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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260503
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260504
DTSTAMP:20260417T175023
CREATED:20211023T085319Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250520T072453Z
UID:29543-1777766400-1777852799@armenianchurchsydney.org.au
SUMMARY:Feast of the Apparition of the Holy Cross
DESCRIPTION:  \nThis feast is celebrated 28 days after Easter Sunday and is dedicated to the Apparition of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem. At noon on May 19\, 351AD\, a bright\, luminous cross appeared over the skies of Jerusalem\, centred over an area spanning from the Mount of Olives (where Christ was betrayed and arrested) to Golgotha (where Christ was crucified). Bishop Cyril (later St. Cyril of Jerusalem) subsequently wrote a letter to Emperor Constantine of Byzantium wherein he describes the miraculous and beautiful scene. St. Cyril tells Constantine that the apparition is a true testimony of the Orthodox faith of Christianity. Further\, St Cyril exhorts the Emperor that the appearance is a sign for him to remain steadfast in his faith and to stop defending the heretical movement of Arianism (Arianism holds that the Son is distinct from the Father and therefore subordinate to Him) and its lawmakers. \nThe Armenian translation of the Bishop’s letter has been preserved by the Church and is read each year on the Feast of the Apparition of the Holy Cross.
URL:https://armenianchurchsydney.org.au/event/feast-of-the-apparition-of-the-holy-cross-2-2-2-2/
CATEGORIES:Feasts & Commemorations
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://armenianchurchsydney.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/apparition-cross.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260514
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260515
DTSTAMP:20260417T175023
CREATED:20211023T090611Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250520T073729Z
UID:29557-1778716800-1778803199@armenianchurchsydney.org.au
SUMMARY:Hampartsoum: Feast of Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ
DESCRIPTION:  \nThe Feast of Holy Ascension marks the ascent of our Lord Jesus Christ into heaven on the 40th day following His glorious Resurrection. The timing is clearly specified in the Acts of the Apostles\, where it is stated that Christ presented himself alive to the Apostles\, “appearing to them during forty days and speaking of the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3). \nOn the 40th day\, after he finished speaking to the Apostles\, “as they were looking on\, he was lifted up\, and a cloud took him out of their sight.” (Acts 1:9).  The Gospel according to Mark sums up the same story as follows: “So then the Lord Jesus\, after he had spoken to them\, was taken up into heaven\, and sat down at the right hand of God” (Mark 16: 19). The same account is also in the Gospel according to Luke: “While he blessed them\, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven” (Luke 24:51).  There are also several references to this event in some of the other books of the New Testament. \nThe Feast of the Ascension is an important Dominical feast (one relating to the life of Jesus Christ) that has been celebrated in the universal church since ancient times.  Modern scholarship traces its earliest observance to the 4th century. \nIt is always celebrated on the 40th day after Easter and falls on a Thursday; however\, in the Armenian Church\, the observance of the feast begins on Wednesday evening during vespers. \nFrom ancient tradition\, we know that the Ascension of the Lord took place on the Mount of Olives.  To this day the Armenian Brotherhood of St. James in Jerusalem holds vesper service and a vigil on the eve of the Feast of the Ascension at the sanctuary on the Mount of Olives. \nBesides being a Dominical feast (see below)\, the Ascension also marks the anniversary of the reestablishment of the Holy See at the monastery of Holy Etchmiadzin in 1441\, after a separation of almost 1\,000 years. \nAs with other feasts\, Ascension and the Resurrection of the Lord are celebrated over the following nine days until Pentecost. \nDominical Feasts are connected to Christ’s mission of redemption as well as feasts dedicated to the Holy Mother of God\, the Holy Cross and Holy Church.
URL:https://armenianchurchsydney.org.au/event/feast-of-ascension-of-our-lord-jesus-christ-2-2-2-2/
CATEGORIES:Feasts & Commemorations
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://armenianchurchsydney.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Hampartsoum-e1634979554579.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260517
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260518
DTSTAMP:20260417T175023
CREATED:20211023T092455Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250520T074259Z
UID:29570-1778976000-1779062399@armenianchurchsydney.org.au
SUMMARY:Second Palm Sunday
DESCRIPTION:  \nThe name of the feast is derived from Palm Sunday\, which precedes Easter. The Second Palm Sunday is the commemoration of the triumphant entry of the Ascended Christ into the Heavenly Jerusalem\, where the angels meet him with great happiness and delight. \nAccording to old beliefs\, during St Gregory the Illuminator’s imprisonment in the pit\, he was visited every day by the same angel. However one day\, the angel did not come. The following morning\, St Gregory inquired as to the reason for his absence\, to which the angel responded that during the Ascension\, Christ had passed through the ranks of the Angels and thus they celebrate that feast each year. The angel visiting St Gregory was from the fourth class of angelic hosts\, and thus\, on the fourth day following the Ascension\, his rank of angels commemorates and celebrates Christ’s Ascension to heaven every year. \nSt Gregory of Datev\, one of the greatest theologians of the Armenian Church\, has his own famous interpretation of this event. Prior to His Ascension\, the ranks of angels\, except for the lowest class\, who served Christ during His earthly life\, were not aware of Christ’s incarnation for the salvation of man. St Gregory’s commentary states that when the Lord was passing through the ranks of angels\, they were surprised and asked\, “Who was that powerful king?” The angels accompanying Christ thus informed them. \nThis dialogue of angels is presented in the Holy Bible as follows: \n“Lift up your heads\, O ye gates; and be ye lifted up\, ye everlasting doors; \nand the King of glory shall come in.”\n“Who is this King of glory?  The LORD strong and mighty\, the LORD mighty in\nbattle.”\n“Lift up your heads\, O ye gates; even lift them up\, ye everlasting doors; \nand the King of glory shall come in.”\n“Who is this King of glory?”\n“The LORD of hosts\, he is the King of glory.”\n (Psalms 24:7-10) \nThis beautiful angelic dialogue is heard during the Divine Liturgy\, as the deacon approaches the celebrant priest with the chalice during the Great Entrance (Verapehroom). \nSecond Palm Sunday is one more reminder of the Ascension of Christ and grants us the hope for ascending to heaven after our deaths and being in the bliss of God’s presence. \n 
URL:https://armenianchurchsydney.org.au/event/second-palm-sunday-2-2-2-2/
CATEGORIES:Feasts & Commemorations
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://armenianchurchsydney.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Jesus-heaven.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260527
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260528
DTSTAMP:20260417T175023
CREATED:20211023T093159Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250520T074850Z
UID:29583-1779840000-1779926399@armenianchurchsydney.org.au
SUMMARY:The Feast of Pentecost: Hokekaloust
DESCRIPTION:  \n“When the day of Pentecost came\, they were all together in one place.  Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.  They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:1-4).\n\nOn the day of Pentecost (Hokekaloust)\, tongues of fire filled the upper room resting upon the heads of Jesus’ disciples who had gathered together as had been instructed. In this dramatic scene\, the disciples felt the Holy Spirit descend upon them as they began speaking in other languages and could be understood by a crowd of believers from other nations.\n\nWith the tongues of fire came the ability for the spread of Christianity to other nations which would soon reach the land of Armenia by the Apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew. This would become the birth of the Armenian Church and the nation’s religion. \nTongues symbolise God’s purifying presence which burns away the undesirable elements of our lives and sets our hearts aflame to ignite the lives of others. \nThe coming of the Holy Spirit (or Hokekaloust in Armenian) is celebrated by the Armenian Church\, as in all Christian churches\, 50 days after Easter. \nAs possessors of this beautiful faith\, Pentecost points us to our personal Pentecost\, for just as the Holy Spirit came to the Apostles\, so too does the Holy Spirit come to each one of us at the time of our chrismation or confirmation with the anointing of the Holy Oil. As baptised infants\, if we are open to that gift\, it transforms us and inspires us to live a Christ centred existence\, in which the fruits of the Spirit — love\, joy\, peace\, patience\, kindness\, goodness\, faithfulness\, gentleness and self-control — can grow and thrive. \nBut the fruit of the Spirit is love\, joy\, peace\, forbearance\, kindness\, goodness\, faithfulness\,  gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. \n(Galatians 5:22-23)
URL:https://armenianchurchsydney.org.au/event/the-feast-of-pentecost-hokekaloust-2-2-2-2/
CATEGORIES:Feasts & Commemorations
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://armenianchurchsydney.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Pentecost.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260531
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260601
DTSTAMP:20260417T175023
CREATED:20211023T095043Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250520T075543Z
UID:29596-1780185600-1780271999@armenianchurchsydney.org.au
SUMMARY:Commemoration of the Prophet Elijah
DESCRIPTION:  \nWelcome the Stranger: Elijah \nHe was a man of holiness and generosity; but also a man who could countenance the cruelest violence. His very name confessed his loyalty to God; but also prefigured the loneliness that can follow any man with such loyalties. He was Elijah the Tishbite\, Elijah “the Stranger”: the Hebrew prophet the Armenian Church remembers the Sunday following the Feast of Pentecost. \nAs the “model” prophet\, Elijah cuts a gigantic figure in the Old Testament\, with his name and influence echoing through the New. He even makes a personal appearance in the Gospel\, alongside Christ and Moses\, during the cosmic vision of the Transfiguration. \nBut he was truly an isolated figure in his day: a friend of God in an age when all his countrymen (so it seemed) had abandoned their holy heritage; when a profane ruling class had infected the people with the spirit killing disease of idolatry. \nElijah was a severe opponent of the pagan cults imported into the court of the Israelite King Ahab\, and his early prophetic career was marked by divine signs and miracles. But at the very moment of his vindication; his extravagant triumph over the pagan idols\, leading to the horrifying slaughter of their priesthood\, Elijah’s fortunes turned. \nA public vendetta against him by the infamous Queen Jezebel sent Elijah into hiding. In fear for his life\, he scaled the mountain where Moses had once received the Ten Commandments\, to stand in the presence of his God. A hurricane wind\, a mighty earthquake\, a blazing fire all passed before him. But God (Scripture assures us) inhabited none of these. \nOnly a “still\, small voice”\, a gentle whisper in Elijah’s hearing—was recognisable as the sign of God’s presence. And the Voice asked the prophet\, “What are you doing here\, Elijah?” \nWeary in body and spirit\, Elijah could only answer as one who had given his all\, in a lost cause. “I have been your champion\, Lord\,” he said. “But the people have rejected your covenant\, torn down your altars\, put your prophets to the sword. I am the only one left. And now they want to kill me too.” Earlier he had dared to utter a prayer of even deeper bitterness\, “I have had enough\, Lord. Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” \nBut God’s reply to the prophet’s spiritual exhaustion was a miracle of mercy and simplicity. He gave Elijah a human companion to share his burdens. The young plowman Elisha would be the chosen disciple for Elijah to instruct; the “son” who would carry the prophet’s mantle in the next generation\, extending Elijah’s achievements\, and perhaps correcting his mistakes. \nThere would be further adventures for the prophet with no respite from the hardships of his vocation. But after the experience on the mountain\, Elijah’s heart was eased enough to permit him to peacefully depart this world\, which he did in the most dramatic way imaginable: carried away to heaven in a chariot of fire. \nBut his story doesn’t end there. Subsequent generations\, reflecting on his mysterious departure\, insisted that Elijah would one day return\, as a herald of the Messiah. The preaching style of John the Baptist so closely resembled Elijah’s that observers of the day thought the two might be one and the same. Though John directly disabused people of that notion\, Jesus attested that John was indeed the spiritual successor to Elijah\, who had come to announce Christ’s advent. \nArmenian spirituality holds that Elijah never actually died. Our haunting Requiem hymn paints a word picture of the “Supernal Jerusalem” (Ee verinn Yerousaghem) where Elijah still lives in vastly advanced old age\, alongside the antediluvian (before the flood) Patriarch Enoch. The inscrutable classical Armenian word aghavnagerb (usually translated as “dove-like”) describes their present state\, offering us a dim glimpse into what it might be like to live as an immortal resident of God’s heavenly city. \nThe story of Elijah “the Stranger” is told in the Books of Kings (1 Kings 17 -2 Kings 2)\, with its uncanny sequels related in the gospels and our liturgy. In preparation for his remembrance\, welcome “The Stranger” into your heart. \n 
URL:https://armenianchurchsydney.org.au/event/commemoration-of-the-prophet-elijah-2-2-2-2/
CATEGORIES:Feasts & Commemorations
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://armenianchurchsydney.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Elijah-770x330.jpg
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