EVE OF THE FAST OF ST. JAMES

December 10, 2011 by admin

       This Sunday, December 11, is the eve (paregentan) of the Fast of St. James (Hagop) of Nisibus. This five-day fast, Monday to Friday, leads us to the Feast of St. James, which is next Saturday, December 17. Traditionally the entire fifty day period of Advent was a period of fasting, similar to Great Lent. In more modern times, three week-long fasts are observed during Advent, namely, Fast of Advent (Hisnagats Bahk), Fast of St. James (Sourp Hagopeh Bahk), and the Fast of the Nativity (Dznuntyan Bahk).

Posted from the Armenian Prelacy’s (Eastern) Crossroads E-Newsletter

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FEAST OF THE CONCEPTION OF THE HOLY VIRGIN MARY

December 9, 2011 by admin

Friday, December 9, is the Feast of the Conception of the Holy Virgin Mary. This is one of the eight feast days devoted to the Holy Virgin Mary in the Armenian Church’s Liturgical Calendar. This feast day is always on December 9, and is part of the church’s preparation for Christmas. The faithful rejoice in the event that celebrates Mary’s conception in fulfillment of the prayers of her parents and nurtured to become the mother of the Messiah. 

Reposted from the Eastern Prelacy’s Crossroad E-Newsletter

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SAINTS THADDEUS AND BARTHOLOMEW

December 1, 2011 by admin

               Apostle Thaddeus                                   Apostle Bartholomew

This Saturday, December 3. The Armenian Church commemorates Saints Thaddeus and Bartholomew, two of the twelve apostles who were the first evangelizers of Armenia, and were martyred there, giving the Armenian Church its apostolic identity and earning them the title, “First Enlighteners of Armenia.”

       Thaddeus came to Armenia about 43 AD to preach Christianity. He was martyred in southeastern Armenia. His tomb lies in the Armenian monastery of St. Thaddeus (Iran) where a chapel was built in the third century.

       Bartholomew is believed to have arrived in Armenia about 66 AD. He was martyred in Atamagerd [City of Adam], southeast of Lake Van.

       An apostle is “someone who is sent,”—an emissary or ambassador of the Kingdom of God, sent to announce the Kingdom’s coming in Jesus Christ, and authorized to claim men and women’s allegiance to him. “We are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God,” (2 Corinthians 5:20).

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THE CALL TO SERVE: MINISTRY OF THE FAITHFUL

November 12, 2011 by admin

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Apple Co-Founder Wozniak Visits Armenia

November 10, 2011 by admin

 

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Steve Wozniak rides a Segway through the streets of Yerevan (photolour)

YEREVAN (Combined Sources)—Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Wozniak is in Armenia to advise the country on investing in education and youth at the initiative of the Armenian government.

On Thursday, Wozniak, 61, met with Armenia’s IT business community and received a certificate from Synopsis Armenia for his “humanistic vision, enthusiasm and boundless energy in promoting innovation in the spirit of entrepreneurship around the world and in Armenia,” reported ArmRadio.

He is scheduled to meet with President Serzh Sarkisian Friday. Sarkisian is expected to award the former Apple Inc. executive with the “Global Award” for “Outstanding Contribution to Humanity through IT 2011.”

Wozniak is also scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, other government officials, university leaders and students.

In an interview with RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am), Wozniak stressed the importance of good education for steady growth of the hi-tech industry. “Even the Silicon Valley always attributed a lot of its success to good schools that had created a lot of good engineers,” he said.

Wozniak, who co-founded Apple with the late Steve Jobs in a Silicon Valley garage in 1976, emphasized at the same time that this should go hand in hand with “inspiring creativity” in children and young people.

“In the age of the Internet it’s very easy for anyone anywhere in the world to come up with ideas that could catch on massively, instantly,” he said. “It’s rare but it’s usually from young people because they aren’t so set in knowing how to do things already.”

“Don’t restrict smart young people, whether they have a college degree or not,” continued Wozniak. “It’s not that great when companies require all sorts of degrees or certification. You have to be able to spot young people who will think for themselves and come up with good new ideas — the real innovators.”

The sector’s growth in recent years has been facilitated by a rapid spread of Internet access in Armenia. Tightening competition among local Internet providers has been improving the quality and lowering the cost of the service.

“I would say that … chess is the sort of thinking that is so involved in a lot of the working out the logistics of hardware and software engineering, being able to hold a lot of patterns, independent ways and results in your head,” he said.

“But you have to encourage people to want to do the best in the world and to be the best in the world,” added Wozniak.

The President’s Global IT Award serves as a great networking tool for potential future investments, adds to the prestige of Armenia as a growing high-tech hub, and helps highlight Armenia on the world IT map, according to Armenia’s presidential press service, which added that the award also “adds to the confidence of foreign investors in Armenia. The award consists of Gold Medal, Diploma and Trophy approved by Award Committee.”

Article printed from Asbarez Armenian News: http://asbarez.com

URL to article: http://asbarez.com/99270/apple-co-founder-wozniak-visits-armenia/

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Armenian clergy subjected to Haredi spitting attacks

November 6, 2011 by admin

Police say that in every case where a complaint is filed, the offender has been caught thanks to security cameras installed in the Old City.

By Oz Rosenberg
When Narek [g] Garabidian, a Canadian of Armenian extraction, came to Israel to study at the Armenian Orthodox theological seminary in Jerusalem, he never thought he would have to endure harsh insults from passersby.

For the past 18 months, Garabidian said last week, he has been spit at and cursed by ultra-Orthodox passersby in the Old City.

About a month ago he was spit at again, but this time, it hit his clothes. Garabidian, a former football player, said: "I pushed the two young ultra-Orthodox men up against the wall and asked, ‘Why are you doing this?’ They were really scared and said, ‘Forgive us, we’re sorry.’ So I let them go."

When asked about the matter, Armenian clergymen said they had all been spit at, from the archbishop to the youngest of the divinity students. The most recent incident was on Thursday night, when a group of ultra-Orthodox Jews got together to spit at the gates of the Armenian church. However, the police found out about the incident and thwarted it by stationing officers in front of the church.

Police say that in every case where a complaint is filed, the offender has been caught thanks to security cameras installed in the Old City.

But in a verdict almost two weeks ago, Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court Judge Dov Pollock said: "The enforcement authorities are unable to root out the phenomenon and do not catch the spitters."

Pollock dismissed charges against Johannes Maratersian, an Armenian divinity student, who was spit at by an ultra-Orthodox man in May 2008 and responded by punching the man. Pollock ruled that prosecuting a man who has been spit on for years as he walks down the street in his clerical robes would contravene the principles of justice.

The Jerusalem district police responded: "All complaints of mutual assault are treated with the utmost severity. In the past, more than one case ended with charges being filed and the deportation of clergy involved in assault. As opposed to the situation about three years ago, the frequency of spitting has declined dramatically."

Published on Sunday, November 6, 2011 in Haaretz Newspaper

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/armenian-clergy-subjected-to-haredi-spitting-attacks-1.393912

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Condi Rice Brags about Killing Genocide Resolution

November 5, 2011 by admin

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By Khatchig Mouradian

Posted from The Armenian Weekly

In the newly released No Higher Honor: A Memoir of My Years in Washington, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice brags about her efforts to kill the Armenian Genocide Resolution in Congress in 1991 and 2007, dismissing the genocide as “something that had happened almost a hundred years before” and about which “there are many historical interpretations.”

Rice reveals how in 1991, as the acting special assistant for European affairs for the Bush Administration, she was tasked with the responsibility “to mobilize an effort to defeat the [Armenian Genocide] resolution in the House of Representatives.”

“The Turks, who had been essential in the first Gulf War effort,” Rice remembers, “were outraged at the prospect of being branded for an event that had taken place almost a century before—under the Ottomans!”

“Back then I had succeeded in my assigned task,” Rice congratulates herself, noting that in the years that followed, presidents and secretaries of state continued “to fight off the dreaded Armenian genocide resolutions,” pushed forward, of course, by none other than “the powerful Armenian American lobby.”

Pulling a page from the Turkish state’s official narrative on 1915, Rice notes that the massacres of Armenians are better left to scholars.  “Tragic” as these deaths were, “it was a matter for historians—not politicians—to decide how best to label what had occurred,” she observes.

Rice then proceeds to discuss her second encounter with the “dreaded” resolution in 2007, “in the midst of tension on the Turkish-Iraqi border and with Ankara’s forces on high alert.” Rice recounts how she begged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to block the vote, and the latter said “there was little she could do.”

She continues: “Defense Secretary Bob Gates and I delivered a press statement outside the White House, reiterating our opposition and saying that our own commanders in Iraq had raised the prospect of losing critical bases in Turkey. Eight former secretaries of state signed a letter opposing congressional action on the issue.”

At this point, having already argued a few paragraphs before that 1915 was old and passé, Rice repeats herself: “All this occurred over a resolution condemning something that had happened almost a hundred years before.”

The former secretary of state then notes that the Bush Administration persuaded Ankara that everything possible was being done to prevent a vote. The administration eventually succeeds in its efforts.

Rice proceeds to chastise Congress’ tendency “to grandstand on hot-button issues.”

“This was all the more galling,” she adds, “because the democratically elected Armenian government had little interest in the resolution. In fact, it was engaged in an effort to improve relations with Turkey, and it didn’t need it either.”

In two pages, Rice manages to repeatedly trivialize and deny the Armenian Genocide; mention, twice, that it’s a disputed, century-old issue; rehash the official Turkish narrative; and brag about killing its recognition efforts twice!

No higher honor indeed!

http://www.armenianweekly.com/2011/11/04/condi-rice/

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ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM

October 27, 2011 by admin

       This Saturday, October 29, the Armenian Church commemorates and remembers St. John Chrysostom (Hovhan Vosgeperan), a notable Christian bishop and preacher in Syria and Constantinople. He is famous for his eloquence—Chrysostom means “golden mouth.” The Orthodox Church honors him as a saint and one of the “three holy hierarchs” (along with Basil the Great and Gregory the Theologian). He is also recognized and honored by the Catholic Church and the Church of England.

       John converted to Christianity in 368 when he was barely 21 years old. He renounced a large inheritance and promising legal career and went to live in a mountain cave where he studied the Bible. He was later ordained a priest and soon his sermons were attracting huge audiences. He challenged wealthy Christians, whose generosity was confined to donating precious objects for display in churches. “The gift of a chalice may be extravagant in its generosity,” he said, “but a gift to the poor is an expression of love.”

       His outspoken criticism was not appreciated by the hierarchy and he was sent into exile at various times. He had a profound influence on the doctrines and theology of the Armenian Church because he spent the final years of his exile in Armenia. Some of his important works have survived only in Armenian manuscripts.

 

Muse of the deep and ineffable Divine Mysteries.
Wise Prefect and Great Doctor of the world,
Like the rock of the Church, you were faithful to the key to heaven.
From the beloved disciple, you received the gospel.
From the Holy Virgin Birthgiver you received your symbol of authority.
O Patriarch John, by the grace of the Holy Spirit you received wisdom.
(An Armenian Church ode dedicated to St. John Chrysostom)

Above article is posted from Eastern Armenian Prelacy’s Crossroads E-Newsletter

Posted in Holy Fathers of the Church, Saints | Tagged , , |

Mouradian: Armenians, Locals in Diyarbakir Send Powerful Message

October 25, 2011 by admin

By: Khatchig Mouradian

Sourp Giragos Opens to the Faithful

http://www.armenianweekly.com/2011/10/25/mouradian-armenians-locals-in-diyarbakir-send-powerful-message/

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (A.W.)—Armenians from around the world flocked to Surp Giragos Church in Diyarbakir [Dikranakerd] on Oct. 22 to attend both the consecration of the largest Armenian church in the Middle East and the Badarak held the following day.

They were greeted with welcome signs written in Armenian, and with Armenian music playing on the streets, cafes, and hotels in the city.

Renovated by the Surp Giragos Armenian Foundation, with the support of the local Kurdish-controlled municipality, the church, which had witnessed a century of destruction, neglect, and denial, now stood as defiant as ever to the forces suppressing freedom in Turkey. And as the faithful of different religions prayed in unison, the political message wasn’t lost on anyone.

Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir underlined the importance of confronting the past and seeking justice as part of the process of reconciliation and democratization. In an interview with the Weekly, the Kurdish politician said many view the renovation as an act asking for forgiveness. “You are not our guests. We are your guests,” stressed Baydemir, who heads the Diyarbakir Metropolitan Municipality.

“It’s a bittersweet return for the Armenian nation,” Raffi Hovannisian, the chairman of Armenia’s Heritage Party, told  the Weekly. “Here, in this courtyard, you see the great potential and the depth of the loss we as a nation have registered.”

Scott Avedisian, the mayor of Warwick, R.I., who was invited by the Diyarbakir Municipality to attend the opening, concurred. “The faces of people who once worshipped here, were forced out, survived, and have now returned to their church, attest to the fact that they never lost hope and never lost faith,” he said. The renovation constitutes a “powerful message,” he added, as the church is finally “being used for the very purpose it was originally intended.”

Osman Kavala, the president of “Anadolu Kultur,” [Anatolian Culture] an organization that promotes the art and culture of the region, said that “both the state and metropolitan municipalities provided full support for this project.”

“They are open to confronting the past and the responsibilities of the local population,” he said, and expressed his hope that one day the initiatives in Diyarbakir “will have an impact beyond the city, on the national policy.”

“Our grandparents, incited by others, committed wrongs,” Abdullah Demirbas, the mayor of the Sur Municipality in Diyarbakir, told the Weekly in an exclusive interview after the Badarak in Surp Giragos. “But we, their grandchildren, will not repeat them. Not only that, but we will also not allow others to repeat them.”

The challenge in Turkey, he added, is not only to renovate churches, but to renovate mentalities.

The Armenian Weekly will continue to publish in-depth coverage and interviews from Diyarbakir and Mush throughout the week.

Posted from the Armenian Weekly http://www.armenianweekly.com/2011/10/25/mouradian-armenians-locals-in-diyarbakir-send-powerful-message/

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UPCOMING EVENTS IN MILWAUKEE ARMENIAN COMMUNITY

October 24, 2011 by admin

Mini Oriental Orthodox Church Teen Retreat

Saturday, October 29, 2011, beginning 4:30 pm

The joint Armenian and Coptic Church Retreat will be held at

St. Mary and Antonious Coptic Orthodox Church in Milwaukee

1521 West Drexel Ave
Oak Creek, Wisconsin 53154

 

***

 

IL/WI REGIONAL CHOIR WORKSHOPS

Workshop for Choirs of Churches of Wisconsin

Saturday, November 12, 2011

2:00PM – 4:30 PM

at

St. Mesrob Armenian Church

4605 Erie Street, Racine, WI 53402

 

*****

 

KNIGHTS AND DAUGHTERS OF VARTAN
BRUNCH

            The Knights and Daughters of Vartan of Avarayr Lodge of Chicago will hold a brunch at St. John’s Cultural Hall on Sunday, November 13, 2011, following Divine Liturgy.

            A portion of the proceeds will be shared between our Sunday School and Giving Tree project.

            To determine the amount of preparation, we kindly ask that you email us at office@stjohnarmenianchurch.org

We look forward to seeing you then.

*****
The Diocesan Council
of the Eastern Diocese

Cordially invites you to attend a special cocktail reception honoring His Eminence Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, on the 40th Anniversary of his Ordination to the Holy Order of Priesthood and his 20th anniversary as the Primate of the Eastern Diocese.

The reception will take place in conjunction with 2011 Diocesan Annual Appeal.

Sunday, November 13, 2011, 5-7 PM

NAHA RESTAURANT

500 North Clark Street

Chicago, IL

RSVP by November 7, 2011

St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Church

Tel: 773.637.1711, or e-mail:berjouhis@armeniandiocese.org

 

 

Posted in Upcoming Events |

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