St. Vartan
Armenian Apostolic
Vol. 1 No. 5
For free email subscription or to
send comments: anijan2@gmail.com
His Holiness Karekin
II Nersissian -132nd Catholicos
of All Armenians
His Holiness Karekin II Nersissian, baptized Ktrij, was born in 1951, in the
In 1965, he
entered the Theological Seminary of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin
and successfully graduated from the Seminary in 1971. A year after graduating,
he worked as a teacher in the Seminary and taught New Testament studies.
In 1970, he was
ordained deacon and in 1972, he was ordained a celibate priest. Afterwards,
upon the order of His Holiness Vazken I, Catholicos of All Armenians, of blessed memory, he left for
In 1975, upon
the order of His Holiness Vazken I, he left for
He was educated in
In March 1980,
His Holiness Vazken I appointed him assistant to the
Vicar General of the Araratian Pontifical Diocese. In
June 1983, by the Pontifical Decree of the Catholicos
he was appointed the Vicar General of Araratian
Pontifical Diocese. On
On
On
Welcome to St. Vartan
Armenian Church
If you are a
newcomer to St. Vartan, it is a pleasure to welcome
you to our Soorp Badarak this afternoon. Thank you for making time in your busy
schedule to be with us. We believe that
you will feel God’s Spirit among us as we worship together.
Divine Liturgy @
Meet our pastor
Very Rev. Fr. Hayrik
Hovhannisyan
905-549-2711 905-617-7888
stvartan@cogeco.ca
Requiem
services (hokehankist) can be requested for the next
church service by calling Very Rev. Fr. Hayrik Hovhannisyan. A requiem may be requested following the
death of a loved one, 40 days after their death (karasoonk),the
yearly anniversary, name day, birthday or Father’s/Mother’s Day.
November 2007 Schedule
Soorp
Badarak
The Pomegranate Ball
Soorp
Badarak
Little Prayer
Lord …
Help me to remember
That nothing is going
To happen today that
You and I
Cannot handle…
Make it Unconditional Love
The best thing
we can do for ourselves and the people in our lives is to love them
unconditionally, forgive them without reservation and to accept them exactly as
they are. Iyanla Vanzant
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and
blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us
to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure
and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in
the one he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness
of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us
with all wisdom and understanding.
Ephesians 1:4-8
Q. What are your thoughts on what Christ
looked like?
Jesus had long
hair, a beard and eyes that pulled you in. He had soft but strong features;
handsome but not seductive and he donned a perpetual look of contentment. At
least, that's how
A quick glance
at the ethnic churches will paint a bit different picture. In our Armenian
Church, his eyebrows and beard may be a bit more pronounced. In the African
church, his coloring is much darker, just as he's much fairer on the walls of a
Russian church. And the beauty of all the art is that each of these depictions
is an exact rendering of Jesus.
According to
our faith, Jesus is God personified, that is, Love Incarnate.
Love does not
have a face, but a heart. It is in the expressions of the heart, through
helping, caring, healing and living that we witness God. And that is what Jesus
looks like.
For 2,000
years, people have been picking up cloths, veils and other objects trying to
identify the Christ. And I imagine the search for a connection to the
historical Jesus will continue. The real search begins by looking within and seeing
the image of Christ etched on our hearts waiting to be released in our love and
care for others.
Father Vazken Movsesian, Armenian
Church, In His Shoes Ministries
Check It Out
www.stvartan.ca
www.armenianchurch.ca
www.armenianchurch.org
Look for St. Vartan’s
2007-08 Schedule
If you haven’t
received the purple brochure with St. Vartan’s
2007-08 schedule for Divine Liturgies, please pick one
up at the doors of the church today.
Church Envelopes
St. Vartan now has offering envelopes that you can pick up at
the church entrance, by the candles.
Please help yourself. We thank
God for your support and the blessing of your presence.
‘The Sudden and Horrifying Awareness
of Self’
Here is what I
think Moses was saying: Man is wired so he gets his glory (his security, his
understanding of value, his feeling of purpose, his feeling of rightness with
his Maker, his security for eternity) from God, and this relationship is so
strong, and God’s love is so pure, that Adam and Eve felt no insecurity at all,
so much so that they walked around naked and didn’t even realize they were
naked. But when that relationship was
broken, they knew it instantly. All of
their glory, the glory that came from God, was gone. It wouldn’t be unlike being in love and
having somebody love you and then all of a sudden that
person is gone, like a kid lost in the store.
All of the insecurity rises the instant you realize you are alone. No insecurity was felt when the person who
loved you was around, but in his absence, it instantly comes to the
surface. In this way, Adam and Eve were
naked and weren’t ashamed when God was around, but the second the relationship
was broken, they realized it and were ashamed.
And that is just the beginning.
If man was
wired so that something outside himself told him who he was, and if God’s
presence was giving him a feeling of fulfillment, then when that relationship
was broken, man would be pining for other people to tell him that he was good,
right, okay with the world, and eternally secure. As I wrote earlier, we all compare ourselves
to others, and none of our emotions—like jealousy and envy and lust—could exist
unless man was wired so that somebody else told him who he was and that
somebody else was gone. Searching for God Knows What, Donald Miller, 2004. p. 70.
Purpose of Soorp
Badarak
It is at Soorp Badarak that we gather to be spiritually fed by
Christ. It is here that we are strengthened in our bond with God and with one
another. We come together as a community to worship Jesus Christ and celebrate
God’s continuing presence in our lives. The word Eucharist means thanksgiving
and our lives should reflect the spirit of gratitude that is the source of our
joy. The central event of Soorp Badarak is receiving the sacrament of Eucharist,
during which we remember and accept Jesus’ sacrifice. Just as a meal sustains us physically, we
need the Eucharist to sustain us spiritually. Listening to the teachings of
Jesus, receiving Holy Communion and being part of a community of believers who
worship God are all things that help strengthen our faith.
The Pomegranate Ball
DO YOU HAVE YOUR TICKETS?
Make sure you pick up your tickets to The Pomegranate Ball today.
St. Vartan's annual ball promises to be another magical evening
of fine dining and dancing, and lots of laughter and fun!
This year, we
will have the live music of the Hye Rythms, featuring our very own Dr. Berdj
Artinian on keyboard.
Plan to join us
for this very special and memorable evening
Volunteer Recognition Day
Join us at a
luncheon on
The Seven Sacraments of the Armenian
Apostolic Church
BAPTISM
HOLY MATRIMONY
CHRISMATION
ANOINTING OF THE SICK
PENANCE
ORDINATION
HOLY COMMUNION
What is a Sacrament in the
The word
sacrament comes from the Latin SACRARE which means: to dedicate, to consecrate or to make holy.
The seven sacraments of the church are ways to bless important passages in
human life and are visible signs of the inward spiritual grace given by
Christ. Thus a sacrament is a rite which
not only signifies some specific grace, but which produces that grace in the
soul of the person to whom it is administered.
The Armenian
word for sacrament is KHORHOORT or "mystery." This implies that the
fruits of the sacraments (such as being born to a spiritual life in baptism)
are received mysteriously. Each sacrament has an inward and outward expression.
The outward, for example, in baptism, is the water. This symbolizes the rebirth
and cleansing of the soul of the child, which is inward. There are seven formal sacraments of the
Armenian Church which correspond to the different states and situations of a
person's life.
REFLECTIONS
Can I recognize
my own weaknesses? Do I thank God for
the gift of forgiveness?
Am I humble
before God and others, or do I flaunt my accomplishments?
God looks at
the heart. Am I able to look past
physical appearances to view all people as equal before God?
Do I use my
gifts to serve Jesus and help others?
Grace is often
distinguished from mercy in that mercy is seen as not receiving punishment that
one deserves to receive, whereas grace is receiving a positive benefit that one
does not deserve to receive. It is a power that comes from God and regenerates
and nourishes. It is the energy that feeds the growth of the believing spirit
of people.
God’s Grace Accepts You, Just As You Are
We cannot will
ourselves to accept grace. There are no
magic words, preset formulas, or esoteric rites of passage.
For those who
feel their loves are a grave disappointment to God, it requires enormous trust
and reckless, raging confidence to accept that the love of Christ knows no
shadow of alternation or change. When Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who labour and are heavy burdened,” He assumed we would grow
weary, discouraged and disheartened along the way. These words are a touching
testimony to the genuine humanness of Jesus. He had no romantic notion of the
cost of discipleship. He knew that following Him was as unsentimental as duty,
as demanding as love. He knew that physical pain, the loss of loved ones,
failure, loneliness, rejection, abandon-ment, and
betrayal would sap our spirits; that the day would come when faith would no
longer offer any drive, reassurance, or comfort; that prayer would lack any
sense of reality or progress; that we would echo the cry of Teresa of
Avila: “Lord if this is the way you
treat your friends, no wonder you have so few!”
“For it is not
as if we had a high priest who was incapable of feeling our weaknesses with us;
but we have one who has been tempted in every way that we are, though he was
without sin. Let us be confident, then,
in approaching the throne of grace, that we shall have mercy from him and find
grace when we are in need of help” (Hebrews 4:15-16)
…When we wallow in guilt, remorse, and shame over real or
imagined sins of the past we are disdaining God’s gift
of grace…Healthy guilt focuses on the realization that all has been forgiven,
the wrong has been redeemed. Brennan Manning, The
Ragamuffin Gospel, 1990, pp. 111-114.
Grace tells us
that we are accepted just as we are. We
may not be the kind of people we want to be, we may be a long way from our
goals, we may have more failures than achievements, we may not be wealthy or
powerful or spiritual, we may not even be happy, but we are nonetheless
accepted by God, held in his hands. Such
is his promise to us in Jesus Christ, a promise we can trust. Donald W. McCullough, Waking
from the American Dream, 1988, p. 122.
What is Divine Grace?
In
Christianity, Divine Grace refers to the sovereign favour
of God for humankind — especially in regard to salvation — irrespective of
actions (deeds), earned worth, or proven goodness.
The sacraments
are seen as a way of receiving Divine Grace because God works through his
Church. Grace is the working of God himself in each of us. The Eastern Church
has emphasized the role of the Holy Spirit in the Christian's life and has
maintained ascetical disciplines such as fasting and almsgiving, not as a way
to make penance for past sins or to build up merit, but as a means of spiritual
discipline to help reduce sin in the future, to exercise self control, and to avoid
being enslaved to one's passions and desires.
Divine Grace Helps Us To Be More Like Jesus
Divine Grace is
an indispensable gift from God for development, improvement, and character
expansion. Without God's grace, there are certain limitations, weaknesses,
flaws, impurities, and faults (i.e. carnality) humankind cannot overcome.
Therefore, it is necessary to increase in God's grace for added perfection,
completeness, and flawlessness.
Divine Grace is a Free Gift from
God—We Don’t Have to Earn It
Put another
way, humankind is unable to evolve or be saved without God's grace; it is a
prerequisite to salvation. We don’t receive God’s grace because we do good
deeds. No, it is a free gift from God. Thus, humankind is saved by grace alone,
and not by some combination of good works and Divine Grace. Were it achieved by
works, humans could take pride in efforts towards holiness.
WORRY looks around; SORRY looks
back; FAITH looks up.
Are You On Our Mailing List?
The Parish
Council needs your help to keep its mailing list up-to-date. Sign up to receive church news by email. Clipboards are at the church entrance doors.
Remember.....Just going to church
doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a
car.
COURAGE is fear that has said its
prayers.
Loving Prayer
Abba, I abandon
myself into your hands. Do with me what
you will. Whatever you may do, I thank
you. I am ready for all; I accept
all. Let your will be done in me and in
all your creatures. I wish no more than
this, O Lord. Into your hands I commend
my spirit. I offer it to you with all
the love of my heart, for I love you, Lord, and I give myself, surrender myself
into your hands without reserve, with boundless confidence, for you are my
Father. Charles Foucauld
Peace Comes With Loving Relationship
What so many
sense as their “loneliness” and others as a “deep void” or “purposelessness”
is, in actuality, one of the signals that God has placed within us. It is His programmed message that we need
Him. The designer is telling His
creation, “Without Me you will never feel complete. I am the only one who can satisfy your
deep-seated long-ings. I will be the source of your peace.”
His plan was to
create mankind so that we would have a relation-ship with Him. This relationship would be charac-terized by love:
God’s loving us and our loving Him. And through
His loving pre-sence, He would protect and provide
for us. This idea was, and is, unique to
Judeo-Christian religious thought.
Charles
Stanley, Finding Peace, 2003, p. 12
Next Service
Our next Soorp Badarak will be at
Immediately after Soorp
Badarak today, everyone is invited to
the church hall for refreshments.