St. Vartan Armenian Church of Mississauga
P.O. Box 53010, 5100 Erin Mills
Parkway, Mississauga, Ontario L5M 5A7
Very Rev. Fr. Hayrik Hovhannisyan, Pastor
Telephone (905) 549-2711
stvartan@cogeco.ca
(905) 617-7888
Poon (Great) Barekendan
The word Barekendan
means happiness, joy. Since the Church is preparing for the fasting period,
this Sunday has been marked by our Church Fathers as a day of joy, happiness
and getting-together, a day of celebration. The next day, Monday, Feb. 27, we
will be entering the fasting period of Lent.
Why does
our Lent begin on a Monday instead of on Ash Wednesday?
In the Western churches, Lent
originally began six weeks before Easter, but since Sundays weren’t considered
fasting days, they added four more days and Lent was set to begin on Ash
Wednesday, which is six-and-a-half weeks before
Easter.
In the Eastern churches (which
includes the Armenian Church), the 40 days of Lent are calculated
differently. Holy Week, which immediately
precedes Easter and is a period of fasting, isn’t counted as part of Lent. Lent, in our tradition, begins six weeks
prior to Palm Sunday and lasts 42 days.
If you add to that the week of fasting between Palm Sunday and Easter,
fasting for Armenian believers is actually 49 days long.
The first Sunday of Lent is the Poon Barekendan (“good living
day”). All the curtains in church must
be closed on the Saturday evening preceding Poon Barekendan, and the fasting begins on the Monday following Poon Barekendan Sunday.
Throughout the Lenten period, we are
to abstain from meats, milk products and fish until after the celebration of
the Divine Liturgy on Holy Saturday evening.
The meal on Holy Saturday evening may include milk products but no meat
and no fish.
Lent is a time to reflect upon our
existence, the purpose of our creation and our journey in this world. Lent is a “retreat” to readjust our
priorities and make them Christ-centred.
It is a time set aside by the Church for self-examination, spiritual
discipline and rededication of our lives to Christ and His gospel. If the Cross of Christ was an act of absolute
unselfishness, the Church guides us to the same experience through the evening
vespers and ascetic practices of the Lenten period.
Today’s
service features Divine Liturgy @
Pay all your debts, except the debt
of love for others. You can never finish paying that! If you love your neighbour, you will fulfill
all the requirements of God’s law. For
the commandments against adultery and murder and stealing and coveting—and any
other commandment—are all summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” Love does no wrong to anyone, so love
satisfies all of God’s requirements. Romans
13: 8-10
Welcome to St. Vartan
Armenian Church. If you are a newcomer to St. Vartan,
it is a pleasure to welcome you to our Badarak this afternoon. Thank you for making time in your busy schedule
to be with us. We believe that you will sense God’s Spirit among us as we worship
today.
Requiem services can be requested
for the next church service by calling Very Rev. Fr. Hayrik
Hovhannisyan.
Requiem services have been requested
today by:
Mr. and Mrs. Ara Gazazian and children for the
loving memory of their parents and grandparents Victoria (1 year) and Pargev (18 years) Hayrapetian. May God bless their souls.
Mr. Levon
Arzumanian, Mrs. Rina Arzumanian and daughter Cristine Arzumanian for the loving memory of their dear mother,
mother-in-law and grandmother Seda Arzumanian (40 days, in
Mr. and Mrs. Gerasim
and Galina Margaryan
and son Karen Margaryan for the loving memory of`
their dear father, father-in-law and grandfather Haykaz
Margaryan (3 years, Krasnodar,
Russia). May God bless his soul.
Valentine, That
Was Some Kef Night !
It was a loud and happy crowd that
partied into the wee hours on Saturday, Feb. 11. We hope you had fun and that you went home
with lots of good memories! Thank you to
all the volunteers who helped organize, set up and
then clean up for this wonderful night.
May God bless you all.
Are You New to St. Vartan Armenian Church?
At St. Vartan,
we understand how being a newcomer can be a bit intimidating. It is our goal to do all we can to make your
time with us comfortable and enjoyable.
Immediately following the service today we have planned a coffee hour
and we invite you to join us in the parish hall. We’re glad you’re here and we hope to see you
again. Our next service is Sunday, March
5 at
Mailing
List Being Updated - Make Sure You’re On It
Please fill out the
mailing list forms you can find on clipboards at the doors of the church
today. The Parish Council needs to keep
its mailing list up-to-date and doesn’t want to miss you in future mailings. If you would like to receive church news by
email, please let us know.
Ho Ho Ho!
Get Your
Tickets Early for Comedy Theatre
Saturday,
March 4 in
It was sold out in
Alexander
Saroukhan’s Menk Hayeren Chenk Kider
is put on by POKR PEM Theatrical Group, under the direction of Mrs. Sirarpi Acemyan of
St. Vartan Armenian Church invites you to attend the Mezze Theatre evening which begins at
Did you
know? News Stories and Photos Now
Available on St. Vartan’s Website: www.stvartan.ca
Guidelines for Your Lenten Journey
in 2006
The selfish and comfort-seeking
spirit of Western society leads us to behaviour opposite to what Lent demands. Be patient and take strength in this most
beautiful period of the liturgical year.
Primate to Celebrate
Divine Liturgy Sunday, March 5.
Please don’t forget to pay your
annual church membership dues of $100 per family and $60 per individual,
today. St. Vartan’s
annual general meeting and election of officers takes place at our next service
on Sunday, March 5. Only paid members are allowed to vote or be voted to office. Please consider serving your church and
Armenian community.
The annual general meeting and
election of officers will follow the Divine Liturgy, to be celebrated at
St Vartan
will be electing six parish council members, three members for its nominating
committee, three members for its auditing committee and one person as diocesan
delegate.
St. Vartan Mamikonian is an Armenian
Hero
The Armenians, led by their much
loved commander Vartan Mamikonian,
battled the Persians at Avarayr in 451 A.D., in the
first battle fought for their Christian faith. Although Vartan
died in battle, his heroic resistance (66,000 men) against a much more powerful
army (220,000 men) convinced the Persians of how impossible it would be to
uproot Christianity from the Armenians. The Persians were Mazdeists,
and worshipped fire among other things. St. Vartan’s
nephew Vahan Mamikonian
continued to resist the Persians until a peace agreement was achieved in 484
A.D., allowing the Armenians freedom to worship their Christian faith.
Evening
Service & Bible Study Schedule for March 2006
DIVINE
LITURGY*
Our next Badarak will be Sunday,
March 5, 2006 at 1 p.m. at St. Cuthbert’s Anglican Church, celebrated by His Grace
Bishop Bagrat Galstanian.