Issue3, Volume 5 18 January, 2014 - ԱՌԱՋՆՈՐԴՈՒԹԻՒՆ.ՀԱՅՈՑ.ՄԵԾՆ.ԲՐԻԴԱՆԻՈՅ.ԵՒ.ԻՐԼԱՆՏԱՅԻ DIOCESE OF THE ARMENIAN CHURCH OF THE UNITED KINGDOM AND THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

Տ.Վահան.Եպս..Յովհաննէսեան,.Հայրապետական.Պատուիրակ.եւ.Առաջնորդ The Right Revd Bishop Vahan Hovhanessian, Primate and Pontifical Legate

HIS HOLINESS KAREKIN II CELEBRATES THEOPHANY BADARAK

On the Feast of the Holy Theophany, 6 January, His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians was the celebrant in the Mother Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin. Present at the Badarak was Mr. SerzhSargsian, President of the Republic of Armenia. His Grace Bp HovnanHakobian, Grant Sacristan of the Mother Cathedral; and His Grace Bp MusheghBabayan, Operations Director of the Mother See assisted His Holiness during the celebration of the Divine Liturgy. Following the distribution of Holy Communion the Catholicos of All Armenians extended His Pontifical Blessings and Message to All Armenians worldwide, conveying to everyone the Good News of the Angel. Click here for a video clip of the Pontifical celebration of the Divine Liturgy and highlights of the sermon of His Holiness.

THEOPHANY IN UK AND IRELAND ARMENIANS CHURCHES

HG Bp Vahan Hovhanessian, Primate, was the celebrant of the Theophany Divine Liturgy at the St Yeghiche Church in London, on Monday, 6 January. Following the distribution of the Holy Communion, HG addressed the congregation, which filled the church on a Monday morning. reflecting on the Birth of our Lord. “Theophany is more than simply the celebration of the greatest Hero in the world,” said Srpazan reflection on the meaning of the Feast and added, “it is the celebration of the birth of our hope of eternity and the resurrection of our loved ones and the martyrs.” The traditional blessing of the Water service followed the sermon. Fr Garegin Hambardzumyan, who assisted Srpazan, was himself the celebrant and homilist at Holy Trinity Church in Manchester, on 5 January. Fr Shnork Bagdasariancelebrated Badarak on 6 January at St Sarkis Church. Thanks to our clergy, deacons, choirs &all who participated in the services. Special thanks to Fr Bisak Hatapian for his help and support during service at St Sarkis Church.

“HOUSE BLESSING” OF THE VICARAGE

On Monday afternoon, 6 January, following the Theophany church celebrations, Fr Garegin and Fr Shnork together with several altar servers gathered in the Vicarage for the traditional House Blessing service. For centuries Armenians have maintained this beautiful tradition of having their local pastor bless their home following the annual major feasts of the Armenian Church, including Theophany and Easter. The House Blessing tradition is also a great opportunity for the Pastor and the people to meet and discuss matters related to the mission and ministry of the Armenian Church. If you, or someone you know, would like to have a House Blessing service, on the occasion of the Feast of Theophany and the New Year, please contact your Parish Pastor or Parish Council members or call the Primate’s Office at 0208 127 8364, or by e-mail: primatesoffice@armenianchurch.co.uk. Do you remember when the last time was when a priest blessed your house? Qristos ?nau ;u |a\tn;zau. Krisdos dzunav yev haydnetsav!

EXTRA BIBLICAL SOURCES OF FAITH AND TRADITION

“Extra Biblical Sources of Faith and Tradition” is the theme of the 2nd annual Orthodox Education Day in London, sponsored by the Council of the Oriental Orthodox Churches in the UK and Ireland. The Education Day, scheduled for this Saturday, 18 January, will start with registration at 9:00am, followed by a brief Morning Service of the Armenian Orthodox Church. The programme, which can be downloaded by clicking here, includes the following four talks: “What is Tradition?” Abba Seraphim; “Tradition and Councils” by Fr Peter Farrington; “Armenian Church Hymnography” by Bp Vahan Hovhanessian and “Canonical Tradition” by Deacon Daniel Malyon. Breakfast after morning service&lunch will be served during the day. Admission(including lunch and beverages) £10.00 General at the entrance; £5.00 Students and £7.00 General, paid in advance to “The Armenian Church Trust UK” and mailed to The Primate’s Office, 25 Cheniston Gardens, London W8 6TG, or paid online by clicking here.

JOINT BIBLE STUDY SESSION IN ST THOMAS SYRIAC CHURCH

Per the agreement between HE Abp Athanasios Toma, Primate of the Syriac Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom, and HG Bp Vahan Hovhanessian, Primate, our weekly Bible Study group will henceforth meet alternately in the St Sarkis Armenian Church’s Gulbenkian Hall in Kensington and St Thomas Syriac Cathedral in Acton. The group which was initiated by Bp Vahan as a project of the Continuing Education Ministry of the Primate’s Office four years ago met twice already at the St Thomas Cathedral for a joint study meeting during the past month, which proved to be very encouraging and fruitful. These joint sessions offer great opportunities for Armenian and Syriac brothers and sisters and their friends to meet in a forum and discuss the Word of God in a relaxed and casual fellowship. The next study session will meet this Thursday, 16 January at 7:00pm in the St Thomas Syriac Cathedral. For directions and more information please e-mail: enquiry-uk@syrianorthodoxchurch.net

OXFORD LECTURE: “CHURCH AND STATE RELATIONS”

On Tuesday, 28 January 2014 the Oxford Armenian Studies programme will resume its series of talks titled “Armenian Religion, Society, Politics Seminar” by Dr Hratch Tchilingirian of the Oriental Institute, Oxford University. The title of the talk for the forthcoming session is “Church and State Relations” Despite expectations that the Church would be free of state influence in non‐Communist Armenia, Church‐State relations have been problematic since 1991. This lecture, as announced by the University, “will present a discussion of the process of how the Church was 'rehabilitated', the mutual exploitation of each institution of the other, and the main legal and political conflicts in Church‐State relations since independence.” The talk will take place in LectureRoom1 of the OrientalInstitute,Oxford University. Click here for more information about the lecture series at Oxford.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:  THEOPHANIA: Music from the oldest Christian civilizations: Armenian, Coptic, Greek, Roman Catholic, Syrian &

others. 25 January, 7:00pm @ the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of St Sophia, Moscow Road, Bayswater, London W2 4LQ.  FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS: The Primate’s Office has prepared a list of Frequently Asked Questions (collected from different people and parish council members), which is published in a document accessible by clicking here. If you have other questions about the administrative process, please send your questions or comments to the

Primate’s Office.  ST SARKIS CAKE SALE AND BRIC-A-BRAC: The St Sarkis Parish Council will hold a Cake and Bric-a-

Brac sale in aid of the Syrian Armenian Relief Fund some time following Armenian Christmas. Please put aside all your unwanted good quality bric-a-brac and unwanted Christmas gifts for us until we announce the date. Thank you.

 ST YEGHICHE WOMEN’S GUILD: St Yeghiche Armenian Church Parish Council is in the process of setting up a Women’s Guild. Those interested in take part and be members of the newly to be formed Women’s Guild please contact Parish Council member Mrs Arshalouys Babayan by calling 020 85792129

The Primate’s Office, Hye Doon, 25 Cheniston Gardens, Kensington, London W8 6TG – 0208 127 8364 – primatesoffice@armenianchurch.co.uk

UNDERSTANDING OUR BADARAK

Aspart of the Continuing Education Ministry of the Primate’s Office, HG Bp Vahan Hovhanessian will be offering a course on the theology and spirituality of our Divine Liturgy, Badarak, on Monday evenings startingMonday, 10 February. The course will explore the biblical foundation of remembrance of the Lord, sacrifice, breaking and sharing bread, and tackle practical questions related to the length, importance and frequency of the Badarak The course will meet in the St Sarkis Church, Monday evenings at 7:00pm, and is offered free of charge, as part of the ongoing mission of the Continuing Education Ministry (CEM). Registered members will receive printed notes of each session. Make an effort to join us and ask all the questions you wanted to ask about this central celebration of our faith. Those interested to sign up for the course are requested to contact the Primate’s Office via e-mail or telephone: 0208 127 8364.