Tag Archive for: Thaddeus

Detour to Noravank?

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Armodoxy for Today: Unnecessary Detour

From our “consider the source” department I share with you a story from a friend of mine, Aram, who just returned from Armenia.

Aram likes to spend time in Armenia reconnecting to his roots. One of his favorite spots to visit is Noravank, a 13th century monastery, about 70 miles (112 km) outside of Yerevan. It is a favorite spot for tourists for a variety of reasons, among them being the aesthetic beauty it projects, with the sharp lines of the monastery building and its domes contrasted against the jagged peaks that surround it.

The road from Yerevan to Noravank is fairly easy and straight forward. Aram had driven the route many times but still, he punched the coordinates into his phone’s navigator and off they went. On the road Google maps directed him to pull off the main highway and take a route that would add another couple of hours to this trip. He ignored the navigator at first, but as he continued the directions were popping on the screen to pull off and detour. He pulled over and looked at the Google map. It was taking him to Noravank in a direction that went around the monastery and brought him to the other side. His intuition and better senses told him to stay on the road.

He arrived at the destination without any problem, but in the last few miles of the trip, Google maps had identified the area as belonging to Azerbaijan! He was being warned that he was entering another country and should detour. In other words, Google defined the borders of Armenia and turned over this land to Azeri hands under its own decision. An unexperienced driver would have gone around for fear of entering hostile territory. Think of all of the research and papers that are written with this faulty information. Think of how much power we have vested corporations such as Google that it has the audacity to define the borders of a country!

We learned of changes made to Saroyan’s writings after his death. Today we see changes made while the country is alive. How careful we must be when listening to words and directions from so-called experts in the field, especially from an info/data giant such as Google.

When someone says this is what Christianity is, or that is what Jesus said, consider the source. Who is giving you this information? What is their motive for telling you? The term “apostolic” by definition means the source of Christianity is the original source, that is, from the Apostles themselves, Jesus’ inner circle. And so the title, Armenian Apostolic Church, is given because Thaddeus and Bartholomew, from Jesus’ inner circle, came to Armenia in the 4th Decade A.D. to spread the Gospel.

We pray, Through the intercession of the Beloved Disciples, Thaddeus and Bartholomew, the first Enlighteners of Armenia, we pray that we be guided by the Spirit to seek truth and peace always. Amen.

Cover Photo: Noravank, 2023 Luna & Gregory Beylerian

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Muiron, the Christ Connection

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Armodoxy for today: Muiron, the Christ Connection

King Abgar, was born in the first century B.C. and died in the middle of the first century A.D.  This Armenian king is considered to be the first royal to have converted to Christianity. He suffered from a skin disease which many speculate was leprosy.

Abgar wrote a letter to Jesus, asking, “… Having heard all these things concerning you, I have concluded that one of two things must be true: either you are God, and, having come down from heaven, you do these things, or else you, who does these things, are the son of God. I have therefore written to you to ask you if you would take the trouble to come to me and heal all the ill which I suffer. For I have heard that the Jews are murmuring against you and are plotting to injure you. But I have a very small yet noble city which is great enough for us both.” With those words, Abgar invited Jesus to Armenia.

Jesus replied in a letter dictate to a scribe, “Blessed are you who has believed in me without having seen me… In regard to what you have written me, that I should come to you, it is necessary for me to fulfill all things here for which I have been sent, and after I have fulfilled them, thus to be taken up again to Him that sent me. But after I have been taken up, I will send to you one of my disciples, that he may heal your disease and give life to you and yours.” *

When the Apostle Thaddeus arrived in Armenia in the fourth decade A.D., Jesus promise to the King was fulfilled. He brought with him holy oil blessed by Jesus. It was used to heal King Abgar. Thaddeus is regarded as the first illuminator of Armenia.

It is important to remember that the Christian Church in Armenia was an underground movement. Thaddeus, before his martyrdom in Armenia, hid the remaining holy oil under an evergreen birch tree in the Armenian province of Daron. After the proclamation of Christianity in Armenia in 301, St. Gregory the Illuminator discovered the oil, through a vision. That oil was mixed into the first batch of Muiron which was blessed at Holy Etchmiadzin by St. Gregory. And at each subsequent blessing of Muiron, the previous batch is mixed in with the new. Molecules from the original oil blessed by our Lord Jesus are present in the Muiron that is blessed today, thus giving us a spiritual and absolute physical connection with Jesus Christ. Every child and person who is baptized, every building that is consecrated, every khatchkar that is wiped – that is, everyone and everything that comes in contact with the Holy Muiron received a seal of incorruptible heavenly gifts.

We pray today, a prayer from the christening sacrament of the Armenian Church: Nourish me, Lord God Almighty, protect me in purity through Your Holy Spirit so that I may do your will blamelessly and may attain eternal life in freedom from sin. Amen.

 

* References: Leclercq, Henri (1913) “The Legend of Abgar” Catholic Encyclopedia, New York and The Church Father, Book 1, Euebius

Unnecessary Detour to Noravank

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Armodoxy for Today: Unnecessary Detour

From our “consider the source” department I share with you a story from a friend of mine, Aram, who just returned from Armenia.

Aram likes to spend time in Armenia reconnecting to his roots. One of his favorite spots to visit is Noravank, a 13th century monastery, about 70 miles (112 km) outside of Yerevan. It is a favorite spot for tourists for a variety of reasons, among them being the aesthetic beauty it projects, with the sharp lines of the monastery building and its domes contrasted against the jagged peaks that surround it.

The road from Yerevan to Noravank is fairly easy and straight forward. Aram had driven the route many times but still, he punched the coordinates into his phone’s navigator and off they went. On the road Google maps directed him to pull off the main highway and take a route that would add another couple of hours to this trip. He ignored the navigator at first, but as he continued the directions were popping on the screen to pull off and detour. He pulled over and looked at the Google map. It was taking him to Noravank in a direction that went around the monastery and brought him to the other side. His intuition and better senses told him to stay on the road.

He arrived at the destination without any problem, but in the last few miles of the trip, Google maps had identified the area as belonging to Azerbaijan! He was being warned that he was entering another country and should detour. In other words, Google defined the borders of Armenia and turned over this land to Azeri hands under its own decision. An unexperienced driver would have gone around for fear of entering hostile territory. Think of all of the research and papers that are written with this faulty information. Think of how much power we have vested corporations such as Google that it has the audacity to define the borders of a country!

We learned of changes made to Saroyan’s writings after his death. Today we see changes made while the country is alive. How careful we must be when listening to words and directions from so-called experts in the field, especially from an info/data giant such as Google.

When someone says this is what Christianity is, or that is what Jesus said, consider the source. Who is giving you this information? What is their motive for telling you? The term “apostolic” by definition means the source of Christianity is the original source, that is, from the Apostles themselves, Jesus’ inner circle. And so the title, Armenian Apostolic Church, is given because Thaddeus and Bartholomew, from Jesus’ inner circle, came to Armenia in the 4th Decade A.D. to spread the Gospel.

We pray, Through the intercession of the Beloved Disciples, Thaddeus and Bartholomew, the first Enlighteners of Armenia, we pray that we be guided by the Spirit to seek truth and peace always. Amen.

Cover Photo: Noravank, 2023 Luna & Gregory Beylerian