PRESS RELEASE
Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America
138 East 39th Street
New York, NY 10016
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Fax: 212-689-7168
e-mail: info@armenianprelacy.org
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Contact: Iris Papazian
CROSSROADS E-NEWSLETTER – January 13, 2004
22nd MUSICAL ARMENIA CONCERT SERIES
WILL TAKE PLACE JANUARY 30
The 2005 Musical Armenia concert, the twenty-second performance in the
series, will take place on Sunday, January 30, 2005, at 2 pm at Weill
Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall, New York City. The concert will feature the
baritone Oshin Gregorian and the works of the composer Eric Hachikian.
The Musical Armenia program was established by the late Archbishop
Mesrob Ashjian and the Prelacy Ladies Guild in 1982. The concert series
emerged from the success of a Prelacy-sponsored recital in 1981, in
recognition of the ongoing importance of discovering and supporting talented
young Armenian artists.
For details about the concert go to:
ST. STEPHEN SCHOOL WILL MARK
20TH ANNIVERSARY WITH GALA
St. Stephen Armenian Elementary School in Watertown, Massachusetts, will
celebrate the 20th anniversary of the school on Saturday, January 20, with a
Gala at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Cambridge.
Vartan Gregorian, who currently serves as president of the Carnegie
Corporation of New York, will be the special guest and keynote speaker.
St. Stephen School began twenty years ago with eight students at the nursery
level. Today, it has an enrollment of 176 studentrs from nursery through
grade 5. It is a fully bilingual private Armenian American school, which
received full accreditation from the Association of Independent Schools in
New England (AISNE) in 2003.
Visit the school web site for information about the school
and the January 20 gala.
FEAST OF THE NAMING OF OUR LORD
Today, January 13, the Armenian Church commemorates the naming (and
circumcision) of our Lord Jesus Christ in accordance to Jewish custom. The
celebration of this event, inspired by the Gospels (Matthew 1:20-23; Luke
1:30-32), comes seven days after the Feast of Theophany.
BIRTH OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST
This Saturday, January 15, the Armenian Church commemorates the birth of
St. John the Baptist, who was the Forerunner of Jesus Christ. He is an
important figure in the four Gospels of the New Testament and is identified
with the start of the ministry of our Lord. He was the son of Zechariah and
Elizabeth, who was a relative of the Virgin Mary. He was a prophet who came
out of the desert to proclaim the advent of the Kingdom of God and issue a
call to repentance. In modern terminology John preached about social
injustice, decency, and human rights. He baptized those who repented and
announced the coming of the Lord: I baptize you with water for repentance;
but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to
carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
(Matthew 3:11)
John baptized Jesus in the Jordan River at the beginning of Jesus’
ministry. At the moment of the baptism the Holy Spirit, in the form of a
dove, descended on Jesus and a voice from heaven declared, This is my Son,
the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased. (Matthew 3:17)
The Church Fathers considered the Feast of St. John to be very important
and placed it on the Church calendar soon after Theophany and immediately
after the Naming, which would place it on January 14, unless this falls on a
Wednesday or Friday, which are days of abstinence. In these cases, as it is
this year, the Feast is celebrated on January 15.
The name Hovhaness (John) and its derivatives (Hovhan, Ohan, Onnik,
Hovik, Arakel, Garabed, Mgrditch, etc.) are very popular. Traditionally the
Armenians celebrated their name days rather than their birth days.
From the fourth century onward Armenians built many churches,
monasteries, and chapels dedicated to John. Perhaps one of the most famous
was St. Garabed Monastery of Moush, which was one of the most revered
pilgrimage sites. It was a large expansive and fortified complex. Up until
1915 it was a viable site. Some of us here at Crossroads had the honored
privilege to visit this site several years ago with Archbishop Mesrob
Ashjian, of blessed memory. It was a life-defining moment, veiled in sadness
as we viewed the meager remnants, remembering that it was once a huge
bastion capable of housing more than 1,000 pilgrims.
MONDAY IS MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DAY
This Monday, January 17, the United States celebrates the life of Martin
Luther King, Jr.
Dr. King was born on January 15, 1929. He attended public schools in
Georgia and graduated from high school at age 15. He received the B.A.
degree from Morehouse College in Atlanta. After three years of theological
study at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania, he received the B.D.
degree and continued graduate studies at Boston University where he
successfully completed his doctoral studies in 1955. Two years later he was
elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an
organization formed to provide new leadership for the civil rights movement.
King took the ideals of this organization from Christianity and its
operational techniques from Gandhi. From 1957 to 1968 he traveled more than
six million miles and delivered more than 2,500 speeches, appearing wherever
there was injustice. In 1964, at age 35, he received the Nobel Peace Prize.
Four years later, on April 4, 1968, he was assassinated in Memphis,
Tennessee.
I HAVE A DREAM.
I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and
frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply
rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the
true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all
men are created equal.
I have a dream that one day, on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of
former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down
together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert
state sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be
transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a
nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the
content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governors lips
are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification,
will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls
will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk
together as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill
and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plains, and
the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be
revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
An excerpt from the speech made by Martin Luther King, Jr., on August 28,
1963, on the great mall in Washington, DC, between the Lincoln Memorial and
the Washington Monument.
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