Tag Archive for: Einstein

Awe at Geghart

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Geghartavank, or the monastery of Geghart, is unique because its wonder is felt only after you enter its doors. It is a monastery carved out of a mountain. Inside, different chambers are interconnected through narrow and low passageways. Geghart means “lance” or spear. In the Gospel of St. John 19:34 we read that as Jesus committed his spirit on the cross, the soldiers who were witnessing the crucifixion pierced his side with a lance to assure themselves Jesus was dead. That lance is kept by the Armenian Church to this day and is used to stir the Holy Miuron which is prepared every seven years, completing the mystical connection to the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ghevart monestery is named after the Holy Lance. and housed the Sacred object for centuries.

The monastery was a tourist stop even during Soviet times. During the Soviet rule over Armenia, it was common for tourists to visit Armenian monasteries as part of the cultural landscape. In other words, the religious significance of these sacred sites was diminished by the government, by presenting them as expressions of random creativity, not necessarily inspired by the Spirit. The Christian background was minimized, or even nullified, for the tourist in the official state narrative about churches and monasteries. Today, people flock there for curiosity, but more and more as a pilgrimage shrine to augment their faith.

A group of us arrived one morning to discover we had just missed a mini-concert by a cappella singers. Their repertoire included a few sharagans, or hymns of the Armenian Church, and a couple samplers from Gomidas Vartabed (early 20th century). We inquired when the next concert might take place and they told us it would be a bit later. Our group of nine pilgrims entered the cave at Geghartavank. We were alone. The Spirit moved us. We huddled together and sang a hymn, requesting God’s mercy, “Der Voghormia.”  The acoustics of the cave are such that, we, untrained vocalists, sounded amazing, so much so that the group of a cappella singers came back in as if to answer our prayer. They smiled and lined up in front of us. Taking out an electronic pitchfork, one of the singers gave the note and the others tuned into to produce a concert that was beyond anything we could have asked for, in fact, it was beyond what we could have imaged. It was renewing and invigorating, leaving us in tears, with full heart of contentment.

Sometimes it is best to pray and know that everything falls into place. These singers were angels who delivered the word of God in a manner that we could not have imagined. We weren’t expecting this concert, nor did we pray for it, but in our prayer of thanksgiving, a blessing of unproportionate size was delivered. Not everything needs to be articulated. Our thankfulness turned into awe.

Today, we remember this quote by Albert Einstein: The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom the emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand wrapped in awe, is as good as dead —his eyes are closed. The insight into the mystery of life, coupled though it be with fear, has also given rise to religion. To know what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty, which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their most primitive forms—this knowledge, this feeling is at the center of true religiousness.

Cover: Luna & Gregory Beylerian, 2023

Glancing at Eternity at Datev

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Roots of Armodoxy: Eternity at Datev

Albert Einstein’s E=mc2 is one of the most recognized scientific notations by non-scientists. At most, people know it has something to do with time and space, though the mechanics escapes them. At the least, people know it is connected to Einstein and the theory of relativity. Around the same time Einstein was putting together the formulas for the general theory of realtify, American write, Henry Van Dyke was stating the relativity of time in these terms, “Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity.” That’s right, time is relative. It moves according to the vantage point of the observer.

At the end of time is eternity. It is difficult to accept and impossible to comprehend. Eternity exists in the absence of time, and as such is goes counter to all of our natural experiences. We may use words and phrases such as forever-and-ever but they describe time, not eternity. One such place where we come close to touching eternity, however, is at the monastery of Datev* or Datevivank. It is found in the Syunik Province in southeastern Armenia. Nestled in the forests, atop a hill, the Monastery is a marvel of Armenian architecture. Stone-placed-upon-stone, the shell of the church holds within it a very sacred space where the energy is so strong that time seems to be bent. While at Datevivank, you can experience eternity because time is absent. Though the structure itself is finite, inside you lose yourself to the marvel of faith that has constructed this shrine.

Datev is the reason why people look up when they think of heaven or eternity. On this hilltop some of the greats of the Armenian Church have lived and been inspired, including St. Gregory of Datev (14th century) who is entombed inside the sanctuary. He was a theologian and philosopher whose influence on the church is felt to this very day. During the early part of the 20th century, as the Genocide was coming to an end, the Datev Monastery was the inspiration and backdrop for greats such as Garegin Njteh as he chartered out the course for a new and independent Armenia, with his priorities expressed in a trilogy of ideas, God, the Nation and the Fatherland.

As we were visiting this bit of heaven on earth, a service uniting heaven and earth was taking place. The head of the monastery, Fr. Michael was administering the sacrament of baptism on a young boy of nine or 10 years of age. The boy’s godfather was a worker from one of the local villages. Those in attendance to witness the Christening were the boy’s immediate family and us, a group of pilgrims open to the blessing that may come our way.

Fr. Michael baptized and confirmed the boy with holy Miuron and then offered a prayer of thanksgiving, “We thank you Lord for replenishing your Church with this new servant of yours.” That word, “Replenishing” was the key to eternity. Here on this high peak, inside this monastery, in the witness of simple people, a miracle was taking place. Eternity was taking form; the continuity of space and time unfolded in our presence. At Datev we may not have comprehended eternity, but we did understand that eternity is not something to come but is in our midst right now. Henry David Thoreau expresses it concisely, “You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment.”

Fr. Michael turned to us and gave us a blessing. He is a simple monk of the Armenian Church who understands the power of uniting us with eternity. For those moments at Datev, we saw and were united to the vastness of eternity, and with the certainty of the continuity of life.

We pray today, “Heavenly Father, we say that to You belong the Kingdom of Eternity. May we be in your Divine presence, in that eternity, now, as well as forever. Amen.”

* The Armenian name Տաթեւ, may be transliterated into Latin characters as Datev or at Tatev.

Cover Photo: Fr. Vazken 2023