Mar 16, 2012
The fourth of the six-part Prelacy Lenten program took place last night, March 14, at St. Illuminator’s Cathedral in New York City, presided over by His Grace Bishop Anoushavan, Vicar General. Dn. Shant Kazanjian, Director of the Prelacy’s Armenian Religious Education Council (AREC), spoke on “Bible Readings in the Armenian Church during Great Lent, Holy Week and Eastertide.”
Dn. Shant briefly discussed the origin and the practice of reading Scriptures during church services, and then focused on the central role the Bible has in the Armenian Church, as clearly evidenced in the copious readings in the Armenian Church lectionary (Jashots Keerk, the book that contains the prescribed readings from the Bible for each day), particularly during Great Lent, Holy Week and Eastertide. (To see the daily Bible readings in the Armenian Apostolic Church, please visit www.armenianprelacy.org).
The program began with the Lenten Service (Husgoom) from 7:30-8:00pm, followed by the lecture and Q/A (8:00-8:45pm), and concluded with table fellowship.
Next Wednesday, Rev. Fr. Nareg Terterian, Pastor of St. Sarkis Armenian Church (NY), will speak on “Morality in the New Testament.”
Mar 8, 2012
Father Tarazi giving a lecture about the meaning of Asdvadzashoonch.
Father Tarazi, a prominent biblical scholar who has authored more than fifteen books and prepared Orthodox Audio Bible Commentary on the entire Bible (over 175 hours of recording), masterfully expounded the meaning of 2 Timothy 3:16: “All scripture is inspired by God…” The phrase “inspired by God” in classical Armenian is Asdvadzashoonch (from theopneustos in Greek), one of the words Armenians use for the Bible. After a very engaging and dynamic presentation, a lively discussion ensued.
The program began with the Lenten Service (Husgoom) from 7:30-8:00pm, followed by the lecture and Q/A (8:00-8:45pm), and concluded with table fellowship. Next Wednesday, Dn. Shant Kazanjian, AREC Director, will speak on “Bible Readings in the Armenian Church during Great Lent, Holy Week and Eastertide.”
Mar 8, 2012
Talene Dadian White and Rev. Fr. Mesrob Lakissian with the children.
Rev. Fr. Mesrob Lakissian engaging with the children present for the book reading.
On Sunday, March 4, St. Illuminator’s Armenian Apostolic Cathedral hosted a book reading by children’s book author Talene Dadian White. Surrounded by a group of about 30 children of various ages, Dadian White explained her connection with St. Illuminator’s Cathedral and her passion for writing. She told them how her parents and grandparents grew up going to the Cathedral and she was so happy to again be under its roof.
For the reading, Dadian White chose a book from her five-book series titled “Armenian-ized Classic Fairy Tale.” The books are written in English with some Armenian words. The children enjoyed Dadian White read from the story called The Gurabia Man that comes from the classic story The Gingerbread Man. Dadian White often stopped to ask children what the Armenian words meant and was met with wildly waving hands excited to respond.
A portion of all sales were donated to the Cathedral’s Armenian and Sunday Schools.
To order Talene Dadian White books please visit the Armenian Prelacy Book Store at Books@armenianprelacy.org or call 212-689-7810.
Mar 7, 2012
Dr. Arthur Martirosyan hosts lecture at the Cathedral.
On Sunday, February 26, 2012, the St. Illuminator’s Cathedral hosted a lecture by Dr. Arthur Martirosyan, child protection expert and CPN representative from the Republic of Armenia. Dr. Martirosyan’s presentation, titled “Child Protection (CP) System and Problems in Armenia,” offered a comprehensive overview of child protection protocols in Armenia, as well as problems currently plaguing the system. The audience participated in a live online broadcast discussion with representatives of several non-profit organizations engaged in child protective services in Armenia. Topics included the condition of orphans and children living in poverty, and the extensive work that lies ahead as these and other organizations work together to better the lives of Armenia’s children.
Mar 5, 2012
Bishop Anoushavan speaks about the central role of the Bible in the Armenian Church.
The second of the six-part Prelacy Lenten program took place last night, February 29, at St. Illuminator’s Cathedral, presided by His Eminence Archbishop Oshagan. The speaker was His Grace Bishop Anoushavan, Vicar General, who spoke on “The Bible in our Worship Services.”
Bishop Anoushavan prefaced his presentation by underscoring the fact that the Armenian Church, in all aspects of her life, is biblical through and through. He then went on to demonstrate that fact in one area of the life of the Church—in the worship services of the Armenian Church, focusing on the hymns (sharagan). Srpazan Hayr first spoke about the structure of the Armenian Church hymns in the cycle of the daily services, based on the eight-mode system, with introductory verses taken from the Psalms and canticles from the Bible. He then showed the participants how our hymns either quote directly from the Bible, or allude to an image or echo an event from the Bible, using three different types of hymns—a penitential hymn attributed to St. Mesrop Mashdotz (Hayr pazoommoghorm, “O greatly merciful Father…”), a hymn from the Husgoom service (i ken haytsemk, “We entreat you…”), and a pre-communion hymn from Soorp Badarak (Orhnyal e Asdvadz, “Blessed is God…”). A lively discussion ensued after the informative presentation.
The program began with the Lenten Service (Husgoom) from 7:30-8:00pm, followed by the lecture and Q/A (8:00-8:45pm), and concluded with table fellowship. Next Wednesday, the speaker will be Rev. Fr. Paul Tarazi, Professor of Biblical Studies at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminar (Crestwood, NY), and he will reflect on “All Scripture is inspired by God…” (2 Timothy 3:16).
