Armenian Orthodox Church

[stmaryofegypt3]

Dear friends in Christ,
There is a small Armenian Orthodox Church that recently opened near my house. I searched their website and found the name of the Church, the priest, etc. So I emailed the priest and he was very inviting giving me information of the day and time of their next Divine Liturgy, who to call, their protocol, etc.
The Liturgy looks beautiful as I read a little about it on the Armenian Church website. But I could not tell if it is the Divine Litrugy of St. John Chrysostom that they celebrate or....??? If anyone could give me some information about the AOC and the Divine Liturgy they celebrate I would really appreciate it.
Thank you so much. In Christ and the Theotokos,
Marie

 

[Yeznik]

Dear friends in Christ,
There is a small Armenian Orthodox Church that recently opened near my house. I searched their website and found the name of the Church, the priest, etc. So I emailed the priest and he was very inviting giving me information of the day and time of their next Divine Liturgy, who to call, their protocol, etc.
The Liturgy looks beautiful as I read a little about it on the Armenian Church website. But I could not tell if it is the Divine Litrugy of St. John Chrysostom that they celebrate or....??? If anyone could give me some information about the AOC and the Divine Liturgy they celebrate I would really appreciate it.
Thank you so much. In Christ and the Theotokos,
Marie

Welcome stmaryofegypt3,

It should be the Divine Liturgy of St. John Voskiberan (Chrysostom). What else would you like to know? If you have an opportunity see if you can make to the jamerkutioun or the morning prayers before the Divine Liturgy.

God Bless,

 

[Yeznik]

Btw, the RC use the Marian prayers of Saint Gregory of Narek.

 

[stmaryofegypt3]

THank you Yeznik. The priest did not mention prayers before the DL. In fact, it is a visiting priest who is coming and the DL is at 1pm followed by a luncheon. He also said I could receive Communion which I thought was not allowed.
Sorry for my ignorance...I just wondered what would be the best website to attain information of their faith, practices, etc. Are they similiar to the Coptic Orthodox Church?
Sounds like the morning prayers would be great! Will the LIturgy most likely be completely in Armenian or do they incorporate English?
Thanks again for your help.
God Bless you. IN Christ,
Marie

 

[orthedoxy]

The Armenian Church is similar to The Coptic Church.
The liturgy is in Armenian but most churches have books you can follow in english.
The sermon is in some churches is in English sometimes. What area are you from?

 

[Yeznik]

THank you Yeznik. The priest did not mention prayers before the DL. In fact, it is a visiting priest who is coming and the DL is at 1pm followed by a luncheon. He also said I could receive Communion which I thought was not allowed.
Sorry for my ignorance...I just wondered what would be the best website to attain information of their faith, practices, etc. Are they similiar to the Coptic Orthodox Church?
Sounds like the morning prayers would be great! Will the LIturgy most likely be completely in Armenian or do they incorporate English?
Thanks again for your help.
God Bless you. IN Christ,
Marie

The DL is all in ancient or classical Armenian. Most of the OO Churches have DL in their own ancient language. The sermon additionally might be in English if you are in a English speaking country. The OO churches might be different in culture, language and history but we are all apart of the same church.

Here is a website where you can read about the DL in the Armenian Church and some explaination to it.

Btw DL in the Armenian Chruch is called the Badarak

http://www.armenianchurch.org/worship/badarak/badarak1a.html

Here is a simple glossary of some of the terms of the DL

http://www.armenianchurch.org/heritage/culture/badarak.html

There should be some transliterated books that will let you follow along in English.

 

[crusader4peace]

interesting info. thanks for sharing it here.

 

[Yeznik]

Sharagans (Hymns)

http://www.sograd.com/aacca/

http://www.sograd.com/aacca/indexSharagans.htm

 

[orthedoxy]

Thank you for those links Yeznik

 

[crusader4peace]

interesting links yeznik. thanks.

 

[Yeznik]

The Story of the Armeno-Syrian King Abgar, who is considered to be the first Christian king and reciever of the first icon.



http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-08/anf08-152.htm

​

 

[villoththoma]

Dear Yeznik,

I recently met an armenian person on yahoo chat,...when i asked her about the "armenian orthodox church",she replied that they were not "orthodox",..but "Gregorians".
Im in confusion,..there are many references to the Armenian Orthodox church,...but even on the sites you provided ,.they do not have the words "Orthodox",...it was simply "armenian church".
Was that just misunderstanding of the person i met,..or is there something to it?

 

[Yeznik]

Dear Yeznik,

I recently met an armenian person on yahoo chat,...when i asked her about the "armenian orthodox church",she replied that they were not "orthodox",..but "Gregorians".
Im in confusion,..there are many references to the Armenian Orthodox church,...but even on the sites you provided ,.they do not have the words "Orthodox",...it was simply "armenian church".
Was that just misunderstanding of the person i met,..or is there something to it?

Hello my brother in Christ,



Sometimes the Armenian Church is erroneously referred to as the Gregorian Church. The basically dates back to the time of Saint Gregory the Illuminator and when Christianity was established as the national religion, therefore its sometimes called the Gregorian Church. The apostles that are responsible for bringing Christianity to Armenia are Bartholomew and Thaddeus, the story of King AvakHayr (Abgar) is the story of Thaddeus.
The Armenian orthodox church, is more commonly known as the Armenian Church to most people, and through out history the Armenian Church and been referred and the Armenian Church, just like the Coptic Church is referred as the Coptic Church even though we both have orthodox doctrine. Unfortunately, there has been Armenian Protestant, and Armenian Catholic Churches who mistakenly use the term the “Armenian Church”, just because its congregation is composed up of entirely Armenians.

Please let me know if you have anymore questions.

God Bless

 

[Yeznik]

I found this article;

How Armenia "Invented" Christendom

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/2005/001/8.46.html

This is the actual article for the magazine.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/2005/001/images/8.46a.jpg


has anyone heard of the website before?

 

[Irish Melkite]

St.Mary,

The discussion of the Soorp Badarak on the site of the Armenian Orthodox Church's Eastern US Diocese, to which Yesnik linked, is a marvelous introductory piece that I've recommended many times. Additionally, you might want to read and possibly print a wonderfully done booklet that discusses etiquette, reverences, etc., as well as providing a side-by-side (Armenian/English) edition of the text of The Divine Liturgy of the Armenian Church.

I do have to disagree with Yesnik's statement that the Soorp Badarek is the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom. In fact, the origins of the Armenian Liturgy are usually attributed to the Church of Jerusalem and ordinarily perceived as closest to the Liturgy of Saint Basil, although it is acknowledged that there were later influences on it from the Byzantine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom, as well as Roman and Syriac liturgies.

Besides the excellent links that Yesnik provided, I wanted to recommend another great source on the Armenian Churches, both Orthodox and Catholic. Looys Kreesdosee, the website of Bill Der-Ghazarian, a former Armenian Catholic, now Armenian Orthodox, and a good friend of mine, contains a vast amount of material, including some excellent original writings.

I agree with Yesnik that Gregorian is an outmoded usage. As he points out, it's today used innocently in reference to the role that Saint Gregory the Illuminator played in Armenian Christianity. But, the Czarist Russians were the first to call the Armenians "Gregorian" and it should be perceived as a slight - since the Russian Orthodox wanted to call the Armenians anything rather than "Orthodox" (somewhat akin to how Roman was originally a perjorative usage when used with "Catholic".)

Malachias Ormanian, of blessed memory, Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople (1896-1908), a major figure in recording contemporary Armenian Church history, stated unequivocally in his writings that "Orthodox" (Ooghapar in Armenian) is a legitimate component of the Church's name. In my experience, "Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church" is a highly favored usage - the "Apostolic" referring to Saints Thaddeus and Bartholomew, the Apostles of Armenia.

Yesnik,

As to the website about which you asked, I've encountered it previously and tracked down the sponsorship at one time, but it was tough to do, as I recollect. I do remember that it's an evangelical Protestant site, specializing in materials to assist in church ministry.

Many years,

Neil

 

[Yeznik]

Some pictures of Armenian Churches.

http://www.armgate.com/churches/index.html

 

[Yeznik]

St.Mary,

The discussion of the Soorp Badarak on the site of the Armenian Orthodox Church's Eastern US Diocese, to which Yesnik linked, is a marvelous introductory piece that I've recommended many times. Additionally, you might want to read and possibly print a wonderfully done booklet that discusses etiquette, reverences, etc., as well as providing a side-by-side (Armenian/English) edition of the text of The Divine Liturgy of the Armenian Church.

I do have to disagree with Yesnik's statement that the Soorp Badarek is the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom. In fact, the origins of the Armenian Liturgy are usually attributed to the Church of Jerusalem and ordinarily perceived as closest to the Liturgy of Saint Basil, although it is acknowledged that there were later influences on it from the Byzantine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom, as well as Roman and Syriac liturgies.

Besides the excellent links that Yesnik provided, I wanted to recommend another great source on the Armenian Churches, both Orthodox and Catholic. Looys Kreesdosee, the website of Bill Der-Ghazarian, a former Armenian Catholic, now Armenian Orthodox, and a good friend of mine, contains a vast amount of material, including some excellent original writings.

I agree with Yesnik that Gregorian is an outmoded usage. As he points out, it's today used innocently in reference to the role that Saint Gregory the Illuminator played in Armenian Christianity. But, the Czarist Russians were the first to call the Armenians "Gregorian" and it should be perceived as a slight - since the Russian Orthodox wanted to call the Armenians anything rather than "Orthodox" (somewhat akin to how Roman was originally a perjorative usage when used with "Catholic".)

Malachias Ormanian, of blessed memory, Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople (1896-1908), a major figure in recording contemporary Armenian Church history, stated unequivocally in his writings that "Orthodox" (Ooghapar in Armenian) is a legitimate component of the Church's name. In my experience, "Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church" is a highly favored usage - the "Apostolic" referring to Saints Thaddeus and Bartholomew, the Apostles of Armenia.

Yesnik,

As to the website about which you asked, I've encountered it previously and tracked down the sponsorship at one time, but it was tough to do, as I recollect. I do remember that it's an evangelical Protestant site, specializing in materials to assist in church ministry.

Many years,

Neil

Hi Neil,

Great post !! The Armenians also use the Soorp Badarak of St. James, and St. Basil as well. I am use to St. John's Chrysostom because that is the one we use at church.