Today we visited the St. Garabet Armenian Apostolic Church in the Armenian neighbourhood “Dourgouti” in Neos Kosmos, Athens. We thought that the best way to gain insight into the Armenian community was to visit the place where its heart beats, which is no other than their church, since Armenians are devoutly religious. Little did we know, however, that this visit would turn out to be one of the most meaningful and rewarding experiences that we’ve had in a long time.

When we arrived at the church, we were greeted with genuine cordiality and delight by all the members, who seemed really touched by our interest in learning more about the Armenian community. Before long, it was time for the Sunday service, which was quite different from the one that is held in the Greek church. Unlike the Greek church, where the priest sings by himself and a couple of intoners, the audience in the Armenian church were actively involved in the process and they sang along with the priest. We were absolutely mesmerised by two female volunteers, whose angelic voices made our souls feel at peace. Another difference that we noticed was that they made the sign of the cross only once, starting from the left side, whereas in the Greek church we cross ourselves three times, starting from the right side.

Once the liturgy was over, Father Nareg invited us to stay for a coffee and gave us some delicious treats too. While we were waiting for him, we talked with several people who were eager to get to know us better, so we explained our Armenian roots by referring to our grandpa Horen and our mothers Varvara and Irine. They couldn’t hide their excitement, since there were no other children our age in the church. We met Nairi, who is an English teacher, Artin, who is a musician, Taline who is a doctor, and Areg. They all opened their hearts and shared stories about their ancestors and their personal life paths. We felt such gratitude and pride for being there around all these wonderful people.

As time went by, we started to realise that learning the Armenian language would allow us to appreciate the Armenian culture and our roots even more. We expressed this thought to Father Nareg, whose advice was that it’s never too late to start learning a new language. He also explained that this would help us interact with more people from our community and create close bonds with them. Before leaving, we asked Father Nareg about how we could contribute to the church and the community in general, because we really felt that this was the least we could do to show them our appreciation. He promised to think about it and get in touch if anything comes up. After all, it was a wonderful Sunday morning that sparked lots of thoughts and feelings to both of us.