PRESS RELEASE
Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apost. Church of America and Canada
H.E. Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan
Prelate, Easter Prelacy and Canada
138 East 39th Street
New York, NY 10016
Tel: 212-689-7810
Fax: 212-689-7168
Web:
HOME BLESSING AND CHRISTMAS RECEPTION
The Prelate’s annual Christmas reception took place on the evening
of January 6 filling the Prelacy’s Vahakn and Hasmig Hovnanian
reception hall with many well-wishers from the metropolitan New York
area who were greeted by the Prelate, Archbishop Oshagan, and the
Vicar, Bishop Anoushavan. The traditional Home Blessing service was
offered by Rev. Fr. Mesrob Lakissian, pastor of St. Illuminator’s
Cathedral, with the participation of area clergy.
The Armenian tradition of Home Blessing can be done throughout the
year, but is especially popular during the holy days of Christmas and
Easter. During this ceremony, the officiating clergyman blesses bread,
water, and salt,
all considered to be essential to life. It is customary to burn
incense, echoing the words of the psalmist, `Let my prayer be counted
as incense before you.’ (Psalm 41)
O Christ our God, guardian and hope of all our faithful, protect and
keep in peace your people under the protection of your holy and
venerable cross;
and especially this family, their home, the bread, the salt, and the
water. Save them O Lord from visible and invisible enemies and make
them worthy to glorify you with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now
and always, forever
and ever. Amen. (Benediction from the Armenian Blessing of Homes
service).
Rev. Fr. Mesrob Lakissian, pastor of St. Illuminator’s Cathedral,
leads the Home Blessing service at the Prelacy. From left to right,
Ambassador Garen Nazarian, Permanent Representative of the Republic of
Armenia to the United Nations; Rev. Fr. Hovnan Bozoian, pastor of
Sts. Vartanantz Church, Ridgefield, New Jersey; Archbishop Oshagan
Choloyan, Prelate of Eastern Prelacy; Rev. Fr. Mesrob; Bishop
Anoushavan Tanielian, Vicar General
of the Eastern Prelacy; Archdeacon Shant Kazanjian, Director of the
Armenian Religious Education Council (AREC); Mrs. Garen Nazarian; and
Deacon Bedros Kalajian.
TWO CANDIDATES FOR PRIESTHOOD WILL STUDY IN ANTELIAS
Two candidates for the priesthood who have been studying in the United
States will travel to Lebanon this weekend to complete their studies
leading to their ordination as priests. The two candidates are Deacon
Diran Der Khosrofian, from St. Asdvadzadzin Church, Whitinsville,
Massachusetts, and Deacon Harold Nazarian from Sts. Vartanantz Church,
Providence, Rhode Island. Accompanying the two deacons to Lebanon is
Archpriest Fr. Aram Stepanian, pastor of Sts. Asdvadzadzin Church, who
is chairman of the Prelacy’s Religious Council.
For two years both candidates have been following a special curriculum
of study designed by the Prelate and the Religious Council. They will
now travel to Lebanon to continue their studies at the Seminary of the
Holy See of Cilicia to complete their studies. The two candidates were
given farewell receptions recently by their respective parishes.
Archpriest Fr. Aram Stepanian with Deacon Diran Der Khosrofian and his
family at St. Asdvadzadzin Church in Whitinsville, Massachusetts,
where the Ladies Guild hosted a luncheon for their deacon and his
family.
Deacon Harold Nazarian cuts a cake during a reception organized by the
Board of Trustees of Sts. Vartanantz Church, Providence, Rhode Island,
expressing best wishes and success to Deacon Harold as he completes
the final portion of his studies in the Seminary in Antelias.
CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS
Armenian Churches throughout the world celebrated Christmas on Monday,
January 6, remaining faithful to the original date marking the birth
and baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Antelias, Lebanon, His
Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Holy See of Cilicia, celebrated the
Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of St. Gregory the Illuminator. His
Holiness’ Christmas message was based on peace, following the
teachings of our Lord, the Prince of
Peace, through his parables and his blessing of peacemakers.
The parishes of the Eastern Prelacy celebrated the birth and baptism
with record attendance of the faithful at Christmas Eve and Christmas
Day services. Everywhere children played a major role in the
celebrations. Unfortunately most of our parishes in the Midwest
cancelled services because of the Polar Vortex that brought large
amounts of snow and record-breaking and extremely dangerously low
temperatures.
St. Illuminator’s Cathedral, New York City
Archbishop Oshagan celebrated the Christmas Divine Liturgy and the
Blessing of the Water at St. Illuminator’s Cathedral in New York
City. The
Godfather of the Cross was Haig Nadjarian (kneeling to the right of
the Archbishop), son of Paul and Rachel Nadjarian.
St. Asdvadzadzin Church, Whitinsville, Massachusetts
On Sunday morning, January 5, right after morning service, the Sunday
School presented, in drama form, the readings from the Book of Daniel,
where three young men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were thrown
into a fiery furnace because they did not worship the golden image of
Nebuchadnezzar. They
were miraculously saved by Divine Intervention. The inspiring
presentation
was enjoyed and appreciated by the parishioners.
Sunday School students at St. Asdvadzadzin Church present a drama from
the
Book of Daniel that is part of the Christmas Eve readings.
Sts. Vartanantz Church, Providence, Rhode Island
Sunday School students at Sts. Vartanantz Church, Providence, present
a Christmas pageant depicting the birth of Christ.
St. Stephen’s Church, New Britain, Connecticut
On Sunday, January 5, 2014, the Sunday School of Saint Stephen’s
Armenian Apostolic Church of New Britain, Connecticut held its
Christmas Pageant and
luncheon. Mrs. Barbara Bagdassarian, pageant director, presented to
the audience a beautiful rendition of the timely Christmas story of
the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Celebration and enjoyment was had
by all.
St. Gregory Church, North Andover, Massachusetts
The traditional blessing of the water service at St. Gregory Church,
North
Andover. From left, Dn. John Saryan, Dn. Arek Kalayjian,
Rev. Fr. Stephan Baljian, Godfather Emmanuel Ohannessian, and
Dn. Avedis Garavanian.
St. Sarkis Church, Douglaston, New York
Bishop Anoushavan celebrated the Divine Liturgy and the Blessing of
Water,
on Christmas at St. Sarkis Church, Douglaston. The Vicar’s sermon
reflected on the message of `the love of God.’ Following the Liturgy
the Blessing of Water Service, symbolizing the baptism of Christ in
the River Jordan took place with Hovnan Oranjian, altar server, and
graduate of the Sunday School, as the Godfather of the Cross.
St. Stephen’s Church, Watertown, Massachusetts
Archpriest Fr. Antranig Baljian, pastor of St. Stephen’s Church,
Watertown, with the Godfather of the Cross, Andre Avedis Monteiro,
whose birthday is January 6. He is the son of Ted and Salpi
(Badrikian) Monteiro, and the grand-nephew of Archpriest Fr. Zareh
Sahagian.
BIBLE READINGS
Bible readings for Sunday, January 12, are: Romans 1:1-7; Luke 2:1-7.
In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the
world should be registered. This was the first registration and was
taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own
towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in
Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he
was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be
registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a
child. While they were there, the time came for her
to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and
wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there
was no place
for them in the inn. (Luke 2:1-7)
For a listing of the coming week’s Bible readings click here
().
FEAST OF THE NAMING OF OUR LORD
This Sunday, January 12, the Armenian Church celebrates the Feast of
the Naming of our Lord Jesus Christ, in accordance with the Hebrew
tradition. The commemoration of this event (Matthew 1:20-23; Luke
1:30-32; Luke 2:21) comes seven days after the Feast of the Nativity
(the eighth day of the octave of Nativity). This event of the naming
and circumcision of our Lord is the basis for the tradition of
baptizing children eight days after birth=80’a tradition that is
rarely followed now.
`After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child;
and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was
conceived in the womb.’ (Luke 2:21)
BIRTH OF ST. JOHN THE FORERUNNER
This Monday, January 13, the Armenian Church commemorates the Feast of
the
Birth of St. John the Forerunner (also known as St. John the
Baptist). John is an important figure in the New Testament and is
mentioned prominentl6y
in all four Gospels, which indicates that he had an effective ministry
baptizing those who repented their sins. He announced the coming of
`on greater’ than himself who is `to come baptizing not with water but
with the Spirit.’ (See Matthew 3:11-12; Mark 1:7-8; Luke 3:16-17; John
1:26-27). According to the Gospel of Luke, John was the son of
Zechariah and Elizabeth. Elizabeth was a cousin of Mary. John is
considered to be the last of the Old Testament prophets and the
precursor of the Messiah. John is one of the two prime intercessors to
Jesus Christ, the other
being Mary, the mother of our Lord.
`Hasten to our help from on high, Saint John, apostle and prophet and
forerunner and baptizer of the Son of God and intercede for us before
Christ. You are the priest who offered himself on the cross; beseech
him to grant purification from sins to me who composed this hymn and
to those who celebrate your memory; Saint John, intercede for us
before Christ.'(Canon for the Nativity of John the Baptist according
to the Liturgical Canons of the Armenian Church)
LITURGICAL CALENDAR POSTER
The 2014 color poster of the Liturgical Calendar of the Armenian
Apostolic
Church is now available at the Prelacy. At a glance, one can see the
cycle
of feasts and fasts and seasons of the Armenian Church year, which
begins on January 6, 2014.
An added feature this year is a list of `Basic Facts’ about the
Armenian Church’s liturgical year. This 27×36 inch poster belongs in
every Sunday school classroom.
To order, please contact the Prelacy at 212-689-7810 or at
[email protected]. The cost of the poster is $5.00 plus
shipping and handling.
NEWS FROM THE CATHOLICOSATE
CHRISTMAS IN ANTELIAS
His Holiness Aram I celebrated the Holy Liturgy and delivered his
Christmas message on Christmas at the Cathedral of St. Gregory the
Illuminator in Antelias, Lebanon. His Holiness stressed the theme of
peace, in keeping with
the message of Jesus, the Prince of Peace. The Catholicos stressed
that the peace of Jesus was built on justice and mutual love, and said
that the Church is called upon to make peace the core of its vocation.
His Holiness spoke of the major conflicts in the countries of the
world, and especially those in the Middle East. In the spirit of the
message of peace that is central to the teachings of Islam and
Christianity, His Holiness
asked Christians and Muslims to denounce violence. The Catholicos
described Lebanon as the ideal model for Christian -Muslim
conviviality. Although not exempt from regional conflicts, Lebanon has
remained a bridge between the East and the West. He urged the Armenian
community to remain united and to help protect Lebanon`s independence
and integrity.
Catholicos Aram concluded his Christmas message by speaking about the
suffering of the Armenian community in Syria. He told the faithful
that we must
pray for the community while helping the community materially until it
can
begin the process of recovery and rebuilding of lives.
HIS HOLINESS MAKES PASTORAL VISITS IN LEBANON
DURING THE NEW YEAR AND CHRISTMAS SEASON
Birds Nest Orphanage/School
Catholicos Aram I, accompanied by members of the clergy, visited the
Birds
Nest Orphanage and School in Byblos, Lebanon, as well as three other
humanitarian centers on December 23. The sisters of the Kayanian
Order, the members of the Board, the director, faculty and staff,
greeted the Catholicos and his entourage. After watching a special
program prepared by the children
that featured recitations, songs, and dances, His Holiness spoke with
the children while the priests distributed gifts.
The Birds Nest was established as an orphanage/school after the
Genocide of the Armenians in Turkey. Danish Missionaries brought
hundreds of orphaned
children to Lebanon at that time. The institution currently serves
children from broken or poor families and is currently also hosting
children displaced because of the war in Syria.
The Howard Karagheusian Association for Child Welfare
The director of the Howard Karagheusian Association for Child Welfare,
Mr.
Serop Ohanian, welcomed His Holiness Aram I and transmitted the
greetings of the General Director of the Foundation at the
headquarters in the United
States of America. After thanking the director and the staff for their
reception, Catholicos Aram I expressed his appreciation for the work
of the Karaghuesian Foundation in Lebanon for its long years of
service to the Armenian community and particularly for its
family-centered support. The Catholicos thanked and blessed the
personnel for expressing God’s love through their work.
The Armenian Relief Cross (ARC) at the Araxie Boulghourdjian Social
Center
The president of the Armenian Relief Cross (ARC), Mrs. Maral
Hovhannessian, and the director, Verjin Sarafian, welcomed His
Holiness Aram I to their Center. His Holiness thanked the benefactor
of the Center, Mr. Melkon Boulghourdjian, and the members of the ARC
who had come to welcome him. His Holiness said that the Center was
close to his heart because he had been involved in the planning of the
project with Mr. Boulghourdjian while Prelate of Lebanon. He mentioned
the important role of the Social Center during the civil war in
Lebanon and acknowledged its contribution to alleviating the suffering
of many needy Armenian families. He also commended the devotion and
commitment of Armenian women through the Armenian Relief Cross and
wished them a blessed Christmas and a fruitful New Year in 2014.
The Armenian Home for the Elderly
The Armenian Home for the Elderly was the final pastoral visit of the
day for Catholicos Aram and his entourage. After the formal welcome by
the director, Rev. Sebouh Terzian, the clergy accompanying His
Holiness offered a prayer service. The prayer service was followed
with a cultural program prepared and presented by the residents of the
Home. The Catholicos thanked the
members of the board and the director and staff of the Home for their
services to the elderly. Addressing the residents, the Catholicos said
the Home
is not an institution, but a home that belongs to the community, hence
their home. He then announced that he is declaring 2014 as the Year of
the Armenian Elderly.
During the visit to the Karaghuesian Foundation, the Armenian Relief
Cross
and the Home for the Elderly, His Holiness was accompanied by the
Prelate of Lebanon, Bishop Shahé Panossian, other clergy from the Holy
See of Cilicia, and Panos Manjian, a member of the Lebanese
Government, Vrej Saboundjian, the Minister of Industry, and Hagop
Pakradouni, a Member of Parliament.
The Azounieh Sanatorium-Hospital
The next day, December 24, His Holiness Aram I concluded his pastoral
visits with a visit to the Azounieh Sanatorium-Hospital accompanied by
members of the clergy. Following a prayer service, the Catholicos
blessed the patients and thanked the medical staff for the care and
attention they give the residents. Before leaving the
Sanatorium-Hospital, the Catholicos and the clergy, visited the
patients who were bedridden and prayed with them.
THIS WEEK IN ARMENIAN HISTORY
(Prepared by the Armenian National Education Committee[ANEC])
Birth of Sergei Parajanov (January 9, 1924)
“Everyone knows that I have three Motherlands. I was born in Georgia,
worked in Ukraine and I’m going to die in Armenia,” declared Sergei
Parajanov, one of the most talented names of Soviet
cinematography. Despite running afoul of censorship and repression,
his original cinematic style made significant contributions to
Ukrainian, Armenian, and Georgian cinema.
Parajanov was born in Tiflis, capital of Georgia, to Iosif Parajanov
and Siranush Bejanova. At the age of 21, he traveled to Moscow (1945),
enrolled in the directing department of VGIK (the All-Union State
Institute of Cinematography), the oldest film school in Europe, and
studied under directors Igor Savchenko and Aleksandr Dovzhenko.
In 1948 he was convicted of homosexual acts and sentenced to five
years in
prison, but was released under an amnesty after three months. In video
interviews, friends and relatives contested the truthfulness of the
charges. In 1950 he married his first wife, Nigyar Kerimova, from a
Muslim Tatar family, in Moscow. She converted to Eastern Orthodox
Christianity to marry him,
and was murdered by her relatives because of her conversion a year
later. After her murder, he left Russia for Kiev (Ukraine), where he
produced three documentaries and several narrative films. He married
his second wife, Svetlana Sherbatiuk, in 1956. Their son Suren was
born in 1958 and they divorced in 1962.
In 1964 Parajanov abandoned socialist realism (the state-sanctioned
art style in the Soviet Union) and directed Shadows of Forgotten
Ancestors, a poetic film over which he had complete creative
control. He would later dismiss all films he had directed before 1964
as `garbage.’ This film won numerous international awards and turned
him into a cult director.
He later left Kiev and moved to Armenia. He filmed Sayat Nova in 1968,
choosing the life of the famous eighteenth-century Armenian troubadour
as the apparent subject, but the film was immediately banned. He
re-edited his footage and renamed the film The Color of
Pomegranates. The film won much praise internationally and increased
his popularity as a venerated director.
A still from the movie The Color of Pomegranates.
His projects were systematically banned or scraped between 1965 and
1973 because of charges of deviation from accepted artistic norms,
until Parajanov was sentenced to five years in a hard labor camp in
Siberia on charges of
homosexuality and pornography in December 1973. Many international
artists
protested on behalf of the filmmaker without effect, including
Federico Fellini, Michelangelo Antonioni, Jean-Luc Godard, François
Truffaut, Luis Buñuel, Françoise Sagan, Yves Saint Laurent, Andrei
Tarkovsky, and others. He obtained an early release in December 1977.
The imprisoned filmmaker produced a large number of miniature
doll-like sculptures and some 800 drawings and collages, many of which
are currently displayed at the Parajanov Museum in Yerevan.
Sergei Parajanov, Tarkovsky’s Night Bird, 1987, Collage, Mixed Media.
After his return from prison to Tbilisi, he could not pursue his
career. He was imprisoned again in February 1982 on charges of bribery
and freed nine months later, although his health was seriously
compromised after the harsh conditions of the Siberian camp.
After his release, the support of Georgian intellectuals allowed him
to produce his last two films, which received critical and public
acclaim: The Legend of Suram Fortress (1984) and Ashik Kerib
(1988). He moved back to Armenia, where he started a project that
would remain unfinished: his final film, The Confession. Its original
film footage was assembled and released as
Parajanov: The Last Spring, by his close friend Mikhail Vartanov in
1992.
Sergei Parajanov passed away on July 20, 1990, in Yerevan, a victim of
cancer, at the age of 66. He left a legacy of sixteen films (feature
and documentary), and ten unproduced screenplays and projects,
including films on the Armenian legend of Ara the Beautiful and the
Armenian epic David of Sassoun.
Previous entries in `This Week in Armenian History’ are on
the Prelacy’s web site ().
PLEASE DO NOT FORGET OUR ONGOING RELIEF EFFORTS FOR THE ARMENIAN
COMMUNITY
IN SYRIA WHERE CONDITIONS ARE BECOMING INCREASINGLY MORE DIFFICULT.
THE NEED IS REAL.
THE NEED IS GREAT.
DONATIONS TO THE FUND FOR SYRIAN ARMENIAN RELIEF CAN BE MADE ON LINE.
TO DONATE NOW CLICK HERE () AND
SELECT SYRIAN ARMENIAN RELIEF IN THE MENU.
The Fund for Syrian Armenian Relief is a joint effort of: Armenian
Apostolic Church of America (Eastern Prelacy); Armenian Catholic
Eparchy; Armenian
Evangelical Union of North America; Armenian Relief Society (Eastern
USA, Inc.); Armenian Revolutionary Federation.
Thank you for your help
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
January 31-Memorial Program dedicated to Sos Sargsyan, Armenian actor,
playwright, people’s artist, and political activist, organized
by Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Society of New York,
featuring Karine Kocharyan, Voice of Armenians TVNY, at the Armenian
Center, 69-23 47th Street, Woodside, New York. Suggested donation:
$7.00. For information: 718-565-8397.
February 1-Valentine’s Day Dinner Dance, St. Sarkis Church,
Douglaston, New York.
February 2-St. Sarkis Men’s Club, Dearborn, Michigan, presents Super
Bowl Party, at Lillian Arakelian Hall.
February 9-St. Sarkis Church, Dearborn, Michigan, Book Presentation by
Deacon Shant Kazanjian following the Divine Liturgy at Lillian
Arakelian Hall.
February 24-26-Annual Clergy Ghevontiantz Gathering hosted by Holy
Cross Church, 255 Spring Avenue, Troy, New York.
March 1-St. Sarkis Sunday School, Dearborn, Michigan, Poon Paregentan
Costume Party for everyone, at Lillian Arakelian Hall.
March 26-St. Sarkis Ladies Guild, Dearborn, Michigan, Mid-Lenten
Luncheon following the Lenten morning service, Lillian Arakelian Hall.
March 28-Musical Armenia Concert presented by Eastern Prelacy and
Prelacy Ladies Guild, at Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall, 8 pm.
May 13-17-Clergy Conference and National Representative Assembly, and
Annual Conference of the National Association of Ladies’ Guilds
(NALG) of the Eastern Prelacy, hosted by St. Sarkis Church, Dearborn,
Michigan.
June 1-Ladies Guild Annual Brunch, St. Sarkis Church, Douglaston, New
York.
June 1-St. Sarkis Church, Dearborn, Michigan, Toronto Children’s Choir
concert in the church sanctuary.
Web pages of the parishes can be accessed through the Prelacy’s web
site.
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add
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Items in Crossroads can be reproduced without permission. Please
credit Crossroads as the source.
Parishes of the Eastern Prelacy are invited to send information about
their major events to be included in the calendar. Send to:
[email protected]
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