Entries by stjohn

THE MOTHER WHO HEALS AND UNITES

This morning, I woke up to the sound of the bells of Holy Etchmiadzin. I arrived at the Mother See last night for the Supreme Spiritual Council meeting. As the bells chimed, I felt the weight of centuries in their echoes. These bells proclaim the endurance of a people, the unbroken faith of a nation. This is where you realize that faith isn’t just an idea; it’s living, breathing, and holding us together like a mother embracing her children.

Etchmiadzin, this holy sanctuary, has been the soul of our people. She has stood steadfast through the storms of history, watching over her children who have lived through the centuries with many pains and only little joys. She has witnessed our triumphs, but more often, she has wept with us in our suffering. And yet, she has never abandoned her children.

DEATH OF PATRIARCH SHNORK KALOUSTIAN

Archbishop Shnork Kaloustian was a prolific and active leader of the Armenian Church, who served in different capacities from Jerusalem to America to Istanbul, where he was the 82th Armenian Patriarch of Turkey for the last 29 years of his life.

Arshag Kaloustian was born on September 27, 1913, in the village of Ighdel, in the region of Yozgat. His father was a victim of the genocide and most of his siblings also died in the period 1915–1923. Little Arshag changed various orphanages in the years 1922-1927, from the former American college of Talas (Kayseri) to the American orphanages of Nahr Ibrahim in Lebanon and of Nazaret in Palestine.

WALKING THE STRAIGHT PATH OF FAITH

I heard about two boys who were playing in the snow. They decided to have a little competition to see who could walk the straightest line. One boy kept stopping, turning back to check his path. But the other boy never looked back. He locked his gaze on a tree in the distance and walked straight toward it. When they reached the end, the first boy’s line was perfectly straight. The second boy’s path was all over the place. He asked, “How did you do that?” His friend said, “I didn’t look back. I kept my eyes on the tree.”

That’s a picture of how we are to walk in faith. Some people start out strong, but along the way, they get distracted. They start looking back at past mistakes, past hurts, and past regrets. They keep questioning, “Am I on the right path? Did I make the right decisions?”

ST THEODORE THE WARRIOR

St. Theodoros the Captain is a Saint recognized by all traditional churches of Christendom. The Armenian Church commemorates this Saint on the first Saturday during the period of Great Lent.

EVE OF GREAT LENT

Poon Paregentan is the last Sunday preceding the six-week, forty-day period of Great Lent. It falls seven weeks prior to the Resurrection (Easter Sunday) and, along with the Feast of the Resurrection (Easter), is a moveable feast within an interval of thirty-five days between February 1 and March 7.

The theme of Poon Paregentan is recalling man’s life of perfect harmony with God in the Garden of Eden before his fall from Grace. The hymns and odes of the day recall the story of God creating mankind in His image and likeness, placing man sinless in a bountiful garden paradise and allowing him to share in His divinity. The Lenten period of strict fasting, penance and reconciliation ultimately prepares us for Easter—the Feast of the Glorious Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

BISHOP MESROP’S LENTEN MESSAGE 2025

We have entered the Season of Lent, and I want you to know that I will be praying for each and every one of you as you take this journey of reflection and preparation for the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ at Easter.
Great Lent is a time of many rich traditions in our Armenian Apostolic Church. It’s a time to engage in prayer, fasting, and giving—practices that open the door to God’s grace. I encourage you to take part in them and to be enriched in your spiritual life. Open yourself to the great love that God has for you. Listen for His voice and where it calls you.

Lent also reminds us of our need for repentance and the honest recognition that we are sinners who fall short of God’s glory. To many in the modern world, the very concept of sin seems old-fashioned. Yet, sin is part of our human nature; brokenness is our human condition.

DEATH OF SAMVEL KARAPETIAN

Samvel Karapetian was a researcher and expert of Armenian medieval architecture who specialized in the study of Armenian historical monuments in Armenia, Artsakh, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Iran.

He was born in Yerevan on July 30, 1961. He graduated from the Missak Manouchian School in 1978 and threw himself into the work of surveying and cataloging artifacts of Armenian history and architecture for the next decades. Karapetian surveyed and catalogued thousands of artifacts of Armenian history and architecture during the course of more than two decades.

When he conducted his initial fieldwork in Artsakh in 1979, he discovered that the authorities of Azerbaijan considered the Armenian sites and monuments in this region as belonging to their own Christian Caucasian Albanian ancestors and that Armenian visitors were discouraged.

A NEW SHEPHERD FOR GOD’S FLOCK

Last Saturday was a powerful, unforgettable day. My heart is still overflowing with joy and gratitude because I had the honor of performing my first priestly ordination in our Diocese at St. Sahag Armenian Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. We’ve been blessed to witness a divine mystery unfolding right before our eyes: Deacon Serop Krajekian has been transformed into a new creation in the Lord, Father Nersess.

A new priest means a new chapter, a new outpouring of grace, a fresh wind of the Spirit. Just as a baptism fills a family with joy, just as a wedding brings celebration, the St. Sahag community, our Eastern Diocese, and the entire Armenian Church rejoice because God has raised up a shepherd to lead His flock.

A LEGACY OF FAITH AND COURAGE

Today, we celebrate the feast day of St. Ghevont, the priest, and his clergy brothers. In the fifth century, when our people faced one of the greatest threats in their history and the Persian Empire sought to erase Armenia’s Christian identity, St. Ghevont and his clergy brothers stood boldly with the Armenian army for their faith and their nation, defying impossible odds.

On the eve of the Battle of Avarayr, May 24, AD 451, when the enemy was closing in, St. Ghevont gathered the soldiers, celebrated Badarak, administered Holy Communion, and even baptized those who had not yet been received into the church. And with his words, he reminded them about the love of God and that no battle, no hardship, not even death itself, could separate them from His love.

BIRTH OF RUPEN SEVAG

Rupen Chilingirian was born on February 28, 1885, in the village of Silivri (Eastern Thrace), near Constantinople. He received his elementary education at the Askanazian school and then at the lyceum of Bardizag until 1901, when he moved to Constantinople. He graduated from the prestigious Berberian School in 1905, when he published his first poem, “Parting Words,” and adopted the pen name Rupen Sevag (sevag meaning “black eyes”). He would become mostly known as a lyrical poet, characterized by freshness and precision of language. He contributed to many publications in the Ottoman capital and abroad.

Sevag pursued medical studies at the University of Lausanne (Switzerland). The double massacre of Adana, with 30,000 victims in April 1909, influenced the work of the young poet, who also issued warnings about the impending danger over his compatriots. In 1910, he published his first collection of poetry, aptly entitled The Red Book, where he also touched upon the themes of social injustice, complaint, and rebellion.