches of Israel and Jerusalem Patriarchate of the Armenian Apostolic Church on April 24. The liturgy will bring together Israeli Knesset and government members, as well as representatives of the Armenian community of Jerusalem."

The main altar.

Down in the crypt everything is darker.

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This, the 4th Station of the Cross on the Via Dolorosa, commemorates where Mary saw Jesus passing with his cross.

The tradition is that Mary fainted or swooned or expressed her sorrow with convulsions of grief, hence the name of the churches that have stood on this spot since at least the Middle Ages: the Church of Our Lady of the Spasm.

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A solitary nun sat in silent contemplation in the small glassed-in modern chapel in the crypt.

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Whatever the historical facts and numbers of victims really are, may God bless the Armenian people, who carry their painful memory like a heavy cross, unacknowledged by many countries.

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UPDATE: Nestor at "Every day is a holiday" has posted a short thoughtful history of the events.
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Trees of life

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On this day many Christians celebrate what is called in Greek Ὕψωσις τοῦ Τιμίου Σταυροῦ (literally, "Raising Aloft of the Precious Cross"). I've also heard it called The Exaltation of the Life-Giving Cross. It is all too much for me, as a Jew, to understand.
But I must admit I was surprised and pleased to see this first cross pictured below as a tree of life, blossoming and rooted in the earth! Life-giving.

In Judaism, the Torah is our tree of life. In the synagogue service we hold the Torah scroll and sing "Ets chaim hee..., It is a tree of life to those that hold fast to her."

Khachkars, or cross-stones, have been made in Armenia for over a thousand years. The cross-tree khachkar is a model of the of the Armenians' concept of the world during the Middle Ages.
The idea is explained well at the Khachkar website.


The khachkars above are in the wall outside St. James church in the Armenian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem.

This cross-stone is in the courtyard of the Armenian Catholic church on the other side of the Old City. It recalls the Armenian genocide, a painful and complex chapter of history still waiting for recognition.
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UPDATE Aug. 2016: More about khachkars and other things Armenian here:
https://auroraprize.com/en/armenia/detail/7447/10-ways-to-recognize-armenia-when-you-see-it
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UPDATE June 2017: About a medieval cemetery in Armenia:  https://www.thevintagenews.com/2017/06/21/armenian-cemetery-has-worlds-largest-collection-of-khachkars-stone-crosses-that-protect-the-soul/
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