The Twelve Apostles elected by Our Lord Jesus Christ, were Christ’s disciples and first preachers of His doctrine, as well as the Incarnate Christ’s witnesses. “Jesus called his twelve disciples together and gave them authority to drive out devil spirits and to heal every disease and every sickness.” Matthew 10:1 These were the names of the…
This is the Sunday just before the week of the fasting period, preceding the Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ’s Transfiguration. In the Armenian Apostolic Church, it’s called the Fast of Transfiguration, lasting from Monday to Friday.
The Ark of the Covenant is the most sacred sanctity of the Old Testament. It consisted of a pure gold covered wooden chest with an elaborate lid called the Mercy seat. The Ark is described in the Book of Exodus as containing the two stone tablets of the Ten Commandments. According to the New Testament Book of…
The Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ is one of the five main “Tabernacle” feasts of the Armenian Apostolic Church. It commemorates the transformation or the “transfiguration” that came over Jesus while He was praying. Christ’s face shone like the sun and his clothes became a radiant and gleaming white. The Apostles…
The Prophet Isaiah is the first of the four major prophets of the Old Testament. He was born and spent almost his entire life in the city of Jerusalem, in the eight century B.C. The Armenian Church commemorates the prophet Isaiah, who is best known for the longest prophetic book in the Old Testament (66…
St Thaddeus the Apostle and St Sandoukht the Virgin are two of the most venerated saints in the Armenian Church. The “Great Conversion” of the Armenian nation to Christianity is significantly connected with their names. Following the Ascension of Christ, according to the Lord’s message: “Go then to all peoples everywhere and make them make…
The Septuagint (first translation of the Hebrew Old Testament), uses the name “Patriarch” when referring to the forefathers or ancestors of spiritual and lay leaders of the Old Testament. They are: Adam, Abel, Seth, Enosh, Enoch, Noah, Melchizedek, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, Eliezer, Joshua, Samuel, Samson, Jephthah, Barak, Gideon and other Holy Patriarchs.…
The Armenian Church commemorates St Aristages (Aristakes), Vrtanes, Krikoris (Grigoris) and Housik (Husig); St Gregory’s sons and grandsons and Daniel the Syrian. The day of commemoration (according to the present calendar in force since 1774-75) falls on the Saturday before the Third Sunday of Transfiguration. The rest of the members of the Gregorid family, namely…
Saints Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi In addition to Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel (the four major prophets of the Old Testament), the Armenian Church commemorates the following twelve minor prophets. The Prophets were those persons through which God spoke his will to the people of the…
This is the Sunday preceding the week prior to the Feast of the Assumption of St Mary, Holy Godmother, one of the major feasts of Armenian Apostolic Church and one of the seven feasts dedicated to St Mary. The fasting period lasts from Monday to Friday.
The Feast of Shoghakat of Holy Etchmiadzin that is always observed on the Saturday prior to the Feast of the Assumption. Shoghakat refers to the vision of the rays of light seen by St Gregory when God chose the site for the Mother Cathedral. The feast is celebrated at the time of Assumption because the…
Each year on the Sunday closest to the date of August 15, the Armenian Church celebrates the Feast of the Assumption of St. Mary, the Holy Mother of God. In the calendar of the Armenian Church, this feast is the fourth of five major feasts that are commemorated, and is the oldest one dedicated to…