Faiths unite in a memorial service for victims
Members of New England's Sri Lankan community came together in a Brighton church last night to remember their nation's enormous loss in this week's tsunami disaster, which claimed an estimated 30,000 lives in that country alone.
Under the vaulted ceilings of St. Columbkille Catholic Church, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, and Christian traditions mixed in a solemn ceremony attended by about 80 worshipers. It began with Buddhist prayers and ended with the singing of the Sri Lankan national anthem.
''We couldn't choose not to be here," said the Rev. Anoma Abeyaratne of St. Paul's Cathedral in Boston. ''We come with sorrow. We come with anger. We come with bewilderment and concern."
The gathering, like many of the fund-raising efforts of the past week, was quickly arranged, in about two days, largely through word of mouth and e-mail, according to officials with the Sri Lanka Association of New England, which sponsored the event. But the church slowly filled up, each member bringing a prayer for the victims, their families, and their future.
''We have lost much," said organizer Chitral de Mel, ''but gain strength by the unity shown here tonight."
The 250-member Sri Lankan Association of New England, based in north Chelmsford, has been working furiously over the past week to raise funds and collect goods for shipment overseas to help, including thousands of dollars in medical supplies from hospitals and pledges. And the pledges of support keep rolling in.
The gathering last night, which included more pleas for funds and supplies, was also seen by many in attendance as a way, through faith and remembrance, to reenergize their effort for the long haul.
''In the aftermath we feel so helpless that we can do so little for those who have suffered so much," said Abeyaratne. He added that the gift of hope, ''belief in a future we cannot see," should sustain those who have lost so much.
Much of the ceremony was not in English, with the ancient Pali language spoken during the Buddhist ceremony and Tamil during a Hindu prayer. The ceremony began with Buddhist prayers on transferred merits to departed relatives and friends in Sri Lanka and elsewhere by the venerable Kirma Dhammananda of the Cambodian Buddhist Monastery in Revere.
A Hindu prayer by Vasantha Kanagarathnam followed, in which she asked the worshipers to pray that no more tragedies of the size and scope of the Asian tsunamis ever happen again.
Because of the extent of the damage, the number of deaths, and the years it is expected to take to rebuild, Sri Lankans throughout New England are trying to think differently about how to help.
Some have suggested that relief money be sent to ''adopt" one child from each family and sustain that effort for a decade or more. Others have already pledged a monthly amount to the organization for the next two to three years, de Mel said.
''This is a very extraordinary situation," de Mel said. ''We've experienced tragedies before, but never in this proportion."
The Sri Lanka Association of New England has set up an account with 
