The liturgy (cēs) occupies a central place in the spirituality of the Armenian Church. It was compiled originally from the liturgies of St. Basil and St. Athanasius and was later elaborated by Armenian Church fathers and divines and reached its present form in the 15th Century. The Armenian liturgy, which generally bears the characteristics of oriental rites and traditions, is a coherent combination of word and action, music and celebration. Classical Armenian is the language of the liturgy; in the last few decades, the Church has begun integrating a limited use of modern Armenian, which may enhance the participation of the faithful in the liturgy.
DAILY SERVICES
The liturgy is composed of two main parts: the liturgy of the Word and the liturgy of the Eucharist. The liturgy of the Word includes seven daily offices or hours (žamergut‘iwn) and these are:
– Night Hours (gišerayin žam) addressed to God the Father, performed before dawn.
– Morning Hours (ar˙awōtean žam) addressed to the Son, performed in the early morning.
– Sunrise Hours (arewagali žam) addressed to the Holy Spirit, performed at sunrise.
– Midday Hours (čašu žam) consists of three parts: the first part is addressed to the Holy Spirit, performed at 9.00; the second to the Father, at 12.00; and the third to the Son, at 15.00.
– Evening Hours or Vespers (erekoyean žam) addressed to the Son, performed before the sunset. For the Armenian Church, liturgically the day ends and the new day starts with the Vespers service.
– Peace Hours (xałałakan žam) addressed to the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, performed after sunset.
– Rest Hours or Compline (hangstean žam) addressed to the Father, performed at night.
These services are composed of psalms, prayers, ascriptions, supplications, hymns, canticles, and melodies that aim at providing spiritual sustenance and guidance to the daily life of the faithful. All church services contain readings from the Old and New Testaments, which are selected according to sacraments, saints, or feasts. In ancient times these services were performed regularly on a daily basis. Today, due to practical reasons, night, morning, and evening hours services are performed every day, and sunrise, peace, and rest hours services are performed only during the Great Lent.
Special blessings and prayers are offered for different occasions, such as the presentation of an infant, usually at the age of forty days, the cutting of an infant’s hair, the blessing of the rings of an engaged couple, the blessing of a home, usually a new home or at Christmas and Easter, the blessing of grapes on the feast of the Ascension of the Holy Virgin, the blessing of gardens, water, salt, and bread. The Processional Office (andastan), a service performed during great feasts, in which, according to biblical tradition, the celebrant blesses the four corners of the earth, and the Opening of the Curtain (dr·nbac‘ēk‘), a service which takes place on Palm Sunday, have unique spiritual significance in the liturgical life of the Church. Of special importance is the offering of sacrifice (matał) to God in memory of a deceased person as a thanksgiving to God. Matał, a practice that is rooted in the Old Testament and was practiced in the early church, involves the slaughter of sheep and poultry, the cooked meat of which is then distributed to the poor.
Through the liturgy, the Armenian Church enhances the community character of the church and spirituality. It also emphasizes the personal dimension of spiritual life by encouraging all forms and expressions of prayer life in which personal prayer has an important place. To this effect, alongside the liturgical prayers, the Church has put at the disposal of the faithful of all ages prayers taken from the writings of Armenian and universal church fathers and saints. These prayers, which are brief and simple in language, are recited before meals, before starting a new job or a journey, for times of difficulty, before sleeping, and in different moments of our daily life.
