The Divine Liturgy is the main worship service of the Armenian Church. But the Badarak, as we call it in Armenian, is much more than that. It provides the most intimate encounter we can have with God in this life. In the Divine Liturgy, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, comes to his people—to you and me—in two forms: First, by his Word, in the reading of the holy Gospel; and second, by his holy Body and Blood, in Holy Communion.  These two actions—the reading of the Word of God, and the reception of Holy Communion—are the two pillars or building blocks of the Divine Liturgy in all ancient, apostolic churches.

Liturgical language
Officially, the liturgical language is Classical Armenian (Grabar), which differs decidedly from the eastern and western modern Armenian dialects. The vernacular is not used in the celebration of the Divine.

Identity
The Armenian Liturgy is one of the five liturgical families of the Christian East. Although scholars long considered the Armenian Liturgy to be but a branch of the Byzantine liturgical family, recent scholarship has demonstrated beyond doubt the independence and distinctiveness of the ancient liturgical tradition of the Armenian Church.

Theology
Back in the 10th century, the great Armenian theologian Khosrov Antsevatsi eloquently described the importance of the Divine Liturgy when he wrote: “Since those who confess and show repentance receive atonement by means of the Holy Mystery [the Badarak], and are reunited to Christ in order to become for Him Body and members, we should be eager for the great medicine.” The Divine Liturgy is the great medicine that provides true meaning and direction for our lives. It offers the peace and solace that only God can give—a free gift, no less—in an age when so many people are searching, and spending millions of dollars in vain to find personal stability and security.

The high Alexandrian Christology promulgated by the Armenian Church is reflected in many facets of its liturgical expression. The Armenian anaphora of St. Athanasius, while addressed to the Father, is Christological from the outset. The opening discourse on God’s creation found in conventional Antiochene Eucharistic prayers is reduced in Armenian Athanasius to a mere mention. Other Christological emphases include a Christological doxology that always precedes the Lord’s Prayer, and the perpetuation in Armenia of the unified celebration of Christ’s birth and baptism on January 6, which became for the Armenians a symbol of the perfect divinity and perfect humanity of Christ in one nature.

The Armenian Liturgy often preserves ancient structures and usages long since supplanted in other rites. In Armenian Sunday Matins, to cite one example, the Cathedral Vigil exhibits today the same lucid structure that the Spanish pilgrim Egeria described toward the end of the fourth century. Scholars are increasingly turning to the Armenian Liturgy as an important witness for the historical reconstruction of early liturgical structures and practices.

Special aspects of the Armenian liturgy
The Armenian Liturgy is celebrated with a form and ceremonial which partakes in a measure both of the Roman and Byzantine rites. The curtains are used instead of the altar-rail or iconostasis of those rites, and the vestments are also peculiar. The Armenian Church uses unleavened bread, in the form of a wafer or small thin round cake, for consecration, and those not used for consecration in the Liturgy are given afterwards to the people as the antidoron. The wine used must be solely the fermented juice of the best grapes obtainable. In the Armenian Churches, Communion is given to the people under both species, the Host being dipped in the chalice before delivering it to the communicant.

On Christmas Eve and Easter Eve, the Armenian Church celebrates Liturgy in the evening; the Liturgy begins with the curtains drawn whilst the introductory psalms and prophecies are sung, but, at the moment the great feast is announced in the Introit, the curtains are withdrawn, and the altar appears with full illumination.

During Lent, the altar remains entirely hidden by the great curtains, and during all the Sundays in Lent, except Palm Sunday, Mass is celebrated behind the drawn curtains.

Vestments
The Armenian vestments for Liturgy are peculiar and splendid. The priest wears a crown, which is called the Saghavard or helmet.

The Armenian bishops wear a mitre almost identical in shape with the Latin mitre. The mitre has been introduced in the Armenian Church in the twelfth century. The celebrant is first vested with the shapik or alb, which is usually narrower than the Latin form, and usually of linen (sometimes of silk). He then puts on each of his arms the bazpans or cuffs; then the ourar or stole, which is in one piece; then the goti or girdle, then the vakas or amice, which is a large embroidered stiff collar with a shoulder covering to it; and finally the shourchar, or chasuble. If the celebrant is  Patriarch or Catholicos, he also wears gonker or epigonation. The bishops carry a staff shaped like the Latin, while the vartabeds (doctors of divinity) carry a staff in the Greek form (a staff with two intertwined serpents). Originally no organs are used in the Armenian church, but the elaborate vocal music of the Eastern style, sung by choir and people, is accompanied by two metallic instruments, the keshotz and zinzqha (the first a fan with small bells; the second similar to cymbals), both of which are used during various parts of the Liturgy. The organ was introduced in the Armenian Church in 1923. The deacon wears merely an alb, and a stole in the same manner as in the Catholic or Orthodox Churches. The sub-deacons and lower clergy wear simply the alb.

Sections of liturgy
The Armenian Liturgy may be divided into three parts: Preparation, Anaphora or Canon, and Conclusion.

The first and preparatory portion extends as far as the Preface, when the catechumens are directed by the deacon to leave. The Canon commences with the conclusion of the Preface and ends with the Communion. As soon as the priest is robed in his vestments he goes to the altar, washes his hands reciting Psalm XXVI, and then going to the foot of the altar begins the Liturgy. After saying the Intercessory Prayer, the Absolution, which is given with a crucifix in hand, he recites Psalm XXII, and at every two verses ascends a step of the altar. After he has intoned the prayer “In the tabernacle of Holiness,” the curtains are drawn, and the choir sings the appropriate hymn of the day. Meanwhile the celebrant behind the curtain prepares the bread on the paten and fills the chalice, ready for the oblation. When this is done the curtains are withdrawn and the altar incensed. Then the Introit of the day is sung, then the prayers corresponding to those of the first, second, and third antiphons of liturgy of Basil the Great, while the proper psalms are sung by the choir. Then the deacon intones “Proschume” (let us attend), and elevates the book of the gospels, which is incensed as he brings it to the altar, making the Little Entrance. The choir then sings the Trisagion (Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy and Immortal, have mercy on us) thrice. The Armenian Church interpolates after “Holy and Immortal” some words descriptive of the feast day, such as “who was made manifest for us,” or “who didst rise from the dead.” During the Trisagion, the Keshotz is jingled in accompaniment. Then Litany is sung, and at its conclusion, the reader reads the Prophecy; then the Antiphon before the Epistle is sung, and the epistle of the day is read. At the end of each, the choir responds Alleluia. Then the deacon announces “Orthi” (stand up) and, taking the Gospels, reads or intones the gospel of the day. Immediately afterwards, the Nicene Creed is sung.  After concluding in the ordinary form the deacon adds the sentence pronounced by the First Council of Nicaea: “Those who say there was a time when the Son was not, or when the Holy Ghost was not; or that they were created out of nothing; or that the Son of God and the Holy Ghost are of another substance or that they are mutable; the Catholic and Apostolic church condemns.” Then the Confession of St. Gregory is intoned aloud by the celebrant, and the Little litany is sung. The deacon, at its close, dismisses the catechumens, and the choir sings the Hymn of the Great Entrance, when the bread and wine are solemnly brought to the altar. “The Body of our Lord and the Blood of our Redeemer are to be before us. The Heavenly Powers invisible sing and proclaim with uninterrupted voice, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts.”

Here, the priest takes off his crown and the cross (if the celebrant is a bishop, his mitre, and if the celebrant is a bishop, the curtains are drawn). The celebrant incenses the holy gifts and again washes his bands, repeating Psalm XXVI as before. After the Salutation is sung, the Anaphora or Canon begins. The Preface is said secretly, only the concluding part being intoned, to which the choir responds with the Sanctus. The formal kiss of peace is exchanged. The prayer before consecration follows, with a comparison of the Old and the New Law, not found in either Greek or Roman Rite: “Holy, Holy, Holy; Thou art in truth most Holy; who is there who can dare to describe by words thy bounties which flow down upon us without measure? For Thou didst protect and console our forefathers, when they had fallen in sin, by means of the prophets, the Law, the priesthood, and the offering of bullocks, showing forth that which was to come. And when at length He came, Thou didst tear in pieces the register of our sins, and didst bestow on us Thine Only Begotten Son, the debtor and the debt, the victim and the anointed, the Lamb and Bread of Heaven, the Priest and the Oblation, for He is the distributor and is always distributed amongst us, without being exhausted. Being made man truly and not apparently, and by union without confusion, He was incarnate in the womb of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and journeyed through all the passions of human life, sin only excepted, and of His own free will walked to the cross, whereby He gave life to the world and wrought salvation for us.” Then follow the actual words of consecration, which are intoned aloud. Then follow the Offering and the Epiklesis: “whereby Thou wilt make the bread when blessed truly the body of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” Then come the prayers for the living and the dead, and an intoning by the deacons of the Commemoration of the Saints, in which nearly all the Armenian saints are mentioned. Then the deacon intones aloud the Ascription of Praise of Bishop Khosrov the Great in thanksgiving for the Sacrament of the Altar. After this comes a long Ektene or Litany, and then the Our Father is sung by the choir. The celebrant then elevates the consecrated Host, saying “Holy things for Holy Persons,” and when the choir responds, he continues: “Let us taste in holiness the holy and honourable Body and Blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who came down from heaven and is now distributed among us.” Then the choir sings antiphons in honour of the sacrifice of the Body and Blood, and the small curtain is drawn. The priest kisses the sacred Victim, saying, “I confess, and I believe that Thou art Christ, the Son of God, who has borne the sins of the world.” The Host is divided into three parts, one of which is placed in the chalice. The choir sings the communion hymns as appointed; the priest and the clergy receive the Communion first, and then the choir and people. The little curtain is withdrawn when the Communion is given, and the great curtains are drawn back when the people come up for Communion.

After Communion, the priest puts on his crown (or the bishop his mitre and omophoria), and the great curtains are again drawn. Thanksgiving prayers are said behind them, after which the great curtains are withdrawn once more, and the priest holding the book of gospels says the great prayer of peace, and blesses the people. Then the deacon proclaims “Orthi” (stand up) and the celebrant reads the Last Gospel, which is nearly always invariable, being the Gospel of St. John, I: “In the beginning was the Word, etc.”; the only exception is from Easter to the eve of Pentecost, when they use the Gospel of St. John, XXI, 15-20: “So when they had dined, etc.” Then the prayer for peace is said, and the final benediction is given.

The fathers of the Armenian Church have divided the days of the year into three categories: dominical feasts, days of martyrs and saints, and fasting days.

Dominical Feasts
These are feasts related to the events of Jesus’ earthly ministry, to the feasts of Mary, Mother of God, the Holy and life-giving cross, and to the Church. Thus, the dominical feasts are divided into four groups.

The feasts related to Jesus’ earthly ministry are the following: Annunciation, Nativity and Theophany, the Holy Name of Jesus, Presentation to the Temple, Transfiguration, Palm Sunday, Last Supper or Institution of Holy Communion, Passion, Resurrection, Ascension, and Pentecost.

The feasts related to St. Mary, Mother of God are the following: The Conception by St. Anna of the Most Holy Mother of God, Presentation of Anna to the Temple and Assumption of St. Mary, Discovery of the Box (Fifth Sunday after Pentecost), Discovery of the Belt (Second Sunday after the Assumption), and the Birth of the Holy Virgin Mary.

The feasts of the cross are the following: Apparition of the Holy Cross (Fourth Sunday after Easter), Exaltation of the Holy Cross (observed on the Sunday closest to 14 September), Holy Cross of Varak (Third Sunday of the Exaltation), and Discovery of the Cross (Seventh Sunday of the Exaltation).

The feasts of the Church are following: New Sunday (First Sunday after Easter), Green Sunday (Second Sunday after Easter), Red Sunday (Third Sunday after Easter), the feast of the establishment of Holy Echmiadzin by St. Gregory the Illuminator (Second Sunday after Pentecost), Commemoration of the Old Ark [of the covenant], the Feast of the New One – the Holy Church (Saturday preceding Transfiguration), Shoghagat—Feast of Echmiadzin (Saturday preceding the Assumption).

Saints Days
In the Armenian Apostolic Church, saints are commemorated on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. These are saints proclaimed by the Armenian Church and saints proclaimed by the Universal Church up until the 5th century. There are no fixed dates for the saints’ days except the newly canonized Holy Martyrs of the Armenian Genocide, which is celebrated on April 24th.

The Dates of the Feasts
The dates of most of the feasts are related to the celebration of Holy Easter and are movable. Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the spring Equinox, and since 1923, the Armenian Church has been using the new Gregorian calendar.

The Feasts with a Fixed Date
Though most feasts do not have fixed dates, some of them do. These are mostly feasts related to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and St. Mary the Mother of God. The feasts with fixed dates are the following: Theophany and Epiphany – starting on the evening of 5th January. At the solemn Divine Liturgy, the good tidings of Christ’s birth are shared with the faithful, and on 6th January, another solemn liturgy also celebrates the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan. Christmas is celebrated for 9 days. The Day of the Holy Name is celebrated on 13th January, and the Presentation to the Temple on 14th February. Annunciation is celebrated on 7th April. Other fixed feasts include: the birth of St. Mary (8th September), Conception by St. Anna of the Most Holy Mother of God (9th December), and Presentation of Anna to the Temple (21st November).

Five Cardinal or Daghavar Feasts
In the church calendar of the Armenian Church, the five major dominical feasts are considered as ‘cardinal feasts’ or Daghavar. These are the following days: Christmas – Epiphany (Dznoont), Easter (Zadig), Vartavar – Transfiguration, Assumption of Saint Mary, Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Khachveratz).

The day following each Daghavar is designated as a memorial day for the departed by death (merelotz in the Armenian language). Also, the week preceding each Daghavar is a week of fast, except for Easter, which has its own seven-week fast named the Great Fast or Lent. On the following Monday of the Daghavars, people usually go to the cemetery to honor the memory of their departed ones, and the priest blesses the tombs. And also it is a duty for church members to receive communion on the days of Daghavar.

Christmas – Epiphany (Dznoont)
This feast is the anniversary of the birth and the baptism of Jesus Christ. He was born in a manger in Bethlehem, near Jerusalem City, but He was baptised in the River Jordan by John the Baptist. The Armenian Church celebrates both the birth and the baptism of Jesus Christ on the same day, the 6th of January. Because Jesus was baptized when He was almost thirty years old (Luke 3:23), His baptism happened nearly on the same day as His birthday, according to church traditions. For this reason, this feast is called birth and baptism, or Christmas and Epiphany.

When Jesus was baptised, He prayed to His Father, and as He prayed, Heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit of God descended upon Him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven which said, “Thou art my beloved Son; in thee, I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22). By these words, the divinity of Jesus Christ was revealed to the world. This event is called Epiphany. In the beginning, all Christian churches celebrated both Christmas and the baptism of Christ on the same day, the 6th day of January, as the Armenian Church does. But later on, the date of Christmas was changed to the 25th day of December, which was the pagan feast day of the sun in Rome. In order to abolish this heathen feast, the Catholic Church transferred Christmas from the 6th day of January to the 25th day of December.

To this day, the Armenian Church, being faithful to the old tradition of Christianity, continues to celebrate Christmas and the baptism on the same day, 6th January. Therefore, in the Armenian Church, after the offering of Christmas Badarak (mass), a special ceremony of the blessing of water takes place every year. – The Cross is immersed in this blessed water and then taken out again, symbolizing the baptism of Jesus Christ.

In the Armenian tradition, the first hymns of Christmas were assigned to Movses Khorenatsi in the 5th century. During the blessing of water, two wonderful pieces of Armenian hymnology are sung by 12th-century author Grigor Bahlavouni (Ov Zarmanali-) and 13th-century author Hovhanness Bluz Erzenkatsi (Aysor dzaynn hayrakan).

Easter (Zadig)
The day of Great Paregentan (carnival) comes three days after the Vardanantz Feast, followed by Lent, which lasts seven weeks. This is a period of repentance and fasting. Each Sunday of Lent is designated for a special purpose in the Armenian Church. For example, Paregentan~ Sunday is called “Paradise Sunday,” and the following Sundays are named “The Exclusion,” “The Prodigal Son,” “The Steward,” “Unjust Judge,” “The Advent,” “Palm Sunday,” and then comes “Easter Sunday.” The last week of Lent is called Avak Shapat (Holy Week).

Easter is a feast that commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He died upon the Cross and was risen on the third day. The good news of His Resurrection encouraged His disciples, who were very sad and disheartened because of His great suffering and crucifixion.

In 325 (AD), the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea decided to celebrate Easter on the first Sunday of the next full moon after the Spring Equinox. This is the reason that the Feast of Easter is movable and falls on one of the Sundays between March 22nd and April 25th.

The hymns of the resurrection were written by Stepanos Syunesti (VIII century), Anania of Shirak (VII century), John Mandakuni (V century), Nerses Shnorhali (XII century), and Grigor Narekatsi (X century).

Feast of Transfiguration
The Transfiguration of Jesus Christ happened on a high mountain where Jesus had gone with Peter, James, and John to pray. He was praying, suddenly His countenance was altered, and His raiment was white and glistening, and there talked with Him two men who were Moses and Elijah. The Feast of Transfiguration is celebrated on the 6th of August in the Greek and Roman Catholic Churches. In the Armenian Church, by the arrangement of Saint Gregory the Illuminator, it was celebrated on the first day of the month of Navasart, which fell on the 11th of August. But Catholicos Moses of Eghivart changed the date of this feast and transferred it to the Sunday fourteen weeks after Easter when he renewed the Armenian Church calendar in 551 (A.D.). Therefore, according to this new arrangement, the Feast of Transfiguration began to be celebrated in the Armenian Church between June 28th and August 1st, on one of the Sundays adjusted from the date of Easter of each year.

This feast is also called Vartavar in the Armenian tradition. It is the Feast of the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ. Vartavar was one of the great pagan feasts of the Armenian people before Christianity. At this feast of Vartavar, the people of Armenia decorated the temple of the goddess Asdghig with roses and flowers. For this reason, the feast was called Vartavar, which means decoration with roses. On this occasion, people let pigeons fly in the air and threw water on each other. However, the practice of sprinkling water on each other has been handed down to us so that even today, in many places, this is still the custom. Saint Gregory the Illuminator, to abolish this heathen custom, united it with the Feast of Transfiguration.

The Dormition of the Virgin,” by Lilit Amirjanyan

Assumption of Saint Mary
The Assumption of Saint Mary is a feast that commemorates the death and assumption of the Mother of our Lord, Jesus Christ, to Heaven. In the Armenian Church, there are other feasts of Saint Mary. It is celebrated in the Armenian Church on the nearest Sunday to 15th August and is continued for nine days according to the arrangement of Catholicos Nerses Shnorhali (XII century). In the other ancient churches, the Feast of the Assumption of Saint Mary is always celebrated on the 15th of August, whether it falls on a Sunday or on a weekday. The Feast of the Assumption of Saint Mary was established on the following tradition: Her death happened on the 15th of August. However, the Apostle Bartholomew was absent at the time of her funeral. Upon his return to Jerusalem, he wanted to see her. When they opened the tomb and did not find her body there, this empty tomb caused them to think that her body had been taken to Heaven, just as Jesus had formerly promised her.

On the first day of this feast after the offering of the Mass, the grapes are blessed in the Armenian Church. Again, the Catholicos, Nerses the Graceful, is the founder of this ceremony and prayer for the blessing of the grapes.

The hymns of this feast day were written by the Catholicos, Nerses the Graceful.

Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Khachveratz)

Khatchkar at Geghard Monastery

The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is the last of these five cardinal feasts or Daghavars. The Feast of the Elevation of the Holy Cross commemorates the emancipation of the Cross of Christ from Persia and the elevation of it on Calvary in Jerusalem. The story of this event is as follows:

When the Persian King, King Khosrov, occupied Jerusalem in 610 (AD), he also carried the Cross of Christ with him to Persia as bondage to insult the Christian community. In 628 (A.D.) Emperor Heracles of Constantinople conquered Persia and emancipated the Cross of Christ from bondage, and brought it back to Jerusalem. The Armenian people also have their own version of this event. When the Cross was emancipated from Persia, it was brought first to Garin (a city in Armenia), and it was carried through Armenia into Constantinople and then to Jerusalem. Patriarch Zakariah of Jerusalem decorated the Cross with roses and flowers and erected it on the Hill of Calvary. On this occasion, the Church of Jerusalem celebrated the emancipation of the Cross of Christ with great honour and much enthusiasm to inspire the people with the spiritual meaning of the Cross. One mountain top of Garin is called Khachapayd (the wood of the Holy Cross). When the Cross was carried from Persia to Jerusalem, the carriers passed through a road on this mountain. This is the reason why this mountain top is called the Khachapayd. Also, for the same reason, an Armenian convent near the City of Garin is called Khachga Vank (the Convent of the Cross)

Between the Feast of Khachveratz and the Feast of Varaka Khach, there is another commemoration which is called “the Feast of the Church.” This commemoration has a close connection with the Feasts of the Cross. That is the reason that it is celebrated in this period.

Fasting or Abstinence days
There are two kinds of fasting:
1. Abstinence from meat and animal products – “bahk”
2. Total abstinence – “dzom”

Fasting days are classified as follows:

Daily Fast
Every Wednesday and Friday is a day of fasting, except during the forty days after Easter (until Ascension) and during the octave of Theophany (January 6 – 13).

The Fast of Great Lent and Holy Week (7 weeks)
Great Fast (medz bahk) starts on the first day of Great Lent, until Great Saturday.

Weeklong Fasts
Ten weeklong fasts are preceding major feasts and commemorations, observed from Monday to Friday, except for the Fast of the Nativity, which is 6 days:

1. Fast of Nativity/Theophany: December 30—January 4
2. Fast of the Catechumens: January 25—30
3. Fast of Elijah: May 25—29
4. Fast of our Holy Father St. Gregory the Illuminator: July 15—19
5. Fast of Transfiguration: July 6—10
6. Fast of the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God: August 10—14
7. Fast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross: September 7—11
8. Fast of the Holy Cross of Varak: September 21—25
9. Fast of Advent: November 16—20
10. Fast of St. Hagop: December 7—11

The Daily Services in the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Armenian Catholic Church consist of nine services. The daily cycle of prayer begins with the Night Service, according to the ancient belief that a new day begins at nightfall.

The Night Service (midnight), dedicated to the praising of God the Father. Themes of the service are: thanksgiving to God for the blessing of sleep and asking that the remainder of the night pass in peace and tranquility, and that the next day be spent in purity and righteousness.

The Morning Service (dawn), dedicated to the praising of God the Son. Symbolizes the Resurrection of Christ and his appearance to the Myrrh-bearing Women.

The Sunrise Service (6:00 a.m.), dedicated to the praising of the Holy Spirit. Symbolizes the appearance of Christ to the disciples after the Resurrection.

The Third Hour (9:00 a.m.), dedicated to the Holy Spirit. Symbolizes Eve’s original tasting of the forbidden fruit and eventual liberation from condemnation through Jesus Christ. The service has a profound penitential meaning.

The Sixth Hour (noon), dedicated to God the Father. Symbolizes Christ’s Crucifixion. The prayers at the service ask for God’s help towards feeble human nature.

The Ninth Hour (3:00 p.m.), dedicated to God the Son. Symbolizes Christ’s death and the liberation of humanity from the power of Hell.

The Evening Service (before sunset), dedicated to God the Son. Symbolizes Christ’s burial, asks God for a quiet night and a peaceful sleep.

The Peace Service (after sunset), dedicated to the Holy Spirit. Symbolizes Christ’s descent into Hell and liberation of the righteous from torments.

The Rest Service (before retiring for sleep), dedicated to God the Father. In early times, it was the continuation of the Peace Service.

In ancient times, all nine services were offered every day, especially in monasteries. At present, the following services are conducted in churches daily for the majority of the year:
•    In the morning: Night and Morning Services together
•    In the evening: Evening Service

During Great Lent, all of the services are offered on weekdays (except Saturday and Sunday) according to the following schedule:
•    In the morning: Night, Morning, and Sunrise Services
•    In the afternoon: Third, Sixth, Ninth Hours
•    In the evening:

• Monday, Tuesday, Thursday: Peace Service

• Wednesday, Friday: Rest Service

• Saturday, Sunday: Evening Service

The book that contains the hymns which constitute the substance of the musical system of Armenian liturgical chant is the Sharagnots, a collection of hymns known as Sharakan. Originally, these hymns were Psalms and biblical Canticles that were chanted during the services, similar to the Byzantine Canon. In addition, the eight modes are applied to the psalms of the Night office, called ganonaklookh (Canon head).  The Liturgy of the Hours is published by the Armenian Church in a special book called Zhamagirk.

As Christians, we believe that those who die are gathered to God and ushered into a new life through Christ. The burial rites of the Church provide an opportunity for family and friends to acknowledge faith and hope in the midst of loss, and to commend those we love to God’s never-failing care.

Families should make arrangements with the funeral director of their choice, who will contact the church office to make preparations for the funeral service.

Funerals may not be performed on religious holidays, major feast days, Saturdays after 3:00 p.m., or on Sundays.

“Christ Our God, grant rest and mercy to the souls of those who are at rest; and to us, sinners, grant forgiveness of our transgressions.”

It is a tradition in the Armenian Church to offer special prayers for our loved ones who have fallen asleep in Christ. Prayers for those who have passed away are based on an understanding from the Holy Scriptures that just as Christ died and lived again, the faithful who have died are merely asleep in Christ.

We conduct a special Requiem Service for this occasion, and it is traditionally requested by family members for a loved one 40 days after passing (Karasoonk), on the 1st anniversary of passing (Darelitz), and on all subsequent anniversaries, as well as any other occasion throughout the year except for the 5 major feast days.

Arrangements for Sunday Requiem Service (Hokehankisd or the Repose of the Souls), Altar Flowers, and Altar Candles should be made through the church office by Thursday at noon.

In accordance with the canons of the Armenian Church, Requiem Services may not be performed on Armenian Christmas, Easter, the Feast of the Transfiguration, the Feast of the Assumption of the Mother of God, and the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.