Assyrian local feast, vivid color on variegated land of Iran

“The feast contains some parts including praying, Comunnion and then the cooked votive meat is distributed between the participants,” says Orumiyeh’s St. Mary Church Priest Dariavoush Azizian.

It is said that St. Mary Church used to be a fire-temple for Zoroastrians, but by the birth time of Christ, Zoroastrian priests observe an illuminating star moving toward the east and consider it as the sign of the promised messiah and head to Jerusalem. Upon returning, they convert to Christianity and change the place into a church.

Celebrating the feast dates back to the time of the church construction, Azizian said.

“Many of the Assyrians of Iran who have immigrated to other countries travel to Orumiyeh to take part in the feast,” he said.

West Azarbaijan Province has been a cradle for the Assyrians of Iran, their presence in Persia (Iran) dates back to almost 4,000 years ago, since ancient time and Assyria has been directly involved in the history of Iran.

Azizian also pointed out that many Assyrians of Iran, currently residing in other countries, have participated in the feast addng that they have celebrated one of the feasts in a thousand-year church in a village in Orumiyeh.

Mar Daniel Church in Adeh, a village in Nazlu District, Orumiyeh, hosted this year’s feast of martyrs and patron saints on Sunday night, July 23. This church, made up of grainy sedimentary rocks, dates back to Sassanid era (224-651 AD) and is considered one of the ancient churches in Iran.

Although, with regard to the Assyrians’ various local feasts and festivals, the celebrations are essentially religious, they may include elements of national and traditional origin. Most of the days which Assyrian commemorate have been named after Christian Assyrian saints and martyrs and serve as patron saint days, which are occasions for joyful celebration and feasting.

The priest continued to say that the feast is simultaneously celebrated in Iraq and all other countries following the Assyrian Church of the East.

Most Assyrians in Iran are followers of the Assyrian Church of the East, with some minorities following the Chaldean Catholic Church.

Iranian Assyrians, an ethno-religious and linguistic minority in present-day Iran, share a common history and ethnic identity, rooted in shared linguistic, cultural and religious traditions, with Assyrians in Iraq, Turkey and Syria.

Jacques Betkolia, a member of the Assyrian Society of Orumiyeh, believes that the feast has spiritual and social aspects.

“The spiritual aspect includes praying, votive offerings and sacrificing, but the social aspect of the event which happens in the evening of the day is that the Assyrians gather together to see each other; …it is a good opportunity to consult and look for solutions about the Assyrian Community deficiencies,” Betkolia said.

“The feast has always been celebrated since the establishment of the churches and it is still being celebrated…,” Betkolia added.

“Some of the churches are about 400 or 500 years old and this feast has been celebrated with complete freedom in the Islamic Republic,” he stressed.

After Persian Constitutional Revolution, upon formation of National Consultative Assembly, Representatives were also appointed for religious minorities in the Persian Constitution of 1906 including one MP for Assyrians and Chaldeans. This remained in the Constitution as a principle even after Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution.

The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, ratified in 1979, recognizes Assyrians as a religious and ethnic minority and reserves for them one seat in the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Majlis), the Iranian parliament. Yonathan Betkolia, who was elected as the MP in the Islamic Republic Parliament (Majlis) several times, is a significant Assyrian figure in Iran.

Minority religion and ethnic groups in Iran add color to the life of Iranians and the land of Iran and they have always been free to perform their rituals and had the complete right as an Iranian citizen.

As a brazen instance of the minorities living in complete freedom and even their support for the establishment, it can be referred to the recent presidential election (May 19) and the significant attendance of the Iranians including the Zoroastrians, Jews, Assyrians, Armenians, etc.

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