The Prophet Daniel (meaning God is my Judge), is one of the four great prophets of the Old Testament. Nearly all that is known concerning the Prophet is derived from the book ascribed to him, which dates back to the VII-VI centuries B.C. Daniel and his youthful companions Shadrach (Setrak), Meshach (Misak) and Abednego... Read More »

  Catholicos St Sahak Bartev (Partev) and Archimandrite St Mesrop (Vardapet) Mashtots are the founders of Armenian literature and ecclesiastical bibliography. St Sahak Partev was the elder son of Catholicos St Nersess the Great. He was the last Catholicos of the Armenian Church who descended from the lineage of St Gregory the Illuminator. He became... Read More »

  In 287 A.D. Tiridates (Drtad), from the royal house of Arshakouni, assumed the throne which once belonged to his father and he became Tiridates III, King of Armenia. His name is inextricably linked with the Patron Saint of the Armenian Church, St Gregory the Illuminator. In 301 A.D, the king released the Christian Gregory... Read More »

  According to tradition, while on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, two Greek princes came across a chest that once belonged to St Mary. In Galilee, they saw a large crowd gathered in front of a Jewish woman’s house. On enquiring, they found that the sick were being healed due to the inexplicable power of the... Read More »

  Every year, the Armenian Church reserves a day in its liturgical calendar to remember one of the more obscure figures of the Old Testament: the Prophet Zechariah. Zechariah’s collection of prophecies and oracles stands among the last books of the canonical Old Testament. In its opening verse, Zechariah situates himself in time during the... Read More »

  Elisha the Prophet was a wonderworker whose miracles; healing the diseased, the multiplication of loaves, raising a child from death, anticipated those of Christ. Indeed, Jesus explicitly referred to these during his own ministry. The Old Testament prophet became greatly honored in the Christian tradition, and especially among the Armenians, for whom the name... Read More »

  The Twelve Apostles elected by Our Lord Jesus Christ, were Christ’s disciples and first preachers of His doctrine, as well as the Incarnate Christ’s witnesses. “Jesus called his twelve disciples together and gave them authority to drive out devil spirits and to heal every disease and every sickness.” Matthew 10:1 These were the names of... Read More »

  This is the Sunday just before the week of the fasting period, preceding the Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ’s Transfiguration. In the Armenian Apostolic Church, it's called the Fast of Transfiguration, lasting from Monday to Friday.

  The Ark of the Covenant is the most sacred sanctity of the Old Testament. It consisted of a pure gold covered wooden chest with an elaborate lid called the Mercy seat. The Ark is described in the Book of Exodus as containing the two stone tablets of the Ten Commandments. According to the New Testament Book... Read More »

  The Prophet Isaiah is the first of the four major prophets of the Old Testament. He was born and spent almost his entire life in the city of Jerusalem, in the eight century B.C. The Armenian Church commemorates the prophet Isaiah, who is best known for the longest prophetic book in the Old Testament... Read More »

  St Thaddeus the Apostle and St Sandoukht the Virgin are two of the most venerated saints in the Armenian Church. The “Great Conversion” of the Armenian nation to Christianity is significantly connected with their names. Following the Ascension of Christ, according to the Lord’s message: “Go then to all peoples everywhere and make them... Read More »

  The Septuagint (first translation of the Hebrew Old Testament), uses the name “Patriarch” when referring to the forefathers or ancestors of spiritual and lay leaders of the Old Testament. They are: Adam, Abel, Seth, Enosh, Enoch, Noah, Melchizedek, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, Eliezer, Joshua, Samuel, Samson, Jephthah, Barak, Gideon and other Holy... Read More »

  The Armenian Church commemorates St Aristages (Aristakes), Vrtanes, Krikoris (Grigoris) and Housik (Husig); St Gregory's sons and grandsons and Daniel the Syrian. The day of commemoration (according to the present calendar in force since 1774-75) falls on the Saturday before the Third Sunday of Transfiguration. The rest of the members of the Gregorid family,... Read More »

  Saints Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi In addition to Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel (the four major prophets of the Old Testament), the Armenian Church commemorates the following twelve minor prophets.  The Prophets were those persons through which God spoke his will to the people of... Read More »

  The Ecumenical Council of Ephesus was convened in 431 A.D, during the reign of King Theodosius II (Theodosius the Younger). 200 Pontiffs participated in the Council, with the aim of rejecting the false teachings of Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople. According to his teachings there were two independent, divine and human, natures in Christ, contrasting... Read More »