For the 47th consecutive Lenten season, Saints Vartanantz Armenian Church at 180 Old Westford Road, Chelmsford will sponsor a series of six fellowship evenings designed to promote spiritual renewal through prayer and discussion,  reports.

Each Friday evening of Lent, beginning Feb. 12, parishioners will gather at 6:30 p.m. to participate in the Peace and Rest Services, which feature penitential prayers and hymns. Participants will eat a meal prepared according to the church’s Lenten dietary guidelines.

With this year marking the 100th anniversary of the Saints Vartanantz Parish, the focus of the Lenten program will be on the faith and legacy of those who established and expanded the parish over the past 100 years. The brave men and women who escaped the Armenian genocide and immigrated to the U.S. left a legacy of sacrifice and dedication, which has inspired growth of orthodox faith and spirituality for some five generations in the Greater Lowell community. The Lenten fellowship program is dedicated to the memory of a former pastor of Saints Vartanantz, the Rev. Ghevont Samoorian, who initiated this opportunity for the parish to worship, share a Lenten meal and encourage spiritual examination and renewal.