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NATIONAL REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY KICKS OFF WITH CATHOLICOS' BLESSING
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In a message sent to His Eminence Archbishop Anoushavan, Prelate, and delegates of the parishes, His Holiness Catholicos Aram I blesses the National Representative Assembly that convenes on May 18-20 in Providence, RI.
In his letter, the Catholicos urges the meeting to embrace change in an effective manner to meet the challenges a world in rapid transformation poses to the church and society at large.
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ARMENIANS, CHURCH LEADERS WELCOME CATHOLICOS IN KUWAIT
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His Holiness Catholicos Aram I was welcomed by the Armenian community and church leaders during his five-day pontifical visit to Kuwait, which also included meetings with officials and diplomats.
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PRELATE INTRODUCES FR. VAHAN TO TROY COMMUNITY
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On Sunday, May 14, Archbishop Anoushavan, Prelate, attended the Divine Liturgy at Holy Cross Church in Troy, New York, where he presided over the installation of Rev. Fr. Vahan Kouyoumdjian, as Visiting Pastor of Holy Cross Church. Rev. Fr. Vahan celebrated the Divine Liturgy and delivered the sermon.
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ARCHBISHOP ANOUSHAVAN ATTENDS ENTHRONIZATION OF METROPOLITAN SABA OF ANTIOCHIAN CHURCH
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On Saturday, May 13, His Eminence Archbishop Anoushavan, Prelate, participated in the enthronization of His Eminence Metropolitan Saba (Isper) as Archbishop of New York and Metropolitan of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America at St. Nicholas Cathedral in Brooklyn, New York.
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ARCHBISHOP ANOUSHAVAN IN INDIAN ORCHARD
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On Sunday, May 21, Archbishop Anoushavan, Prelate, will celebrate the Divine Liturgy and deliver the sermon at St. Gregory Church (Indian Orchard, Massachusetts) on the annual celebration of the church.
Our faithful may follow the Divine Liturgy via live streaming.
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THE EASTERN PRELACY'S ANNUAL RAFFLE IS TOMORROW!
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The annual raffle drawing of the Eastern Prelacy will take place tomorrow, May 19, during the National Representative Assembly.
Please consider purchasing one or more tickets ($100 each). The top prize is $5,000;
second prize is $2,000; and third, fourth, and fifth prizes are $1,000.
We are all winners in this raffle, because the money raised is for the exclusive benefit of our Prelacy’s educational and religious programs.
For information, please contact your local parish or the Prelacy office (email@armenianprelacy.org or 212-689-7810). You may also purchase tickets by clicking here.
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NOW WE HAVE 96 ORPHANS WHO NEED SPONSORS
This week, a new sponsor came forward to take care of five children from the waiting list of the St. Nerses the Great Organization of Armenia, lowering the number in the list to 96 war orphans.
Currently, we have 417 individual and institutional sponsors from the United States, Canada, France, and Armenia who have taken care of 1,475 minors and university students enrolled in our Orphan Sponsorship Program, administered by the Prelacy through the St. Nerses the Great Organization . The overwhelming majority of sponsors come from 26 states of the United States. Since 1993, a total of 3,629 orphans in Armenia and Artsakh have been sponsored.
We are grateful to all the sponsors who support our efforts with an annual contribution of $250 per child, as well as with additional amounts as special gifts. The contribution brings much needed relief to the financial burdens of the recipients and their families, and also boosts their morale.
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Children are admitted into the Orphan Sponsorship program only when a sponsor is secured for them.
They remain a beneficiary until the age of 18 or longer if they decide to pursue higher education in a university of their choice.
Our program’s General Fund consists of one-time donations, in-lieu-of-flowers donations, and generous donations from some of our sponsors. It helps sponsored children receive their bi-monthly stipend even if their sponsors cannot continue their initial commitment, submit their payment late, or skip a year of their contribution for any reason. The fund will supply their stipend until another sponsor is secured for them or they become 18.
If you cannot make a long-time commitment but would like to contribute to the Orphans General Fund, please visit https://armenianprelacy.org/programs/orphans-fund/ and choose the option “Other” for your tax-exempt charitable donation to the program.
You can always contact the Prelacy by email (sophie@armenianprelacy.org) or telephone for the sponsorship of both minors and university students. It is also possible to make donations of shares or IRA contributions.
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Click here for online sponsorship of minors up to the age of 18.
Click here for online sponsorship of orphans who become students at a higher education institution upon turning 18.
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The Prelacy’s Orphan Sponsorship program, established in 1993, remains the centerpiece of the Prelacy’s mission in Armenia and Artsakh. We are pleased to share some of the letters that children regularly address to their sponsors.
This week’s letter, written by his mother on his behalf, is from Mark,* who is sponsored by Sahag Dardarian.
* We use only the first names of the children to protect their privacy.
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Dear Sponsor,
This is Mark from Chartar city of Artsakh. I am an honor student of 6th grade in school. I go to engineering laboratory Armat, and I want to become a computer programmer.
Soon it’ll be five months since the blockade of Artsakh. There are a lot of difficulties, and sometimes the feeling of despair overwhelms us, but we stay strong and don’t break.
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A Note about the Readings: Beginning Monday (April 17) and continuing until Pentecost (May 28) each day the four Gospels are read in the following order: 1) Morning—Luke; 2) Midday—John; 3) Evening—Matthew; 4) Evening dismissal—Mark. By Pentecost the four gospels are read up to the passion narratives.
Bible readings for Sunday, May 21, Second Palm Sunday, are: 1) Luke 19:29-48; 2) Acts 23:12-35; 1 John 5:13-21; John 12:12-23; 3) Matthew 20:29-21:17; 4) Mark 10:46-11:11.
To read this Sunday's Bible Readings click here.
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Thursday, May 18: Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord.
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FEAST OF THE ASCENSION OF OUR LORD
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Today, May 18, is the Feast of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ (Hampartsoum), which is commemorated forty days after Easter. The universal church has celebrated the Ascension since the fourth century. According to biblical scripture the Ascension took place in the village of Bethany, on the Mount of Olives, in the presence of the disciples. After giving them commandments and blessings, the Lord was “was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God” (Mark 16:19), and “a cloud took him out of their sight” (Acts 1:9). The Gospel of Matthew and Luke concludes with the Ascension.
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A BOOK, UNTITLED
(Shushan Avagyan, translated by Deanna Cachoian-Schanz)
To read A Book, Untitled, is to experience the erasure of two literary figures of the early twentieth century: Shushanik Kurghinian and Zabel Yesayan. Written as a literary experiment, A Book Untitled puts an imaginary meeting of 1926 between Kurghinian and Yesayan in conversation with the contemporary narrator’s effort to unearth their fragmented stories. Excavating these narratives from the censorship of Stalin’s regime and the patriarchal lens that structures the Armenian literary canon is not easy task; documents have been redacted, authors are uncited, texts have been left unfinished. And yet, through these conundrums, the novel urges its readers to reimagine the past so that the present might be lived otherwise.
Click here to purchase your copy from the Prelacy bookstore
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TO GOD
(Vahan Tekeyan, 1878-1945)
Whatever the gift, I gave back.
Here, God, it is yours.
The seeds you gave I planted
under the pillow of my crib
and the harvest grows from by palms.
How meager it is. How small.
If I open my fist no one sees it at all.
Or perhaps can only see dust and sense
a vague, fragrance, the wind can sweep.
Some never blossomed and some
seeds grew and were festooned
into wreaths and rings
that fade this autumn.
It is my fault, mine alone,
if I do not harvest again
to fill the other side
of the abundance you provide
with more than pain and regret.
But if this is all,
I offer it to you with love.
(Translated by Diana Der Hovanessian and Marzbed Margossian)
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Birth of Hagop Hagopian (May 24th, 1923)
Hagop Hagopian lived and developed his career as a painter in Egypt until he repatriated to Armenia in the 1960s.
Hagopian was born on May 24, 1923, in Alexandria, Egypt. He graduated from the Melkonian Educational Institute in Cyprus. He later attended the Institute of Fine Arts in Cairo (1944-1948) and then was granted a scholarship to attend the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris (1952-1954). He also studied at the studio of renowned painter André L’Hote during his stay in the French capital. His early works are small-size oils: one-figure compositions in interiors and still lifes. He also reflected on the feeling of living far from the homeland.
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WE WELCOME YOUR LETTERS AND NEWS REPORTS
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Crossroads welcomes your letters, as well as school and parish news in English and/or Armenian. Letters should be addressed to the Editor and may be edited for clarity and style. Please indicate the city, town, and state where you are writing from, as well as the country if you are writing from outside the United States. The deadline for submitting items is Tuesday evening.
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May 3 to June 7 — Six-part virtual Bible Study program on The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), presented by Archdeacon Shant Kazanjian, Director of Christian Education. Wednesdays, 7:30-8:30 pm (EST).
May 18-20 — National Representative Assembly of the Eastern Prelacy hosted by Sts. Vartanantz Church of Providence, Rhode Island.
May 21— Annual celebration. St. Gregory Church, Indian Orchard, Massachusetts.
July 2-9 — St. Gregory of Datev Institute Summer Program for youth ages 13-18, at St. Mary of Providence Center in Elverson, PA. For information, contact Dn. Shant at 212-689-7810 or shant@armenianprelacy.org.
July 30 — Annual Church Picnic and Blessing of the Grapes. St. Stephen’s Church, Watertown, Massachusetts.
August 6 — Annual Church Picnic and Blessing of the Grapes. Sts. Vartanantz Church, Providence, Rhode Island.
September 24 — Annual celebration. Holy Cross Church. Troy, New York.
October 1 — Annual celebration. St. Gregory Church. North Andover, Massachusetts.
October 8 — Annual celebration. St. Sarkis Church. Dearborn, Michigan.
October 19 to November 21 — Pontifical visit of His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, to the Eastern Prelacy.
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