Spiritual Discussions
Christian faith according to the Bible and teaching of the Church Fathers. How to fulfil the divine commandments and fight against sin? The Holy Bible and the Sacred Tradition of the Church. How the Church responds to the fundamental questions of human live and how to live according to the faith in the modern world? Faith as a worldview, way of knowing and culture. How to raise children? Spiritual principles of learning and self-knowledge.
The Christian Healing of Psychological Trauma
Types of psychological trauma and their common features. The process of healing of a psychological trauma and the consecutive steps in it. The national trauma in the consciousness of Jews and Armenians and the attempts to overcome it. A description of the traumatic state of a human that has lost everything, and of the overcoming of that state, in the example of Job. Analysis of the traumatic consequences of sexual violence: Amnon and Tamar, Dinah, Shushanik.
- Speaker: Marianna Apresyan
- Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan
Significance of the Holy Myron
Biblical and early Christian origins of Myron. The Myron theology of St. Dionysius the Areopagite. The Holy Myron as a symbol of Christ and of the Holy Spirit. The Blessing of the Holy Myron in the Armenian Church and the sacred objects validating the blessing. The Holy Myron and the Church sacraments. The Blessing of the Holy Myron; Seal of Identity.
- Speaker: Fr. David Gishyan
- Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan
Psalter
The Book of Psalms and its place in the biblical canon. The character of the king David. Reading the psalms and psalmody. Human emotions expressed in the psalms. The educational meaning of the psalms. The state of prayer and reading the psalms.
- Speaker: Fr. David Gishyan
- Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan
Sloth
Sloth as a mortal sin. "The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it" (Gen. 2:15). The instructions of the biblical Books of Wisdom and people's wisdom for the lazy. John Chrysostom: "Is it worth arriving at Hell because of laziness?" "Make the most of your time" (Eph. 5:16). The Parable of the Ten Pounds.
- Speaker: Fr. Husik Dokholyan
- Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan
The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
The return of the Lord's Cross from captivity to Jerusalem. A Christian's victory through the Cross. Glorification of the Lord's Cross during ritual processions and andastans. Feasts of the Holy Cross as feasts of revelation of the Cross. Personal relations of a Christian with the Crucified One and with the redeeming Cross. True cross-bearing; the necessity of bearing the Cross in one's soul.
- Speaker: Fr. Nshan Alaverdyan
- Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan
The Divine Commandment of Learning
The Church and the enlightenment. Repetitive instructions in the biblical Books of Wisdom. School, reader, and literature. The shattered respect toward teachers and vardapets in modern times. "Learn from Me" (Mt. 11:29). Teaching through parables. "All evil things enter human mind because of lack of education." The motto of the Holy Translators.
- Speaker: Fr. Husik Dokholyan
- Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan
Envy
“Cain, where is your brother Abel?” (Gen. 4:9). Envy as a mortal sin and a root of other sins. Means to overcome the emerging envy: “Sin desires to have you, but you must rule over it” (Gen. 4:7). Envy as a fight and protest against God’s will. The image of the jealous God and the true zeal. The power that annihilates envy: “Love does not envy” (1 Cor. 13:4).
- Speaker: Fr. Husik Dokholyan
- Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan
Modern Theological Education in Armenia
The practical application and professional prospects of theological education in Armenia. The attractiveness of theology for university applicants, and its relation to philosophy, psychology and art history. The relationship of Christian faith and theology. The Church as the driving force of theology and as its natural environment.
- Speakers: Alyona Anakhasyan, Asya Ghazaryan
- Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan
Suicide
Suicide: a sin against oneself, natural order, and God. Perception of suicide as sin and combination of despair and homicide in the teaching of the Church. Cases of unconsciously committed suicide. Pastoral care for the souls of suicides and their relatives. Specific cases of euthanasia. Spiritual mechanisms of suicide prevention: brotherly support and spiritual consultation.
- Speaker: Fr. Husik Dokholyan
- Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan
Therapy by Narek
The genius of St. Gregory of Narek’s “The Book of Lamentations” (Narek). Traditions of the classical bibliotherapy and the therapy by Narek. Psychological suggestion or spiritual healing effect? Phonotherapy: the effect of prayer recitation. Who is eligible to speak about therapy by Narek and to use it as a method?
- Speaker: Hayk Baghdyan
- Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan
Christians as Citizens
“Give back to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's” (Mt. 22:21). Solidification of the teaching of being obedient subjects in apostolic epistles and in the apologetic period: “Obey your leaders and submit to them” (Heb. 13:17). The dual citizenship of the world and heavenly kingdom. Evangelical proverbs about the heavenly kingdom. The administrative mission of the Church in the period of lack of statehood.
- Speaker: Fr. Husik Dokholyan
- Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan
Spirituality and Physics
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands” (Ps. 19:1). The human aspiration to know the universe: is it a search for knowledge or for the Creator? Reconciliation of the scientific and Christian ideas about the creation of the universe. The Creator as an establisher of order and beauty. The symbolic center of the universe and of the Earth.
- Speaker: Fr. Mesrop Aramian
- Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan
Bible Study
Commonalities and differences of the reading of the Bible and of fiction. The Bible as food for soul and mind. Individual approaches to the systematic reading of the Bible. Biblical commentary through one’s own efforts and by the help of ecclesiastical sources. The inexhaustible attraction of the Biblical text.
- Speakers: Armine Aleksanyan, Naira Melikyan
- Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan
Music pedagogy
Song and music as means for expression of our identity. Sources and traditions of Armenian music school. Performance of folk and spiritual music. Church environment as a school of spiritual music art. Choral and solo music arts in Armenian reality. Music pedagogy for children. Use of musical instruments in Armenian ecclesiastical music.
- Speaker: Hasmik Baghdasaryan-Dolukhanyan
- Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan
Let the children come to me
Christ’s teaching of becoming a child in spirit: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 18:3). “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as them” (Mt. 19:14). Education of children as God’s offspring in Jewish and Armenian traditions. The Church as children’s fatherly dwelling place: “Why were you searching for Me? Didn’t you know I had to be in My Father’s house?” (Lk. 2:49).
- Speaker: Fr. Husik Dokholyan
- Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan
Araratian Week
The Fast of Elijah and the Araratian Week that follow Pentecost. The history of the establishment of the Armenian national church as reflected in the holidays of the Araratian Week. “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” The martyrdom of Saints Hrimpsime and Gayiane and their companions, and the conversion of the Armenian people. Bringing the relics of John the Baptist and Bishop Athenogenes to Armenia. The feast of Holy Etchmiadzin; the Vision of St. Gregory the Illuminator.
- Speaker: Fr. Husik Dokholyan
- Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan
The Human as God’s Image
Image and similitude: the Holy Trinity and the human tripartite nature. Estrangement from the Divine image as a result of sin. Restoration of the honor of sonship in the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Christ as a way for humanity to return to the first-created image: ”Put on the new self, which is being renewed in the image of its Creator” (Col. 3:10).
- Speaker: Fr. Husik Dokholyan
- Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan
Pentecost
The Holy Spirit in the Lord-established Church. The activity of the Holy Spirit through Church sacraments. Depictions of the Lord’s Spirit. Our heart as a Holy Spirit’s abode: ”Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you and whom you have received from God” (1 Cor. 6:19-20). The gifts of the Holy Spirit in the theology of the Armenian Church. The biblical episodes of being filled with the Holy Spirit.
- Speaker: Fr. Husik Dokholyan
- Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan
The Role of Women in the Church
The reflection of the patriarchal society in the Bible and in the ecclesiastical order. The stance of the Armenian Church and generally Church fathers on the ecclesiastical service of women. Ecclesiastical fields available for women in modern times: theology, iconography, administrative work, women’s unions. Possibilities of women’s involvement in the Church life that are being discussed: godmotherhood and restoration of the service of deaconesses.
- Speaker: Marianna Apresyan
- Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan
Commemoration of the Departed
The memorial Divine Liturgies following taghavar feasts; memorial service. Communication between the earthly and heavenly abodes of the Church. The fate of a soul in the afterlife. Depictions of Christian paradise and hell. A Christian’s earthly path and dispatchment to heaven.
- Speaker: Fr. Husik Dokholyan
- Host: Deacon Vardan Aslanyan