Armenian Church of Atlanta October 2007 In This Issue • Oct Divine Liturgy • Feast of the Holy Solemn Divine Liturgy Translators • About Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin Feast of the Holy Translators Jerimiah 33:14-22, Hebrews 10:32-36, • ACOA Delegates To greet Vehapar at St. Luke 10:21-24 Sarkis in Charlotte …………………………. • ANC’s Call for Sunday October 14, 2007 Action for HR 106 11:00 am at Hye Doon • Armenian Assembly Call for Action for Celebrant HR 106 Very Rev. Fr. Zaven Yazichyan • Oct 27 ACYOA (from St. Thomas Seminary Inaugural Party at St. Paul – Minnesota) • November 10 Lecture by AAOA 9820 Coleman Road • Farewell Friends Roswell, GA 30075 • Baby Divine Liturgy Calendar: announcement November 18, 2007 • Sunday School December 9, 2007 Corner January 6, 2008 • September 30 picnic Feast of the Holy Translators This October feast honors the lives and accomplishments of the saints who founded the Armenian alphabet, translated the Bible into Armenian, and started a movement of writing and translating important works into Armenian. This 5th century and beyond period is called Armenian's "Golden Age." At the apex of this group of Holy Translators is St. Mesrob. Students of Sts. Mesrob and Sahag include Yeghishe, who served St. Vartan as secretary and wrote a history of the Battle of Vartanantz. He also wrote many biblical commentaries. Another important student was Movses of Khoren also known as the father of Armenian history. He wrote a number of histories and poems. A student of Movses was Tavit the Invincible, renowned for his genius in philosophy. He translated works of Plato and Aristotle. The 10th and 12th century giants, St. Gregory of Narek and St. Nersess Shnorhali are also counted among this group of holy men. 9820 Coleman Road, Roswell, Georgia 30075 www.armenianchurchoratlanta.org October 2007 Page 2 of 8 ACOA Delegates to Travel FAQ: How much do you know about the Mother to Charlotte to Welcome See of Holy Etchmiadzin? His Holiness Karekin II on His Holiness Karekin II has been greeted with his Pastoral Journey love and enthusiasm, by children and adult faithful alike, since his arrival in the U.S. on October 3, 2007. The following is a short background on the Catholicate of All Armenians, also referred to as the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. The Catholicate is located in the simple complex of Holy Etchmiadzin, thirteen miles to the west of Armenia’s capital, Yerevan. It includes the Mother Cathedral, the headquarters and residence of the Catholicos of All Armenians, the Gevorkian Seminary, printing press, guesthouse, and the residences of the This month our Diocese is blessed with monastic brotherhood. It is the spiritual center of the Armenian Church. The the pontifical visit of His Holiness word “Etchmiadzin” means descent of the Only-Begotten Son of God. Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians. There are At the beginning of the fourth century, shortly after the conversion of Armenia a number of opportunities for the to Christianity, St. Gregory the Illuminator had a vision in which Jesus Christ faithful flock of all ages to hear his the only-begotten Son of God descended and struck the earth with a golden Holiness’ inspiring messages and to hammer. This signified the location where the mother cathedral would be receive blessings from the Spiritual built and the chief bishops or catholicoi would lead the Armenian Church. Shepherd of the Armenian people. Beginning in the year 470 due to political circumstances the headquarters of One of these events will take place at the Armenian Church was moved to various locations determined by the St. Sarkis Armenian Church in head of government. After one thousand years of displacement and Charlotte, S. Carolina on October 12 & movement it returned back to its original place in Holy Etchmiadzin. From the 13. Delegates from the Armenian year 1441 to the present the Catholicate of All Armenians has remained in Church of Atlanta will be traveling to Holy Etchmiadzin. Charlotte to greet their Pontiff and to receive his blessings. The following are the duties and prerogatives of the Catholicos of All (http://www.stsarkis.net/home/) Armenians: The complete schedule for the 1. Exercise jurisdiction over the patriarchates of Jerusalem and Pontifical visit and contact information Constantinople and all dioceses throughout the world, except those subject can be found at www.pontificalvisit.org to the Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia along with regular updates of his visit 2. Once every seven years bless the Holy Myron, which is distributed and pictures and videos of the events. throughout the world to anoint new churches, altars, crosses, holy pictures, priests when they are ordained and the newly baptized 3. Consecrate bishops to serve as primates of Armenian Church dioceses throughout the world 4. Preside at meetings of the Supreme Spiritual Council, which assists him in administering his responsibilities 5. Convene meetings of the patriarchs, archbishops and bishops for consultation 6. Give frequent directives to the primates concerning doctrinal, administrative, ecumenical and Armenian issues of an international scale. Source: “Frequently Asked Questions about the Armenian Church” by Very Rev. Fr. Krikor Maksoudian 9820 Coleman Road, Roswell GA 30075 www.armenianchurchofatlanta.org October 2007 Page 3 of 8 Turkey's Lobbyists are Turning Up the Heat Armenian Genocide Legislation Your Representative needs to hear from you immediately. Time is running out! Turkey's multi-million dollar lobbyists are working overtime to pressure Speaker Pelosi and our Congressional supporters to remove the Armenian Genocide Resolution from Foreign Affairs Committee consideration on October 10th at 1:30pm. Here is the latest: It was announced yesterday that Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-MO), who succeeded Turkey's mouthpiece, former Congressman Dick Gephardt, withdrew his support for the Resolution. • Turkey's lobbyists distributed 440 copies of the now infamous letter by eight former U.S. Secretaries of State, expressing opposition to H.Res.106 -- the Armenian Genocide Resolution. Take a few minutes out of your busy schedules and go to the website www.anca.org , enter your zip code to find out who you should call. Please call between 9am and 5 pm. Instructions on what to say are listed on the website. Please take 2 minutes right now to make a quick and easy phone call urging your Representative to support this resolution and to oppose any amendments to this human rights legislation. Armenian Assembly of America Urges You to Write to Your Representative Today ARAMAC ACTION ALERT: Only 3 Days Left to Make Your Voice Heard on H. Res. 106 House Foreign Affairs Committee to Vote on H. Res. 106 Next Wednesday, October 10, 2007 at 1:30 PM EST Don’t like to make phone calls? Write to your representative. This alternate communication channel is provided to you by the Armenian Assembly of the America allowing you to have your voice heard. 9820 Coleman Road, Roswell GA 30075 www.armenianchurchofatlanta.org October 2007 Page 4 of 8 A COA Presents Guest Speakers on Armenian Affairs at Hye Doon These are critical times for all Armenians with the • Pending vote for the Genocide Resolution in the US Congress • Turkey-Armenia relations • The still unresolved Artsakh (Nagorno Karabagh) status • Azerbaijan's military build up • and the current situation of the Armenians of Turkey after Hrant Dink's assassination In order to keep informed about the latest issues concerning the Armenian communities worldwide, we will be inviting speakers from groups outside Atlanta such as AAOA, ANC and APAC. These groups are active in promoting Armenian issues in our nation's Capitol, and will enlighten our community with their ongoing efforts in addressing the issues that concern us all. First of these series of lectures is presented to you by: Mr. Taniel Koushakjian from the Armenian Assembly of America, a non-political and independent organization, will present a lecture on current issues concerning American- Armenians, Armenians in the Homeland & the Armenians of the Diaspora on Saturday November 10th at 1:00 pm at Hye Doon (exact time subject to change based on Mr. Koushakjian’s travel schedule). If time allows, we expect a vigorous question and answer session following the lecture. We hope to see all interested parties at this event. Atlanta Chapter ACYOA Inaugural Meeting and Party Saturday, October 27 at Hye Doon 7:30 – 10:00 pm. You are invited to join us for an informational meeting about the new ACYOA Chapter in Atlanta Everyone, ages 15 to 35, is cordially invited to meet members of the ACYOA Atlanta chapter. Learn how to become a member. You will have a chance to exchange ideas and propose activities for the year. Party will follow this short meeting. For more information please contact Violet Mirzoyan Email: [email protected] Cell: 678-860-5623 9820 Coleman Road, Roswell GA 30075 www.armenianchurchofatlanta.org October 2007 Page 5 of 8 Community News It’s A Girl………………. Congratulations to Armen and Narine Asatryan on the birth of their daughter Tatevik Sophie Asatryan who was born on August 27, 2007 at 4:10 PM.. Tatevik weighed in at 6 lbs and 12.3 oz (3kg) and at 20 inches (50cm) height. We congratulate the entire Asatryan and Grigorian Families on the arrival of their bundle of joy. Farewell Friends …………….. We bid farewell to Tigran & Tatevik Shahbazian who resided in the Atlanta area for over a year. Last month, after Tigran accepted a job with Amazon.com as a Technical Product & Program Manager they moved to Seattle area. We wish them the best of luck in Seattle. They will be missed. The picture on the left shows them at their private farewell party at Hye Doon which was held for them by their friends.