My Journey in the Armenian Church

Armenian Embroidery

2011-04-01T07:57:00.000-07:00

The New York Times just published an article about the Patriarchate in Istanbul's collection of gorgeous liturgical textiles embroidered by Armenian women. Be sure to look at the multimedia slideshow! Having seen my grandmother's intricate needlelace work (which I used as part of my flowergirl's pillow at my wedding), I am not surprised at the intricate detail and beauty of their work.

A Culture's History Written in Thread

NB: since this is a link from an outside site, it is worth noting that this article is not included in the paywall recently instituted by the New York Times. So don't worry about using up your free allotment on this!

The Calling

2011-01-02T08:06:00.001-08:00

Occasionally, I complete surveys as part of the PBS Viewer Advisory Panel. About a year or so ago, maybe a year and a half, one of the programs that came up on a survey was something called "The Calling", which is a documentary about people preparing to become religious leaders in Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. I have been watching for this program since then, and it finally aired in December on most PBS stations across the country as part of the program Independent Lens.

The idea of being called to be a spiritual leader is one that is fascinating to me. One thing that was really striking in this program was the extent to which spiritual leaders are often asked or need to put their personal lives and families on the backburner. The ones who were struggling the most were the ones who couldn't do this. One, the son of a chief in American Samoa, ended up leaving the ministry altogether. Another, a single mother who was ordained in the A.M.E. church, chafed at the requirements placed upon her in her first position as an associate pastor and ended up as an associate pastor at another A.M.E. church, a position she still holds, according to the website of the documentary.

Others made the decision to sacrifice their family life to pursue their religious life. Aside from the Catholic priest, who was the only one on the program required to give up the possibility of having a family, there was the Islamic chaplain who ended up pouring so much into his work and community that he ended up divorced (although he is now remarried). And then there was the Modern Orthodox rabbi who did not feel he could commit to a wife because he spent so much time traveling for social activism, despite the fact that in the Jewish community, rabbis are expected to be married and have a family, and he knew that not having one would hurt him if he wanted a position with a synagogue.

For the first time, I felt I saw the wisdom in a religious organization prohibiting marriage. This is an issue that has two sides, for sure, and I definitely think that having a family gives religious leaders important insight into the lives of their flocks. Religious groups that require celibacy have important responsibilities to include lay leadership etc. in decisions and to provide guidance. There was an article in the New York Times recently about how evangelical Christian churches often go the other way- they actively seek out ministers who are married and have families, and do not want to hire single applicants.

But it makes me think that the Armenian Church (and other Orthodox churches that have similar provisions for married and celibate priests) might get it right.

Choir Information

2010-10-29T10:34:00.001-07:00

Somehow I got on the e-newsletter for the Eastern Diocese. This newsletter goes out weekly, and the latest edition announced that the Eastern Diocese's website has all the weekly sharagans (hymns) and other things that change weekly. This is called Giratsooyts.

Not all churches follow these (although all the ones I have gone to in the Eastern Diocese do); my old church sang the same Der Takavoryatz every week. But for those of you who do go to a church that follows these, it can be really helpful to know what you're singing before you walk into church on Sunday morning.

Faith, Hope, Love, and Baptism

2010-08-08T12:18:00.000-07:00

This summer we had our baby baptized! Baptism is a big day in the Armenian Church. It is the day that you become a full member of the church. Before I really learned anything at all about the Armenian Church, I knew that I had been baptized, but didn't understand it when my mom told my sister that she couldn't go through the confirmation class/process at the Methodist church my sister and I attended regularly at the time because she had already been confirmed when she was baptized.

Already confirmed? What? To me, confirmation was something that you do in the 3rd or 4th grade, as many of my friends who attended Episcopal or Catholic (or in this case, Methodist) churches did. Confirmation was separate from baptism, something that was set aside for people who were old enough to make the decision to join the church. And those churches who didn't do confirmation didn't have infant baptism anyway, and you only got baptized when you made the decision to get baptized (as my dad did when he was an adult in a Baptist church), so you didn't need a separate confirmation. How could the Armenian Church do it to babies?

When I did more research, I realized that confirmation (called "chrismation" in the Armenian Church) is a separate sacrament, but done at the same time. Chrismation is when the priest marks you with Holy Muron and you are officially a member of the Armenian Church. You also have your first communion when you are baptized (again, a separate sacrament, but done at the same time). This three-in-one ceremony ended up being very very convenient for me, as the last time I attended Badarak before the time I went when I was 22 was when I was in the third grade. Although I didn't know a thing when I started going to Armenian Church, I was already a full-fledged member!

I came to the conclusion that this lack of a separate confirmation ceremony was probably born out of necessity. Or if not as a direct consequence, it sure helped the Armenians maintain their identity through thousands of years. When you are constantly persecuted or under attack, as Armenians have often been in their history, anything that makes membership in a group or organization easier is going to help that organization or community survive. Maybe you didn't have a church near you. Maybe you were forbidden to go, or the church was outlawed. Maybe you had been displaced from your home. All these situations are ones that Armenians have faced in the last century, but they are nothing new.

Just think, though- if you could manage to get to a church, or have a priest secretly visit you, you were home free! And even if you could not get to a church for many years (if ever, if your situation was really bad), you were still a part of something bigger than yourself, part of a greater communion of Armenians.

And this is why I am grateful that I was able to have my daughter baptized into the Armenian Church, but perhaps even more grateful that my 17 month old niece, who lives in the city where I grew up (where there is no Armenian Church parish), was also able to be baptized at the same time. She is, like her mother before her, her grandmother before her, her great-grandmother before her, and back for countless generations, a member of the Armenian Church for life, no matter where she goes or what she does.

Vocations

2010-06-30T12:13:00.000-07:00

I posted about this a while ago, but the Eastern Diocese's theme for the year is still "Vocations: A Call To Serve." The Eastern Diocese is now on Facebook, and they have posted two videos on this theme. Here is the second one.

While I still maintain that there needs to be a focus on getting young people of both genders involved in church life and especially worship, Der Mardiros Chevian brings up an excellent point- the necessity of the Armenian Church in America cultivating American-born priests.

This is in no way intended to knock priests who com from outside the US, because I have interacted with a number of truly excellent ones who have shown me terrific kindness and whom I love dearly. That said, speaking as someone who grew up in an area where there was no Armenian Church, I have found that the American-born priests that I have encountered have had a special understanding of some of the challenges that people who did not grow up in a big Armenian community face when trying to get involved with the Armenian Church as an adult.

With the Armenian Church growing and establishing parishes in places like Orlando, FL, I am sure that more Armenians like me will come into contact with a living, breathing church and have similar experiences, so having more American-born priests will help the church with growth in more ways than one.

Armenian Christmas Pageant in Boston Globe

2010-01-11T09:48:00.001-08:00

A reporter from the Boston Globe visited Holy Trinity Armenian Church in Cambridge, MA this weekend to cover the Sunday School Christmas pageant, which had been snowed out not once, but TWICE. For people who love Christmas (like me), Armenian Christmas is extra fun, because it extends the holiday season.

Boston Globe article on Holy Trinity's Christmas program

Someone asked me recently if Armenians celebrate Christmas differently, apart from having it on a different day. My reply was, "Well, most people in the US do the big dinner and presents on December 25th; Armenian Christmas mostly entails going to church."

This answer, while perhaps truthful for me and other Armenians, is not exactly accurate, as Der Vasken reminded us, for Armenians, Christmas is not just about the birth of Christ, it is about the revelation of Christ to the world. Non-orthodox churches celebrate Epiphany, which is traditionally celebrated as the day that the 3 wise men arrived and saw the infant Jesus for the first time. Orthodox churches celebrate Theophany, which celebrates Christ's baptism as the big revelation of the savior to the world, when God himself spoke to the people proclaiming Jesus as his own son and the messiah. This is why, in the Armenian church, we have the water blessing at Christmas, and why we greet each other by saying "Christos dznav yev haydnetsav" - literally "Christ is born and revealed." Good news is best shared, and that is what Armenian Christmas is about- the arrival and sharing of the good news of Jesus.

Diaspora Disconnection?

2009-12-15T09:50:00.000-08:00

This weekend, I went to a different church than I normally go to, and the Archbishop was there to give out proclamations for 2 priests who had been ordained 50 years ago.

It is no secret that I live in a city with a big Armenian population, a city that is not an onerous distance from New York City. So it is probably pretty easy and compelling for the archbishop to make a trip here to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the ordination of two Der Hayrs. Especially during a year when the diocese is trying to focus on getting more young men to become priests!

But it contrasted with how disconnected I think Armenians who live outside major population centers of the diaspora must be. If you will remember, faithful readers, I grew up in a place with very few Armenians. My sister tried to get the mission priest to come to my hometown to baptize my niece. It didn't work out, and my family is really angry about how the whole thing was handled. Which is to say, it was handled very, very poorly and in a way that really left a bad taste in all our mouths. If I didn't live in a place where my family could come visit and get my niece baptized relatively easily (and also in a place where we can hopefully involve the former mission priest, whom my family likes very much and who would not have given us this hassle), probably my niece would not be baptized into the Armenian Church at all.

I don't have any special attachment to the hierarchy of the church, but I really appreciate the effort that the Catholicos made to visit some of the mission and smaller parishes (like Baton Rouge, LA, where I also have family) in the Eastern Diocese, rather than only focusing on the big cities (which he did hit as well, of course). These are parishes that may never see an archbishop, or maybe see one every few years, while I have seen the archbishop at services at least 2-3 times in the last year alone.

In a way, being somewhat disconnected can be healthy. One of the major plusses, from my perspective, is that you end up with a view of Armenians as one people, rather than having this idea of Armenians from Armenia pitted against Armenians from the diaspora, or even, as I have heard lately, diaspora Armenians from one city pitted against diaspora Armenians from another city. In more distant communities, it matters less if you are Beirutsi, Barsgahye, Hayastansi (I really only learned what these meant after moving here, where people actually care). The only thing that matters is whether you are Armenian.

Eastern Diocese You Tube Channel

2009-12-15T09:49:00.000-08:00

Did you know that the Eastern Diocese has a You Tube Channel? Neither did I. But they do.

Archbishop Sunday

2009-08-23T16:34:00.000-07:00

I started writing this post a while ago, but am just now finishing it. "Today" was actually several weeks ago.

So today was what I have referred to in the past as "Archbishop Sunday"- the Sunday when the Archbishop visits to ordain new deacons and acolytes. My old church always had a new crop of young men ready to be acolytes and deacons, so Archbishop Sunday happens almost every year. At my new church, the deacons are mostly older men. This is not unique to this church, in fact, I have learned that the average age of deacons at my old church is way below average.

In the Armenian church, if I am not mistaken (and I know that priests occasionally read this blog, so if any of you want to correct me, feel free), becoming a deacon is considered something you would have a calling to do. In his message, the Archbishop mentioned that this year's theme for the diocese (and I cannot remember the exact theme, I am so sorry!) is related to vocations, and the diocese has a goal of getting more young men to become priests. In fact, his message focused almost entirely on men and getting them involved with the church.

I found myself thinking during this message "yes, yes, but what about getting women involved as well?" I have
posted in the past about my opinions on women in the church, and the bottom line is that I think that their involvement is crucial to the existence of the church. You can't have a church without priests, but in my opinion, you won't have any congregations without the women. And the young women aren't that involved, either! Some are, but on a broad level, they aren't. This past spring, I spent a morning making manti with a lot of the elderly ladies in my church (students have flexible schedules!). I was probably the youngest person there by at least 40 years, and one of the things that the other ladies were talking about were how uninvolved the young women (by "young" I mean women in their 20s, 30s, and 40s, women with school-aged children, mostly) are in things like Ladies Guild, and when they come to Ladies Guild, they are coming mostly for the social activities, and they are not that interested in doing the grunt work of fundraising, bazaar organizing, etc.

It was interesting for me to hear this conversation. I think you could argue that they have a point, but also that times have changed since these women were raising their children. They pointed out that they LOVED Ladies Guild meetings because it was a welcome time to be with other women, and their husbands would watch the kids.

I personally am just as guilty of anyone else of not doing Ladies Guild, or much at all with the church except for going to service most Sundays and singing in the choir. I feel like I can see both sides here- yes, we need the grunt work that keeps the financial engines of the Armenian festivals and bazaars going, but on the other hand, women are pulled in a lot of different directions as well, and it's hard to commit to organizing something at church if you are also room mother for your child's class, working full- or part-time, managing your children's schedules (which often include ACYO and Armenian School, by the way!), and generally trying to keep the household running. I am pretty friendly with the woman who helps run Ladies Guild, and I think she is doing a great job of really trying to balance everything- make it fun and interesting for the younger ones to get them there, and respecting the wisdom of the older members and honoring them for their years of service. Unfortunately, I am not sure if either side thinks she is being successful. I do, but then, I don't go to Ladies Guild, so what do I know?

Anyway, I have to say that the Archbishop's speech sort of rubbed me the wrong way, because I think we need to get everyone involved in the spiritual (not just social) life of the church. Both men and women. I think when we get more young men and women coming to Badarak (on time) and participating in the service as acolytes, deacons, and choir members, we will naturally see more men choose to become priests, and the church will be better off overall.

A side point to this is: why don't Armenian churches have nurseries? Pretty much all the protestant churches that I have been to have nurseries for the babies while their parents are in service. At my old church near my university, if I had stayed there, I would have seriously considered trying to start up a nursery once a month so parents with kids too little for Sunday School could come to Badarak once a month. Are you just expected to bring your infant and toddler to Badarak? I could see that, but it doesn't always seem to be very convenient.

MP3 of BBC Special on Komitas

2009-07-24T07:37:00.000-07:00

I grabbed the streaming audio onto an MP3 while it was still up, although the quality is middling. If you would like a copy, email me at feminaformosa (at) yahoo (dot) com, or leave your email in the comments if you would prefer.

Also, apparently there is a part 2 that was supposed to air yesterday? Maybe part 2 is up now.

Komitas on BBC 4

2009-07-21T05:49:00.000-07:00

Holy Etchmiadzin posted a link to this great 30 minute program from BBC 4 radio on Komitas Vartabed. You can listen to it for a couple more days. If anyone knows how to download this into MP3, or can find an MP3 copy of it, I would greatly appreciate it.

Journey to Armenia: Komitas - The Saddest Music in the World

Armenian Church Podcasts

2009-05-26T18:51:00.000-07:00

I discovered that the former Der Hayr at my old church, Der Vasken Movesian, has not one, but two podcasts available on iTunes. One is called "The Next Step," and the other is called "Fr. Vasken's Sermons." These are new since the last time I searched for "Armenian" in the iTunes store, which is something I do periodically to see if there are any new and interesting Armenian music albums in the iTunes store.

I think this is terrific! I don't know Der Vasken very well (as I started going to my former church after he had already left), but everyone always spoke so highly of him; he was a much beloved priest there (the current priest there is great too, by the way, and I really like him a lot). I met Der Vasken after his trip to Rwanda, when he was going to different organizations and churches to show his slide show, talk about the Rwandan genocide, and how all Armenians need to be against all genocides, and just because we still have problems getting ours recognized doesn't mean that we should sit around and ignore it when genocides happen in other parts of the world, and he addressed Darfur in particular. Der Vasken is a person who makes an effort to reach out to others and show them what the Armenian Church is and can do, not just for Armenians, but as a beacon for all people, and I think that is really admirable. I am not surprised that if there is a priest out there who has a podcast, that it is Der Vasken.

On another iTunes note, you can also buy the Pimsleur series for both Eastern and Western Armenian, if you are so inclined.

Holy Week

2009-04-06T16:09:00.000-07:00

Well, Holy Week is here at last, after a very challenging Lent. I have managed to avoid animal products on Wednesdays and Fridays, but it has been a real struggle. This is less because I love meat and dairy, and more because I find myself eating more processed foods and not getting enough protein to really feel good, despite all my best efforts. So Wednesdays and Fridays have been pretty tough.

In addition, I found myself eating an awful lot of these really great cookies from Trader Joe's- these new maple leaf creme cookies. They are basically maple Oreos in the shape of a maple leaf. I was delighted to discover that they didn't have dairy in them (they have a hescher from the Orthodox Union identifying them as kosher dairy, but when I read the label, there didn't actually seem to be dairy products in it, so I assume they are just made on the same line as other products that do have dairy in them), and dismayed to realize that this would probably mean that I would end up eating a lot of them during Lent. Which I did. Because I am weak, and they are delicious, and technically do not violate the fasting requirements of Lent.

Which brought me to another thought. I am pretty sure that while maybe not violating the letter of the law, those cookies definitely violate the spirit of fasting. They are delicious, terrible for me, and honestly, I enjoy them a lot more than I enjoy having milk in my cereal instead of almond milk. And Christianity isn't really about the law is it? I mean, it's not about the law in the same way that Judaism is about the law- Judaism is ALL about the law! Some Jews go to school for years and years and years just to really learn the Torah and the Talmud and other writings, just so they will know how to best practice.

But Christians are different. For us, the belief is the primary feature, and even churchgoers with only the most cursory Children's Bible (raises hand) story knowledge knows that Jesus scolded the Pharisees for upholding the letter of the law but not the spirit.

So, in the interest of the spirit of the law, I made a decision about Lent for next year. While I definitely believe that eating no animal products makes for a more mindful day where you remember Lent with every meal you plan (and complain about, in my case), I think that I would best observe Lent by following a more Roman Catholic model, and giving up something that I really, really enjoy, something that it is hard for me not to eat.

Next year, I give up sugar. I actually think this will be MORE challenging in terms of resisting temptation and sacrifice, and will actually be better for me on both a physical and spiritual level. You guys, I LOVE sugar. LOVE IT. And I can't stand artificial sweeteners, so I won't be going there, either. I have given up things for Lent in the past- Coca-cola, alcohol, but never have I tried sugar. I tried chocolate once, but I only made it about 24 hours.

Giving up sugar will have the added bonus of not alienating my non-practicing husband, who abhors Lent because he knows it means lots of vegetarian chili and lentils for dinner.

Twitter

2009-03-03T07:20:00.001-08:00

I have an account on Twitter. It is a general account where I post whatever I want, and not really related to religion or being Armenian, except for when it comes up organically, which sometimes it does (like when I complain about not wanting to go to Armenian lessons).

I posted (tweeted?) a friend about Trader Joe's new maple leaf creme cookies being a terrific chocolate-free dessert for Lent (NB for Armenians- they are also dairy/egg free, shock of shockers, so if you are still eating sugar, fine for us too), and now I have both the Church of England and Westminster Abbey following me! Too funny.

By the way, if you are interested in following me on Twitter, my username is anianiani.

Almost a year!

2009-02-25T13:43:00.000-08:00

Sad, but it has been almost a year now since I have posted. I see a bunch of comments on my last post, but for some reason, blogger doesn't have dates attached to comments. I need to see if I can fix that.

Anyway, I have settled into more of a routine. I switched churches, which I think was a good decision for me; I am just a better fit at the other parish.

I want to say hi to Der Hovnan Demerjian, and give him a special welcome, as I was in the congregation when he celebrated his first Badarak after being ordained the weekend before. I think the Armenian Church is lucky to have such young and energetic champions. My recollection is that he gave a terrific sermon about how we should overcome the conflict between different groups of Armenians and look up to God rather than at the flaws in each other. What a great message!

Growing up in a place with basically no Armenians other than my extended family (plus a few others), I had heard about this eastern/western divide, but I hadn't really seen it in action until I came here. Even in California, at my old church, there wasn't an issue; the priest, like so many younger priests, was from the former USSR. The old core of the church were mostly from the diaspora. No one cared. The priest is a great guy, very devout, very devoted the church, nice, loves kids, etc., etc., basically, everything you would want a priest to be, and that is what people cared about, not where he grew up. I think the respect that we all had for him and his family extended to the other eastern Armenians in our congregation, and I felt that we really were all one family.

Even today, I was hearing people ask each other, "oh, was your mother [town]stantsi?" (I can't remember the town) I am always having to ask people "What does that mean?" because honestly, I didn't grow up with these labels, and I don't know them, and I would rather not. I don't really care.

Anyway, this is the first week of Lent! I already broke the fast accidentally- I got fed at church, and I ate vospov kufta (done w/ chickpeas instead of lentils, though), only to find out that it had been made with chicken broth and butter. Oops! No wonder it tasted so good! I am just doing Wednesdays and Fridays this year (that is the most I have ever done; I am really impressed with people who do all 40 days! Wow!!), but I am determined to do it right this year, at least on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Krisdos haryav ee merelotz!

2008-03-23T13:26:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter, folks!

I went to church for the first time in a while... I didn't go at all during Lent. I felt I should go, though, so I did. I really need to switch churches. I just have no joy there. But I miss singing in the choir. I am singing in a small Armenian women's chorus, but I really miss singing the liturgy.

Quick update

2008-01-27T08:56:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in a while because I have been feeling out of sorts.

I have still been going to church regularly, but it is a struggle to drag my butt there. I am not entirely happy with the church I have been going to, although I thought I had settled on it. I am going to try the other one again sometime soon.

I have been feeling lately like I am really a protestant at heart. Although the protestant revolution wasn't against the Orthodox Church, but the Roman Catholic church, I can really see why people would rebel.

I want the Armenian Church to work out for me; I really do. I put a high cultural value on it, and I had such a wonderful, positive experience at my old church that I want to recapture and have again.

There are a lot of issues going on for me with the church right now. A big part is that it is not social for me AT ALL. I had been warned about this before moving to Boston in general. A lot of people tend to grow up and stay in the area, so they have their own friends and aren't interested in making new ones, so they tend not to be welcoming and friendly to newcomers. (FYI, I know this isn't exclusive to this area; I have heard it's the case in other areas where you have a lot of long-time residents as well). Since I mostly run in academic circles, or other circles where everyone else has moved from somewhere else, I haven't experienced this anywhere else. Church is the one place where it's the case, and I am seeing it there. It just gets kind of tedious. A few people make an effort, but not many others, and no one my age makes an effort at all.

We will see. This isn't the only issue, but it is one of them. I am not giving up yet, but a change of environment may be necessary.

Because Jon Stewart says it better than I ever could...

2007-10-15T09:41:00.001-07:00

Catholicos Visit, Part III

2007-10-07T15:43:00.000-07:00

Today was the Hrashapar Badarak today, conducted by His Holiness. Although it was really nice that Vehapar came and was celebrating, I think that the most impressive thing was just bringing all these Armenians together under one roof, in the same building, as one church. Only His Holiness has that kind of influence to get all these people in church on this day.

I also really treasured singing in the choir. GUESS WHO HAD A SOLO???? ME!!! It was one of the two measure amens after Miayn Soorp. I had the "amen" after His Holiness said "Orhnayl Vortit Soorp, Adzvadz jushmarid". I just found out yesterday; it was kind of a last minute thing. I was so honored to have a solo, even a tiny one, during this service. Even if I didn't have a solo, though, I was just so excited to be able to do this. Ever since I found out that Vehapar was coming, I hoped I would be able to sing in the choir for this service.

Working with Maestro Mekanejian was truly an honor and a privilege. I learned so much from working with him, and it was amazing to see such faith in action. This man has so much love not only for the music, but for his church. It was so beautiful. Here is a brief article about Maestro Mekanejian. Truly, if you sing in an Armenian church choir and get the opportunity to take a workshop from him, or work with him in any capacity, you should run and jump on that opportunity.

Here is the best picture from all my pictures of Friday and today. It gives you a brief glimpse of the grandness of Holy Trinity in Cambridge. It doesn't do it justice. It is a beautiful church.

This picture is an okay one, a close-up. I was having trouble getting a good one all zoomed in. The man on the left is Very Rev. Fr. Simeon Odabashian. I don't know who the other one is.

Vehapar's message was about the importance of the Armenian family. With all that Armenians have been through during their history, the family unit has really been the place where Armenian culture and religion was nurtured and preserved. The Armenian view of the family unit is that the father and mother are king and queen of their household, and the children are their subjects over which they rule with paternal/maternal love as the guiding force. Vehapar said that in the kingdom of the family, there are no weapons and no violence. Unfortunately, that isn't the case in all families, but it certainly is the ideal that we should all be striving for. Vehapar said that we need to practice our faith on a daily basis, and this reminds me of something that my mother said my grandmother used to say: "You shouldn't have to tell people that you are Christian. They should know from your actions."

Catholicos Visit, Part II

2007-10-07T15:00:00.000-07:00

On Friday night, we went to the young professionals' event with the Catholicos, or, as I have now learned we call him in Armenian, Vehapar Der. All the information about this event gave very strong warnings that you needed to be on the guest list, they were going to check IDs, and if you weren't on the list, you couldn't get in. When we got there, the man with the list didn't even check. He just waved me on through. When he saw my naturally-blond odar* husband, though, he stopped him and said, "Who are you??" I had to go back and say no, we were both on the list! We got a good chuckle out of that. It was a pretty brunette crowd there!

The program was really nice; I got to trot out Mer Hayrenik for the crowd singalong at the beginning, which I learned during my time crashing the youth choir at my old church. There are still so many times when I don't know ANYTHING about what is going on, so it was great to feel a little smug like, "hey! I actually know something now!" One of the big highlights of the evening was the Sayat Nova dance company , who were just terrific. I hadn't seen them dance before. Then the Catholicos stood up and said a few words about how happy he was to see that Armenian culture was still being carried on and flourishing here in the diaspora. I think you probably only see this in places like LA, Boston, maybe Detroit, where there is a large Armenian population. Since I grew up in a place with not that many Armenians, I didn't have the opportunity to go to Armenian School (the community did try to put one together when I was really little, but it wasn't really a success), or have my mom force me to take Armenian dance lessons. I think that the Internet is great for Armenians across the Diaspora, because at least now, even if you are in a small community, you can still learn and be exposed to some aspects of the language and culture.

A comment on a previous post suggested that I add pictures, and I now have some! Most of them are pretty awful, though. Our camera has never been the same since it fell off a rock during my husband's hiking trip this summer. Here are two pictures from the Young Professionals' event on Friday night. The first one is before the ceremony, and the second one was taken afterwards.

Vehapar is the one in the purple hat. Just in case you couldn't figure that out.

More on today's Hrashapar service in the next post.

* non-Armenian

Catholicos Visit, Part I

2007-10-05T06:59:00.000-07:00

The Catholicos, His Holiness Karekin II, is going to be in town this weekend. There are a number of events for different age groups, culminating in His Holiness celebrating badarak on Sunday.

I will be singing in the choir on Sunday; I am very excited and honored to have this opportunity. I would not enjoy the Armenian Church nearly as much as I do if I was not able to participate in the choir on Sundays. It makes me feel more involved in the service. In order to participate on this particular Sunday, I have to attend 2 rehearsals that are 4 hours long each. For the Catholicos visits, Maestro Khoren Mekanejian is conducting the choirs for every stop on His Holiness's tour through the Eastern Diocese. We had our first rehearsal last weekend, and we have another one this Saturday.

I feel really lucky to be able to work with Maestro Mekanejian, even for this brief amount of time. I have never had a proper "rehearsal" of the music for the services. The churches that I have attended didn't have rehearsals, since you do basically the same thing every Sunday. I just had to pick it up as we went along. I am not sure that I would have been able to do this successfully if I did not read music. So although the choir directors at the churches that I have attended have often been top-notch, it is hard to benefit from their knowledge without much rehearsal time. Maestro Mekanejian really worked hard with us to get everything just right- getting the pronunciation right (some folks here speak Armenian with a local accent!!), getting the phrasing right, getting the volume and beats right. It was very educational.

Sadly, there isn't a big turnout for the choir, I think because there are 8 hours of mandatory rehearsals. This is tough for people to make, but I wish more people had made the effort. There are about 20 people who are going to sing in the choir, almost all women. There are only a few men.

Why don't more men sing in the choir? I assume that this is because they all want to be deacons; the men in the choirs at the churches I have been to are all older gentleman who are past their deaconing days. At my old church, all the deacons were under the age of 30 (many many high school boys, which is so nice to see), and there are a LOT of them, so there was some talk about having them alternate being on the altar and singing in the choir, so they would learn the tenor or bass parts to the choir music, and we could have some extra men. This sounds like a great idea to me. I would love to see more men and boys get involved in the choir.

Tonight is the Young Professionals event with the Catholicos; my husband and I are going to this one. The events for the children and teenagers are tomorrow during the day, and tomorrow night is the big banquet. We are skipping the banquet because tickets are $150 a person and the YP event is free (yay!). Then there's service on Sunday. I will try to take pictures tonight, and have my husband take pictures on Sunday (if possible).

Feasts

2007-09-16T14:07:00.000-07:00

Today is the Feast of the Holy Cross. I wrote a post about this last year, but it's a new year, and a new church. Every church does things just a little bit differently, so I got to see what this church does. They not only bless the basil, but they bless the four corners of the earth too! Nice. The priest blesses the congregation by standing in the middle of the sanctuary and sprinkling blessed rosewater over the whole congregation. I got splashed a few times, so I literally left smelling like a rose! I notice that last year I mentioned that eating harisa (not the hot moroccan pepper, but a wheat porridge) is a tradition on this day, but it was the first day of Sunday School at this church, so they were having a big breakfast (breakfast, ha- I left church at 12:45!), which I didn't attend. Maybe they had harisa there?

The choir director sent someone to talk to me because he noticed that I have been there a few times, and I sing along with the choir. This happened at the other church too (on my first visit, actually- this is my third visit to this other church), but even though the choir director got my phone number (twice, in fact, once on two separate visits), no one ever called me, or showed me where to go, or told me when to show up, etc. So I will go back to this church next week, sing in the choir, and we will see. I am not giving up on the other church- I actually do want to go back!

Also, adult Armenian lessons start tomorrow. I need to call and ask how much they are! If they're not more than $250, I will take them.

Scheduling Conflicts

2007-08-09T17:45:00.001-07:00

I am not sure what the story is, but I have noticed lately that a lot of things are scheduled on Sunday mornings, when I would normally be at church. This isn't just in Boston, it happened in California too. We were somewhat less social in California, so I don't think I noticed it as much, but it still happened sometimes.

This is so frustrating to me, because I can't always skip the event, and I can't always change it around. I've had a 5K race, brunch with my sister-in-law, and now a "welcome party" for the new baby of my husband's new colleagues. We ran the 5K because we had friends in from out-of-town, plus we were leaving on a trip that day (so I probably wouldn't have gone to church anyway; we were done with the 5K long before church would have been over!). We moved brunch to lunch, so it would start after church was finished. But this welcome party... I could theoretically not go, but these are my husband's new colleagues, and a new baby, so I want to be congenial. I am not thrilled about it, though. It starts at 11 AM, so it's definitely too early for me to even almost be done with church.

In my hometown, churchgoing is an important event, so unless you are scheduling things with people whom you KNOW don't go to church, you don't schedule anything until after noon on Sunday. Heck, my sister's conservative Christian private school didn't even give homework on Wednesdays, because they expected that everyone would be at church on Wednesday nights (okay, I admit, I think this is going TOO far).

If this keeps happening, I am going to have to be more forceful about saying no. It really is frustrating for me to try to keep this balance of going to church regularly and maintaining my relationships with others.

East Coast/West Coast differences

2007-08-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

Now that I've been to three different churches here on the East Coast, I have noticed a few differences between these services and the ones at the two churches I used to frequent back West.

1) They really do morning services here- this is the service that happens before Badarak. One of my churches didn't do morning service AT ALL, and the other did it kind of quietly, and finished and had a pause before they went into Badarak.

2) At the beginning of the Badarak, the priest walks around the sanctuary with the little cross handkerchief for everyone to kiss. I had no idea what this was the first time I saw it.

3) Way more English. All the sermons are in English. I think that is because in the particular areas where I have gone to church, there aren't very many new immigrants. Maybe there are some who are my mom's age and came over in the late 1960s, but I am not sure if there are any people like my friend out in California, who came over from Baghdad three years ago. I know that there are a lot of Armenians who have come to the US from Armenia and other former Soviet republics, but I don't think they are settling in Boston. I know the Nashville Armenian community has a number of these new immigrants, as does Glendale. Even when I was teaching my undergrads, the Armenian students I had, who were 18, 19 years old, were mostly born overseas and came over to the US as children. The use of English is a welcome difference for me, since I barely speak any Armenian at all.

About Me

2007-08-01T13:12:00.000-07:00

I started a new blog about eating in Boston, so I am changing my "About Me" to make it more generic. However, I think that the "about me" that I currently have is really informative for this blog, so I want to save it for posterity.

About Me

I am a half-Armenian woman in her late 20s who, although baptized and chrismated into the Armenian Apostolic Church as an infant, grew up in a town without an Armenian Church. As an adult, I have recently started attending Armenian Church regularly. This blog is about my experiences as a rather late newcomer of sorts to my Mother Church.

Church Searching

2007-07-27T18:41:00.001-07:00

I feel bad- I haven't updated this blog for a while, and I just got a really nice comment on my last post, so I am getting my behind in gear.

So we have moved to our new city, the "Glendale of the East", AKA Boston, MA. I am in a position that I have never been in before. I have my pick of several Armenian churches. There are three that are close to me, and that is just Armenian Apostolic. There are another two Armenian protestant churches too. I am going to stick with Armenian Apostolic for now, because, well, that is what I am.

The first Sunday that I was here, my mom, sister, and I drove down to Providence to go to church there. The priest at that church used to be the mission priest who came to my hometown during the years that I was away at college. My family flew him down about two years ago to conduct my grandfather's funeral, so I met him at that time. His church is really good, I think because the priest is a good one. The quality of the church seems to depend so much on the priest (although this is not the only factor; I think a strong, good congregation can overcome a less-than-terrific priest) I am not inclined to drive for an hour each way to go there on a regular basis since I have churches so close by, but his church is a good one, and I would be happy to be part of his community if I were living in Providence.

The second Sunday, I visited the church that is closest to me. The jury is still out on that one, but it seems fine. I skipped last Sunday, and will try the other church on this Sunday.

I was told by folks from the area who now go to my old church back West, the Eastern Diocese churches are a little more "modern" (by Armenian church standards) than the Eastern Prelacy churches. Is this true?? This whole Prelacy/Diocese, Etchmiadzin/Antelias thing is so strange to me- someone explained it to me back at my old church, and I think I understand it, more or less. Google isn't very helpful in coming up with answers to that question, so I had to ask someone directly.

Palm Sunday

2007-04-07T12:21:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday was my first Armenian Church Palm Sunday. We were in Boston last year, so I didn't get to go. I had heard that Palm Sunday was the best day of the year to go to church. If you only picked one Sunday to go to church, Palm Sunday was the one.

I had heard something vague about candles and children. In the "old country" (which varies, depending on where you are from. It could be Lebanon, Syria, Iran, or even Armenia), the kids used to hold lit candles and walk around the church on Palm Sunday. One lady at church told me that everyone had different candles. Different colors, different sizes, no rhyme or reason, just different festive colorful candles. My mom said that when she was growing up, the kids would have different sized candles according to their age.

Anyway, in this church, no candles. Maybe they used to do it? Looking at the kids, though, it seems like a good idea to just stick with the palm fronds. Palm Sunday, being the day to go to church, is also the day when everyone brings their tiny babies and their rambunctious toddlers, kids who are too young for Sunday School and don't normally come to church. These toddlers can handle palm fronds, and the babymommas can manage holding their infant and a palm frond, but seems like candles might not be the way to go, safety-wise.

Church was packed. The only time I've seen a crowd like this was at the funeral last November. The line for communion was incredibly long. One of the highlights was watching the priest give communion to a baby that couldn't have been more than four months old. This baby seemed to be the child of an Armenian man and an Asian woman, who must have converted, because she took communion too. The priest's face just lit up when he was giving the baby communion. I really like that this priest cares so much about making kids and their parents welcome.

I went up to him after the service and told him that, and also that I appreciated that he didn't just "phone it in" every Sunday like I have seen other priests do during my recent travels. He broke out into this huge smile and gave me a big hug. We all like to be appreciated sometimes.

Lent: Total Failure

2007-03-22T19:37:00.000-07:00

So we are almost all the way through Lent (30+ days and counting), and it has been a total bust in terms of eating vegan. I started out with great intentions. I went to Trader Joe's and stocked up on key vegan staples like almond milk (because soy milk tastes nasty) and ready-made lentil dishes. I kept Lent for all of two weeks. And not even the whole two weeks; my goal was just to go vegan (maybe + fish in a pinch, since I knew we'd be travelling) on Wednesdays and Fridays, as recommended by the Eastern Diocese, who seems pretty understanding of the annoyances of cutting out all dairy and meat for almost 6 weeks.

The first week was tough, but no problem. Week two, we were travelling to all the cities where my husband got job offers. It just became impossible, although I did make it through both Wednesday and Friday. We would be eating breakfast somewhere where there was nothing but eggs or cereal (no almond milk) on the menu, people were taking us out for every meal to a restaurant where we often had zero input in choosing, there wouldn't be anything close to vegan on the menu, or even + fish (the fish would inevitably have some kind of brown butter sauce), or I would end up eating tofu and edamame, and that's it. I gave up. I thought I would get back into it when we got back from our 2 week trip, but we had to decide what job offer to take, which was incredibly stressful. A high-class problem, I know. But it was really stressful! I just couldn't handle devoting mental energy to both making this decision and also to holding myself back from eating cheese. Or yogurt. Or milk. Or eggs. I just couldn't do it.

Before we got any job offers but after the interviews, every time I would go to church, I would light a candle and say special prayers during Der Voghormia that my husband would get a really good offer in a place where we both would be happy and do well. He ended up with five offers total, which was amazing, and was selected as one of the top seven people on the job market this year (!!!!). He has worked really hard, but God has also blessed us.

While we were travelling, I made a point to visit whatever Armenian church was in town (all but one university have a church within a 30 minute drive). I visited the one in Cambridge MA, and the one in Trumbull CT (the Trumbull church is the friendliest church I have been to, bar none. I am serious!!!! Lots of people came up to us and talked to us afterwards, without us approaching a soul. Very impressive.). It became really clear to me that this decision was going to be hard, so at both churches, I lit candles and said special Der Voghormia prayers that we would make the right decision.

We have settled on a place; we will be heading to the Glendale of the East- Boston MA. Although the department isn't the best department where he had an offer, we think it is the right department in terms of our global happiness as a couple. I will say special prayers this week of thanksgiving, and also pray that we have made the right decision and that our instincts that we will be happy there are correct.

Great Lent

2007-02-19T08:58:00.000-08:00

Today is the first day of Lent, the 40 (ish) day period of fasting before Easter. In the Armenian Church, traditionally we abstain from eating all animal products (with the possible exception of fish....). Going hard-core vegan is difficult, so the Eastern Diocese recommends at least going vegan on Wednesdays and Fridays. I did this last year, and it does get tedious. I would like to add another fast day during the week, but then I have to negotiate with my odar husband, who gets cranky at the prospect of no meat at dinner twice a week.

Here are some tips from the Eastern Diocese. Notice that one of the sample recipes is a fish recipe! I am taking that as an okay to eat fish. I have heard mixed things about whether fish is okay. It makes my life a lot easier if it is.

Why do we fast for Lent in the first place? First, we are preparing ourselves for the resurrection of Christ. Our fast is based upon Jesus's 40 days/nights in the desert, when he fasted and resisted Satan (Matthew 4:12). I was thinking that the desert probably isn't as good of a place to resist temptation as living your every day life in an environment that presents temptation and bad behavior at every turn (I wonder what the Biblical equivalent of Bratz dolls were? Or Girls Gone Wild videos?), but when you are uncomfortable physically, you end up being a lot more uncomfortable mentally. It is easy to love God when you are comfortable and everything is going right. It is much harder when you are experiencing difficulty, discomfort, and deprivation (just look at the book of Job!).

Lent is also about removing those secular distractions, although I confess that I am not very good at this, personally. In theory, I should refrain from TV, movies, and other fun activities, but in practice, I probably won't.

In some ways, the Catholic way of doing Lent (give up something of your own choice, don't eat meat on Fridays) may be more challenging. I gave up alcohol a couple of times, and I have never successfully given up chocolate, despite a few attempts. However, the Armenian way of Lent is perhaps more mindful. Even something as mundane as eating breakfast, guess what? Even if you want a simple breakfast of oatmeal, you can't put milk on it. Eggs? Forget it. Cheese and bread? Nope. And that is just breakfast! So you think about God every meal of the day, and when you are grocery shopping too.

The Feast of St. Sarkis

2007-02-05T00:15:00.000-08:00

Two Sundays ago was a feast day, celebrating the life of one of the many Armenian martyrs, St. Sarkis. St. Sarkis was a warrior and a Christian, killed by a Persian king after fleeing the Emperor Julian. The lives of the Armenian Saints are filled with stories like these (stories similar to those of the early Saints celebrated by the Catholic church as well)- people being tortured and killed because of their Christian beliefs.

Armenians are not alone in this kind of history; persecution has gone on since the beginning of time, but as a people who have faced it relatively recently in their history, both on a historic scale (e.g. the Genocide), as well as on a small-scale daily basis (Armenians in the Middle East diaspora were Christians surrounded by Muslims, although many, many of them have emigrated elsewhere) we are very sensitive to the necessity of sticking to our beliefs in the face of all outside pressure.

I started writing this post a couple of weeks ago, but the sermon last week tied into the post that I had in mind. It was about St. Sahag, who was Catholicos, was instrumental in the development of the Armenian alphabet by St. Mesrob Mashdots, and the two of them have a joint feast (the Feast of the Holy Translators), although according to my church bulletin, Saturday Feb. 10 was the Feast of Sahag Bartev. So maybe he has his own?

Usually St. Sahag is depicted as one of the main characters who ushered in the "golden age" of Armenian culture, but this week, we were recognizing him for something different. St. Sahag stuck up for the monarchy, which made him really unpopular with the ruling Armenian princes, and eventually had to step down as Catholicos. He maintained his popularity with the people, though, who recognized him as someone who was true to his beliefs.

Historically, in the face of tremendous pressure and persecution, Armenians have remained true to their Christian faith. They have suffered, been discriminated against, and even been killed en masse over it.

I think that this is why,
when two FoxNews reporters were kidnapped by Muslim extremist groups and converted to Islam in order to be released, I did not know if I could have done what they did. I would have felt extremely guilty. Armenian heritage stands upon the bones of many, many people who died rather than betray their faith, what they believed to be true. I think that part of me would have seen conversion, however insincere, to be a betrayal. I know that if I were killed because of a refusal to convert, my husband, father, and mother would all be upset, although maybe my mother would have understood better than anyone else.

The sermon on that day was about St. Sahag, and all people who are truth-tellers. Telling the truth is not always popular; especially when that truth is something that people don't want to hear. Have you ever told a friend or loved one that the person they're dating is controlling or abusive? Just see how popular THAT is. Usually what happens is that the person will quit talking to you, and eventually either break up with or divorce the dodgy significant other. Sometimes your friend will come slinking back, embarrassed by the fact that you were right, but sometimes not.

What was especially interesting about this sermon was that the priest walked his talk. This church is in an extremely, extremely conservative area, and I wouldn't categorize the membership as especially liberal. The priest proceeded to elaborate his message with the modern-day example of the Iraq War, and how no one wanted to come forward to say that it was a bad idea and our reasons for going in were spurious. Those who did say those things were demonized by the administration, but time is bearing them out, and more and more voices are joining in to support them.

I confess that I was shocked. And impressed.

Back in my day....

2007-02-04T23:58:00.000-08:00

I was in a literary society in college- this literary society was the oldest organization at this university (certainly it's the oldest that is still in existence), which is one of the oldest in the country. So this group is OLD. We are talking almost 150 years old here. Members tended to join in their junior or senior year, maybe sophomore year, and rarely, your freshman year (you had to FIND out about the literary society first, and we sometimes frowned upon immature freshman who were applying, since it was no biggie to reapply later).

Due to the old nature of the society and the continually changing membership and changing nature of some of the practices that goes along with that (we did have an official archivist, but you do lose some institutional memory with that kind of turnover), alumni tended to often say the phrase "Back in my day...." even if they had only graduated the year before. It was a running joke.

The sermon in church today was a "back in my day" sermon that did not have a clear message at all. I am back in the Other church now, the one near my university. The priest at this church has been in the US for at least 30 years (I am guessing), which is at least twice as long as the priest at my "home" church. So his English is pretty good, and usually his sermons aren't in bullet point format.

Today, though, he could have taken a leaf from the other Der Hayr's book and used a bullet point. I kept thinking, "What does this have to do with God? Really!"

He started out talking a bit about the Feast of St. Sarkis, which I actually will talk about in another post, and then transitioned to the Super Bowl. Church didn't seem any less full today than normal, even though it was Super Bowl Sunday and there was no Hokehankist (a large reason why many people go to church- to hear Hokehankist for their loved ones). Church isn't normally that full anyway, though.

The whole sermon was one long "Back in my day." Even the talk about St. Sarkis day was introduced by discussing the special candy that they would make back in Beirut (his hometown) for St. Sarkis day.

The talk about the Super Bowl was the strangest, though. He pointed out what a commercial enterprise that the Super Bowl is, and how back at the original Olympics, people just competed for a wreath of laurel that would eventually die, plus the glory of winning. Maybe it's the market economist in me, but I just couldn't really see what was wrong with the Super Bowl being a commercial enterprise. Sure, complain about Christmas or Easter becoming commercialized, but what else is the Super Bowl for? (Also, never mind that the Olympics are ostensibly for amateur athletes, while the Super Bowl is for professionals). I don't think that the Super Bowl was raining down on the church's parade, so I don't know what the problem was exactly.

The Voch/Che Debate

2007-01-18T11:57:00.000-08:00

Way back in an earlier post, I mentioned that I had gotten some conflicting information about when to use "voch" and when to use "che." Voch is the formal way to say "no", and che is the informal way. Che literally means "it's not."

My mom told me a while ago that she was not allowed to say "voch" at home, that her mother said that "brats say voch." The people at church thought this was strange, because voch is more proper.

Over Thanksgiving, my mom's older sister and her husband were visiting, and I asked her about voch/che. This particular sister is really, really into being Armenian, and is also very bright, so I knew she would be able to help me.

Mystery solved. The people at church were right. My mom wasn't allowed to say voch, but not because it was rude per se, it was because she was not allowed to say no to her mother. If her mother asked her to do something, the answer always had to be "ayo!" (yes). Voch = talking back.

This conversation then launched into a discussion about how my grandmother was so much stricter with the older girls than with my mom, who was the baby. The older girls were not even allowed to give their mom a dirty look. My aunt (third child, second oldest girl, 8 years older than my mother) was saying that she could not speak her mind at all, had to keep her mouth shut, could not even look at their mom funny. Total obedience. However, my mom was able to pretty much do what she wanted.

I laughed and laughed and laughed on the inside at this story, because I would say that when my sister and I were growing up, my mother's expectations were definitely closer to how my aunt described those for the older girls than those for my mother. We were not allowed to say no either! Always yes.

Element

2007-01-18T11:42:00.000-08:00

My husband and I went to see an Element concert a little while ago. They are awesome.

Dear Eric Bogosian,

2007-01-18T10:56:00.000-08:00

In this week's Newsweek magazine, there is an article asking a bunch of celebrity baby boomers what is next on their To-Do lists. One of them was Eric Bogosian, and the first thing on his list was "Learn Armenian."

Well, for Mr. Bogosian and anyone else out there who would like to learn Armenian, let me point you towards some resources. My resources are almost all for Western Armenian, because that is what I am trying to learn.

Language Tapes

I think the best one out there is Pimsleur's Western Armenian. Pimsleur has a an Eastern Armenian version as well. I actually wrote the lone user review, so I won't repeat it here.

Another option, not as good, is the VocabuLearn series. I haven't listened to Level 2. The lone review of this product is also mine. I should note that I wrote it before the Pimsleur was available. If you have to pick one, go with Pimsleur; it is much better. I think the VocabuLearn is only 3 stars in comparison. I may see if I can go back and edit it.

Books

One of my favorite resources, Armenian Dictionary in Transliteration by Armenian language guru and fellow Penn grad Thomas Samuelian, is no longer in print. I am not sure that it is worth the $100 for a used copy through amazon.com, but you may be able to find it through a church bookstore or other Armenian resource. I found mine through Hye Family, although it looks like they are no longer selling books. For people who cannot read the Armenian alphabet, this is an invaluable resource. I cannot recommend it highly enough. I wrote one of the reviews on the amazon.com page; mine doesn't stand alone, this time!

Another great resource is Modern Western Armenian for the English Speaking World by Dora Sakayan. This is worth every penny of the $60-$70 you will pay for it. There is enough transliteration to enable you to use it if you don't know the alphabet, but it will help you learn the alphabet and get better at reading. You can't buy it new from amazon.com anymore, but you can buy it from St. Vartan's bookstore (the official bookstore of St. Vartan's Cathedral in NYC). I bought mine from Abril bookstore in Glendale, CA, along with a set of children's flashcards to learn the alphabet, which help a little, but really aren't as helpful as just doing a lot of transliteration.

Sometimes your local Armenian church will offer adult Armenian classes; I advice checking with them, if you have one.

Good News!

2007-01-16T09:38:00.000-08:00

This past Sunday was the Merelotz Badarak; meaning that after Badarak, Hokehankist (literally "spirit rest") is meant to remember all of our dead. Merelotz means either "dead" or "death"- I am not totally sure, but definitely one of those.

The priest explained that the Sundays after big feast days (namely, Christmas and Easter), we always have a Merelotz Badarak. This is because Christ being born and rising from the dead is not only good news for the living, but good news for those who are "asleep." The priest explained that we don't think they are dead, just "asleep" until the second coming, or judgment day, or whatever it is that is supposed to wake them up from death. Merelotz Badarak seems especially important to me after Easter, because the priests don't say Hokehankist at all during all of Lent, nor for Easter. In general, big feast days = no Hokehankist. I suppose that this recognizes that there is a time for everything, and while we never forget our dead, some days should not be marred by mourning. Seems sensible to me.

The sermon this week was an interesting one. It was all about Jesus as the source of all good things, as exemplified by the first miracle that Jesus carried out. For those of you who aren't familiar with the New Testament (indeed, my own knowledge is somewhat sketchy, as I am able to name 2 of Jesus's miracles, but not the third one), the first miracle was Jesus turning water into wine at the wedding at Cana.

The priest made a really good point. Jesus's first miracle was to promote the individual enjoyment of people, to let them have a good time. This runs contrary to some of the doctrines of more puritanical churches who forbid alcohol, dancing, etc. It shows that God is the source of all good things and shows that He wants us to enjoy ourselves and celebrate. Sounds good to me!

On Being A Visitor

2007-01-10T18:25:00.000-08:00

While we were away last week, I took the opportunity to visit a local Armenian Church to celebrate the Theophany, and get my yearly rationing of holy water. I was pleasantly surprised at how friendly and welcoming this church was. This is the first time I've been to an Armenian Church where someone actually talked to me first. I admit, I was shocked. Before I even sat down, someone came over to introduce himself and ask me where I was from, etc. Turns out there had been a young adult party at his house the night before, and he also had another person there who was in town for the same conference that brought me to the area.

Since I like to give credit where credit is due, the church I visited was St. James Armenian Church in Evanston, IL. They have a young priest (a "Deacon-in-Charge" actually, which seems to be the step before becoming a Der Hayr? Not sure.), but on Sunday, they had a visiting priest from Detroit conducting Badarak.

In my regular church, the way they get through the service in the fastest way possible is to leave things out. For instance, instead of starting with Khorhoort Khoreen (Profound Mystery), we start with Miadzin Vorti (Only Begotten Son). This visiting priest, who was not very young (to be polite), had been around (in a church way), so his method of keeping the service snappy was to say the whole thing very, very fast. I was following along with the pew book (the brown one!), and it was tough. He was going FAST. Not just normal quick conversational speed, but the speed you hear when someone is saying the fine print at the end of a radio commercial.

Because it was Christmas, church was packed. It wasn't a big church (at least, the sanctuary wasn't big; the building itself seemed like it had lots of room), and you could tell by looking at the outside of the church that it hadn't originally been an Armenian church. If an Armenian church is built to be an Armenian Church, it is built in a very specific style. However, Armenians are a resilient people, so we will happily take a church that used to be Methodist, Baptist, Episcopal, or whatever this denomination used to worship there, and make it our own. On the inside, it looked like the other Armenian churches that I had been to. You have a place to light candles (where in the church this is located seems to vary from church to church), a raised platform where the faithful go up and receive communion and where the priest gives his sermon (this is one step up higher from where the congregation sits), and then you have the altar, which is raised up much higher than the congregation. You have to climb several steps to get up there, usually 3-5. You have the curtain that gets closed during part of Badarak (or the whole Badarak, as happens during Lent), the marble-looking altar thing (surely it can't really be marble, can it?), the gold crosses, the picture of Jesus and Mary (this church had a very European, Vermeerish looking picture instead of a more traditional Eastern-style, 2-dimensional iconograph).

When Badarak started, I was the only person in the congregation. No real surprise, since Armenians always run late. The church gradually filled up, and I ended up sharing my pew book with a Northwestern Ph.D. student originally from Glendale. I could tell from the way she was sneaking looks at my pew book that she needed one too, so I asked her if she wanted to share. Even though I have been attending church regularly for over a year now, I still need the book to know where we are, what is happening.

On the train from downtown, I was cramming like crazy to learn the two lines I needed to learn. First was the Christmas exchange. It goes like this:

Armenian #1: Krisdos dznav yev haydnetsav! (Christ is born and revealed among us!)
Armenian #2: Orhnyal eh haydnotyoonun Krisdosee! (Blessed is the revelation of Christ!)

I figured that I didn't really need to wish anyone Merry Christmas, so all I had to learn was the response, which was the same as the other exchange I was trying to learn last minute, the exchange for the Kiss of Peace. Protestant/Catholic churches also do some kind of passing/exchanging peace, usually consisting of shaking the hands of your neighbors seated around you and saying "Peace be with you." In the Episcopal churches that I have attended, Exchanging the Peace practically turns into coffee hour, with everyone going all over the church to say hi to their friends, talking to random strangers, and it tends to go on for 5 minutes or so, until the priest reins them all in.

In the Armenian Church, despite our deserved reputation for being loud, noisy, and social, we are very regimented when it comes to the Kiss of Peace. The deacon-in-charge (not always the priest) usually goes down, and starts the chain by "kissing" two of the other deacons, who then go out and distribute the "kiss" in the manner of playing Telephone down each row.

Let me clarify. There is no actual kissing involved. It's basically the miming of a European-style, double-kiss greeting on both cheeks, but instead of kissing, the person doing the kissing whispers Krisdos ee mech mer haydnetsav (Christ is revealed among us).

Then, the person receiving the kiss whispers back the same line you reply with for Christmas: Orhnyal eh haydnootyoonun Krisdosee. After you receive the kiss, you turn to your neighbor, move your face from one of their cheeks to the other, whispering Krisdos ee mech mer haydnetsav, and they reply back Orhnyal eh haydnootyoonun Krisdosee, and repeat.

The reason why I don't know these two lines is because a) Christmas only comes once a year, so it's not like I get to practice and b) with the Kiss of Peace, being in the Choir gets me out of participating, so I never had to learn. (It is kind of a relief- one fewer thing that I have to screw up on a regular basis). On the one hour train ride from downtown Chicago to Evanston, I kept repeating (sometimes out loud, but quietly) "Orhnyal eh haydnootyuonun Krisdosee! HaydnooTYUNun. HaydnooTYUNun. HaydnooTYUNun." And then I get to church, and I STILL screw it up. No one seemed to mind, though, and when the "kisser" got to me, he said it in English to make sure I understood.

Afterwards, I went up to the Deacon-in-charge and told him that he had a very friendly church, and I was very impressed. He asked my name, and I told him, and then he asked my last name. I repeated my very, very WASPY, not Armenian at all, last name (both married and maiden name are this way), and added "I am only half Armenian." He told me that did not matter at all, and not to even mention it, I was still Armenian, etc. My sister, in all of her experiences with the youth programs with the Eastern Diocese, has said that this attitude of "We're all Armenians!" is not universal, so I admit that I kind of expect it wherever I go. I'm only half, I don't speak much Armenian, etc. I told him "Keech me ge khosim." (I speak a little), and hey, he was happy.

My husband and I are just starting the process of finding out where we will be living starting next year. I am pleased to realize that everywhere he is interviewing is no more than about an hour away from an Armenian Church, and most are much closer than that.

Merry Christmas!

2007-01-06T15:51:00.000-08:00

Today is Christmas in the Armenian Church. The New York Times had a nice article today explaining why we do things the way we do. Basically, we were the only church not threatened by pagans, so we kept the celebration of Christ's birth and baptism together, while all other churches split them up.

In the words of my priest, when people ask, "Why do you celebrate Christmas on January 6th?" the correct answer is "Why DON'T you?" :) That is a little antagonistic, I admit, and I wouldn't really recommend it.

New York Times Article on Armenian Christmas

One of the interesting things that this article points out is the benefit of having the celebration of Christmas be on a different day than Dec. 25th. Having Christmas on Jan. 6th means that most of the commercial, end-of-year retail push, etc. is over, and you can truly concentrate on Christ's birth.

What is kind of ironic about this POV is that really, Christmas isn't a big deal in the Armenian Church. I mean, it's a feast day, we're happy, we celebrate, we bless water, but Christmas is NOTHING compared to Easter, at least from a religious standpoint.

Christmas is a big deal in the US, and most of the Western World, though, so the Armenians I know still make a big deal out of it, even though traditionally, back in the "old country," it wasn't. However, these Armenians ALSO make a big deal about Easter, much bigger than most people in the US. Let's face it- Lent is all about self-denial, which will never be popular with companies, and Easter isn't as big of a deal when it doesn't come at the end of this period of self-sacrifice. If you make an effort to observe Lent, however you do it, whether it's going vegan the whole time like you are "supposed" to, or going vegan two days a week (I did this last year), or giving up something in particular like many Catholics do, you are going to be relieved when Easter rolls around!

I couldn't get to service today, but I am going to go tomorrow. We are still out of town- we have been out of town for almost 3 weeks now, so I haven't been able to go to church. There is one that is about an hour away by public transportation, and since they will be blessing the water, I am going to go. It will be interesting trying a new church for the first time in a year.

Armenian Funerals

2006-11-13T13:21:00.000-08:00

I went to my second Armenian funeral last week, for the 21 year old deacon who died. The first Armenian funeral I attended was for my grandfather, and it was an Armenian priest that my family had flown into town to do the service. (Hayr Simeon is a great guy, by the way, and I love his philosophy on getting people involved with the church. If you live in the Providence, RI area, you should definitely check out his church.)

The viewing was on Wednesday night, and the funeral was on Thursday. Wednesday night wasn't really a "viewing," though, as the casket was closed, and it was mostly people talking about this young man (some in Armenian, and some in English), like would happen at a regular funeral. Even the Archbishop was there. The church was PACKED both Wednesday night and Thursday morning. I sang with the choir on Thursday- We sang just Kahanayk and Ee Verin Yeroosaghem.

Ee Verin Yeroosaghem is probably one of my favorite hymns in the Armenian Church. The translation is:

In the Heavenly Jerusalem, in the abode of angels, where Enoch and Elijah live dove-like in old age, being worthily resplendent in the Garden of Eden; O merciful Lord, have mercy upon the souls of our departed brethren.

The imagery is so beautiful- angels, doves, resplendent gardens... it's a reminder of beauty in an otherwise pretty gloomy service.

There is a big difference between funerals for old people (like my grandfather) and young people (like this 21 year old deacon). You expect old people to die; that is what happens when you are old. You don't expect young people to die; you expect them to graduate from college, travel, buy first houses, get married, have babies, get promoted, etc. Funerals for young people are shocking to the system. Even if it's not your first funeral for a young person, it's still pretty horrifying. Just seeing all his young friends, only about 5-7 years younger than I am, going through this was just really upsetting. There was a huge HUGE presence of the Homenetmen; they had the flags of all the local chapters, plus another one from elsewhere in the state, on display by the coffin, all the scouts were there in their uniforms, and they had draped a Homenetmen flag on his coffin.

Almost all the service was in Armenian again, except for one of the priests (the former priest of this church), who graciously translated his speech into English. This was much appreciated by me (and I am sure by the deceased non-Armenian friends), not only b/c it meant that I would understand what was going on, but because I didn't really know this young man, so it was nice to hear comments from people who did know him.

I was fine until the end, when his pallbearing young friends went to get the coffin. No one should have to be a pallbearer for their friend at that young of an age. It is just not fair. I started crying, and his mother lost it. The family was practically restraining her from throwing herself on the coffin. She was screaming and crying. Naturally. At first I had kind of a negative reaction to this, but then I thought, "If there is ever at time when screaming and bawling is warranted, it's now. Why should she try to hold everything in? Let her scream and cry." I told my husband this, and he said that he was reminded of the show Six Feet Under- whenever anyone at a funeral starts to lose it, David will hurry them off to the private room off to the side so they don't make anyone uncomfortable, and Nate gets mad, because it is all so fake to stifle grief like that. Death is sad. Let people be sad.

There was a lot of emphasis in the services on "he is in a better place now." This always annoys me, because this is supposed to make me feel BETTER? I am selfish- I want (whoever) here with me NOW. I told my husband that if I die early, my funeral is not to be entirely in Armenian, and that none of this "better place" crap.

Women in the Church

2006-11-07T16:51:00.000-08:00

Like other Orthodox churches and the Roman Catholic church, the Armenian Apostolic church does not allow women to become priests. Women/girls are also technically not allowed up on the altar, BUT one of the churches I go to has a little girl who occasionally is up there helping, and has girls do the readings sometimes, etc. I don't see any adolescent girls or grown women up there, but considering there are very few youths/young adults of either gender who participate in church, even just by going, so it may not be an age thing.

I surprise myself, but the fact that women are not allowed to be priests does not bother me (although I sometimes think it should...). I think this is due to two things: 1) the nature of the duties of the priesthood and 2) the nature of church life.

First, the nature of the priesthood. As far as I can tell, priests in the Armenian church perform many of the same functions of their counterparts in the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches, except for one. Sermons. There are still sermons in the Armenian church, but they are significantly shorter and less important than they are in, say, my parents' Southern Baptist church. That is, the Armenian church is NOT about preaching. Some priests are naturally good at giving sermons, and some are not, but you don't have to be especially good at them to succeed as a priest. This means that if someone is called to spread the word of God, or to teach others, etc., there are other venues to do that, probably BETTER venues for doing that, than becoming a priest. The choir serves an incredibly important function in the service- I would argue that they are just as important to the service as the altar boys, so I don't exactly feel that I am being excluded from participating actively in the service the way I might in a Roman Catholic or Protestant church where the hymns are just nice little additions to the service.

There is also complete acknowledgement of the role that women play in generally sustaining the church. Well, this is the case at the two churches that I attend regularly, anyway. Maybe it isn't in other churches. Everyone knows that they might not be up on the altar, but really, there would be no churches without them. The women are the ones who run the church office, teach Sunday School and Armenian School, and coordinate fundraisers, among other things. At a recent Armenian festival at another local church that I don't attend, my husband and I noticed the women running around cooking and serving food (the main way that the festival raised money was by selling dinner!), while the men stood around in black, wearing black vests with SECURITY on the back in big white letters, smoking cigars or drinking. Not kidding. My husband wondered if the festival really needed that much security. I said that probably it was the only way the women could get their husbands and grown sons to help out. "Oh, you can work security!" In both the churches I attend, the Parish Councils have women, so they contribute to running the church as well. The Armenian Church even has a special title for the Der Hayr's wife- Yeretzgin. Jews also have a similar title for a Rabbi's wife- Rebbetzin. Protestant churches don't have this- there is no real recognition of the support and sacrifices that the wife of a minister (because although I know some female Protestant ministers, I don't really see their husbands doing so much of the day-to-day support, coordination, mentoring level that the wives of male ministers often do) makes. I like that the Armenian Church says, "hey, the wife of a priest is a real position of responsibility too!"

While I do have issues with the very old-world view of women in general (particularly when it comes to how sons are treasured versus daughters), I think that church life, and maybe only in church life, are the contributions of women, even though they are separate and not always equal (often they are greater), usually recognized and appreciated for what they are. Plus, since churches are usually on the small side, talent doesn't get lost in the herd, whether it is male or female. Maybe this is why I think that the women are appreciated? They can't afford to piss them off.

This is not to say that I don't think that girls shouldn't be on the altar- I do! I am glad that there are a few churches who break/bend this rule to a certain extent. Or that I don't care that the men are happy to sit around and smoke and drink and wear SECURITY vests rather than pitching in with the real grunt work. I am indifferent about women becoming priests, I think because there are so many opportunities to express a call for anything, and you can still go to St. Nersess seminary and take classes and get a degree if you are a woman (I know they have a layperson's track and a priest track- I am not sure if women can do the priest track, even though they obviously won't become priests).

One positive thing about the Armenian Church is that often they are not big churches, which means that any one individual person has a greater opportunity to make a concrete difference in the environment of a church. Each person can be more welcoming, can reach out to new people/strangers. You can work to organize activities to get people involved. You may not be able to change the entire culture and structure of the church, but you can make the church your own.

It is late. I might go back and edit this post later, for fear that it is incoherent, but I wanted to get it up there. I've been promising it for a while.

Bullet Point Sermons

2006-11-07T15:13:00.000-08:00

The sermons at my church crack me up. As I've mentioned before, sermons are not really the main focus in the Armenian Church, so often they are an afterthought.

The priest at the church that I usually attend (I should come up with nicknames for the two churches- maybe later) actually is very good at preaching in Armenian. I don't understand Armenian, but you can tell. Most Sundays, he will read an English translation of his sermon either before, or intersperse the translation throughout the Armenian sermon. He just isn't as comfortable with English.

What is always so funny to me is that the English sermon can always be summed up in one or two bullet points. I make a point to come home and tell my husband what the bullet point for the week is. They are usually very good messages, although unlike at most Protestant churches that I have been to, unconnected to whatever the Bible reading of the day is. I am not sure if the Armenian sermons can be summed up quite so nicely.

Recent bullet points:

God Gave You Brains: Use Them (Or Lose Them).
Nobody Is Perfect, followed a few weeks later by
Be Above Average

And my personal favorite of all time:

God Doesn't Like Losers

Sliding Doors

2006-11-07T14:17:00.000-08:00

Do you have anyone in your life that looms large, even in their absence? This is my grandmother, a woman whom I never met. My mother was very close to her; she considered her mother her best friend, and she was just torn apart when her mom died of cancer. It was one of those situations when the cancer was diagnosed very late, and she was gone within a couple of months.

From all reports, everyone loved my grandmother, and she was the glue that held the family together, and to a certain extent, the glue that held my mother together. When she died, the family came apart; my mother came apart. Both held themselves together reasonably well, but like the bowl you drop and try to repair, only to find that you are missing a small yet crucial piece that you just can't find anywhere, neither were ever quite whole again.

My mother came apart right away, but the family took much longer. My mom has said that she never had anything bad happen to her before her mother died, and it was a serious shock to the system. She said that she slept with the hallway light on for two years. I was born a few years after my grandmother died, and my sister within two years after my birth, and this was also very traumatizing for my mother; although the birth of children was very joyous for her, she was very upset and angry because she had always imagined her mother there helping her, and instead, she was all alone. Although she had a sister, a sister-in-law, and an aunt who were all nearby and alive when my sister and I were little, for several reasons, these were not trusted sources of support. My mother eventually developed agoraphobia. I didn't realize this at the time; all I knew was that every time we were supposed to go do something fun (go shopping, etc.), mom got sick, and we couldn't go after all. Yet she was never incapacitated when we had to do boring, decidedly un-fun things, like cleaning. My mother eventually got treatment for this when I was about 12, and it completely changed everyone's lives.

Sometimes, I imagine what my life would be like if my grandmother had not died at the untimely age of 52. I imagine my life just like the movie Sliding Doors, where you see how Gwyneth Paltrow's character's life unfolds when she misses the subway train, and also how it would unfold if she made the train. What if my grandmother was still alive today? It would be theoretically possible, if not for the non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. She would be 84 today. Not young, but still young enough to possibly be around. My grandfather (her widower) only died 2 years ago, at the age of 99.

Here are the main things that I think would have been different:

My mother would have been more relaxed. Although my dad helped out a lot at home, and did his best to give my mother breaks when he could (especially on weekends), having her mom around to help would would have really given my mom some time for herself that was hard to get.
My parents might have had a stronger marriage. My mom refused to leave us with a babysitter, and she didn't depend on her other family for help. For sure, my grandmother would have pitched in and taken care of us so my mom and dad could have had some alone adult time together.
My mom probably would not have been agoraphobic. Although our childhoods were pretty good, anxiety is no fun for anyone. The plus side of the agoraphobia is that I have a lot of good memories of doing things with my dad, who pitched in and picked up the slack when it came to grocery shopping and errands, and I remember doing a lot of these things with him. So maybe the flip side of the "my mom wouldn't have been agoraphobic" would have been a less-close day-to-day relationship with my dad when I was growing up. Maybe not, though.
For sure, my sister and I would have spoken Armenian. Or at least understood it.
I think, that had my grandmother been alive, I may have made the same choice that many of the young people in my church have made when it came to college. I bet I would have gone to school much closer to home. This isn't for sure, but I could see it happening for a variety of reasons, because some of the reasons that I went away to school might not have been there, and other reasons might have been around to hold me closer to home. Probably not in my hometown, but maybe I would have gone to school in one of the schools in my region, much like my best friend, who went to a decent private university six hours from home. This is the biggest change in my imaginary Sliding Doors life, and perhaps the most intellectually interesting, because staying closer to home, rather than going far away like I did, would probably have had much different consequences in what I studied, where I lived, whom I ended up marrying, etc.

I don't think that all these changes would have been for the better (some would have been for sure), but like all imaginary lives, we will never know for sure what would happen.

Mourning

2006-11-07T00:14:00.000-08:00

One of our 21-year-old altar boys died yesterday in a freak motorcycle accident (really, it was a freak accident). The people at church are devestated. I didn't know this young man or his family personally, although, since the church isn't that big, we all know each other by sight or interact together, etc.

He was not only a deacon up on the altar, but he was also a scout leader for Homenetmen (co-ed Armenian Boy Scouts- they really are Boy Scouts; they are affiliated in some way with BSA, although they are co-ed, and not really a Boy Scout troup), so all the kids in scouts have had their worlds torn apart as well.

We had a prayer service tonight; the funeral will be later on in the week, but they haven't figured out whether it will be Thursday or Friday. The church was packed with people- many young people in high school and college were there, and everyone was just sobbing. It really took me back, in a bad way. I was in their positions five years ago, and I just wish I could take away their pain. They are all in for a long, painful road.

I am trying to come up with ways to help; the Homenetmen families are doing food, so even though I am not a Homenetmen family, I am going to get on board with that. I think the family also doesn't have a ton of money, so I am going to ask at the church if they are starting a fund/collection/etc. for the family, since funerals are expensive.

It is just so sad; I especially feel for the friends and the kids that he was close to. They are too young to have to deal with this.

I wish that I could share the message at the prayer service tonight, but it was all in Armenian, so I'm no help there. The priest was sad, though- he choked up at one point. You could hear the whole congregation sobbing quietly at that point. I am going to have to get to church early on Sunday; the parking lot was full tonight, and I think it will be the same on Sunday for Hokehankist for him.

Armenian Opera

2006-10-23T14:07:00.000-07:00

Last night, there was an "exciting Armenian concert" (as the fliers put it) featuring two classically trained Armenian opera singers from New York City. I wouldn't have gone, but the youth choir was asked to sing with the singers when they performed Yerevan Erepouni. In traditional Armenian style, it was all very last minute, as I just go the phone call late Saturday afternoon.

It was another interesting experience with Armenian diaspora culture. One of the singers was better than the other (in my opinion), and I can't say that I loved every song, but it was nice.

Feast of the Evangelists

2006-10-23T13:43:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the Feast of the Evangelists, namely the authors of the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Unfortunately, I can't tell you any more about it than that, because the Eastern Diocese's website is down, and the priest only gave the barest of English translations during the sermon. This is something I have been thinking about in the last few days- church just doesn't seem very spiritual to me nowadays. I go, I sing the songs, I have fun talking to people, I feel a little smug because now I know what's going on, and I go home.

I think that part of this is the lack of emphasis on sermon-giving in the Armenian church (more on this in my "women in the church" post that I swear I will finish and post soon), and part of it is the fact that our priest is way more comfortable in Armenian than he is in English.

I introduced myself to someone who has started singing in the choir. She is a third-generation American, full Armenian, who grew up in Pasadena, which is a pretty serious Armenian community (not like Glendale, but you are still pretty plugged in). She doesn't speak or read Armenian, and we were comparing notes about how un-fun it is to go to church and feel excluded. She seems to feel that our church is not that welcoming to people who don't speak Armenian, maybe because she grew up in a big Armenian community where she didn't need to know Armenian, while I have had lots of experiences feeling totally rejected from different Armenian churches. In comparison, my current church is very friendly!

We started discussing my never-ending undercurrent concern about getting youngish people involved. She thinks that we need to be more welcoming to people who don't speak or read Armenian. I would agree with that, BUT it's hard to teach old dogs new tricks. I would like to see more English in the service, specifically good sermons in English, and the confession also in English. I think that this is probably too much to ask of the current priest, but a girl can dream, can't she?

In the meantime, we may try to think of ways that we can get people involved that ARE things that we can organize and do.

Forthcoming

2006-10-20T22:13:00.000-07:00

I have been working on a post on women in the church for a while. I hope I will finish it sometime this week.

In the meantime, I have been working on making a MIDI file of Yerevan Erepooni that I can use for choir rehearsal. When I do, maybe I will post it.

Solo

2006-10-15T15:47:00.000-07:00

Today, I sang my first solo in 19 years- my first solo in front of other people, that is, since 99% of my solos are in the car or shower, and the other .8% are at karaoke. Most of the church (read: the elderly) were at a church trip to a local resort/gambling town, so there were 3 women singing today. None of the regular soloists were there, so there was an opening! I think I did okay.

I sang the first two lines of Miayn Soorp, which is just "miayn soorp, miayn der" (loosely translated: "You are the only holy one, the only God").

Archbishop Visit

2006-10-08T15:58:00.000-07:00

Today, we had not one but TWO Archbishops conducting service today. One was our regular Archbishop of our own diocese, and another Archbishop from Etchmiadzin, who is the brother of one of our church members.

Last year, the "Archbishop Sunday" (as I call it in my head) was the second Sunday that I attended this church. Last year, they ordained several altar boys and deacons, but not today.

Our Archbishop commended our church for having such a high number of kids and youth involved in the church. He said that it's not like this at every church, and I have seen this first hand! It is certainly not like this at the other church that I go to. There are plenty of kids in Sunday School, but everyone on the altar is a grown man. This is something that I have been talking about with some of the other youngish (21+) people who go to this church- there are maybe five of us? Two of us are in the choir, and two are on the altar, and one is in charge of Sunday School. We may set up some social activities in order to encourage people to get/stay involved, maybe even have a "Liturgy 101" class so people feel comfortable and understand what is going on.

The Power of the Diaspora

2006-10-08T09:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I realized how strong the Armenian Diaspora really is. I was talking to my mother, and I was telling her what songs we were learning in Junior Choir, and she knew them ALL (I don't think she knew Mer Hayrenik, though. She knew another song called "Anoush Hayrenik."). I was really surprised. My mother grew up in Damascus, but I don't think anyone from my church is from Damascus. Many of them are from Baghdad (both recent immigrants as well as people who have been in the US for 30+ years), or Iran, or other places. I just know that no one has said, "Hey, I (or my mom or dad etc.) am from Damascus!" And they all know the same songs. Not just that, but their KIDS, who were born in the US, ALSO know the same songs. The Armenian Church is a very important part of the strength of the diaspora. I think this is why I have always been drawn to it.

I know that there is a big difference between the Armenians who come from Turkey and the Middle East (often via Turkey anyway), and those who come from Armenia proper (especially if they lived there during the Soviet era), but I think my church is quite good at bridging the distance between the two, since we do have religion in common, even if the language, customs, and language are different.

Junior Choir

2006-10-01T16:02:00.000-07:00

So, the other part of Armenian Church, besides the Church part, is being Armenian. Sometimes, when doing things in the Armenian Church, it is less about Church and more about Armenian. I am a member of the "junior choir" now - pretty laughable considering that I am close to being 10 years older than most of the members, who are all high school students- and I am learning songs that I have never heard before, but apparently are die-hard Armenian mainstays. One is the Armenian national anthem- no surprise that I don't know this, since my mom immigrated to the US from the diaspora, not Armenia itself, and she came over way before the breakup up of the Soviet Union. How would she know the Armenian national anthem? Did Armenia even have a national anthem back in 1969? (maybe... I have no idea). We are also learning (well, I am learning, since everyone else seems to know it already) Yerevan Erepouni. Thank goodness I read music, is all I have to say! The choir director kept asking, "Do you know this song?" I didn't know ANY of them. I just said that I could read music, and I could read English, and beyond that, nothing. However, he really needs altos. Altos are prized commodities in choirs, because everyone wants to sing soprano because it's easier, and you get more glory. I wouldn't say that I'm the best alto ever, but I'm decent, and can contribute a lot. I think this is why the director has let in an almost-28-year-old into a "junior choir" full of mostly high school students. My 26 year old friend is also a member, so at least I'm not the only one.

Also, they ALL speak AND read Armenian! I am seriously the only one who can't do either. Oy. I guess I'll start picking up more musical terms. I do know "Meg! Yergu! Yerek!" so at least I know when to start singing. I am literally amazed that all these kids know Armenian. The choir director's wife explained to me that all these kids have grandparents who speak it to them, and that's why they know it. Makes sense. I didn't have a grandparent to speak it to me.

Feast of the Holy Cross of Varak

2006-10-01T14:51:00.000-07:00

Today, as I discovered in church, is the Feast of the Holy Cross of Varak. This celebrates the appearance of a relic of the Holy Cross (Sourp Khatch- the same one that we celebrated 2 weeks ago) on an altar in a monestary on Mt. Varak. Mt. Varak is in "historic Armenia," which means that it is not in the actual country of Armenia, but rather in modern-day Turkey.

We had a visiting priest today. Our regular priest was out of town officiating a family wedding. I wish I was able to have an Armenian wedding! The cost would have been prohibitive- we would have had to fly a priest in, put him up somewhere, find a church, pay rental fees, etc. So we just got married at the Baptist church my parents go to for $250. We could have gotten married out here, but this presented a whole other set of money issues. Weddings are MUCH more expensive out here, everyone would have had to fly out here, etc. It was more practical to get married in my hometown. God was still at my wedding, even though it was Protestant and in English.

It would have been a fight on some other levels with my odar husband, because it would have meant that he couldn't have his Jewish best friend as our best man. So... probably for the best that it didn't work out.

I actually missed our regular priest- the visiting priest's English wasn't as good, and he didn't really give a sermon at all, only a brief explanation of what we were celebrating, but Badarak today wasn't really any different than Badarak on other days.

Today was also the first day of Sunday School for the kids. They go to Sunday School during the service. My church is very open and friendly to kids- Der Hayr is a married priest, and has 2 teenage kids, so he is all about young people. This church apparently has a tradition of being welcoming to kids, young people, and newcomers, dating back to the former parish priest, who was born in the US, raised in Glendale, and just really loves kids and young people and is really passionate about getting people involved in the Armenian Church.

I am passionate about it too, but need to find the energy and strength to translate that passion into concrete service. I especially feel called to help make the church more welcoming. By "the church" I mean "the church" in general, not my specific church. I have some ideas for the other church I go to near my university, which isn't as friendly or young as the one near my husband's university.

Taking Visitors

2006-09-25T11:40:00.000-07:00

My mother-in-law was visiting us this weekend, and she wanted to go to church with me. Her biggest complaints were:

1) The service was not in English

and

2) It was impossible to follow along with the Badarak book. My church doesn't have the nice, new brown ones; it has the older blue ones. The new brown ones are easier to follow.

Afterwards, I introduced her to the choir director, and when my MIL started talking about how she wished the sermon was in English, the choir director very adeptly handled her complaints, by stating that we have a lot of people who don't speak English, and the service is in Classical Armenian anyway, which isn't what people speak, and perhaps it would work better if she looked at it as art, as a performance, rather than a religious ceremony.

She also said that if we did everything in the book, we'd be there for four hours! Hee. So true.

I elected to not sing with the choir yesterday so I could help my MIL follow along with the service. I think this was good- otherwise, she would have been completely lost.

It is kind of difficult to understand what is going on if you don't have someone to explain it to you. As a newcomer, I found that singing in the choir was by far the easiest and fastest way to get on board with what was going on.

Armenian Church Vocabulary

2006-09-17T17:33:00.000-07:00

If you are like me, you know very, very little Armenian, either liturgical or conversational. This post will help you out with some of the vocabulary you will need to know to get along in the church:

Conversational

If you are visiting the Armenian Church for the first time, people will probably assume you know Armenian, and try to talk with you. In my regular church, people are happy if you even just know a little. This list will also help you out if you are an odar (outsider, i.e. a non-Armenian) dating an Armenian. If you are lucky (like me), you will be familiar with the pronunciation, and can pronounce "gh" and "kh" etc. This is all Western Armenian, by the way.

Eenchbes es/ek? - How are you? ("es" is "you are" informal, "ek" is "you are" formal. It's like tu/usted in Spanish)
Lav em - I am fine
Shad lav - very well
Paree looys - good morning
sireli - dear ones (you will sometimes hear the priest address the congregation as "sireli")
shnor hagalem - thank you
Keech keedem - I know a little (as in "I know a little Armenian")
chem keeder - I don't know
Ayo - yes
Voch/che - no. There is some disagreement among my sources about which to use when. Voch seems to be the formal "no" and che (literally "it's not") is the informal "no," but according to my mother, her mother wouldn't let them say "voch" because (and I'm translating loosely here) "brats say voch." Not sure what the real story is there, but "ayo" seems to be more helpful anyway, although knowing "che" will help you pick out the negative expressions in a conversation.
aysor - today

This is enough to get by. People will know you don't know Armenian, but they will appreciate your efforts nonetheless.

Liturgical

The liturgy is in Classical Armenian, which apparently isn't much like either Eastern or Western Armenian. Here are some terms that will help you understand what the heck is going on during the Badarak.

Badarak - literally, "sacrifice", but used to refer to Armenian church service.
Der Hayr/ Soorp Hayr- the priest. Der Hayr is a married priest, and Soorp Hayr is a celibate priest. Soorp Hayr may also possibly refer only to those celibate priests who have achieved a particular level in the hierarchy, but I am not sure about this. I don't think that this is the case, but it's possible (hey, we're all learning here)
Der voghormia - Lord, have mercy. This gets used A LOT in the service.
Soorp - Holy
Khatch - Cross
Hayr Mer - Our Father (the Lord's Prayer
Adzvadz - God
Hoki - spirit
Hokehankist - literally "spirit rest," hokehankist is the service after the Badarak said in memory of those who have died. You have it said a certain period of time after the death (40 days?), and then every year.

The Feast of the Holy Cross (Soorp Khatch)

2006-09-17T16:15:00.000-07:00

Today is the last major feast of the calendar year- the Feast of the Holy Cross, or Soorp Khatch. Soorp means holy, and khatch means cross. This is a name day for anyone named Christopher, Christian, Christine, Christina, etc.

My first clue that something was going on was this huge tray of basil up on the altar (not on the altar, but on the "stage" (for lack of a better word) where the priest and the deacons are during the service. I asked one of my fellow choirmembers (who are always so sweet to explain things to lil' ol' ignorant me) what it was, and she explained that today was the Feast of the Holy Cross. She also said that basil is used because that is what they (the apostles? Mary?) found growing at Christ's tomb.

This feast is important because it reminds us that the cross is important to Christians because it reminds us of Christ's sacrifice. The Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church (in the USA) provides a nice description of the significance of this feast, and one of the historical events that it celebrates.

The cross is important to all Christians (well, perhaps excepting those who go to nondenominational megachurches, who shun religious symbolism like crosses and crucifixes because they make people "uncomfortable."), but especially to Armenians, who even have their own style of cross. If you go to Badarak, you will see people crossing themselves all the time. The priest is always turning around and making the sign of the cross over the congregation. The act of crossing yourself is very important.

Sometimes it is hard to distinguish what rituals are based in religion, and what is mere tradition, but one of the other traditions of the day is eating harisa- this is a porridge of pounded wheat and meat, which is not nearly as gross as it might sound. Traditionally, it's made by the community, and people take turns stirring it over the night. I don't know much more about it than this.

If anyone else knows more about this, please jump in with the comments. I would like this blog to teach and inform as well as to be a place where I can learn as well.

A Year in the Armenian Church

2006-09-17T15:12:00.000-07:00

This month marks one year since I started attending the Armenian Church on a regular basis. Let me begin at the beginning.

While I was baptized into the Armenian Church as an infant, I grew up in a city without its own church. We would have a visiting priest come through about once a year to celebrate the Badarak (mass), and until my mom got mad at the visiting priest, we went once a year. After that incident, my family never went again, until they got a different visiting priest, which was after I went off to college.

Service once a year also means that we didn't have things like Armenian Sunday School. We did have Armenian School for a while when I was little, but it was excruciating. I was only 3, and there were probably 10 of us in one class... ages 3 (me, the youngest) through age 12. Can you imagine? Who decided to structure that class?

When I was little, there was a sizable Armenian community in my hometown, and sometimes the local newspaper would cover our Armenian picnics, baptisms (there was a whole article on my baptism in the newspaper, and a picture of my sister's), and other events as part of their community coverage. At one point, they did an article on Armenian School, on the front page of the style section. There is this great picture of the teacher looking down at me and another girl (who was 4), and an older boy. I am looking up at her with this incredible crazy look of total defiance, which is hilarious to me, because that expression sums up how I felt about this class.

I don't remember too much about it, but I do remember that it was incredibly boring. I was a really bright little girl. Really bright. And what would we do in Armenian School? We would go around and recite the numbers in order. Every lesson. The teacher would start, and then we'd go by age and say our number. So the teacher was "meg" (one), and since I was the youngest student, I would always have to say "yergu" (two). Every lesson. Yergu. Yergu. Yergu. For a bright little girl in the prime time for language learning, this was excruciatingly boring. One day, I decided that I was tired of saying yergu, and I decided that I would say another later number that I liked better instead. I think it was "yota" (seven). The teacher was furious! I am sure she thought I was stupid and disobedient, but really, I was trying to spice up my lesson. Armenian school ended shortly after that.

To sum up, I knew only a very few words of Armenian (what I would call "toddler Armenian"- anything a mom would say to her toddler), and even less about the Armenian Church. Since I am only half Armenian ("odar"- outsider - is one of the words that I knew, since that describes my dad), all I really had was my name (thanks Mom! She informed my dad that since we were getting his incredibly WASPy last name, she was giving me and my sister Armenian first names), the food (naturally), and my membership in the Armenian Church.

As an aside, the Armenian Church really knew what they were doing when they combined Baptism and Christmation (first Communion)- none of this confirmation at age 7, or adult decision to be baptized, or anything that would risk your membership in the Church after your parents managed to get their acts together long enough to get you baptized. Your parents get pissed at the church and quit taking you? Or they die and can't take you? Or you move away to a place where there is no church? No problem! Once they've got you, they've got you! This actually makes this much, much easier for people like me, and I'm sure this practice is rooted in historical context.

I have wanted to learn more about the Armenian Church since going to my cousin's Greek Orthodox wedding nine years ago. This cousin is not Greek at all, but my aunt and uncle go to the Greek Orthodox church as the closest proxy to the Armenian church around. (We went to various Protestant churches, if we went at all) Orthodox weddings are SO different, and it was fascinating. I have always been drawn to learning about religions, and the rituals of the church were really captivating.

At college, I thought I might get involved with the Armenian Club, which did exist, but wasn't that active. I didn't have a car, so never managed to go to services. After I got out of college and started working, I tried a couple of local Armenian churches in the city where I was living, but I didn't find them tremendously welcoming, I had no idea what was going on, I couldn't follow along, I didn't understand Armenian and there was NO English at all, it took forever, the churches weren't close to my house, etc. So I decided not to go anymore.

Then I moved out to California, which is Armenian Central, and I decided to give the Armenian Church another try. I went to the one that was local to my university (I'm not in LA or Fresno, so I don't have a ton to choose from), and same old same old. I didn't go back. Then, after getting married, I got up the nerve to try the Armenian Church close to my husband's university (in a totally different part of California- long story), and with minimal effort on my part (this is very important and will be another post later), I discovered that it was a very friendly place. After getting the hang of that church, I started going to the other church close to my university when I was in the area. It's not the most friendly church, but it's not bad and it helps me feel connected.

It has been almost a year since I started attending regularly, and I decided I would try to blog about the next year in the Armenian Church. I hope it will be a year, anyway- we will be moving after my husband graduates in about 9 months, and I hope we end up somewhere with an Armenian Church! That is 9 months away, though, and I will cross that bridge when I get to it.