The final days before Easter are noted on the calendars of most Christian denominations, but for the Orthodox churches, each of those days is endowed with special meaning.
On Sunday March 31, St. John the Baptist Armenian Church observed mid-Lent (michink) with a potluck of vegan dishes in keeping with Armenian fasting traditions and a talk by Rev. Fr. Panteleimon Dalianis from Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church in Wauwatosa.
“It’s good to be back home,” said Rev. Fr. Tadeos Abdalian, the celebrant and guest speaker for the 82nd anniversary celebration at St. John the Baptist Armenian Church, Greenfield. The November 10 event was a special occasion for Der Tateos and Milwaukee’s Armenian community. St. John was his first parish, the beginning of four decades of service in the Eastern Diocese. His years in Milwaukee were also a turning point for St. John, with Der Tateos taking the lead role in building the sanctuary that continues to be central to Armenian spiritual life in Milwaukee.
Der Tateos’ sermon was a reminder to parishioners who knew him in the ‘80s of his penetrating intelligence grounded in faith. He spoke of the power of silence, referencing the Book of Ecclesiastes 3:7, as a way to hear the voice of God in a world of noise and distraction. It’s a voice, he said,…
Milwaukee, WI — On Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, Milwaukee Armenians gathered to celebrate one of the major feast days on the Armenian Church calendar, the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The ceremonies at St. John the Baptist Armenian Church, Greenfield, included the Blessing of the Four Corners of the World (Antasdan) and the Blessing of the Basil, commemorating the discovery of the True Cross in a field of basil outside of Jerusalem in the year 326. The basil used this year in the service was grown in the parish’s garden.
St. John the Baptist Armenian Church celebrated the Feast of the Nativity and Theophany of Our Lord (“Armenian Christmas”) on January 7, in keeping with the community’s longstanding custom of observing the holiday on the Sunday closest to January 6. In his Nativity homily, St. John’s parish priest, Rev. Fr. Guregh Hambardzumyan, spoke of the mystery of the Incarnation: Why did God become human? One answer is that through his birth in Bethlehem, Jesus, the Son of God, lowered Himself to …
When international lawyer Karnig Kerkonian was invited to speak at St. John the Baptist Armenian Church, hope remained that Artsakh could survive. But by the time he spoke at the Milwaukee, Wis. church on Sunday, Oct. 15, Artsakh had fallen to Azerbaijan. The Western media, and Western governments, largely averted their eyes from the carnage.A graduate of Harvard and the University of Chicago, Kerkonian is an authority on international law and its application in U.S. courts. He warned his audience that what he was about to say “will be difficult to hear, difficult to digest and even difficult to believe.” The events of the past months constitute a “second Armenian Genocide.”
With the Opening of the Doors on the morning of April 2, the curtains that had concealed the altar for 40 days were finally drawn. Lent had ended and Holy Week began by commemorating Jesus Christ’s entry into Jerusalem on the final week before his crucifixion. The bema at St. John the Baptist Armenian Church was decorated with palm fans and palm branches were …
On Sunday, Nov. 13, St. John the Baptist Armenian Church of Milwaukee observed its 80th anniversary with Bishop Vahan Hovhannesian, former primate of the Armenian Church Diocese of France, celebrating the Divine Liturgy. ..
Two Armenian opera singers, tenor Yeghishe Manucharyan and mezzo-soprano Victoria Avetisyan, gave a concert at the South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center. The event was sponsored by St. John Armenian Church, as part of its observation of Armenian Culture Month…
Oscar Tatosian is a familiar name to Midwest Armenians. He was on the Eastern Diocese’s Diocesan Council for many years and continues to sit on the boards of the Fund for Armenian Relief and the Armenian Assembly of America. He is also Honorary …
Twenty-five years ago, the older members of St. John the Baptist Armenian Church in suburban Milwaukee worried that the parish’s annual summer festival would soon die for lack of young volunteers to do the work. That generation has passed, but younger generations have filled the role of their elders, making the 2022 Milwaukee Armenian Fest the most successful in its long history.
