Muiron over the Top

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Armodoxy for Today: Muiron over the top

At ceremonies such as the Blessing of the Holy Muiron, it is inevitable that someone will ask about all the pomp and circumstance that surrounds the ceremony. Considering that Jesus walked around in a modest attire, how do we justify all of the glitter and gold that flashes at these ceremonies. Even more, considering the fragile state of relations between Armenia and its neighbors, and the difficulties and hardship that are endured by the people, how can this expression with elaborate vestments and ornate dressings be justified? Much like the disciple who saw a woman anointing Jesus with expensive oil, and asked Jesus how could he allow this wasting of expensive oil? It could have been sold and the revenue could have been used to help the poor! (Matthew 26, Luke 7)

The incongruity between the pageantry that accompanies our services and the simplicity of Jesus’ life have always demanded an answer. Centuries ago, one of the Armenian Church’s illustrious patriarchs was criticized in the same way. Your people are hurting and you’re walking around with all these elaborate and flashy vestments! Walking up the man who complained, the Patriarch removed his outer garments, enough to give a view of what lay next to his skin. There he revealed a rough burlap undergarment. He explained that his beautiful vestments were to keep hope alive and instill self-worth in his people, who had experienced defeat after defeat and incredible persecution. Sharing the beautiful vestments was his way of sharing the positive message that comes from our Faith. Meanwhile, next to his skin, where he could feel the rough fibers of the burlap material on his body, he, himself, was constantly reminded of the pain and suffering that his people were enduring.

For a people who have known persecution and suffering, who have seen defeat after defeat, events such as the Blessing of the Holy Muiron is a time to focus on the cornerstone of our Faith, Jesus Christ. He promised the people life and gave them hope, all, while knowing that His beloved Creation would betray him to execution on the Cross. The Blessing with all of its beauty and pageantry against the backdrop of suffering is a reminder of our Lord Jesus’ words, “In this world you will have trouble. Courage! The victory is mine! I have overcome this world!” (John 16)

Today we pray a pray by Saint Ephraim, Lord of my life, give me not a spirit of sloth, despair, lust of power, and idle talk. Give me rather a spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love of your servant. Grant me to see my own transgressions and not to judge my brother for blessed are you unto all the ages. Amen.

Muiron: Through the Cassocks

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Armodoxy for Today: Muiron from the Center

At the Blessing of the Holy Muiron, thousands of people come from throughout the world to witness this event which occurs once every seven years. For many who attend it is a once-in-a-lifetime event, something they have only heard about. Today, thanks to technology, the Blessing is streamed live and remains as a memory forever as a recording on digital platforms. With digital broadcasts, people anywhere on earth, with even humble means are able to witness this event. Today we will mark our scorecards with more hints of who’s who, based on their attire.

Not all who wear black are priests. The black cassock is the attire of the monastery. Deacons, priests and bishops – all three of the main orders – wear the black cassock. The priest – the kahana – may wear a pectoral cross if granted by his bishop, or upon passing his doctoral examine. Those wearing the hood – veghar – but without crosses are likely to be apegha-s. Those with hoods and the pectoral cross are the vartabeds. The ones with the hood, but wearing a panake – an oval medallion with the Holy Virgin and Child Jesus pictured on it are the bishops. The one with the diamond studded cross on his hood is the Catholicos of All Armenians. He may wear a panake or sometimes, the double-headed eagle as a symbol of authority.

A bishop is ordained for the purpose of overseeing a diocese. Those bishops assigned to a diocese are referred to as arachnort, Primates or Prelates. Dioceses are geographic areas that exist in Armenia and throughout the world. The Armenian Church has three other geographic areas outside of Armenia, that also have historic relevance, these have their own rules of governance. The Catholicosate of the See of Cilicia, today functioning out of Lebanon, has a Catholicos who heads it and consecrates bishops for service to the See. Jerusalem, because of its significance in Christianity, has an archbishop whose title is Patriarch. Likewise, in Istanbul, once Constantinople, the archbishop who is the ecclesiastical head of this geography is referred to as a Patriarch. Technically, use of the double-headed eagle was reserved for the Patriarch of Constantinople, because it was the “Center” of the world. The two heads of the eagle point right and left, as to signify from one end to the other end of the earth.

During the Blessing of Muiron ceremony, the Catholicos of All Armenians stands in the center, surrounded by the bishops of the church. Their order is not random. They line up according to their seniority within the Church, is based on their date of ordination. Standing next to the Catholicos are either the Catholicos of Cilicia or his representative, followed by the Patriarchs of Jerusalem and Constantinople or their representative. Bishops participate by holding many of the relics and artifacts   that are held at Etchmiadzin, including the lance – the spear – which pierce the side of Jesus while he was on the Cross, and the holy relic of St. Gregory the Illuminator.

We pray today, Remember Lord, all the faithful everywhere, of men and women, old and young, who in faith and holiness come to you for strength and courage, to lead and guide your Holy Church. Amen.

Cover: Aghtamar/Holy Cross 2014 Epostle

Muiron Scorecard

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Armodoxy for Today: Score Card for Muiron Blessing

“You can’t tell the players without a scorecard,” is a phrase that comes to us from a time long ago, before large-screen monitors at stadiums, way back when baseball players didn’t even have their names written on their shirts, those fans sitting way up in the bleachers at a baseball games were too far away to identify the players. The only way to tell who was who was by purchasing a scorecard.

As we continue in this deep dive into the Muiron Blessing, today’s message is to help you identify who’s who at the Blessing. Among the thousands of pilgrims attending the ceremony, there will be clergy from throughout the world, and those participating in the ceremony will be donning special ornate vestments of the occasion. Get your scorecard ready and let’s start with the very basics.

In the Christian Church there are three orders of clergy: deacon, priest and bishop. All the prefixes that are added to these orders, such as “avak” or “arch” are honorary titles. The orders are conferred through ordination and, in the case of priests and bishops, through consecration with Holy Muiron. In the Armenian Church, we have a fourth order, that of Catholicos – the chief bishop of the Church – who is consecrated to his order.

Deacons, sagavac in Armenian, are ordained to serve at the “table” as noted in Holy Scripture (Acts 6) and many of the deacons today limit their work to serving at the holy altar on Sundays. There are deacons who are assigned to positions such as chaplaincies.

The priest is ordained and consecrated to minister within the Church. The priest may officiate at all of the Sacraments except ordination, which is reserved for the bishop. All priests, kahana in Armenian, are ordained in the same manner. The monastics, that is the monks, take a vow of celibacy following their ordination and are assigned to one of the monastic brotherhoods of the Church. They are referred to as abegha in Armenian. The outward appearance of monastic clergy is highlighted by the head covering in the shape of the Armenian dome and referred to as a veghar.

A priest who finishes his doctoral dissertation may then receive a doctoral degree and accordingly is referred to as a vartabed, a “doctor” of Church. The degree of vartabed and, after more study, the degree of dzayrkouyn vartabed (higher level) is conferred through an ecclesiastical service. These degrees were given on scholastic merit and not on marital status, as is popularly assumed because following the massacres of the 1800s and the Genocide in 1915, many of the monastic institutions and these traditions were skewed due to the massive clergy shortage and the necessity to place monastics in the parishes. Today, with the increasing demands put upon the priests to engage with their parishioners, parish priests graduate with degrees, yet the Church has been slow to return to its early form.

From the monastic community bishops are selected. They are consecrated by the Catholicos. They are the overseers and assigned to dioceses – geographic areas – to oversee and direct the Church. They are referred to by their Greek name, episcopos. On the small finger of their right hand they wear an episcopal ring.

From the bishops, a Catholicos is selected and consecrated. The position, which is an administrative one, is for life. The Catholicos of All Armenians, has a small diamond cross on his veghar and the ring of authority is on his right ring finger.

Tomorrow we will fill your score card with the different functions these clergy hold within the church. Let us pray, Lord, you created order out of chaos, and paradise is a reflection of that order. We thank you for the order you have given to your Holy Church to meet the needs of our world. Amen.

Muiron Prep: The Players

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Welcome to another installment of this series “Holy Muiron: From Armenia to your Home” celebrating the upcoming Blessing of the Muiron at Holy Etchmiadzin. If you’ve missed previous sessions of this series, you’ll find them on Spotify, your favorite podcatcher, or better yet, visit us at Epostle.net – where you can also sign up to receive the Daily Message directly in your inbox . Here, then, is today’s episode. Thank you for listening. May God bless you.

Armodoxy for Today… Muiron Prep: The Players

Now that we’re familiar with the uses and purpose of the Holy Muiron, our next step in our deep dive of the subject is the preparations. Today we look at the different players.

From what we know, the first official blessing of Holy Muiron was done by St. Gregory the Illuminator following the conversion of Armenia in 301 A.D. Accordingly, the chief bishop of the Armenian Church, whom we refer to as Catholicos, conducts the blessing every seven years. The current Catholicos is the 132nd Catholicos in this tradition and 142 Chief bishops since the Apostolic throne was created by Saints Thaddeus and Bartholomew following Jesus’ Resurrection and their travel to Armenia with the Gospel.

The number seven is a mystical number within the Armenian Church. The seventh letter of the Armenian alphabet is the letter “eh” which is the verb “to be” in its present tense. It is the name of God, that is, “He is.”  The number seven also is the sum of the numbers 3+4. Three refers to the heavens, in particular the Holy Trinity and four refers to the earth, with its four directions: North, East, West and South. Four plus three equals the completeness of Creation, heaven and earth.  An even deeper Armodox dive will note that the year of Armenia’s conversion to Christianity, 301, has the prime factors of 43 and 7.  The four, three and seven may be discounted as coincidence in the date but we are content assigning it to the mystery of the Muiron, as we will discuss on a yet another exploration.

Among his duties, the Catholicos, as chief bishop, is responsible for blessing the Muiron and consecrating bishops for dioceses – these are geographical regions that have cathedrals, churches, and parishes in them. Once all the dioceses of the Armenian Church were confined to the geographical boundaries of Armenia, but since the failed Genocide of 1915 and the creation of the Armenian diaspora, dioceses are found throughout the world.

On the occasion of the blessing of Holy Muiron, the Catholicos, in his capacity of the head of the Church, invites all the bishops, representing the various communities throughout the world, to come to Holy Etchmiadzin to participate and witness in this blessings. Following the Muiron blessing, the Muiron is distributed to each of the bishops who return to their diocese and distribute the blessed chrism to the priests serving under him.

Get your scorecards ready as we explore the mechanics of the blessing in the next few days. Today we conclude with a prayer from the Divine Liturgy: Lord, through the passion of your holy Only-begotten all creation has been renewed and humans have again been made immortal. Heavenly king, preserve your Church unshaken and keep in peace those who worship your name. Amen.

Healing Muiron

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Armodoxy for Today: Healing Muiron

When I arrived at the St. Garabed Armenian Church in Rancho Mirage, California, the Pastor, Deacon Gevork, upon greeting me, introduced me to Gina Anzor. I was at St. Garabed on that Sunday morning to celebrate the Divine Liturgy. It was the Feast of the Assumption of the Holy Asdvadzadzin. Deacon Gevork also asked that I celebrate the Sacrament of Anointing, that is Consecration with Holy Muiron on Gina. Little did I realize that I would also be witnessing a double miracle.

Gina had come to the church at the direction of priest Fr. Ronald, a retired member of the Roman Catholic Church clergy. She had no ties to the Armenian Church, neither ethnically nor through marriage, but it was obvious that the Spirit had driven her to this Church. She had come this day to be accepted as a full consecrated member of the Holy Armenian Apostolic Church. In preparation for this moment, Deacon Gevork had instructed Gina on the heart and teaching of the Armenian Church, and he served as her godfather.

As we prepared for the Sacrament, I introduced Gina to the congregation and congratulated them on this most auspicious occasion. The first miracle occured that day was when we reflected on our history, that only one hundred years ago, Armenians were on the verge of extinction. They had risen to the cross to be crucified! But today, not only has the nation resurrected, but the Church is attracting from outside the Armenian nation converts! I explained that this was not a conversion of Faith. Gina was baptized in the Roman Catholic Church. Our consecration with the Holy Muiron is to give her the essentials and the strength with which to grow and mature in her faith and in Orthodox Tradition.

Dripping the Holy Muiron from its container, we sang a hymn addressed to the Holy Spirit. I proceeded to consecrate all her senses, as explained in this series a few days ago. At the end of the service, the congregation welcomed her with applause and well wishes.

A few days later, Gina wrote a note to Deacon Gevork and herein we find the second miracle.

Nine years ago I lost the vision in my left eye and feeling in my left hand. Problems from being a life-long insulin dependent diabetic. I was told by retinal specialists that nothing would improve my vision. I’ve had 3 hand surgeries in the past 2 years and it has helped a little.  Since the anointing, the vision in my left eye is so much better.  I am typing this and can read the words!  My left hand is free from pain.  Thank you so much for supporting me in the journey.  At 74 years old I feel like a new human being.  Healthy, happy and I have a church home. See you Sunday. – Gina

The Holy Spirit touches us daily and in many different ways. The Sacraments are the means by which the Holy Spirit reaches out to us and the anointing by Holy Muiron is a tangible expression of the Spirit’s touch.

We pray, from the Mashdots, the prayer following Chrismation, Blessed are You provident God that has clothed Your child with a garment of salvation and with a robe of gladness and place a helmet of redemption and a crown of grace on their head as an indestructible armor against the Adversary. Amen.