Photo credits: Edmund Nasr
On Sunday, January 4th, the Sts. Vartanantz Church Mourad Armenian School of Providence gathered along with the church community and families to celebrate the Armenian Christmas. Before the celebration, students and family members attended the Divine Liturgy and received Holy Communion at Sts. Vartanantz Church.
More than 130 guests, including Der Kapriel Nazarian and Yeretzgeen Debra, Verabadveli Hagop Manjelikian and Pampish Gohar, Sts. Vartanantz Church Board of Trustees members, representatives of the Armenian organizations, families and friends, made their way to Aramian Auditorium and Fermanian Hall for the traditional Armenian Christmas Celebration. In her opening remarks, principal Mrs. Lala Attarian welcomed and thanked everyone for supporting the school, and she commended the students and teachers for their dedication. She thanked the parent-teacher organization (PTO), for their dedicated work in ensuring the success of this event and the Sts. Vartanantz Church Ladies Guild and Men’s Club for preparing the delicious meal.
In her remarks, Attarian mentioned that the devoted staff have undertaken the big responsibility of enriching the young students with our culture and language. “While we currently face numerous obstacles, our religious and national values are constantly being attacked, now is the time to protect our faith, culture and traditions by preparing strong and resilient generations of Armenians. Whenever there is will and hard work, there are results and continuity, and our students are the proof of that”, concluded Attarian.
Archdeacon Hagop Khatchadourian was invited for the opening prayer, as Der Kapriel had other obligations at the start of the event.
Hagop Khatchadourian, Chair of Mourad School Committee delivered his message to the audience. He reflected on His Holiness Aram Vehapar’s proclamation of 2026 as the “Year of Renewal of Spiritual Life” as well as His New Year’s Message. “Aram Vehapar described the New Year as an invitation for personal and collective renewal through God’s grace. He prayed for the dissipation of the “dark clouds” over the life of the Armenian people, particularly in Armenia, and for a year filled with brotherly love, national and universal values, success, and peace for all Armenians worldwide. Invigorated by Aram Vehapar’s 2026 proclamation and his New Year’s messages, let’s all come together with one accord, with Providential and unified efforts, full of Renewed Spiritual Life, in Faith, Hope and Love, to enrich our lives here in Providence, revitalize our commitment to serve and prepare our children to carry on the torch for the future generations, starting with our Mourad Armenian School”, stated Khatchadourian. In conclusion, he thanked Der Hayr, the Board of Trustees, the Armenian Relief Society and Ararat Association for their support and donations towards the school.
Following Mr. Khatchadourian’s remarks, the students began their performance. Along with the national anthem of Armenia, they excitedly sang Togh Meeshd Bandza, Soorp Asdvadz, Loor Kisher, and other Christmas songs, under the direction of the music teacher, Baron Raffi Rachdouni. Solo and duet songs were performed by Liliana Zeytounian, Juliana Dedeyan and Daron Tarbinian. Third to fifth grade students recited Christmas poems after which students and guests welcomed Gaghant Baba who had a bag full of gifts prepared by the PTO for our students, teachers and young guests!
The event concluded with Der Kapriel’s appreciative remarks and the closing prayer. Der Kapriel emphasized the importance of faith and church in our lives as individuals and as a nation.
The raffle tickets were drawn at the end of the event and everyone, winners or not, left with big smiles!
Special thanks to the PTO members Ani Dedeyan, Alenoush Hagopian, Sonia Nasr and Melanie Zeitounian, and Committee liaison Manoushak Krikorian, for organizing this memorable event. We thank the Sts. Vartanantz Church Ladies Guild and Men’s Club for their help in prepping and cooking for our guests and students. Special thanks to Edmund Nasr for capturing the beautiful moments and to all who volunteered to help.
We thank the following establishments and individuals for their generous donations: Shore’s Market, Touch Nails, Latte Love, Mrs. Maggie Nalbandian, Virginia and Spanish Peanut Company, Garden City Nail Spa, Yanna Yim Salon.
We are grateful to our teachers for their dedication and hard work: Maggie Nalbandian, Zepur Donoyan, Talar Restikian, Menar Tarbinian, Ida Arslanian, Araksi Sarkisian, Nora Tarbinian, Arpi Donoyan, Meghri Janigian, Anna Gevorkian, Raffi Rachdouni, and our teacher’s aides Garo Tarbinian, Nadia Keshijian and Sareen Khatchadourian.
