St. Vartan
Armenian Apostolic
Vol. 1 No. 4
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Feast of the Discovery of the Holy
Cross
The Feast of
the Discovery of the Holy Cross commemorates the finding of the Holy Cross in
326AD by
The pagan Roman
emperors had tried to completely eradicate from human memory the holy places
for Christians. The statue of Aphrodite and a temple had been built on the site
where Jesus was crucified.
At the
inspiration of Saint Macarius, Archbishop of
Jerusalem, a woman on her deathbed was brought to the site to touch the crosses
and as soon as she came near to the Cross of Jesus, she was made well. Many miracles are said to have occurred
through contact with the true cross.
The Church of
the Holy Sepulchre was then built at the site of the
discovery, by order of
Because of her
discovery of the cross,
The cross is a
very important Christian symbol because it represents the crucifixion of Christ
and his suffering and death for our sins. Relics
connected with Christ’s suffering and
death are imbued with the utmost religious importance. With the discovery of the Holy Cross,
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 @
Sunday School @
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.
Requiem
services have been requested for today by:
† Mrs. Achik Arzoomanian, Mr. and Mrs. Armond
and Elizabeth Arzoomanian, and Mr. and Mrs. Edmond
and Anita Arzoomanian
for the loving memory of their husband and father, Mr. Shahin Arzoomanian (1 year). May God bless his soul.
It’s In
Your Hands
Life is what you make of it—kinda like Play-Doh.
Use Your Time Wisely
·
Remember that your life and your
time belong to God, so spend them on what matters most.
·
Spread JOY to others by
performing random acts of kindness.
·
Think on the BRIGHT side; don’t
get bogged down in negativity.
·
Take a walk and let the joy of
God’s creation REFRESH and REVITALIZE you.
·
Seek out God’s WISDOM by reading
your Bible.
·
Never give up—find something GOOD
about a seemingly hopeless situation.
·
Don’t be shy about giving COMPLIMENTS—give
one every chance you get!
Jews demand
miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a
stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has
called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the
weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength. 1 Corinthians 1:22-26
Virtues
A virtue is a
habit or established capacity to perform good actions according to the moral
standards reflected in the gospel.
·
FAITH – God wants us to care about everyone’s feelings.
·
CONSCIENCE – God helps us to choose to be good people.
·
HOPE – God helps us to keep on working for a more peaceful world even when we
feel discouraged.
·
SELF-CONTROL – God wants us to do what we know and feel is right.
·
RESPECT – God wants us to treat all people with the respect they deserve.
·
KINDNESS – God wants us to give generously to others around us.
·
LOVE – God wants us to serve and to see the goodness in everyone we meet.
·
ACCEPTANCE – God wants us to make friends with everyone no matter how different
they may look or act.
·
FAIRNESS– God wants us to treat each person as we would like to be treated.
When we act out
these virtues, we are making the presence of God visible in the world around
us.
November 2007 Schedule
Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Isaiah 11:2-3
Wisdom
Understanding
Counsel
Fortitude
Knowledge
Piety
Fear of the Lord
A good exercise for the heart is to
bend down and help another up.
What Have You Got There?
A little boy
opened the big family Bible. He was fascinated as he fingered the old pages.
Suddenly, something fell out of the Bible. He picked up the object and looked
at it. What he saw was an old leaf that had been pressed in-between the pages.
"Mama, look
what I found," the boy called out.
"What have
you got there, dear?" his mom replied.
With
astonishment in the young boy's voice, he answered, "I think it's Adam's
underwear."
Thought For
the Day
Remember, when the world pushes you to your knees, you're in the perfect
position to pray.
On Being Happy
Being happy
doesn't mean everything's perfect. It means you've decided to see beyond the
imperfections.
When you find it hard to get along
with someone else, FOCUS on what you have in common.
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.
Space for Rent
If you would
like to advertise in our Sunday tertig, please call Ani Shalvardjian at (905)
826-6319 or email anijan2@gmail.com .
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.
The Pomegranate Ball
LAST DAY FOR
EARLY BIRD 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 -
Q. Why isn’t the last word of the
Lord’s Prayer, “Amen,” translated into other languages? What does it mean?
The word “Amen”
is of Aramaean origin and means “let it be.” As it is
accepted to use that word in that way and it is understandable to everyone, it
hasn’t been translated into other languages.
Q. Does lighting a candle have
magical powers? Are we supposed to light candles for good luck?
Lighting a
candle is symbolic of the Light that Jesus brings into the world. St. Gregory
the Illuminator brought the Light of Christ to the Armenian nation by preaching
the Gospel. Lighting a candle helps remind us of Jesus' Light, and thus helps
us to focus on God while we pray. We don't light a candle for good luck. We light a candle to help us pray well.
‘It Feels Good’
is a Good Enough Reason
“Why do you
come to church?” Two elderly ladies were
once asked this question.
“I don’t know
why I come to church,” one of them responded, “but every time I come, I feel so
good.”
The other said,
“My grandmother used to take me by the hand and take me to church every Sunday,
so I want to continue to do the same thing.”
Were they good
reasons for attending the Liturgy? His
Eminence Archbishop Tiran Nersoyan,
perhaps the foremost authority on the Armenian Church, evaluated the responses
this way:
“The two
important elements of the Liturgy were expressed by these two ladies. One is faithfulness to the tradition: My
forefathers did this as Christians; now it’s my obligation to do the same and
to be faithful to my forefathers. The other is an actual experience: ‘I feel so good,’ is all the lady could say. But that’s good enough.”
Some thoughts on the Liturgy:
There is a
danger to indulging in the actions and motions of the Liturgy. For if we cannot give the Liturgy that
spiritual dimension, we all become robots.
Fr. Arshen Aivazian
Things have
gone into the Liturgy, added to the core of the Liturgy, which correspond to
what people lhave thought and felt. Only those things which appeal, which form a
bridge between what’s happening on the altar and what people are thinking and
feeling will endure. Other things will
vanish.
Archbishop Tiran Nersoyan
Learning the
Liturgy by following the blue Badarak book is like learning a foreign
language. Once you have fully learned
what is in the book, you must then put it aside and get into the spirit of the
Liturgy. Otherwise it can become only an
exercise in following the book.
Fr. Michael Buttero
BEMA April-May
1983
Aspire to inspire before you expire.
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.
Thank You
Thank you to
all the hard-working volunteers who helped to make our annual Thanksgiving Dinner on Sunday,
Oct. 14 such a wonderful and friendly event.
Volunteers made
the dinner, set up the church hall with dining tables and chairs, served the
meal and then stayed late to clean up.
You are a blessing to St. Vartan Armenian
Apostolic Church. May God bless you and
your families
The Question is:
What Kind of Doctor or Lawyer Are
You Going to Be?
“I think part
of what we’ve lost in the church is the idea that we’re to be set apart, to be
different from the culture, to not conform to the patterns of the world but to
renew our minds so that we can think differently about the world.”
He said more
and more young Christians are rethinking their lives. “The question isn’t: ‘What are you going to
do when you grow up?’ It’s, ‘Who will
you be?’ It’s not whether you’re going
to be a doctor or a lawyer, it’s what kind of doctor
are you going to be, what kind of lawyer are you going to be? How are you going to use your gifts to seek
first the
Shane
Claiborne, The Anglican, September 2007
Next Service
Our next Soorp Badarak will be at
Immediately after Soorp
Badarak today, everyone is invited to
the church hall for refreshments.