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When St. Nersess Comes to Town (by Karinne' Hovnanian)

10/22/2004

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October 22, 2004

On Saturday, October 16, 2004, St. Nersess Armenian Seminary brought itself to the Philadelphia region for a "mini-Conference" high school and college students on the theme: "The Armenian Church: Security for Your Inner Homeland." The day's activities were held at St. Sahag & Mesrob Church in Wynnewood, PA. 

Leading this "mini-conference" was the dean of the seminary V. Rev. Fr. Daniel Findikyan; Rev. Fr. Mardiros Chevian, Dean of St. Vartan Cathedral in New York City; Rev. Fr. Stepanos Doudoukjian, director of the Seminary's summer conferences; and the local pastors, V. Rev. Fr. Haigazoun Najarian and Rev. Fr. Tateos Abdalian. Also taking part in the special day were Nancy Basmajian, ACYOA Executive Secretary and a group of St. Nersess seminarians.

Your Greatest Discovery
We began the day with an ice-breaker led by Nancy Basmajian. Each of us was to turn to the person to the right and ask them, "What has been the greatest discovery you have made in your life?" When we shared each other's discoveries, the common theme seemed to be to trust yourself and to be who you are, not fearing what others might think of you.

Next, Fr. Stepanos took the floor with "Serenity Now!" He spoke about how FEAR is what disrupts serenity; FEAR meaning Faith-Endurance-Anxiety-Rebuke. "In order to overcome fear," he said, "we must first embrace it to let it go." This hit many of us hard because we all suffer from fear of some kind; be it social fears, academic fears, or fears in faith. 

Eleven Steps to Peace
Der Stepanos reminded us that Jesus is Peace, but if we have trouble realizing that or experiencing that, there are ways to help us. Based on the hymn from the Divine Liturgy, "Krisdos ee mech mer haydnetsav" (Christ is revealed among us), Fr. Stepanos gave us his "11-Step Process to Finding Peace"

1. Jesus is the Badarak
2. We are in God's home
3. My Peace I give you 4. Embrace (physically, for example, during "Krisdos ee mech" we should embrace one another showing how happy we are that "Christ is revealed among us").
5. Recognizing unity
6. Letting go of our issues in Christ (Justin Ajamian, a pre-seminarian, later reminded us all of what Jesus told us in Matthew 6:25-34: we should not worry about worldly things because our focus should be on God).
7. God is Love (In Ephesians 4:17-19 we are once more reminded of God's great and unconditional love for us).
8. Rejoice and sing to the Lord (throughout the book of Psalms, we are given examples of how we should praise our Lord; Psalm 9:1-2 is one of those examples: "I will thank you, Lord, with all my heart...I will sing praises to your name").
9. "If you open my mouth Lord, my lips shall sing praises to you."
10. Realizing the Holy Trinity- a theological statement becoming real.
11. We are not alone. Jesus is Peace.

The next activity we did was one that asked each of us to dig down a little bit deeper and talk openly about some issues that disrupt our peace. We were put into four groups, each with a different scenario. The scenarios posed a stressful situation and each group was to come up with a prayer for the situation. This was very difficult since most of us were unfamiliar with some of the situations.

Next came the part of the day that most Armenians look forward to: Lunch! featuring delectable "Philly" hoagies and fruit.

St. Nersess Hootenanny!
After the plates were empty, we all gathered around Hayr Daniel at the piano for a "St. Nersess Hootenanny!" featuring, of course, there was the singing of the St. Nersess alma mater, "Yerevan, Erepooni" and other Armenian favorites like "Hingala," "Sardarabad," and "Mer Kooygheen Jampan." It was a fun time, and as Michael Sherenian, a college-student, said, "the retreat provided a great escape for a Saturday."

After an encore of the alma mater, we went back to our seats for a Bible Study that was to be led by Fr. Mardiros. The discussion was based on Matthew 16, the foundation of the church. Again, we were divided into groups where we, more intimately, spoke on the issues in our church and what we--the youth--could do to help lead the church toward Christ. 

"As a builder in this church," Fr. Mardiros asked each one of us, "What is your role?" Arpi Derderian, a high school participant, stated quite simply, "To go to church and worship." Stephanie Hajatian, the ACYOA Jrs. Advisor for the Holy Trinity chapter, said, "To direct and teach the youth how to live a life in Christ."

The Lord is my Shepherd
Then it was time for the inevitable closing activity, which meant the end of a memorable and enriching day. We each were paired up with one another and given a line from Psalm 23 to act out. It was a moving and beautiful way to begin the close of the day. After this, we moved into the chapel for worship. As characteristic of St. Nersess' closing worship services, we all stood in a circle with our heads bowed and eyes closed. 

Before I end this article, I should tell you how we began the day, which was similar to the way we begin summer conferences. We made ID cards. On them, we were to finish the sentence, :Today is--". In contrast to this, we ended the day finishing the sentence, "Today was--". After closing with a prayer and the last of many individual testimonies of peace by the seminarians, the group stood in silence soaking in the day's discussions, thoughts, emotions, and prayers.

The Only Real Peace
"The St. Nersess mini-conference in Philadelphia provided young people with an opportunity to put faith into action when dealing with a world that is full of terror warnings, advisories and alerts," said Fr. Stepanos Doudoukjian poignantly. "Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior is peace and provides those who follow Him the only real, lasting peace to survive in this world today. I personally left the conference more at ease and in a peaceful state of mind."

"His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." -Phil. 4:7

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"A Holy and Angelic Catholicos": Dr. Abraham Terian Lectures on St. Hovhan Mandakuni

10/21/2004

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October 21, 2004

Dr. Abraham Terian, Professor of Armenian Patristics, delivered the seventh annual Bishop Zgon Der-Hagopian Memorial Lecture on Wednesday evening, October 20, 2004 at the Seminary. His talk was entitled, "St. Hovhan Mandakuni: Forgotten Father of the Golden Age."

Bishop Zgon was for decades a devoted servant of the Armenian Church. A member of the monastic brotherhood of Saints James in Jerusalem, he served for many years as Primate of the Armenian Church of Iraq before retiring in the United States. He went to be with the Lord in 1991. The beloved bishop directed that a perpetual fund be established from his earthly assets, the income of which should support the continuing education of clergy, particularly in the areas of preaching and the Armenian Church fathers. A portion of Dr. Abrham Terian's research and writing is subsidized by the fund in Bishop Zgon's name.


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Dr. Terian, known internationally for his cutting-edge scholarship of the Christian literature and theology of the Armenian Church, introduced his talk as a "nakhadonag (Pre-Feast) of the 1600th anniversary of the founding of the Armenian letters and the translation of the Bible into Armenian." He began his talk by describing the revolutionary work of the holy translators of Armenia's fifth century: Koriwn, Catholicos Hovsep, Yeghishe, Ghazar P'arbetsi, Paustos, and Agathangelos. Although these fifth-century are generally celebrated as historians, they were all clergyman and their writings are intended as theology. 

"You hardly read a paragraph in any of these works that is not loaded with Bible quotations, inundated with spiritual proof-texts," Terian said.

This was the intellectual and religious climate into which Mandakuni was born. He was very likely, Terian asserted, a student of the great St. Mesrob Mashdots. Terian also sketched the political climate of the late fifth century, when Catholicos Hovhan was active. These were the years following the military defeat of St. Vartan and his companions by the Persians at the Battle of Avarayr.

"As we all know, the battle was lost, but the war to preserve the right to our Armenian Christian life was won," said Terian, moving out from behind the lectern toward the audience. "However it came at a brutal price: three decades of almost annual battles in response to seasonal assaults by the Persians."

In his religious chronicle, the priest and theologian Ghazar P'arbetsi, who was an eye-witness to these events, recounts the dire circumstances of the times. He refers to Hovhan Mandakuni as "a holy and angelic Catholicos." In page afer page of poignant testimony, Ghazar shows Mandakuni's holy words and example to be a great source of inspiration to the troops fighting against the Persians.

Literary Legacy
Terian confessed that in the time allotted to him he could not but mention a few of St. Hovhan Mandakuni's written works. The great St. Mesrob Mashdots and his contemporaries translated all of the books of the Bible. His students, the second generation of holy translators, including Mandakuni focused on translating the extra-canonical (or deutero-canonical) books of the Bible, and writings of the Syriac and Greek church fathers. To Hovhan is ascribed the Armenian translation of the little-known Third Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians, (This work has been studied by St. Nersess alumnus V. Rev. Fr. Vahan Hovhanessian); and The Dormition of St. John the Evangelist.

Many very early liturgical prayers and services of the Armenian Church are also plausibly attributed to Mandakuni, Terian noted.


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The professor devoted most of his attention and fervor to two moral-theological works of Mandakuni. The first is a treatise entitled On Love and Sanctity whereby Creatures Prosper. Its main theme is the biblical axiom that "Faith, by itself, if it has no works,is dead" [James 2:17]. Hovhan emphasizes that "the greatest indicator of Christian faith is care for the poor," Terian said. "And the second indicator is prayer and fasting," he added. The Armenian Church's fasting tradition was virtually conceived by St. Hovhan Mandakuni.

Terian concluded his talk with the words of the saint, quoting a lengthy passage from a beautiful sermon found at the end of Ghazar P'arbetsi's chronicle.

"From start to finish this homily is structured around the religious experience of the Armenian people in history," Terian said. Modeled closely on the biblical book of Hebrews, Mandakuni narrates the story of the Armenians' struggle of religious liberty as sacred history, a story of the redemption of the Armenian people by God. 

Putting down the book from which he was reading, Terian fixed his gaze on the audience and said, "We Armenians tend to be attracted to every other faith and denomination because we are by and large ignorant of our own. We owe it to ourselves," he continued, "To become acquainted with the writings and religious vision of St. Hovhan Mandakuni and of all our saints of the Golden Age."

Earlier in the day the Seminary community offered Requiem Prayers (Hokehankisd) for His Grace Bishop Zgon Der-Hagopian.

TO HEAR DR. TERIAN'S LECTURE ON ST. HOVHAN MANDAKUNI IN FULL Click Here.


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Faith, Finger-Painting and Frescoes: St. Nersess Alumni Make the Connection

10/20/2004

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Members of the St. Nersess Alumni Association gathered at the Seminary on Monday, October 18, for a retreat and meeting, one of the many such occasions the Association has organized over the years.

Little did they know they were about to get "down and dirty."

Entitled Seeking the Living Among the Dead?? (a reference to the question the angel asked the women at Jesus' tomb), the retreat was conducted by Dr. Roberta Ervine, Associate Professor of Armenian Studies at St. Nersess. She began the day by polling participants as to how they were feeling. 


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"Committed," "energized," "exhausted," "frustrated," "excited," and "confused" were some of the words elicited. Setting these words aside, Dr. Ervine sent alumni off with Gospel in hand to read, reflect upon, and visualize the four accounts of how Jesus' followers discovered His empty tomb. 

Participants were then provided finger-paints and asked to depict the concepts of "life" and "death" (and, as it developed, everything in-between). What members had intended to convey through their colors and shapes and what their colleagues ended up seeing launched an animated discussion on ministry and witness. 


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"If your ministry is all about helping people see," noted Dr. Ervine, "It's so important that you be able to visualize the Good News yourselves and be aware of the independent power of that vision. So often what others see in our vision is more on target than our intention."

As they spoke, participants became aware of how much the emotions of those long-ago people on Resurrection morning had in common with those they had shared at the retreat's opening session. 


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In the final hour, participants viewed a number of medieval Armenian illuminated manuscript paintings of the Jesus' resurrection and explored, with Dr. Ervine's guidance, the details and subject matter that revealed each artist's underlying message. 

"This was wonderful," commented Fr Stepanos Doudoukjian, pastor of St. Peter Armenian Church in Watervliet, NY. "I don't think I had ever really learned before now how to see what a painting might be telling me."


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The retreat was capped by a brief meeting and then dinner at a local restaurant where members enjoyed the fellowship, good advice, and the sympathy and understanding of colleagues in ministry.

St. Nersess Seminary alumni, men and women who have attended the degree program for a minimum of a year, now number 60. Many are now serving or living at a distance from the Seminary and are not always able to participate in alumni programs at the Seminary. Future gatherings in other regions are being considered.

Alumna Nancy Basmajian, A.C.Y.O.A. Executive Secretary, expressed the views of all who attended when she contentedly observed: "I really enjoy these alumni gatherings--whether it's a formal retreat or just an informal conversation over dinner. I always leave feeling refreshed and less alone in my ministry. There is a special bond between us."


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Preparing leaders for service in the
Armenian Church since 1961
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