June 11, 2009
ANTRANIG KHATCHADOURIAN
Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan, Prelate, and the Religious and Executive
Council expressed condolences to the family of Antranig Khatchadourian who
died
on June 8 at his home in Cranston, Rhode Island. He was 86 years old.
Mr. Khatchadourian is the father of
Hagop Khatchadourian, of the Prelacy’s Executive Council, and brother of
Archbishop Hrant Khatchadourian, of blessed memory, Prelate of the
Prelacy from 1959 to 1973.
The Wake service will take place tomorrow evening, Friday, June
12, at the Nardolillo Funeral Home in Cranston, Rhode Island, from 5 to 8
pm. Funeral services will take place at Sts. Vartanantz Armenian Church, 402
Broadway, Providence, Rhode Island on Saturday, June 13 at 9:30 a.m.
Interment will follow at North Burial Grounds in
Providence.
His survivors include another son, Levon, daughter Maral, and five
grandchildren.
Our heartfelt sympathy to the extended Khatchadourian family.
Photo: The late
Antranig Khatchadourian with his son Hagop at the Prelacy’s 50th anniversary
celebration in October 2008.
UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA
WILL VISIT PRELACY ON JUNE
23
Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, the United States ambassador to the
Republic of Armenia, will visit
the Prelacy on Tuesday, June 23. The ambassador will meet privately with
the Prelate, Archbishop Oshagan, prior to a reception where
representatives of area Prelacy parishes and affiliate organizations will
hear the Ambassador’s presentation and have the opportunity to
participate in a question and answer session. The reception, which begins at
7:30 pm, is open to the public. Please RSVP, 212-689-7810.
MASSACHUSETTS COURT DISMISSES LAWSUIT
DEMANDING
GENOCIDE DENIAL
U.S. District Court Judge Mark Wolf yesterday dismissed a case that
was initiated
through the efforts of the Turkish American Associations (ATAA). According
to media coverage, the ATAA encouraged two teachers, a student, and his
parents to file the case against the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 2005.
In 2006 the Armenian National Committee, the Armenian Bar Association,
Irish Immigration Society, Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action, and
the NAACP filed an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief in support of
Massachusetts’ call to dismiss the case. If the case had not been dismissed
Massachusetts would have been compelled to include historically
inaccurate Armenian Genocide denial materials in the Massachusetts education
curriculum. The Armenian Assembly of America also filed an amicus brief.
2009 PRELACY LINKED IN WEEKEND
The 2009
Prelacy LINKED IN weekend for young adults will take place September 25-27,
at the Holy Virgin Mary Spiritual Vineyard, Charlton,
Massachusetts.
For more information click here
().
YEAR OF THE YOUTH
His Holiness Aram I,
Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, has designated the year 2009 as
the "Year of The Youth."
To read His Holiness’ message in Armenian click here
( ntifical%20Messages/messages68.htm).
To
read His Holiness’ message in English click
here ( ).
DATEV SUMMER PROGRAM
The 23rd annual St.
Gregory of Datev Institute Summer Program, for youth ages 13-18, is rapidly
approaching. As in previous years it will take place at the St. Mary of
Providence Center in Elverson, Pennsylvania, from June 28 to July 5, 2009,
preceded by a weekend retreat (optional) from June 26-28, 2009. The Program
is sponsored by the Armenian Religious Education Council (AREC).
For more information click here
().
DAIL Y BIBLE READINGS
Bible readings for
today, Thursday, June 11, are: Proverbs 15:21-26; Isaiah 22:20-25; 1 Peter
5:1-7; Matthew 11:2-14.
On that day I will call my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah, and will clothe
him with your robe and bind your sash on him. I will commit your authority
to his hand, and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to
the house of Judah. I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of
David; he shall open, and no one shall shut; he shall shut, and no one shall
open. I will fasten him like a peg in a secure place, and he will become
a throne of honor to his ancestral house. And they will hang on him the
whole weight of his ancestral house, the offspring and issue, every small
vessel, from the cups to all the flagons. On that day, says the Lord of
hosts, the peg that was fastened in a secure place will give way; it will be
cut down and fall, and the load that was on it will perish, for the Lord has
spoken. (Isaiah 22:20-25)
For listing of the coming week’s Bible readings click
here ().
S T. GREGORY THE ILLUMINATOR: DELIVERANCE FROM THE
PIT
This Saturday, June 13, is the Feast of St. Gregory the Illuminator’s
emergence from the
pit (khor virab). Gregory is revered as the patron saint of the Armenian
Church. He is recognized and memorialized in both eastern and
western hierarchical churches. The Armenian liturgical calendar reserves
three feast days in his honor: Entrance into the pit; emergence from the
pit;
discovery of relics. In addition to these three dates, there are several
feast days to which he is connected, such as: Feasts of Sts. Hripsimiantz
and
Sts. Gayaniantz; Feast of Shoghakat, Feast of Holy Etchmiadzin, Feast of
King Trdat. The Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox churches, the Oriental
Orthodox churches have special days in their calendars for the veneration of
St. Gregory, who is considered to be one of the fathers of the early
Christian churches.
St. Gregory was condemned to the pit in 287 AD by King Trdat and the
persecution of
Christians in Armenia began. After the persecution and martyrdom of a group
of nuns who came into Armenia, led by Hripsime and Gayane, seeking refuge
from persecution in Rome, Trdat came down with strange maladies. His sister,
Khosrovidukht, had a dream that Gregory was the only person who could
heal her brother. Miraculously, Gregory was still alive after many years in
the pit, thanks to an anonymous woman who regularly lowered food and water
into the pit. Gregory was brought out of the pit. The king was cured,
baptized, and he proclaimed Christianity to be the official religion of
Armenia.
Gregory was not the first to preach Christianity in Armenia; that
distinction belongs to the apostles
Thaddeus and Bartholomew who came to Armenia in the first century.
Nevertheless Gregory is revered in the Armenian Church and has always been
considered by Armenians to be the father of their faith. Hundreds of
churches have been built in his name, the latest being the large church in
Yerevan built in honor of the 1700th anniversary with a seating capacity of
1,700. The Armenian Church is often described as being
"Lousavorchagan" (Gregorian).
FEAST OF HOLY ETCHMIADZIN
This Sunday, June
14, is the feast day of Holy Mother Etchmiadzin, the cathedral built by St.
Gregory after his deliverance from the pit, to the specifications he saw
in a vision, and on the place marked by the Lord with a golden hammer. This
feast day commemorates the establishment of the Armenian Church and the
eradication of paganism. It is the oldest example of a four-altar,
four-pillar, domed, cruciform church in Christian architecture. More than
1700
years old, it is the oldest surviving Armenian Christian site. The complex
consists of many structures, including the main cathedral and three nearby
churches (Hripsime, Gayane, Shoghagat), the Kevorkian Seminary, the
Catholicos’ residence, and other buildings.
Come and
construct the holy tabernacle of light
Because it radiates for us the light of Armenia.
(from a hymn
written by Catholicos Sahak III Dzoraporetsi [677-703])
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
June 13-Ladies Guild of St. Gregory Armenian Apostolic
Church of Merrimack Valley, North Andover, Massachusetts, is hosting an
Armenian Food Fair in Jaffarian Hall, 158 Main Street, 11 am to 7 pm. Lunch
/
dinner / take-out. For information: 978-685-5038.
June 20-Rev. Fr. Nareg Terterian and the Young Adults
Bible Study Group of St. Sarkis Church, Douglaston, New York, invite you to
attend a Seminar on Marriage and Family from 10 am to 4 pm. Presentations
by Rev. Fr. Nareg Terterian and Professor Joann C. Heaney-Hunter from St.
John’s University. Group discussions on topics of interest for young
Armenian couples and families. Lunch and refreshments will be served.
Registration fee: $25 per couple. Contact church office, 718-224-2275.
June 28-Annual Madagh Picnic, St. Hagop Church (Racine),
at Johnson Park Picnic Grounds, 6200 Northwestern Ave., Racine, Wisconsin,
10:30 to 7 pm.
June 29 – July 5-St. Gregory of Datev Summer
Institute, St. Mary of Providence Center, Elverson, Pennsylvania.
July 18-Sts. Vartanantz Church, Providence, Rhode
Island, Ladies Guild/ARS Chapter present a Hye Summer Night 4 Dance at The
Annunciation Greek Church, Cranston, Rhode Island. For information
401-434-4467.
July 22-Gathering of North American youth in Los
Angeles, organized by the Western Prelacy with the participation of the
Eastern and Canadian Prelacies.
August 2-Sts. Vartanantz Church, Providence, Rhode
Island, Annual Picnic and Blessing of Madagh and Grapes at Camp Haiastan,
Franklin, Massachusetts, 12 noon to 6 pm, rain or shine. Music by John
Berberian and Ensemble.
August 9-St. Stephen’s Church, Watertown,
Massachusetts, annual picnic and blessing of madagh and grapes at Camp
Haiastan, Franklin, Massachusetts. Starts at 12 noon, rain or shine. Live
music.
August 9-Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church,
Worcester, Massachusetts, annual picnic and blessing of the grapes.
August 16-Sts. Vartanantz Church, Ridgefield, New
Jersey, annual picnic and Blessing of the Grapes.
August 16-St. Asdvadzadzin Church, Whitinsville,
Massachusetts, picnic and Blessing of the Grapes.
September 13-Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church,
Worcester, Massachusetts, 75th anniversary Holy Mass and banquet, under the
auspices of His Eminence Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan.
September 24-Sts. Vartanantz Church (New Jersey),
presents 7th annual Golf Outing at River Vale Country Club, River Vale, New
Jersey. $175 includes lunch, dinner, golf and contests. Come out and enjoy
a great day and support the church. For information contact Mark,
201-483-3200.
September 25-26-27-Prelacy Linked In, gathering of the
youth. Details will follow.
Web pages of the parishes can be accessed through the Prelacy’s web site.
To ensure the timely arrival of Crossroads in your electronic mailbox, add
[email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) to your address
book.
Items in Crossroads can be reproduced without permission. Please credit
Crossroads as the
source.
Parishes of the Eastern Prelacy are invited to send information about their
major events to be
included in the calendar. Send to: [email protected]
(mailto:[email protected])