THE ARMENIAN CHURCH OF THE UNITED KINGDOM... Armenian Church E-Newsletter, Issue '16 & 17'‏

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

Issues 16 & 17, Volume 5

30. April, 2014

CHRIST IS RISEN FROM THE DEAD... ‘HAPPY EASTER’ This year, for the first time in the history of our community, Holy Week and the Feast of the Resurrection of Christ were commemorated and celebrated in all the parishes of the Diocese of the Armenian Church. St Yeghiche Church offered the entire Holy Week services to the faithful including the Washing of the Feet, presided over and celebrated by the Very Revd Fr Aren Shaheenian. The same was done in the Holy Trinity Church in Manchester, presided over and celebrated by the Very Revd Fr Garegin Hambardzumyan. Meanwhile, the Revd Fr Shnork Bgdasarian, Pastor, continued offering the services at St Sarkis Armenian Church. The Mission Parishes also had their share of the celebrations. Palm Sunday was celebrated by Bp Vahan Hovhanesian, Primate, in Cardiff while Easter-Eve by Fr Garegin in Birmingham. In his turn, the Primate celebrated the Easter-Eve Badarak ...

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GENOCIDE COMMEMORATION IN THE VARIOUS PARISHES

By the order of HG Bp Vahan Hovhanessian, Primate, memorial services were offered in our church parishes for the victims of the 1915 Armenian Genocide. On Thursday, 24 April, Srpazan Hayr presided over the commemorative programme hosted by the Armenian Community Council (ACC) at St Yeghiche Church and delivered the concluding remarks and blessings. ‘The victory of our martyrs is in our unity, and perseverance in maintaining and promoting the language, culture and faith for which they were martyred,’ added the Bishop. A special luncheon programme was hosted by the Dublin Parish Council, jointly with the Cardiff parish Council, to discuss the Genocide with the Church of Ireland. HG Bp Vahan, on the other hand, was the guest of the Radio programme ‘Middle East and North Africa Analysis with Dr Harry Hagopian’ on Thursday evening, 24 April 2014. Click here to hear the entire interview. Finally, Fr Shnork Bagdasarian, represented the Armenian Church in the annual march on Saturday 26 April.

ACYF Executive Committee members @ Cenotaph Genocide March

PRIMATE PARTICIPATES IN THE CANONISATION OF POPES

. The main ceremonies of the canonisation took place on Sunday, 27 April, where Pope Francis proclaimed the late Popes John Paul the Second and John the 23rd as Saints of the Roman Catholic Church. A crowd of tens of thousands of faithful from all over the world filled the St Peter’s Square as well as the main roads leading to the square. The following day, Monday, a special Mass of Thanksgiving

was offered in the Square in celebration of the newly proclaimed two saints.

By the Orders of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians,

His Grace Bishop Vahan left London Saturday morning, 26 April, to join a delegation

representing the Armenian Orthodox Church and His Holiness in the canonisation ceremonies of

the late Popes John the 23rd and John Paul the 2nd. Joining His Grace was Bishop Ashot, the

Primate of the Armenian Diocese of Egypt. During the visit the delegation met with His

Excellency Michael Minasyan, Armenia’s Ambassador to the Vatican

ORDINATION OF ALTAR SERVERS

The Primate’s Office happily announces the scheduling of the forthcoming ordination service of Subdeacon (Gisasargavak - Kisasarkauag) on Sunday, 11 May, 2014, at the St Yeghiche Church. Prior to the ate of the ordination, candidates from the Deacons’ Training Programme will have to undergo a day-long test and retreat, including written and oral tests examining their knowledge of the liturgy and theology of the Armenian Church. The Primate’s Office will announce the names of the candidates who have successfully passed the tests and are qualified candidates for the ordination. The ordination service will take place during the celebration of the Badarak on Sunday, the 11th of May, which will be celebrated by His Grace Bishop Vahan Hovhanessian, Primate. The candidates of the ordination have been part of the Deacons’ Training Programme launched by the Primate in 2010,and have been serving in the various churches of our diocese since then. To join the Deacons’ Training Programme click here.

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Making Nushkhar

CARDIFF GENOCIDE PROGRAMME – 9 MAY: JOIN US

The Parish Council of the Armenian Church in Cardiff is preparing a special programme as part of the ongoing Armenian Church commemoration of the 99th anniversary of the 1915 Genocide. The programme, scheduled on Friday, 9 May, 3pm, at the Gwynedd County Council offices (Caernarfon, Gwynedd LL55 1SH), will include a requiem service for the Genocide followed by the blessing of a stone plaque gifted by the Armenian Church of Cardiff. The plaque engraving in 3 languages (Armenian, English and Welsh) reads: ‘A token of solidarity and deep gratitude from the Armenians in the UK for the vote taken by Gwynedd Council recognising the Armenian Genocide.’ As our readers may know, on the 5th March 2004 the Council Chamber voted

HG Bp Vahan Hovhanessian will preside over the ceremonies, attended also by Canon Patrick Thomas, Cllr Dewi Owen (Chairman of the Council from 1 May), Cllr R H Williams (Chairman during 2004)

and John & Ani Torosyan Armenian Church Parish Council of Cardiff of the Armenian Church.

Gwynedd became the first Council in the UK to recognise the Armenian Genocide.

Canon Patrick Thomas

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FR GAREGIN VISITS DUBLIN

The Very Revd Fr Garegin Hambardzumyan, PhD (Cand) visited the Armenian Church parish in Dublin during the weekend of 25-27 April, to represent HG Bp Vahan Hovhanessian, Primate, in a special Genocide programme in Dublin and meetings with His Eminence Abp Michael Jackson,

Abp Michael Jackson

the Head of the Church of Ireland, high ranking clergy and Parish Council members of the

Armenian Church in Dublin. The main aspect of the programme was a talk about the Armenians

and the Genocide by the Very Revd Canon Patrick Thomas, from the Church of Wales.

Accompanying Canon Patrick were many Armenians from the Armenian Church in Cardiff.

During his stay in Dublin, Fr Garegin met with the Armenian community at Taney Parish where a

brief service and requiem for the Genocide were offered. He also visited the Armenian School and

met with the students and teachers. Thank you Dublin MPC for a great Genocide event.

ARMENIAN CHURCH YOUTH FELLOWSHIP (ACYF) BASKETS

On Bank Holiday Monday (21 April) the ACYF London met at the Armenian Vicarage, packed their car with 22 Easter Bags full of presents and set off for their journey with Bp. Vahan, Primate, to visit our elderly and husebound. They travelled all around London delivering, praying, singing and talking with all the elderly. A similar trip was repeated the following day with a different group of ACYF. Our pictures can be seen on our Facebook page. These wonderful elderly of our community were extremely touched and asked us not to forget them. We thank Srpazan Vahan for initiating this Easter/Christmas Basket project since 2012. If you are interested in supporting our many programmes or would like to make a donation to the ACYF London please contact us on ACYF@armenianchurch.co.uk. You can follow us on our Facebook page for all ACYF events including our forthcoming ‘Summer Service Project’ @ Mekhitarist Monastery, Venice. Click here.

ARMENIAN GIFT SHOP ONLINE!

In an effort to raise awareness of Armenian literature, culture and art in the UK and the diaspora, the Armenian Church Trust of the United Kingdom (ACTUK) launched its newest project: The Armenian Gift Shop (click here). The online giftshop already includes an impressive number of Armenian articles including Armenian Church religious artifacts, CDs, DVDs, books, and gifts. Managed partially by the Primate’s Office and partially by volunteers from the ACYF, the Armenian Gift Shop has established ties with several major Armenian Church centres around the world to secure the latest products in the fields of Armenian culture, identity, history, the Genocide and religion. You can order any item, which interests you to purchase online, and it will be shipped out of the bookstore within 24 hours to be shipped your address.

ANTRANIG MANUSCRIPTS DEPOSITED IN NATIONAL MUSEUM

In an official ceremony, General Antranig's original 65-page hand-written memoirs were finally handed over by Dr Hratch Kouyoumjian to be kept at the National History Museum in Yerevan. The ceremony was widely covered in the local media, where Dr Kouyoumjian was granted the Krikor Naregatsi Medal on behalf of the authorities through the Ministry of Culture. By doing so, Dr Kouyoumjoan fulfilled a wish of his late father Hampartsoum Kouyoumjian (Koumrouyan), who handed the manuscripts to his son Dr Kouyoumjian. We congratulate Dr Kouyoumjian on this important event, and hope that the manuscripts will now be accessible by a wider circle of historians to support the Armenia cause and shed light on that phase in the history of our people. Click here to read a statement issued by Dr Kouyoumjian on this occasion.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:  VOLUNTEERS FOR ASF: Those interested to volunteer for the 2014 Armenian Street Festival are encouraged to

contact the Festival committee by e-mailing: festival@armenianchurch.co.uk/  BADARAK COURSE: HG Bp Vahan Hovhanessian will resume offering his talks on the theology and spirituality of

our Divine Liturgy, Badarak, on Monday evening, 12 May, 2014 in Gulbenkian Hall, at 7:00pm.  BIBLE STUDY: Every Thursday at 7:00PM. Next session, 9 May in Nevart Gulbenkian Hall.

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