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On Friday, November 21, the Armenian Church commemorates the Presentation of the Holy Mother of God to the Temple (Undzayoum Sourp Asdvadzadzni), one of the eight feast days devoted to Mary in the Armenian liturgical calendar. The doctrine of …
If you’ve ever stood before The Bean in Chicago — that great, gleaming mirror of steel in Millennium Park — you know how breathtaking it is. You can’t help but be amazed at how it reflects everything around it — the skyline, the clouds drifting above, the people walking beneath. It’s so bright, so clear, so perfect.
But what most people don’t realize is that it doesn’t stay that way on its own. Every morning, workers come to clean it. They remove the fingerprints, the dust, the smudges that gather through the day. …
Fr. Alexander Madikian was a distinguished member of the Mekhitarist Congregation of Vienna with remarkable contributions to Armenian Studies, yet whose life was cut short prematurely. He was born Taniel Madikian on 18, 1886, in the village of Krman in the Khodorchur region of Western Armenia. At the age of fifteen, he went to study at the Mekhitarist School of Smyrna (Izmir), and a year later he left for Vienna with four schoolmates to continue his studies. In 1906, he became a member of the Mekhitarist Congregation and took the name Alexander. After completing his studies, he was ordained a celibate priest in 1910.
St. Andrew the Apostle, one of Jesus Christ’s twelve disciples, is traditionally known as the first-called (“Protokletos”) among the apostles. Born in Bethsaida, a town by the Sea of Galilee, Andrew was initially a disciple of John the Baptist before he encountered Jesus and chose to follow Him. Andrew also introduced his brother,
St. John the Baptist Armenian Orthodox Church of Milwaukee celebrated its 83rd anniversary with a visit from Bishop Mesrop Parsamyan, who ordained new deacons and an acolyte during the Divine Liturgy. The celebration featured inspiring reflections on faith and community, heartfelt tributes, and awards recognizing dedicated service. The event honored 83 years of devotion and looked ahead with renewed hope and unity for the parish’s future.
Have you ever noticed how light always needs something to live in? A candle needs wax, a flame needs a wick, a bulb needs a filament. Light never exists on its own—it always chooses a home. Without a vessel, the light cannot shine.
In ancient times, people used simple clay lamps. The beauty of the lamp didn’t matter. Whether it was gold or clay, what mattered was that it was willing to hold the oil. And that’s how God looks at us. He’s not asking for perfection. He’s not asking for polished gold. He’s looking for hearts willing to be filled with His presence.
The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:7, “We have this treasure in jars of clay,…
Pavel (Boghos) Lisitsian was born on November 6, 1911, in Vladikavkaz (Northern Caucasus). His father was a mine worker, and he first worked in diamond drilling and then as a welder apprentice, hoping to follow in your father’s footsteps. He entered the world of music by singing in a church choir, and then he moved to Leningrad to study cello in 1930.
His strong baritone voice turned him into the soloist of a local amateur group, and thus he entered the Leningrad Conservatory. He started his vocal career in the Leningrad Opera State Theatre and then in the Alexander Spendiarian Opera and Ballet Theatre of Yerevan, where he performed the leads for three years. …
Hakob (Iakov) Khachatryantz was one of the most accomplished translators of Armenian literature into Russian in the 1920s-1950s.
He was born in December 1884 in Yerevan and spent his childhood in Baku. He graduated from the gymnasium of Baku and then the Faculty of Philology of the University of St. Petersburg. He taught Latin and History at the Armenian Seminary of Nor Nakhichevan (Rostov-on-the-Don). In the 1920s, he returned to Yerevan and worked as the director of the Armenian Telegraphic Agency (now Armenpress). In 1929, he moved to Leningrad (nowadays St. Petersburg) and then to Moscow. ..
Have you noticed how the very thing that bothers you about someone else is often what you wrestle with yourself? You see impatience in traffic, and it drives you crazy—then you realize you’ve been honking a little too much, too. Or a friend brags just a little too often, and you think, “I can’t stand that,” but deep down God is saying, “Look closely—there’s a mirror in front of you.”
God has a way of using the people around us as mirrors. Those people who push our buttons, who get under our skin, who frustrate us—they’re not accidents. They’re opportunities. Before you get upset, before you judge, stop and ask, “Lord, what are You showing me about me?”
Musicologist Angelo Ephrikian was one of the rediscoverers of the work of Antonio Vivaldi in Italy.
He was born on October 20, 1913, in Treviso, Italy. His father, Sukias-Hagop Ephrikian (1873-1952), was a former member of the Mekhitarist Congregation of Venice and author of a valuable Illustrated Dictionary of the Homeland in two volumes (1902-1903), who worked at a local printing shop. Angelo Ephrikian received training in violin and composition but attended law school and started working as a lawyer, until he gave up his legal carer during World War II to join the partisan forces in the resistance to the fascist regime.
