Here in the US, or particularly New Orleans, we have a last celebration before the start of the Great Lent on Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras. In Latin America, it is called Carnival and lasts for several days. Armenians call the celebration on the Sunday before the start of Lent as Poon Parigentan.
From St. Gregory’s Church in Philadelphia:
It is the last Sunday before Great Lent. It is composed of two words; Paree-Gentanootioun good living, rejoicing. Poon means the main. This points to the fact that the fasting period following Paregentan is longer than weekly Lents of other feasts, and it is tied to the main event of Christendom, the resurrection of our Lord.
The best explanation of Paregentan is from our Church father, Krigor Datevatzi. According to him, the biblical base is from the Old Testament from the life of Elijah when the Angel of the Lord tells him “Eat and drink because you will be traveling a long road (I King 19:7) In our case this long road is the 40 days of the Great Lent journey.
People would eat heriseh (a rich buttery chicken porridge), a lamb stew, or kheyma (an Armenian version of steak tartar) and drink oghi (vodka). The church website talked about a period of festivities that began from the Feast of St. Sarkis to the Sunday before Lent. The largest of these festivities were on the last Sunday.
When I was growing up, I do not recall hearing of Poon Parigentan nor do I recall having any feasts or parties either organized by the church or my family. The first I heard was when I was in my thirties when it seemed that every church suddenly started having Poon Parigentan parties on the Friday or Saturday before the Poon Parigentan Sunday.
I have enjoyed performing at these Poon Parigentan parties especially at my current church, All Saints in Glenview, Illinois. The Ladies Guild prepared foods from the various regions basically showcasing the talents of their members making their specialty foods from recipes handed down from their mothers and grandmothers. There would be stations where you could buy and be served by the ladies that made the delicacies. Each dish was very tasty to say the least. It was a brilliant idea that everyone really loved. When we played music, we would do a musical tour playing folk songs and dances from the various villages and regions of the Armenian Highlands.
We played this event for several years and it was a lot of fun. The dance floor was full, and people enjoyed the food, drink, music, dancing, and fellowship of being with each other. We played last year before the pandemic hit basically eliminated all such gatherings and opportunities to perform the music we love.
I was talking with our priest, Father Ghevont, in January. I asked about if they had any plans for Poon Parigentan. He related how they were planning a drive through for the food portion. I suggested that I put a group together for a FaceBook and YouTube Live performance of an hour or so people could enjoy the music and dance in their homes. He loved the idea and we made it happen. The drive through for the food was scheduled for 5 to 7 pm on Friday evening and we would play at 7 for an hour or so.
Jim Hardy was our clarinet player. Father and son, John and Shant Paklaian were on guitar and dumbeg respectively. I played oud and sharing the singing with John and Shant. Neither of us had played with an ensemble in over a year. We were a just a bit concerned about being a little rusty and would be playing dance music to an empty hall. But, our fears were unfounded. It was a real treat to be playing together and it was like we hadn’t missed a beat… pun intended. It was fun and we helped the church raise some money.
You can hear our performance on Facebook or watch it below on YouTube. Looking forward to the next opportunity to offer our services, perhaps, to the other Armenian Churches in Chicago.
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