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Lraper Church Bulletin 07/08/2005
Contact: Deacon Vagharshag Seropyan
Armenian Patriarchate
TR-34130 Kumkapi, Istanbul
T: +90 (212) 517-0970, 517-0971
F: +90 (212) 516-4833, 458-1365
[email protected]
FOUR DEACONS ARE CALLED TO THE HOLY ORDER OF PRIESTHOOD
Photos at www.lraper.org (English page)
On Wednesday, 27 July 2005, four deacons under the spiritual
jurisdiction of the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul, the Reverend
Deacons Sahag Bicakciyan, Sevan Civanyan, Harutyun Babigyan and Hayg
Koparyan were officially called to the Holy Order of Priesthood by
His Beatitude Mesrob II, Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul and All Turkey.
The service began, following Vespers, in the Holy Mother of God
Patriarchal Church in Kumkapi. As the bells joyfully announced the
occasion, in the presence of all the Armenian priests and monks in
Istanbul and about 200 church members, the deacons due to be ordained
knelt at the threshold of the main door of the Patriarchal Church.
>From there, as penitential psalms were recited antiphonally, they
proceeded on their knees through first the narthex and then the
nave towards the chancel, at the entrance of which His Beatitude the
Patriarch was seated surrounded by the clergy. The sponsoring priests,
the Very Revd. Hieromonk Tatul Anusyan and the Revd. Dr.
Krikor Damatyan, presented the candidate deacons one by one to the
Patriarch for public questioning and final consideration before their
official call to the Holy Order of Priesthood.
The Patriarch then publicly asked the sponsoring priests whether the
ordinands were approaching "to bear the sweet yoke of our Lord Jesus
Christ (Mt 11:29-30)" of their own free will, whether they were ready
"to leave the world and to take up the Cross and follow Christ (Lk
9:23; 14:27)" and whether they had completed the prescribed course
of studies before ordination (2Tim 3:15). The sponsors clergymen
answered affirmatively.
The Patriarch then turned to the ordinands and asked them whether
they were ready to devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of
God (Acts 6:1-4), to be obedient to the commandments of the Lord (Lk
8:15; Heb 5:8; 1Pt 1:14) and the directives and canons established
by the Apostles and the Patriarchs and their successors and not to
teach anything in contradiction to them (Acts 2:42; Heb 13:17). The
candidate deacons answered affirmatively.
The Patriarch then began the public examination of the ordinands,
asking them whether they professed the Orthodox faith in the Triune
God, in the Incarnation of Christ our God, in accordance with the
three holy ecumenical councils of Nicaea (325), Constantinople (381)
and Ephesus (431) and whether they renounced all those classified by
the Church as schismatic. The candidate deacons answered affirmatively.
The Patriarch then asked whether the ordinands renounced and
anathematized all those "who do not confess Jesus Christ as perfect God
and perfect Man, and Mary as the Holy Mother of God." The ordinands
raised their hands in denunciation and answered "We renounce and
anathematize!" The whole congregation responded in unison, "Anathema!"
The ordinands and the congregation responded likewise as the Patriarch
mentioned, one by one, the names of the heresiarch Arius of Alexandria
who emerged in 319 as the champion of a subordinationist doctrine
about the Person of Christ; Macedonius of Constantinople who was
deposed in 360 on account of his teaching that the Holy Spirit was not
consubstantial with the Father and the Son; Nestorius, the Antiochian
heresiarch who became Patriarch of Constantinople in 428 and who taught
that there were two separate Persons in the Incarnate Christ, the one
divine and the other human; the monophysite heresiarch Eutyches of
Constantinople, deposed in 451, who taught that the manhood of Jesus
of Nazareth had been absorbed into his divinity, thereby rendering
our redemtion through his sacrifice on the holy Cross impossible;
and all modern heresies and spiritually harmful sects such as the
Jehovah's Witnesses.
The Patriarch then asked whether the ordinands were disciples of all
Orthodox theologians and patriarchs. The ordinands replied, "We learn
from them and follow them!" The whole congregation responded in unison,
"May the eternal memory of the just be blessed!"
The ordinands and the congregation responded likewise as the Patriarch
mentioned, one by one, the names of Saints Thaddeus and Bartholomew;
Saint Gregory the Illuminator and his sons and grandchildren Saints
Arisdages, Vrthanes, Husig, Krikoris and Daniel; Saint Sylvester of
Rome; Saint Athanasius of Alexandria; the Holy Translators Saints
Sahag Barthev and Mesrob Mashtots; Saint Basil the Great of Caesarea
in Cappadocia and his brother Saint Gregory of Nyssa; Saint Cyril of
Jerusalem; Saint Ephrem the Syrian; Saint Gregory the Wonderworker of
Pontus; Saint Gregory the Theologian of Nazianzus; Saint Epiphanius
of Cyprus; Saint John Chrysostom of Constantinople; Saint Cyril of
Alexandria; Saint John of Nisibis; Saint John of Odsun; Saint John
of Vorodn and his disciple Saint Gregory of Dathev; the Holy Fathers
of the Ecumenical Councils of Nicaea, Constantinople and Ephesus,
and all holy and Orthodox Patriarchs "who render the Word of Truth
with an Orthodox confession."
The Patriarch then concluded the public examination, reminding the
ordinands and the faithful present of the words of the Lord Jesus, who
said: "Everyone who confesses me before men, I will also confess him
before my Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before men,
I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven" (Mt 10:32-33),
and also the words of Saint Paul the Apostle who said, "No-one can say,
`Jesus is Lord,' except by the Holy Spirit" (1Cor 12:3).
All those present then stood in reverence as they listened to the
ordinands who recited, on their knees, the Profession of Faith
formulated by Saint Gregory of Dathev.
The Patriarch then gave his blessing to the ordinands and asked
all those present to pray for them to be mentally and spiritually
prepared for the Holy Mystery of the Ordination to the Sacred Order
of Priesthood which would take place next morning.
The Parish Council of the Holy Mother of God Patriarchal Church then
served tea in the churchyard in honour of the candidate deacons and
their families and relatives.
Contact: Deacon Vagharshag Seropyan
Armenian Patriarchate
TR-34130 Kumkapi, Istanbul
T: +90 (212) 517-0970, 517-0971
F: +90 (212) 516-4833, 458-1365
[email protected]
FOUR DEACONS ARE CALLED TO THE HOLY ORDER OF PRIESTHOOD
Photos at www.lraper.org (English page)
On Wednesday, 27 July 2005, four deacons under the spiritual
jurisdiction of the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul, the Reverend
Deacons Sahag Bicakciyan, Sevan Civanyan, Harutyun Babigyan and Hayg
Koparyan were officially called to the Holy Order of Priesthood by
His Beatitude Mesrob II, Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul and All Turkey.
The service began, following Vespers, in the Holy Mother of God
Patriarchal Church in Kumkapi. As the bells joyfully announced the
occasion, in the presence of all the Armenian priests and monks in
Istanbul and about 200 church members, the deacons due to be ordained
knelt at the threshold of the main door of the Patriarchal Church.
>From there, as penitential psalms were recited antiphonally, they
proceeded on their knees through first the narthex and then the
nave towards the chancel, at the entrance of which His Beatitude the
Patriarch was seated surrounded by the clergy. The sponsoring priests,
the Very Revd. Hieromonk Tatul Anusyan and the Revd. Dr.
Krikor Damatyan, presented the candidate deacons one by one to the
Patriarch for public questioning and final consideration before their
official call to the Holy Order of Priesthood.
The Patriarch then publicly asked the sponsoring priests whether the
ordinands were approaching "to bear the sweet yoke of our Lord Jesus
Christ (Mt 11:29-30)" of their own free will, whether they were ready
"to leave the world and to take up the Cross and follow Christ (Lk
9:23; 14:27)" and whether they had completed the prescribed course
of studies before ordination (2Tim 3:15). The sponsors clergymen
answered affirmatively.
The Patriarch then turned to the ordinands and asked them whether
they were ready to devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of
God (Acts 6:1-4), to be obedient to the commandments of the Lord (Lk
8:15; Heb 5:8; 1Pt 1:14) and the directives and canons established
by the Apostles and the Patriarchs and their successors and not to
teach anything in contradiction to them (Acts 2:42; Heb 13:17). The
candidate deacons answered affirmatively.
The Patriarch then began the public examination of the ordinands,
asking them whether they professed the Orthodox faith in the Triune
God, in the Incarnation of Christ our God, in accordance with the
three holy ecumenical councils of Nicaea (325), Constantinople (381)
and Ephesus (431) and whether they renounced all those classified by
the Church as schismatic. The candidate deacons answered affirmatively.
The Patriarch then asked whether the ordinands renounced and
anathematized all those "who do not confess Jesus Christ as perfect God
and perfect Man, and Mary as the Holy Mother of God." The ordinands
raised their hands in denunciation and answered "We renounce and
anathematize!" The whole congregation responded in unison, "Anathema!"
The ordinands and the congregation responded likewise as the Patriarch
mentioned, one by one, the names of the heresiarch Arius of Alexandria
who emerged in 319 as the champion of a subordinationist doctrine
about the Person of Christ; Macedonius of Constantinople who was
deposed in 360 on account of his teaching that the Holy Spirit was not
consubstantial with the Father and the Son; Nestorius, the Antiochian
heresiarch who became Patriarch of Constantinople in 428 and who taught
that there were two separate Persons in the Incarnate Christ, the one
divine and the other human; the monophysite heresiarch Eutyches of
Constantinople, deposed in 451, who taught that the manhood of Jesus
of Nazareth had been absorbed into his divinity, thereby rendering
our redemtion through his sacrifice on the holy Cross impossible;
and all modern heresies and spiritually harmful sects such as the
Jehovah's Witnesses.
The Patriarch then asked whether the ordinands were disciples of all
Orthodox theologians and patriarchs. The ordinands replied, "We learn
from them and follow them!" The whole congregation responded in unison,
"May the eternal memory of the just be blessed!"
The ordinands and the congregation responded likewise as the Patriarch
mentioned, one by one, the names of Saints Thaddeus and Bartholomew;
Saint Gregory the Illuminator and his sons and grandchildren Saints
Arisdages, Vrthanes, Husig, Krikoris and Daniel; Saint Sylvester of
Rome; Saint Athanasius of Alexandria; the Holy Translators Saints
Sahag Barthev and Mesrob Mashtots; Saint Basil the Great of Caesarea
in Cappadocia and his brother Saint Gregory of Nyssa; Saint Cyril of
Jerusalem; Saint Ephrem the Syrian; Saint Gregory the Wonderworker of
Pontus; Saint Gregory the Theologian of Nazianzus; Saint Epiphanius
of Cyprus; Saint John Chrysostom of Constantinople; Saint Cyril of
Alexandria; Saint John of Nisibis; Saint John of Odsun; Saint John
of Vorodn and his disciple Saint Gregory of Dathev; the Holy Fathers
of the Ecumenical Councils of Nicaea, Constantinople and Ephesus,
and all holy and Orthodox Patriarchs "who render the Word of Truth
with an Orthodox confession."
The Patriarch then concluded the public examination, reminding the
ordinands and the faithful present of the words of the Lord Jesus, who
said: "Everyone who confesses me before men, I will also confess him
before my Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before men,
I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven" (Mt 10:32-33),
and also the words of Saint Paul the Apostle who said, "No-one can say,
`Jesus is Lord,' except by the Holy Spirit" (1Cor 12:3).
All those present then stood in reverence as they listened to the
ordinands who recited, on their knees, the Profession of Faith
formulated by Saint Gregory of Dathev.
The Patriarch then gave his blessing to the ordinands and asked
all those present to pray for them to be mentally and spiritually
prepared for the Holy Mystery of the Ordination to the Sacred Order
of Priesthood which would take place next morning.
The Parish Council of the Holy Mother of God Patriarchal Church then
served tea in the churchyard in honour of the candidate deacons and
their families and relatives.