Entries by stjohn

DEATH OF CHARLES AZNAVOUR

Statues, parks, and special coins in France, Armenia, and other countries have remembered French Armenian chansonnier Charles Aznavour since his death in 2018, including a monument built in Stepanakert (Republic of Artsakh) in 2021 in front of the cultural center named after him, which has become a victim of Azerbaijani vandalism after the forced evacuation of Artsakh in 2023. He recorded more than 1,200 songs in various languages and wrote or co-wrote more than 1,000 songs, which made him a familiar name worldwide

Charles Aznavour was born Shahnour Vaghinak Aznavourian in Paris on May 22, 1924. His parents ran a small Armenian restaurant until the Depression.

THE MASTER GARDENER

When I last visited St. Nersess Seminary, Der Mardiros Chevian proudly showed me the little garden behind his residence. You could see the joy on his face as he talked about each plant, each flower. He loves tending it, watering it, watching it grow. But he also said something that struck me. He said, “The hardest part of gardening isn’t planting the seeds—it’s dealing with the weeds.”

Gardeners know that weeds are persistent. You can cut them down at the surface, but if you don’t pull them up by the root, they’re coming right back. You can prune the leaves, you can cut them with shears, but unless you deal with the root, the problem isn’t going away.

And that is a picture of the world we live in. Humanity has tried every tool in the shed to solve its deepest problems…

FEAST OF THE HOLY CROSS OF VARAK

Sunday, September 28, 2025, is the Feast of the Holy Cross of Varak, a feast that is unique to the Armenian Church. The Hripsimiants Virgins, after coming to Armenia, lived near Mount Varak. Hripsime always carried a small wooden cross believed to have been made from…

ST. GEORGE (KEVORK) THE COMMANDER

On Saturday, September 27, the Armenian Church commemorates St. George (Kevork) the Commander. St. George was a third century Roman general who challenged the Emperor’s persecution of Christians by publicly tearing up the Emperor’s decree, and he urged …

BEAUTY FROM ASHES

Recently, I read something fascinating about the lodgepole pine tree growing in the forests of the American West. Its cones are sealed tight with a resin so strong that no amount of rain can soften it. The wind can’t break it open. Even time itself won’t release what’s inside. The only thing powerful enough to open those cones is the intense heat of a wildfire.

After the flames pass through, the cones open, the seeds fall into the rich ash-filled soil, and a brand-new forest begins to grow. What seems like destruction is actually the beginning of new life. Out of ashes, a new forest takes root.

That’s how it is in your life. You carry seeds of potential inside of you—dreams, gifts, callings, things God has planted deep within your heart. But some of those seeds will never come out just by waiting. They won’t be released by comfort, ease, or time. Sometimes, it takes the fire.

THE BEAUTY OF A SEASON

The other day, I wrote about my years in the Divanatun—the chancellery of the Holy See—as God’s training ground. There I learned many lessons, but one of the greatest was this: a single word carries power. One word can shape the meaning of a sentence. One word can shift the way we understand an entire thought.

One word I intentionally use in my writing and sermons is ‘season.’ Because life is not a constant state—it moves, it shifts, it grows. Life is made up of seasons: seasons of joy and seasons of pain; seasons of waiting and seasons of breakthrough. And when you begin to look at your life through this lens, everything starts to look different.

The Holy Scriptures remind us: “To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).

DEATH OF KEVORK PAMUKCIYAN

Kevork Pamukciyan was a prolific Turkish Armenian writer, historian, and biography researcher.

He was born on February 23, 1923, in Üsküdar, Istanbul. He completed his primary education at the Nersesyan-Yermonyan School in 1937 and continued his education at the Saint-Joseph French College until the tenth grade and dropped out in 1945. He published his first article in 1943 in the Armenian weekly newspaper Nor Lur in Istanbul. In 1949, another article in the New York magazine Hayastani Gochnag brought him into contact with the Armenian press abroad. Between 1942 and 1956, he researched and compiled approximately 2,000 tombstone inscriptions found in the Üsküdar, Edirnekapı, and Balıklı Armenian Cemeteries.

EVERY SEASON COUNTS

In 2007, after graduating from the University of Strasbourg, I returned to Holy Etchmiadzin. His Holiness appointed me as Deputy Chancellor. I found myself working in the Divanatun, at the chancellery, surrounded by letters, documents, and speeches. My days were filled with writing, editing, revising—again and again. Each word had to be chosen carefully. Each sentence had to be refined until it carried the right meaning.

To be honest, I was not happy in those days. I wondered, Is this really what God has called me to do? I did not see purpose in the endless hours of rewriting and polishing. I thought perhaps my gifts were meant for something else.

WORDS THAT MATTER

We often wonder if our words matter, if our small efforts of kindness, encouragement, or truth-telling make any real difference in this noisy, crowded world. And the answer is: yes, it does! In Isaiah 50:4, the prophet says, “The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary.”

God desires to speak through us. Not just through prophets, priests or bishops, but through you. Through your quiet words of comfort to a grieving friend. Through your choice to bless rather than curse. Through your decision to speak hope when others are only speaking fear. Every time you do this, you are echoing heaven.

FEAST OF SAINTS FEBRONIA, MARIANA, AND SHOUSHAN

On Tuesday, September 23, the Armenian Church remembers Febronia, Mariana, and Shoushan. The best known of the three is Shoushan, daughter of Vartan Mamigonian and great-granddaughter of Sahag Bartev. She was educated under the tutelage of St. Sahag and her …