The descent of the Holy Spirit on the Holy Gifts and their transmutation into Christ’s Body and Blood. Commemoration of universal and national saints, spiritual and secular leaders, the whole company of the faithful, both the living and the departed, during the Divine Liturgy, and the spiritual union of the Church. The Divine Liturgy as thanksgiving to the Lord.

• Speaker: Fr. David Gishyan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

The procession of the Great Entrance and the elevation of the Eucharistic chalice. Christ’s entry into the Sanctuary and rest on the Holy Altar. The greeting of Christ’s revelation during the Divine Liturgy and its cohesive role. The symbolism of the remembrance of the Last Supper that took place two thousand years ago in the Upper Room. Perception of being seated with the Lord at the same table “here and now.”

• Speaker: Fr. David Gishyan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

The texts of the confession of the Orthodox faith. The structure of the creed recited during the Divine Liturgy; its dogmatic and unifying role. Proclamation of the Trinitarian faith and the prosopa of the Holy Trinity. The eschatological portrayal of Christ’s Second Coming and of the Last Judgment. The four marks of the Church: one, holy, apostolic, universal. The mention of the Holy Mysteries of the Church in the Creed.

• Speaker: Fr. David Gishyan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

Liturgy of the Catechumens or of the Word. Entry into the Holy Altar; ritualistic processions and movement inside the church. The choice of the psalms, hymns, and prayers of the Divine Liturgy. The priest, faithful, readers, and deacons praying together. Biblical readings and commentary during the Liturgy.

• Speaker: Fr. David Gishyan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

The preparation of the Gifts, priest, and the faithful ahead of the Divine Liturgy. Personal preparation and vesting. The offertory and consecration of the Bread and Wine during the Divine Liturgy. The gathering in the church as a sacred act. The encounter with God at the Divine Liturgy.

• Speaker: Fr. David Gishyan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

The etymology of the Armenian word “patarag.” The human being as a sacrificer; the anthropological and theological grounds of sacrifice. The outline of the structure of the Divine Liturgy. Historical layers of the Divine Liturgy; the influence of Jerusalemian, Byzantine and Latin rites on the formation of the Divine Liturgy of the Armenian Church. The Divine Liturgy as a communal worship and a symbolic body of Christ.

• Speaker: Fr. David Gishyan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

The resurrection of Lazarus as a culmination of the conventional part “Book of Seven Signs” in John’s Gospel. The Gospel episodes where Jesus raises the dead; the strengthening of the belief in resurrection. Christ weeping over the humanity submerged into the despair of death. Martha’s testimony of faith: “Jesus said to her: ‘I am the resurrection and the life; the one who believes in Me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in Me will never die. Do you believe this?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ she replied, ‘I believe that You are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.’” (John 11:25-27). The example of the first Christian family—Lazarus, Martha, and Mary.

• Speaker: Fr. David Gishyan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

The significance of incessant prayer in Gospel parables. The Old Testament origins of the parable of the unjust judge and the widow. Comparison of the images of the unjust steward and the unjust judge. “In every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:6-7). The eschatological message of the Parable of the Unjust Judge.

• Speaker: Fr. David Gishyan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

The first “fast” broken by human in the Garden of Eden. The allegory of the forbidden fruit in the Book of Genesis and in modern life. Expulsion not from the Paradise but from the presence of God. The bitterness of the forbidden fruit and the sweetness of the Lord’s soothing commandments. Freedom of will and responsibility. Woman’s subjection to her husband and man’s obedience to the Lord after the expulsion from Paradise.

• Speaker: Fr. Zakaria Ananyan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

The Leontian movement and the martyrdom of Armenian clergy in Persia. The daily guidance of the community of the faithful and people by the clergy. The biblical understanding of the word “priest” and the mystery of priesthood. The priestly vocation, selection, and the authority given by ordination. Christ as the “eternal high priest” (Heb. 5:10).

• Speaker: Fr. Zakaria Ananyan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

The linear and, at the same time, cyclical logic of the Church calendar. The period between Holy Nativity and the Presentation of Christ to the Temple. Spiritual watchfulness versus festal carelessness. A call for repentance: the Fast of Catechumens established by St. Gregory the Illuminator, and the commemoration of Jonah the Prophet. The period of catechumenate.

• Speaker: Fr. David Gishyan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

The Gospel chronology of the births of Christ and John the Baptist; the Church calendar. Comparison of the episodes describing the angelic annunciations to St. Mary and to Zechariah. The blessing of water on Holy Nativity day; Christ’s baptism and John the Baptist. “Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than him.... he is the Elijah who was to come.” (Mt. 11:11-14). The voice of one calling in the wilderness.

• Speaker: Fr. David Gishyan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

The “principal” apostles of the Lord’s Church. The different ways Peter and Paul were called by Christ to apostolic ministry. Peter, the Rock of the Church, and the instructive example of his way of faith. The Apostle Paul as a bearer of three cultures and as a preacher among the pagans; the temptations in his apostolic ministry. The differences of Apostles Peter and Paul’s preaching; their spiritual brotherhood. The apocryphal text “The Acts of Peter and Paul.”

• Speaker: Fr. Husik Dokholyan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

The holy teacher of the Universal Church. The impact of monasticism on the early Church. Jacob of Nisibis’s participation in the First Ecumenical Council of Nicea. His honorific epithet “triumphant patriarch” and his relics in the Armenian Church. The location of Noah’s Ark and the ideological significance of the Ark’s relic for Armenians and the Armenian Church.

• Speaker: Fr. Husik Dokholyan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

The Church’s tradition about the three-year-old Mary’s presentation to the Temple, and the establishment of the feast dedicated to this event. The extrabiblical sources for the story of St. Mary’s childhood and her parents. The pagan and Jewish traditions of presenting children to temples. Children’s education and spiritual edification in temples in the Jewish and Christian worlds. Re-evaluating the practice of presenting children to the Church in today’s reality.

• Speaker: Fr. Zakaria Ananyan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

The description of angels in the Bible, and their mission as messengers. The edifying example of angels in spiritual life. The angelic orders described in the works of Dionysius the Areopagite, and the ecclesiastical hierarchy modeled on the angelic orders. The angelic orders of seraphim, cherubim, and thrones, who enjoy the immediate presence of God. The Gospel testimonies of the existence of guardian angels. The spiritual brotherhood of humans and angels.

• Speaker: Fr. Zakaria Ananyan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

The list of the Universal Teachers of the Armenian Apostolic Church, the peculiarities of its formation, and the possibility of its amendment. Apostolic Fathers: Hierotheus and Dionysius the Areopagite. The pillars of the Armenian Church orthodoxy: Athanasius the Great, Cyril of Alexandria, and Cyril of Jerusalem. The philosophical theology of the Cappadocian Fathers. The literary legacy of John Chrysostom. The writings of the Universal Teachers as recommended spiritual literature.

• Speaker: Fr. David Gishyan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

Commemoration of the translation of the Bible on the Feast of the Holy Translators. The “hasty” Classical Armenian translation of the Bible, its text and publications. The widely circulated Eastern and Western Armenian editions of the Bible; the problem of inaccurate translations. Examples of linguistic comparison and translation subtleties of the biblical text. 

• Speaker: Fr. David Gishyan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

The only national ecclesiastical feast dedicated to the Holy Cross. “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven” (Mt. 24:30). The miracle of the Holy Cross of Varag in the period of the establishment of the Arab rule in Armenia; the Lord’s visit to His people. “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal. 6:14). The hope given to the people that are faithful to the Lord’s cross and carry their cross.

• Speaker: Fr. Husik Dokholyan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan

The return of the Lord’s wooden cross from captivity to Jerusalem. The victory of Christians through the Cross. Glorification of the Lord’s Cross during ritual processions and andastans. The feasts of the Holy Cross as feasts of finding the Cross. The personal relationship of Christians with the Crucified and His saving Cross. The true cross-carrying; necessity of carrying the Cross in one’s soul.

• Speaker: Fr. Husik Dokholyan
• Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan