Easter has come and passed. Now what?
Well, for us Armenian Orthodox Christians, the Monday after any major feast day – Easter, being the most significant of them all – is a kind of ‘Day of the Dead’ as celebrated in some Latin American cultures, though without the painted skulls and all-night camping out, etc. The term we use for it is “Merelotz.”
It is a day when families all get together to visit the graves of their dead, and priests will pray over the deceased. In olden times, people would flock to the cemeteries in the thousands, priests and deacons sought after without mercy, an all-day event. In Armenia, and some other eastern countries where the Armenian Diaspora is large, this is still largely upheld. But the U.S. is one of those countries, where, for convenience sake, it is no longer celebrated on Monday but the Sunday following (thus, we remembered Merelotz today), and a Requiem Service replaces the grave visits.
Why am I reflecting upon this? Well, a number of reasons. We are in the wake of celebrating Easter, and the message of the resurrection is quite fitting here I thought. But also because I am a traditionalist, and am always disappointed to see tradition - in this case religious tradition - modified. But I suppose, that is how the Church has survived all these years - through adaptation.
Despite my zest for maintaining tradition (much like the theme of Fiddler on the Roof, an all-time favorite of mine, as well as a cornerstone of my childhood), I have to admit that I myself have never been to the cemetery on Merelotz. But this is because I have no family members buried in this country. My roots in this country only extend back to my parents who emigrated to the U.S. So I’ve never really had the experience of visiting the grave of a family member in this sense. While I don’t look forward to the day that I will have this experience, I realized today how much more completely my life will come full circle. As much as I am conscious of death and dying, I’ve never felt my own personal loss, the loss of my own flesh and blood.
I think our day of Merelotz is a beautiful commemorative act, and I wish more Armenians remained faithful to the tradition in its original form, because I do think such acts really contribute to healing. Imagine going into a cemetery and it being flooded with people and clergy, of the air being saturated with the sound of prayers being recited and hymns being sung? Consolatory, no? If not that, then at least what a reminder it must serve of the universality of the human experience! In a world of 6 billion plus people, it can still be often quite lonely, so sometimes a little reminder such as this can be inspiration and consolation enough for us in our lives.
Comments (6)
In response to Jim, the problem with doing a memorial for the dead in the Armenian Church after Easter is that this tradition used to be done when at one point in the Armenian Church, no funerals were allowed to be done during Lent so they would have this memorial of the dead after Easter. But that tradition was changed, so funerals may be done during Lent now, and we have this extra day for the dead which is no longer needed for anything. It ought not to be there, especially since we are celebrating the Resurrection of Christ, and there is no theological reason as to why we still have this day other than mere stubbornness and disliking of change.
Posted May 6, 2008 2:16 AM
Posted on May 6, 2008 02:16
you write so beautifully.
keep going!!!
Posted April 13, 2008 9:59 AM
Posted on April 13, 2008 09:59
The three Saturdays before Lent we commerate the dead in Greek Orthodox tradition, the Saturday of Souls ending in the celebration of Lazarus' resurection. It indicates that in this world we are condemned to death but at Pascha (April 27th) we celebrate the victory over death by Christ's resurrection from the dead. Therefore, we can go to the graves and pray over the deceased proclaiming the joy of resurrection. Our whole life both before and after our death, we are on a journey to Theosis (union) with God. And Christ is our icon of that journey. We do not grieve like those who have no hope. On April 6th an Armenian priest Fr. Josseff Abdul was killed in Bagdad. He continues on his journey.
Posted April 7, 2008 10:51 AM
Posted on April 7, 2008 10:51
The three Saturdays before Lent we commerate the dead in Greek Orthodox tradition, the Saturday of Souls ending in the celebration of Lazarus' resurection. It indicates that in this world we are condemned to death but at Pascha (April 27th) we celebrate the victory over death by Christ's resurrection from the dead. Therefore, we can go to the graves and pray over the deceased proclaiming the joy of resurrection. Our whole life both before and after our death, we are on a journey to Theosis (union) with God. And Christ is our icon of that journey. We do not grieve like those who have no hope. On April 6th an Armenian priest Fr. Josseff Abdul was killed in Bagdad. He continues on his journey.
Posted April 7, 2008 10:49 AM
Posted on April 7, 2008 10:49
Interesting thoughts, thanks for sharing. I have enjoyed your posts so far about our church.
I personally have never understood why we commemorate the dead right after Pascha. Why are we commemorating the dead when Christ has just Risen from the dead, trampling down death by death?! The dead aren't dead and in their graves. They are (hopefully) in heaven with God. What is there to commemorate and mourn about? From what I have read, the service after Pascha is for bringing the good news of the Resurrection to the dead, but I don't quite understand that either because if they have fallen asleep in the Lord and are with Him, then why would we be bringing the good news to them? Our church is a living church, we do not commemorate anything or anyone. To commemorate means to celebrate something or someone that was once living and is now dead, or something from the past that is no longer here. We aren't doing any of those two things though. Holy Week is no commemoration-it is the opportunity for us to go with Jesus to the Cross and die to the world and be resurrected in a new life with Him. The Badarak is no commemoration-it is like heaven on earth because the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ is given to us to physically carry within us. Not only that but while we are praying during the Divine Liturgy, we are in the midst of thousands of angels and saints who are praying too. Few have been privileged enough to see these angels and saints though. Why do we focus so much on the dead when our church, being the precious heavenly Bride of our Lord Jesus Christ, is alive and in His care?
I suppose I should ask my Der Hayr though instead of asking you. I know that if I asked myself the same question I would have had nothing to say, unless you do in fact have something to say to me about it.
Your posts are beautiful ones. I don't know of many who love our church and pay so much attention to detail within it, during the services and everything. May God bless you and reward you for that.
Posted April 4, 2008 12:47 AM
Posted on April 4, 2008 00:47
I just love your posts...
You speak so well. Please keep it up!!
Posted April 2, 2008 11:15 PM
Posted on April 2, 2008 23:15