St. Nersess is thankful to Suzanne Minassian Sherenian of Doylestown, PA, who recently donated a rare handwritten book from 1913 to the St. Nersess Library.  
 
This book belonged to her grandfather, Fr. Mugerditch Minassian, who was in the last graduating class of Armash Seminary in Constantinople prior to the Armenian Genocide of 1915. He was both a teacher and a seminarian in the local villages when he lost his family on the march south to Syria. It wasn't until eight years later that he was reunited with his wife only, having lost their children, parents, and siblings.
 
Fr. Mugerditch was ordained an Armenian priest and started a parish in 1924 in Piraeus, Greece, that served Armenian refugees. In 1935, he was reassigned to St. Sahag and Mesrob Armenian Church in PA, where he served with his wife Yn. Ovsanna until his death. They had two more children, Shahab and Sebouh who were born after the massacres. Shahab was Suzanne's father, and both brothers served at Holy Trinity Armenian Church in Philadelphia as deacons.

This book includes sharagans with special notations and musical notes not found in modern Armenian liturgical music books. While it is quite fragile and needs to be restored, the seminary will study and document its contents. "My grandfather was an educator...this book of his started in a seminary and should end its 105+ year journey at a seminary. I am honored to donate it to St. Nersess. I believe my grandfather would have been proud to see the book complete its journey here," Suzanne explained. It is unknown if any books like this one exist elsewhere. St. Nersess is blessed to have this treasured artifact.

The St. Nersess Library is open to the public on Monday/Wednesday/Friday from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM. 

Over the past few months, preparations to upgrade the technology at the seminary have been led by donor Berj Akian, who assembled a team of friends and supporters including, Hagop Belekdanian, Andre Farah, Saro Hartounian, and Gevik Khachatourian. Levon Altiparmakian, seminary facilities & operations manager, received training on the new system in order to assist the faculty with the features.

The following updates were completed in our classrooms in the Karekin I Theological Center and throughout the campus:

1. Electronic Equipment: Each of the three classrooms plus the conference room now have large wall mounted TV's, cameras and microphones for interactive meetings, presentations, and delivery of online courses. A fifth large mobile unit, which includes a new Apple MacBook, has also been set up for use in the library or anywhere else it is needed.
2. Network and Wireless: All the computer networking equipment have been upgraded, with the installation of fiber optic connections between buildings. The seminary's wireless network has also been upgraded for faster speed and more Wi-Fi coverage across the campus.
3. Worship Service Broadcast: A web camera has been installed in the chapel so that services can be broadcast to YouTube Live or Facebook Live.

"St Nersess is a very special place for our community. For generations, it's been a cradle for preparing our church leaders and for nurturing lifetime friendships in faith and love. To ensure St Nersess keeps pace with our modern connected world and all the expectations that come with that, a group of us came together to help. We contributed and geeked-out to improve the classroom AV, computer network and Wi-Fi across the campus. It's a small gift for a place that has given us, and now our children, the love of being Armenian. #LoveStNersess," remarked Berj Akian.

The faculty and students are grateful to Berj and his wife Suzanne, a board member, for the new equipment and upgrades!