Eve of Great Lent or Poon Paregentan (Barekendan) - The Feast of Kindness The Armenian Church has defined the period of Great Lent as a time of abstinence and repentance for the faithful. Each Sunday during this period is named after an event in the Holy Bible that contains the message of the day. According... Read More »

  In the entire Christian East, including Armenia, Great Lent begins on the 7th Monday before the Feast of the Glorious Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Easter). Lent begins on a Monday and lasts exactly 40 days. For the Armenian Church, Great Lent ends on the Friday before Palm Sunday. That is the 40th... Read More »

  The second Sunday of the period of Great Lent is called the Sunday of Expulsion. The basis of the mystery and the name can be found in the Holy Bible, when Adam and Eve disobeyed God's commands at ate from the Tree of Life and thus were "expelled" from the garden of Eden. "The... Read More »

  The Armenian Church commemorates the memory of the Patriarch, St Cyril of Jerusalem (315-386) twice during the year. He was a doctor of the church and had a pleasant and conciliatory disposition. However, he lived at a time when bishops were embroiled in bitter controversies and were quick to condemn any attempts at compromise,... Read More »

  The third Sunday of the period of Great Lent is called the Sunday of the Lost Son, according to the Parable of the Lost Son told in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 15:15-32). Like Adam and Eve, whom we recalled on the Sunday of Expulsion, the prodigal son decided to cut himself off from... Read More »

  The fourth Sunday of the period of Great Lent is called the Sunday of the Steward. The message of the day teaches us of the parable of the unjust steward. This parable is mentioned only in the Gospel of St. Luke (Luke 16:1-13). The legendary and famous parable of the unjust steward, from ancient... Read More »

  The day of the midpoint of Lent is very special, and it is called in Armenian, “michink,” meaning “middle.” It is the 24th day of Lent, and it occurs on the Wednesday of the fourth week. It's a mark of having successfully triumphed over the demands of restraint and continence, called for by the... Read More »

  Karasoun Mangounk (Forty Martyrs of Sebastia) During the 4th century, the period when Christianity began to spread, conflicts still arose between those who boldly embraced their new faith and those pagan emperors who persecuted them. The Holy Martyrs of Sebastia, according to legend, were a group of exceptionally brave soldiers who came from families... Read More »

  The fifth Sunday of Great Lent is called the Sunday of the Judge. The message of the day teaches us the parable of the widow and the Judge. This parable comes to us in the Gospel of St. Luke (Luke 18:1-8). The parable tells the story of a widow who repeatedly comes to a... Read More »