TWO PARISHES JOIN TOGETHER TO HOST PICNIC FOR FOURTH YEAR
Eagle-Tribune MA
Sept 3 2012
St. Michael, St. Gregory to host festivities on Common
By Paul Tennant [email protected]
NORTH ANDOVER – St. Michael Catholic and St. Gregory Armenian Apostolic
churches have a lot in common.
Besides being adjacent to each other on Main Street, in the heart of
downtown North Andover, these two churches are made up of parishioners
whose ancestors left their homelands and immigrated to the United
States to escape oppression.
Most if not all of the parishioners of St. Gregory have family members
who were killed in the genocide of 1915, during which an estimated
1.5 million Armenians were slaughtered by the Ottoman Empire.
Many of St. Michael’s parishioners are the descendants of Irish
immigrants, who left the Emerald Isle because of the potato famine
of 1848 or the economic deprivation imposed by Britain.
St. Michael and St. Gregory churches are both committed to the
teachings of Jesus Christ and exude a love of Christian charity and
liturgy. And for the last few years, these two vibrant parishes have
joined their talents and energies to organize a huge picnic.
This year’s joint St. Gregory-St. Michael picnic will take place
Sunday, from 1 to 6 p.m., on the spacious North Andover Town Common.
This is the fourth year the two neighboring churches have organized
this event and the partnership has proved so successful that officials
from both churches decided to continue the effort.
The congregations will offer separate food venues and collaborate in
other ways. St. Gregory’s menu will include shish, losh and chicken
kebab, along with rice pilaf, salad and Armenian pastries. Other
Armenian delicacies like kheyma dinners will also be served.
St. Michael’s will offer hamburgers, hot dogs, pasta salad, slush
and American pastries. Armenian-American music and dancing will be
featured, along with games and activities for the entire family. A
disc jockey will also provide entertainment.
The Rev. Kevin Deeley, St. Michael’s new pastor, is expected to
celebrate an outdoor Mass on the Common at noon.
In case the weather refuses to cooperate, the festivities will
be held indoors at St. Michael Church. For more information, call
978-686-4050 or visit Saint-Michael.org; or call 978-685-5038 or
visit
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
