St. Vartan
Armenian Apostolic
Vol. 1 No. 14
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Easter Sunday
Easter Sunday
celebrates the joy of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The choir and congregation exult:
Christ is risen from the dead! He trampled down death by death
and by His Resurrection He granted life unto us. Glory
unto Him for all ages. Amen.
The faithful
exchange the Easter greeting:
Krisdos haryav ee merelotz.
Orhnyal eh harootiunun Krisdosee.
Easter (also called
Pascha) is the greatest festival in the Christian
Church. In the beginning, Christians of Jewish origin commemorated Easter
immediately after Passover, which occurs on the evening of a full moon and
corresponds to a fixed date according to the Jewish (lunar) calendar. In 325
A.D., the Council of Nicaea decided that Easter
should be commemorated on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or
after March 21st, which was the date of the vernal equinox in that year.
The
According to
Armenian tradition, the faithful share a joyous Easter feast, often including
lamb (Jesus is called the sacrificial lamb) and coloured
eggs (symbols of new life) and Easter bread (cheoreg). Because
the use of eggs was forbidden during Lent, they were brought to the table on
Easter Day, coloured red to symbolize the Easter joy
and the spilled blood of Jesus. This custom is found in the Latin and
EASTER SUNDAY
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 and his
renewing love among us today as we worship together.
Divine Liturgy @
Daily Scripture
Acts 1:15-26
Mark 16:2-8
Meet our pastor
Very Rev. Fr. Hayrik Hovhannisyan
905-916-1886 905-617-7888
stvartan@hotmail.com
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.
Early on the
first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb
and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the
other disciples, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out
of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
So Peter and
the other disciple started for the tomb.
Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the
tomb first. He bent over and looked in at
the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived
and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as
well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate
from the linen. Finally the other
disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went
inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture
that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)
Then the
disciples went back to their homes, but Mary stood outside the tomb
crying. As she wept, she bent over to
look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had
been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
They asked her,
“Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have
taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus
standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
“Woman,” he
said, “why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was
the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you
have put him, and I will get him.” A Jewish tomb from the time of Jesus
Jesus said to
her, “Mary.”
She turned
toward him and cried out in
Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).
Jesus said, “Do
not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I
am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your
God.’”
Mary Magdalene
went to the disciples with the news: “I
have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
John 20:1-18
Circumstances don’t
have to change for us to become victorious.
It’s our heart that needs to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
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.
“Why Do You Seek the Living Among
the Dead?”
Luke 24:5
These words of
the angel at the empty tomb on Easter morning perhaps reveal both simple fact
and depth of faith. The angel speaks to the women who were coming to complete
the burial ritual after the crucifixion of Christ. It’s almost as if the angel
is surprised to see the women, after all, didn’t Jesus tell his followers of
his intended resurrection?
Imagine the
time between the hasty burial on Holy Friday and Sunday morning. Gone in a
quick and tortuous way was their friend and leader,
their Lord and Master. After witnessing his death on the cross, they are unable
to perform a proper burial due to proximity to the Sabbath. That Sabbath must
have been particularly difficult and filled with grief and sorrow.
On Sunday, the
women go early to the tomb fully expecting to find the Lord’s body, but it
isn’t there. Perplexed and afraid, they hear the angel’s question, followed by
the great words: He Is Risen. Reminded of Jesus’ words, but still frightened,
they eventually tell the disciples. The Gospel provides insight into the faith
of Jesus’ followers who were with him, heard his words and witnessed miracles.
They needed additional explanations, reminders, and often showed their doubt
and fear. How similar to us today.
We, also, seek
life among the dead by often aiming our energy and focus in pursuit of worldly
things - things that are temporary, material, and often void of God. Some
people focus on wealth and personal success, or drugs, alcohol, or gambling -
things we feel will make us “happy”. We seek “life” in such things - things
that live within the confines of a world that will pass. We did not live with
Jesus, nor witness first hand his miracles. We
struggle with our faith everyday, much like the disciples. And like them - both
men and women - we also need reminders and explanations to help us strengthen
our faith. http://www.stsvartanantz.com/icon/apr2005.pdf
Yes, it is an Early Easter
You may already
know, Easter is always the first Sunday after the
first full moon after the Spring Equinox (which was March 20 this year).
This dating of
Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify
Passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar.
Based on the
above, Easter can actually be one day earlier (March 22) but that is pretty
rare. This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the rest of our
lives! And only the most elderly of our
population have ever seen it this early (95 years old or above!). And none of us have ever, or will ever, see
it a day earlier! Here are the facts:
The next time
Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from
now). The last time it was this early
was 1913 (so if you're 95 or older, you are the only ones that were around for
that!).
The next time it
will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 (277 years from
now). The last time it was on March 22
was 1818. So, no one alive today has, or will ever, see it any earlier than
this year!
Why Didn’t Jesus Stay on Earth?
After Jesus
came out of his grave alive again, he stayed with his friends for a while. Then he told them that he had to go back to
heaven.
Before he left,
Jesus promised to send his friends a new Friend. “The Father will send the Friend…the Holy
Spirit…It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Friend will not come to
help you. But if I go, I will send him
to you.” John 14:26; 16:6-7
How could it be
for our good for Jesus to go away? Why
is it better to have the Friend—the Holy Spirit—with us?
It’s like
this. When Jesus was on earth in his
human body, he could only be in one place at a time. But the Holy Spirit can be everywhere at
once! He can be with me out on my
mountain bike at the same time he’s with you at a ball game. While we’re still on this earth, the Holy
Spirit is our special Friend, Helper, Partner, and Teacher.
Jesus said it
would be best for him to go away. And if
Jesus said it’s best, then you can be sure that it is
the very very BEST!
Who Made
God? By Larry Libby, 2002
God’s “Family Room Within Us”
When we pray,
we connect with God; we become aware of God's presence within us. We can think
of our own heart as God's “family room within us.” What a beautiful image of a
place where we can just relax with God!
By praying, we
fulfill the desire we have as human beings to know the God in whose image we
are made. Something in us wants to know God. “Our hearts are restless,”
Looking for Love?
The best place
to find love is not in another person but in a book, the Bible. The Bible tells of God’s great love for
us. This is expressed in what has been
called the best love note ever received, and it is found in John 3:16.
For God so loVed the world,
That he gAve
His onLy
BegottEn
SoN
That whoever
Believes In him
Should Not perish,
But have Everlasting life.
(also from http://www.stvartan.ca/Prayers.html, Armenian Prayer Resources)
God loves us
like no one else ever could. He showed that love when he sent his son Jesus to
be our Saviour. Open your Bible and learn more about
him.
BRING SOMEONE WHO NEEDS A RIDE TO
CHURCH
The Lifting Up of the Son of Man
Commentary on John 19:17-30
by Donald Senior, C.P.
The climax of
the passion comes on
The moment of
crucifixion is an enthronement: Jesus is crucified, surrounded by an improbable
retinue of two others who die in the same way. Over the cross emblazoned in
Hebrew, Latin and Greek is the title: "Jesus the Nazorean,
the King of the Jews." Even though the chief priests protest, Pilate is
adamant - this will be the title of the Crucified Jesus.
Using the
haunting symbolism of the bronze serpent from the story of Moses in Number
14:21 (see John 3:14), John's Gospel presented the crucifixion as a
"lifting up" - not just the lifting up of the crucified body of Jesus
in the torment of death, but through that death, a "lifting up" that
is a triumphant exaltation as the Word Made Flesh completes his mission of love
and returns to the Father (13:1).
John fills this
climactic scene with other potent symbols. The seamless tunic of Jesus
(reminiscent of the high priest's garment? or of the unity Jesus came to create?)
is not torn (
One other final
action involves the mother of Jesus and his beloved disciple (
So often John's
Gospel tantalizes the reader and does not dictate which range of meaning one
must draw from the text.
John describes
the death of Jesus in brief and bold strokes. Jesus' final words are: "It
is finished" (
Easter
Reflections
by Helen Steiner Rice
With OUR EYES
we see
The beauty of
Easter
as the earth awakens once more...
With OUR EARS
we hear
The birds sing
sweetly
to tell us Spring again is here...
With OUR HANDS
we pick
the golden daffodils
and the fragrant hyacinths...
But only with
OUR HEARTS
can we feel the MIRACLE of GOD'S
LOVE
which redeems all men...
And only with
OUR SOUL
can we make our 'pilgrimage to God'
and inherit His Easter Gift of
ETERNAL LIFE.
Planning Underway for Carassauga 2008
If you would
like to participate in the planning of St. Vartan’s
Armenia Pavilion at Carassauga 2008, please contact
Chairman Vasken Altounian.
More volunteers are always needed for this annual multicultural festival in the
City of
Easter Sunday
Today is the
most important day of the Christian year. It is Easter. Immediately after Soorp Badarak, everyone is invited to the Church Hall for
refreshments.
Next Service
We hope to see
you at our next Soorp Badarak at
March-April
2008 Schedule
Easter Sunday
Soorp
Badarak
Soorp
Badarak
Ecumenical
Service in Memory of
Victims of Armenian Genocide