St. Nersess Armenian Seminary
  • Home
  • About
    • Our Mission
    • History of the Seminary
    • Prayer for the Seminary
    • Board of Directors
    • Fast Facts
    • Alumni/Recent Ordinations
    • Water Quality Report
  • Academics/Admissions
    • Global Classroom >
      • Seminary Lectures (audio)
      • Seminary Lectures (video)
      • St. Nersess Theological Review >
        • SNTR Volume 1-1
        • SNTR Volume 1-2
        • SNTR Volume 2
        • SNTR Volume 3
        • SNTR Volume 4
        • SNTR Volume 5 & 6
        • SNTR Volume 7
        • SNTR Volume 8
        • SNTR Volume 9
        • SNTR Volume 10
        • SNTR Volume 11
        • SNTR Volume 12
        • SNTR Volume 13
      • St. Nersess Armenian Spirituality Series
      • AVANT
    • Programs of Study
    • Is God Calling You?
    • Faculty & Staff >
      • Dr. Roberta Ervine
      • Bishop Daniel Findikyan
    • Course Offerings >
      • Classical Armenian
      • Church History
      • Armenian Patristics
      • Liturgy
      • Liturgical Music
      • Practicum
      • Biblical Studies
      • Church & Society
      • General Studies
    • Admissions & Application
    • St. Nersess Library
  • Liturgical
    • Sacred Music Lab >
      • Daily Services >
        • Night Hour >
          • Hymns of the Night Hour
          • Deacon's Chants of the Night Hour
          • Ganonaklookh/Head of the Canon
          • Requiem Hymn (Hangstyan Sharagan)
          • Avak Orhnutyun
          • Orhnootyoon Sharagan (Penitential)
          • Orhnootyoon Hymns (Martyrs)
          • Takavor Haveedyan (Penitential)
          • Takavor Haveedyan (Martyrs)
          • Alleluia (Resurrection)
          • Alleluia (Nativity)
          • Alleluia (Cross)
        • Morning Hour >
          • Hymns of the Morning Hour
          • Deacon's Chants of the Morning Hour
          • Service of the Oil-Bearing Women
        • Sunrise Hour
        • Evening Hour >
          • Hymns of the Evening Service
          • Deacons' Chants
          • Martyrs Hymns of Psalm 120
          • Penitential Hymns of Psalm 120 (Tones 1-8)
          • Resurrection Hymns of Psalm 120
        • Peace Hour
      • Divine Liturgy >
        • Midday Hymns (Jashoo Sharagans)
        • Gospel Alleluia
        • Processional Hymns
        • Introit (Zhamamood)
        • Deacon's Chants
      • Sacraments >
        • Baptism
        • Marriage
        • Ordinations
        • Funeral
      • Holy Week >
        • Lazarus Saturday
        • Palm Sunday >
          • Palm Sunday - Night/Morning Services
          • Palm Sunday - Ceremony of Opening the Doors
        • Holy Monday
        • Holy Tuesday
        • Holy Wednesday
        • Holy Thursday >
          • Holy Thursday: Night Service
          • Holy Thursday: Morning Service
          • Holy Thursday: Absolution of the Penitents
          • Holy Thursday: Washing of the Feet
          • Holy Thursday: Divine Liturgy
          • Holy Thursday: Great Vigil (Khavaroom)
        • Holy Friday >
          • Holy Friday: Morning Service
          • Holy Friday: Service of the Crucifixion
          • Holy Friday: Service of Burial
        • Holy Saturday >
          • Holy Saturday: Night/Morning Services
          • Holy Saturday: Easter Vigil (Jrakalooyts) & Divine Liturgy
        • Easter Sunday
      • Festal Hymns >
        • Saints' Hymns (Սրբոց Շարականնե)
        • Theophany (Ծնունդ)
        • Mother of God (Ս. Աստուածածին)
        • Presentation of the Lord to the Temple (Տեառնդառաջ)
        • Great Carnival (Բուն Բարեկենդան)
        • New Sunday (Նոր Կիրակի)
        • Ascension (Համբարձում)
        • Holy Cross (Խաչի)
        • Holy Church (Եկեղեցւոյ)
      • Other Services >
        • Blessing of Water
    • Armenian Hymnal
    • Liturgical Services >
      • Services of Blessing
      • Special Services
      • Holy Week
      • Divine Liturgy
  • Conferences/Lectures
    • Deacons' Training Program
    • High School Summer Conference
    • Young Adult Winter Conference
    • Adult Conferences & Retreats
    • Online Lectures
  • News
    • Churches of Artsakh
  • Photos
    • Photo Galleries
    • Consecration Photos
    • Construction Photos, Armonk, NY
  • SUPPORT
    • Donate Now
    • Leadership Giving Circle
    • The Path Forward
    • Planned Giving Society
    • Legacy Donors, New Campus
    • Parish Patrons
  • St. Nersess Theological Review
  • SNTR Volume 7

The Heroic Message of St. Ghevont

2/7/2010

1 Comment

 
February 7, 2010
by V. Rev. Fr. Daniel Findikyan

We are now in the last week of the church year before the start of Great Lent. As some may know, one of the things that distinguishes Great Lent in the Armenian Church is that the church only commemorates saints on Saturdays. During most of the year, Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays are set aside for the commemoration of saints, in addition to Saturdays. It is perhaps for this reason that the most cherished Armenian saints will be commemorated this week, before Lent starts: on Tuesday St. Ghevont the Presbyter and his Companions; and on Thursday, St. Vartan and his Companions.

The Feast of Ghevontyants is the feast day of priests. This Tuesday, February 9, according to a long-held custom of our Diocese, all of the Armenian priests in the greater New York area will assemble at St. Leon (Ghevont) Armenian Church in Fair Lawn, New Jersey to celebrate the Divine Liturgy and to pay tribute to their patron saint and role model.

There is no need to review the amazing story of the Vartanants and Ghevontyantsmartyrs, which is recounted by two Armenian historians of the time: Yeghishé the Historian and Ghazar Parbetsi.

St. Ghevont is remembered as the priest who, on the night before the decisive battle against the Persians in 451ad, assembled the Armenian troops on the battlefield and baptized those that not yet been received into the Church. This was just over a century after the Christian conversion of the Armenian people by St. Gregory the Illuminator, and we know that there were still pockets of the population that had not yet been evangelized. St. Ghevont then celebrated the Divine Liturgy and distributed Holy Communion to every soldier.

I would like to draw attention, however, to the fiery sermon that St. Ghevont preached to the troops. Preserved in Yeghishé’s History, it is probably one of the greatest sermons ever delivered by an Armenian priest. In those final words to theVartanants soldiers, St. Ghevont lays out the motive for the battle. He spells out why the Armenian nation was going to war against a massive and powerful adversary.

Contrary to what many of us may think, the battle had nothing to do with defending the national homeland. St. Ghevont says nothing about Armenian lands. Nor was the battle about preserving Armenian ethnic identity. St. Ghevont has nothing to say about this. Least of all were the Armenians going to battle to defend religious liberty or freedom of conscience. These modern ideas, laudable though they may be, are absent from the priest’s discourse.

Instead, St. Ghevont’s entire sermon speaks to the Armenian nation’s enduring union with Jesus Christ. So permanently has the Lord given himself to those who believe in him, that nothing can separate the Armenian faithful from Jesus. St. Ghevont speaks of “double hope,” of a veritable “win-win” situation facing the Armenians on the eve of the battle. Whether or not the Armenians win the military contest, they have already been rewarded with the prize that cannot be taken away: eternal life in union with God in Jesus Christ. Even if they lose the battle, the Armenian people will have proven by their martyrdom the reality and the permanence of the life given to them by God. Neither the Persians nor death itself can terminate that life.

These are noble words, heroic words, hope-filled words; words that Armenians today need to hear. Today, perhaps more than in the fifth century, the Armenian people desperately need noble and heroic priests like St. Ghevont. The message of St. Ghevont is the message of the Armenian Church. It is a message of little interest to Armenian political parties, cultural organizations, lobbyists, or government officials. No one but the Armenian Church can or will transmit the message of St. Ghevont to the Armenian people.

Who but the Armenian Church will lift up the hearts of our people? Who will convey the reality of “double hope” in Christ? Who will inspire and elevate our people from their often insular, short-sighted and divisive ways? Who will lead them to their true calling in Jesus Christ, the bearer of true and permanent divine life?

St. Ghevont said that nothing and no one could separate Christ from the Christian. The Persians, though they won the battle, could not erase Jesus Christ from the Armenian nation. The Ottoman Turks, though they massacred 1.5 million Armenians, could not eradicate our life in Jesus Christ.

Yet shockingly, the vast majority of Armenians in America today have little interest in their ancestral church beyond receiving “sacramental services” (baptisms, weddings and funerals) and the occasional Sunday visit to memorialize the dead. What the Persian and the Ottoman Turk could not accomplish we are achieving quite effectively for ourselves.

How desperately we need to hear St. Ghevont’s message.

On this Feast of St. Ghevont and his Companions, let us pray for the priests of the Armenian Church. May St. Ghevont himself intercede with the Lord to empower our priests to preach and to instill in our people the unparalleled love of God in Jesus Christ, and to make them worthy of their Christian vocation, which the Armenian prayer of Baptism calls, “the most excellent calling.”

Even more important, may the Lord inspire many young men, through the valiant and heroic example of St. Ghevont, to step forward to serve the Armenian Church as priests. St. Ghevont’s heroism did not come from his education, intelligence, talents or personal virtue, about which history has recorded nothing. St. Ghevont is remembered and venerated today because he was willing to commit himself to the service of God in the Armenian Church; to allow God to bring divine healing and hope to His people through the mouth, heart, hands and feet of one priest at a pivotal moment in Armenian history.

We have reached another pivotal moment in Armenian history. Let us encourage our children to aspire to the example of St. Ghevont: as valiant priests and gracious servants of our Lord who, by their words and actions, will become witnesses to the loving mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ for all the world to behold. As the first Christian nation, we should be satisfied with nothing less.

1 Comment
Missak Darakjian
10/14/2020 12:31:10 am

Good day

I’m searching the entire speech that
Ghevont Yerents made at the battle
of Vartanants
If you have any refrences or copies please let me know

Thank you
Missak Darakjian

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    March 2021
    February 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    March 2012
    January 2012
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    May 2009
    April 2009
    March 2009
    February 2009
    November 2008
    October 2008
    September 2008
    August 2008
    July 2008
    June 2008
    May 2008
    April 2008
    March 2008
    February 2008
    January 2008
    December 2007
    November 2007
    October 2007
    September 2007
    August 2007
    July 2007
    May 2007
    March 2007
    February 2007
    January 2007
    December 2006
    November 2006
    October 2006
    September 2006
    August 2006
    July 2006
    June 2006
    May 2006
    April 2006
    March 2006
    February 2006
    January 2006
    December 2005
    November 2005
    October 2005
    September 2005
    August 2005
    July 2005
    June 2005
    May 2005
    April 2005
    March 2005
    February 2005
    January 2005
    December 2004
    November 2004
    October 2004
    September 2004
    August 2004
    July 2004
    June 2004
    May 2004
    April 2004
    March 2004
    February 2004
    December 2003
    November 2003
    October 2003
    September 2003
    March 2003
    November 2002
    March 2002
    February 2002
    January 2002
    December 1999
    November 1999
    October 1999
    September 1999
    January 1999
    July 1998
    June 1998

    Categories

    All
    Acculturation Program
    Adult Conference
    Alumni
    Annual Appeal
    Board Of Directors
    Christmas Conference
    Clergy
    Clergy Support
    Deacons' Training
    Distance Learning
    Divine Liturgy
    Donations
    Etchmiadzin
    Fundraising
    Graduation
    History
    Leadership
    Lectures
    Library
    Liturgical Music
    Music
    New Armonk Campus
    Ordination
    Pandemic
    PhD Students
    Picnic
    Prayers & Blessings
    Retreat
    Seminarians
    Seminary
    Seminary Events
    Seminary Faculty
    Sermons
    Studying In Armenia
    St. Vladimir's
    Summer Conferences
    Young Adult Winter Conference
    Youth Programs

    RSS Feed

Picture
Preparing leaders for service in the
Armenian Church since 1961
.

Directions to the Seminary

St. Nersess Armenian Seminary
​486 Bedford Road
Armonk, NY 10504

​(**PLEASE** input "St. Nersess Armenian Seminary" into Google Maps for correct location!)

Subscribe to the eNewsletter
Instagram

Contact Us

Phone: (914) 273-0200
Email: info@stnersess.edu

Office Hours:
Monday - Friday, 9:30am-5:30pm


  • Website by Filament Designs