After restoration, the oldest church in Qamishli city hold the first divine requiem

His Eminence the Sovereign Pontiff Mar Maurice Amseeh held a requiem in the church of St. Jacob al-Nuseibini in the city of Qamishli on Friday evening, which is the oldest and first church in the city.

The requiem was held for the first time after the restoration of the church, as hundreds of the city’s people and priests of various Christian Syriac, Armenian and Chaldean have attended. 

The brass band participated in the Fourth Scout Regiment of the Syriac Orthodox, playing hymns and ecclesiastical pieces of music on the occasion of the opening.

Moreover, the newly appointed deputy of the Armenian Orthodox bishop of al-Jazira and Euphrates diocese, Levon Yegyayan told -Press that he was pleased to participate in this celebration with his “Syriac brothers with the special Divine Requiem of the opening of the Church of St. Jacob al-Nuseibini.” 

The deputy bishop, who comes from the city of al-Yacoubia near Idlib governorate, said that he had heard a lot about the people of Qamishli and the love and unity among them, saying: “But being in this city and living among its people clarifies the picture and makes it more realistic.”

The deputy bishop of the Armenian Orthodox of al-Jazira and Euphrates Diocese described the community of the city of Qamishli as “clean and pure society”. 

Yagyayan also expressed his happiness for his attendance at the meeting among the Christian clergy of different sects on this occasion, pointing out that this is the first time that he meets all the clergies of all sects and races in the city of Qamishli.
“We may be from different denominations and churches, but we forget this difference when we meet with each other, because we form one church headed by Jesus,” he added. 

Regarding the process of restoration which the church has undergone during the last period, Rami Chamoun, a deacon and a dean of the Fourth Scout Regiment of the Syriac Orthodox said: “The celebration comes after months of work on the restoration of this church, which is the oldest church in the city of Qamishli, where it has been opened for nearly 90 years.”

Deacon Chamoun, who has been working in the church since 1985, added that over the past years there have been many “miracles which have happened in this church, such as healing sick people, as people come to be blessed in this church,” as he said.

Through North-Press, the Deacon sent a message of peace and love to all Syrian people, with all its components of Christians, Kurds and Arabs, “and he asked St. Jacob al-Nuseibni to share his prayers with all of the people in this blessed day.”
In her turn, the lawyer Antoinette Ardesh, who attended the opening, told North-Press that they have gathered “to attend the Divine Requiem, in which all the Christian clergy were invited, including the priests of all Syriac churches and other churches in the city.” 

Ardesh said that this is “a day of happiness”, marking the completion of restoration and maintenance work at the Church of St. Jacob al-Nuseibini, adding: “We as Christians will stay in our city, as we are rebuilding our churches to staying,” she said. 

It is noteworthy that the Church of St. Jacob al-Nuseibini was opened in 1927 as the first church built in the city of Qamishli, and had this name after the name of the church of the same saint in the city of Nuseibin in Turkey, and many priests have consecrated it. its current priest is Padre Chamoun Ibrahim, who has been serving this church since 1985, the church is located in the middle of the main street in Qamishli market.