You are invited to attend the Peace and Rest Service on Sunday 6th March 2005 in the Saint Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Church of Sharjah (UAE) at 08:00 p.m.
At the Service the sermon will be delivered by Rev. Father Serop Azarian, Pastor of St. Gregory Armenian Apostolic Church in Indian Orchard Massachusetts (Eastern US).
After reading the following article you will know the meaning of: 1) Great Lent, 2) Poon Paregentan, 3) Palm Sunday, 4) Peace, Rest and Sunrise Services
In the tradition of the Armenian Church there are several fasting periods that precede important feast, but the one preceding Easter is called the Great Lent (Medz Bahk).
The Great Lent begins on the Monday following Poon Paregentan and lasts for 48 days, that is until the day before the Resurrection of Lazarus (Palm Sunday). Palm Sunday marks also the triumphal entering of Jesus to Jerusalem (Opening of Doors, Trnpatsek).
The week following Palm Sunday is known as Holy Week (Avak Shapat) and each day of that week, Monday through Saturday, is prefixed with the word Holy.
In the Armenian Church, lent (fasting or abstinence) means to refrain from all meat and animal by-products and to partake only of those foods which are plants or grown in the earth.
What are the services that take place in the Armenian Church during the Great Lent?
The Peace Service (Khaghaghagan), the Rest Service (Hanksdyan), and the Sunrise Service (Arevakal) are performed more often during Lent than at other times of the year.
Peace Service, performed in the late evening, contains prayers for peace at the end of the day. Rest Service, which comes just before retiring for the night, asks God's continuing care through the night. Sunrise Service, performed first thing in the morning, reminds us that God is the giver of the light of the morning and the light of salvation.
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2 comments:
I'd like to draw people's attention to the continuing series of investigative articles by Edik Baghdasarian and Ara Manoogian on Hetq Online re. the trafficking of women and children from Armenia to the United Arab Emirates.
The articles can be found online in Armenian and English at http://www.hetq.am
I'm also interested in learning what the Armenian Embassy, the Armenian Church and the Armenian Community in the UAE is doing to address the problem. It's quite a significant one and as there's an Armenian community, religious center and diplomatic mission in the UAE, here's one example of a situation where the Diaspora could do something...
Cheers,
If ordinary Armenians who live in the UAE and are concerned about their individual and family prosperity, afford to be indifferent to this problem, then the official authorities (Church, Community leadership and Armenia's mission in Abu Dhabi), should do something. At least they can frankly exchange information among themselves, now that the facts are uncovered by the courageous work of Ara Manoogian and Edig Baghdasaryan.
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