Entries by stjohn

Good Weather and Good Turn-out for This Year’s Milwaukee Armenian Fest

The clouds cleared and the sun came out just in time for this year’s Milwaukee Armenian Fest. Held on Sunday, July 20, the annual event was blessed with ideal summer weather and continued to build on its tradition as a gathering for Southeast Wisconsin Armenians and a showcase of Armenian culture and heritage for the area’s non-Armenians.
This year’s festival featured traditional music by Chicago’s Armenian band, the Hye Vibes, as well as contemporary Armenian pop sung by Joka.

ST. JOHN OF MILWAUKEE NAMED PARISH OF THE MONTH

We’re thrilled to shine a spotlight on St. John the Baptist Armenian Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin!

This feature comes just in time for their Milwaukee Armenian Fest on Sunday, July 20: a beloved annual tradition that brings the entire community together in a joyful celebration of Armenian culture and faith. From delicious food and lively music to traditional dancing and warm fellowship, the festival is a vibrant expression of heritage and hospitality.

Fr. Guregh Hambardzumyan, pastor of St. John the Baptist, shares how much he treasures the deeply rooted sense of community, and the welcoming, multigenerational spirit that defines the parish.

TURN TO THE LIGHT

Last week, on my way to Khor Virap, I came across a beautiful sunflower garden and had to stop to take a picture. There’s just something about sunflowers that lifts my spirit. I’ve loved them for as long as I can remember.

But here’s what’s fascinating about sunflowers: they follow the sun. It’s a behavior called heliotropism. In the morning, they face east. And as the sun moves across the sky, they turn their heads with it. All day long, they’re chasing the light. And when the sun sets, when darkness falls, they turn toward each other.

STS. SAHAG AND MESROB: THE HOLY TRANSLATORS

The Armenian Church and the Armenian language have helped Armenians defeat existential threats. The Armenian language as a factor in national survival is second only to the conversion of the Armenians to Christianity and the establishment of a national church. Thus, language has played a dual role for the Armenians: first, as a medium of communication; second and more important, as a cohesive force for national survival.

DEATH OF CATHOLICOS COADJUTOR PAPKEN I

Archbishop Papken Guleserian was one of the prolific members of the Armenian Apostolic Church in the first decades of the past century, reaching the throne of the Catholicosate of the Great House Cilicia, when death interrupted his life at the age of 68.

He was born Harutiun Guleserian on March 5, 1868, in Aintab. After attending the local Vartanian School in 1885-1889, հe continued his studies at the Armash Seminary for the next seven years and graduated in 1896. He was ordained celibate priest in 1895, adopting the ecclesiastic name of Papken, and subsequently received the degrees of archimandrite (1896) and archimandrite superior (1897). He was a preacher in Constantinople for a year and then was appointed locum tenens of the diocese of Samsun.

CALLED TO THE LIGHT

There are moments in our lives when God reveals Himself in ways that forever shape our journey. For me, one such moment took place on a scorching summer day when I was just thirteen. Our judo coach gathered us for a hike, a nearly 25-mile hike from Yerevan to Khor Virap Monastery. We left early in the morning, and by the time we arrived, night had already fallen. We lay down to rest within the ancient walls of this sacred place.

At dawn, as the first light touched the peak of Mount Ararat, the monastery bells began to ring. Something deep inside me stirred.

THE GOD OF PERFECT TIMING

Today, in Yerevan, I visited the old Spartak sports complex where it all began—the place where God started writing a chapter of my life I never could’ve had imagined.

When I was 5 and my brother was 6, our father decided it was time for us to get involved in sports. He had been a wrestler in his youth, so it made sense to him that his sons would wrestle too. He took us to a Greco-Roman wrestling club.

BIRTH OF JAK IHAMLYAN

Jak Ihmalyan was a Turkish Armenian painter, political activist, and university teacher who lived most of his life outside Turkey due to political repression.

He was born in Istanbul on June 30, 1922. He developed his connection to art at a young age, influenced by his father Garbis, who was also a painter. He started his studies of painting in 1936. After completing a private Catholic secondary school in 1936, he enrolled at Lycée Saint-Joseph and later graduated from Haydarpaşa high school. In 1942-1944, he studied at the Istanbul State Academy of Fine Arts.

POUR OUT THE HONEY

Honey has been treasured for centuries, not just for its sweetness, but for its healing power. Long before modern medicine discovered its antibacterial properties, people knew that a spoonful of honey could soothe a sore throat, that a dab on a wound could help cleanse and heal. It’s nature’s remedy. It’s gentle, it’s powerful, and it works.

The Bible says in Proverbs 16:24, “Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” God is reminding us that our words are not just sounds that pass through the air; they are carriers of life. Just like honey, they have flavor. They have sweetness. And they have healing power.

DISCOVERY OF THE RELICS OF ST. GREGORY THE ILLUMINATOR

The Armenian Church observes three feast days dedicated to St. Gregory the Illuminator (Krikor Lousavorich) St. Gregory is considered to be the “Apostle of Armenia,” and the patron saint of the Armenian Church. He preached throughout Armenia, built churches, including the great cathedral in Etchmiadzin, established the first canon laws, wrote many prayers, and organized the liturgical services.