INITIATE A PILOT PROJECT FOR AN INTENSIVE
COURSE IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TO THE CLERGY
Recently, the Catholicosate and Haigazian
University had initiated an intensive English Language course for the
clergy. The course was planned for three months and the purpose was to
teach language skills to the young clergy and prepare them to
participate more actively in ecumenical and other international bodies.
The President of Haigazian University, Dr. Paul
Haydostian had seconded a staff to teach at the seminary. At the end of
the three months, the students will continue their language courses
through e-learning.
The success of this project has encouraged both
the Catholicosate and Haigazian University to continue their cooperation
in language learning and eventually expand it to other disciplines.
ARMENIAN CHURCH FEASTS BEFORE THE
GREAT LENT
“GHEVONTIANTZ AND
VARTANANTZ FEASTS REMIND US EVERY YEAR OF THE NEED TO UNITE AS PEOPLE IN
THE FACE OF CHALLENGES”
Said His Holiness Aram I
02/11/2010
On Thursday 11 February
2010 the Armenian Church celebrated the feast of the martyr saints
Ghevontiantz and Vartanantz at the St. Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral
in Antelias.
After the liturgy,
celebrated by Bishop Norayr Ashekian and presided over by His Holiness
Aram I, the Foreign Minister of Nagorno Karabagh, the honorary guest of
the day, the clergy, the seminarians and the people walked in procession
to the Main Hall of the Catholicosate. After blessing the people, His
Holiness addressed them and said: “The commemoration of the martyrs of
the battle of Vartanantz is a constant reminder of the challenges the
Armenian people face at all times and in all places. The only way to
respond to these challenges is to be united just as Vartan and his men
were in their time.
After the message of His
Holiness Aram I, Foreign Minister Kevorki Bedrossian greeted the people
and asked for them to be in solidarity with the leadership and people in
Nagorno Karabagh as they search for peaceful solutions to their
problems.
The commemoration ended by
singing spiritual songs dedicated to the Ghevontiantz and Vartanantz
martyrs.
YOUR
CHILDREN SHOULD GROW LEARNING THE VIRTUES AND GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
IN THE CHURCH
02/13/2010
On Saturday 13 February
2010, on the eve of the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord to the
Temple, the St. Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral was filled with
mothers and their young children. In his homily, His Holiness Aram I
said: “Your presence in this church shows your desire to dedicate your
children to the church. Children are gifts of God and you are their
custodians. You should bring them up with the virtues and values of the
Holy Spirit and the grace of God as taught in the Church”. At the end of
the sermon the priests presented the children to the Altar and blessed
them.
On the same day, as it does
every year, after the blessing of the children the people gathered
around a bonfire in the courtyard of the church, then they lit their
lanterns from the bonfire, and took them home to share the light with
their neighbors.
ON THE FEAST OF GHEVONTIANTS HIS HOLINESS ARAM I
ADDRESSES
THE
ARMENIAN CLERGY CONFERENCE OF NORTH AMERICA
Ghevontiants is the feast of the Armenian clergy
held each year before Lent. The Church honors the clergy on this day in
recognition of their service to the Church. The dioceses in North
America holds annually a joint conference in order to discuss ways and
means of responding together to the spiritual needs of their believers.
In his Pontifical Letter, His Holiness Aram I
highlighted the importance of the initiative, and blessed their decision
to work together and interpret the Gospel values of the church for the
spiritual and diakonal needs of the community. He reminded them of the
importance of their role in the church in nurturing cohesion and good
will in the community.
In the end of his Letter, Catholicos Aram reminded
the clergy of the importance of 2010 as the Year of Armenian Women. He
said that the Pontifical Letter announcing the year also invited the
clergy and laity to address culturally conditioned views on women in the
light of the Gospel, and new international understanding of equality
between women and men in society. He asked them to expand the
understanding of laity in the church and the community and involve women
as equal partners.