Iraq's Catholic church celebrates first Easter mass since 2014

[rug]

Destruction: The church courtyard became a shooting range

Ruaidhri Giblin
April 16 2017 2:30 AM

A burned-out church in northern Iraq will celebrate Easter mass for the first time in three years today.
The Syriac Catholic Church of Qaraqosh, 20 miles from the Islamic State stronghold of Mosul, is still seared by attempts to blow it up.

Its walls and stone columns are scorched by fire, its windows shattered and bullet-holes pierce its doors.

Fighters from Isil decapitated statues and demolished every crucifix; surfaces not charred by smoke have been scrawled with derogatory Isil graffiti and the terror group's infamous black flag.
Isil fighters used the courtyard outside as a shooting range. Metal mannequins lay on the ground riddled with bullets and there are empty bullet casings, as well as other debris, everywhere.

A sizeable pile of ash in the centre of the yard, where Isil burned every textbook they could find, is beginning to sprout weeds. The church's bell tower, from which the bell has been cut, looks set to topple at the slightest motion. Overhead, large stone blocks protrude precariously from the church's facade.

http://www.independent.ie/world-news/middle-east/iraqs-catholic-church-celebrates-first-easter-mass-since-2014-35626528.html

[TexasProgresive]

1. The Paschal Troparion is heard again

المسيح قام من بين الأموات
ووطئ الموت بالموت
ووهب الحياة للذين في القبور

Al-Masīḥu qāma min bayni 'l-amwāt,
Wa-waṭiˀa 'l-mawta bi'l-mawt,
Wa-wahaba 'l-ḥayāta li'l-ladhīna fī 'l-qubūr!

Christ is risen from the dead,
Trampling down death by death,
And upon those in the tombs
Bestowing life!

Christ is risen!
Indeed He is!