Longinus is the name given to the Roman soldier who pierced the side of Christ with a lance during His crucifixion. That episode occurs in the Gospel of John 19:34. Longinus is also identified as the Roman centurion mentioned in the synoptic gospels who identified Jesus as the Son of God (Matthew 27:54 and Mark 15:39, as well as Luke 23:47, where the centurion calls Jesus “a righteous man”).
In Christian tradition, the Four Evangelists are often symbolically represented by four living creatures as described in the Book of Ezekiel (1:5–14) and the Book of Revelation (4:6–8): a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle. These symbols capture the essence of the message and the character of the Gospel each Evangelist conveys.
In the Armenian Church, we celebrate the Feast Day of the Four Evangelists—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Through their divine inspiration and human experiences, these extraordinary men crafted the Gospels, Աւետարան/Avedaran in Armenian.
The Armenian Church calendar lists the following saints under the title “Holy Translators”: The group of saints labeled as Holy Translators includes the familiar names of Sahag and Mesrob, but also the names of a 5th-century historian, a 6th-century grammarian, a 6th-century philosopher, a 10th-century poet, and a 12th-century theologian….
On Tuesday, September 24, 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 …
On Friday, September 8, the Armenian Church commemorates the Feast of the Nativity of the Holy Mother of God. The birth of the Holy Mother is not recorded in the Bible; the account of this event comes to us from …
On Tuesday, August 22, the Armenian Church commemorates Saints Joachim and Anna, parents of Mary, the mother of Christ. Joachim, son of Barpathir, was a descendant of King David, to whom God had revealed that the Savior of the world would be born through his descendants.
Cyprian was an important early Christian writer and a major theologian of the early African church. Many of his works in Latin have survived. One of his best-known works is “On the Unity of the Church.” Many of his epistles, treatises, and pastoral letters are extant. He urged Christians to recite the Lord’s Prayer every day, meditating on each phrase. He wrote a commentary on the Lord’s Prayer showing how it is the model for prayer.
The seventh Sunday of Easter is called Second Palm Sunday because of the readings on that day. Beginning with New Sunday and continuing until Pentecost, the Armenian Church reads from the four Gospels every day in their proper order. The sections related to Christ’s entry into Jerusalem coincide with the seventh Sunday of Easter, hence the designation of “Second Palm Sunday.”
On Sunday, August 18, the Armenian Church celebrates the Feast of the Assumption (Verapokhoum) of the Holy Mother of God and the Blessing of the Grapes. The word verapokhoum in classical Armenian means “transport up.”
