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| FUND FOR SYRIAN ARMENIAN RELIEF
The Fund for Syrian Armenian Relief is an ongoing obligation for all of us. This community needs our financial and moral support. Dr. Nerses Sarkisian, an Armenian community leader in Syria, is currently touring Armenian communities in the Eastern United States to speak about the current situation, how the money collected worldwide has helped the community, the many challenges ahead. Events have already taken place in Providence, Washington DC, Granite City, and Philadelphia.
This Saturday, December 19 the final scheduled event on the east coast will take place at Sts. Vartanantz Church, 461 Bergen Boulevard, Ridgefield, New Jersey, at 7 pm. Mr. Nerses Sarkissian, a member of the Syrian Armenian Relief Coordinating Committee will speak.
For many years, the Syrian Armenian community has provided the Armenian nation with clergy, educators, community leaders, and benefactors. In recent years they have given aid and shelter to Armenians fleeing the way in Iraq, as they helped those from Lebanon a generation earlier. Now, the Armenians in Syria are in desperate need of our help. Act now.
YOU MAY MAKE YOUR DONATIONS NOW THROUGH THE LINK BELOW
100% OF YOUR DONATION WILL HELP THE ARMENIANS IN SYRIA
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| SYRIAN ARMENIAN COMMUNITY NEEDS OUR HELP MORE THAN EVER
The crisis in Syria requires our financial assistance.
Please keep this community in your prayers, your hearts, and your pocketbooks.
PLEASE DO NOT FORGET OUR ONGOING RELIEF EFFORTS FOR THE ARMENIAN COMMUNITY IN SYRIA WHERE CONDITIONS ARE BECOMING INCREASINGLY MORE DIFFICULT.
THE NEED IS REAL.
THE NEED IS GREAT.
DONATIONS TO THE FUND FOR SYRIAN ARMENIAN RELIEF
CAN BE MADE ONLINE.
TO DONATE NOW CLICK HERE AND SELECT SYRIAN ARMENIAN RELIEF IN THE MENU. OR IF YOU PREFER YOU MAY MAIL YOUR DONATION TO:
Armenian Prelacy
138 E. 39th Street
New York, NY 10016
Checks payable to: Armenian Apostolic Church of America
(Memo: Syrian Armenian Relief)
Thank you for your help
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BOT WORKSHOP UPDATE
A link at the end of last week’s report on the Mid-Atlantic Board of Trustees Workshop that took place on November 21 was inadvertently omitted. The link was to an audio of the presentation made by Rev. Fr. Nareg Terterian, pastor of St. Sarkis Church, Douglaston, New York. Der Hayr’s topics included parish programs, parish fundraising, and parish endowment funds. Listen to the presentation here.
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| 2016 PRELACY POCKET DIARY
The 2016 Prelacy Pocket Diary has already been received by many of you. The cover is a reproduction of the icon of the Holy Martyrs of the Armenian Genocide that was consecrated on April 23, 2015, during the canonization of the Martyrs in Holy Etchmiadzin.
The Eastern Prelacy has been producing the pocket diary continuously since 1974. Besides being a daily calendar with the major Armenian and American holidays noted, the diary contains information that will be helpful throughout the year.
2016 LITURGICAL CALENDAR POSTER
The 2016 color poster of the Liturgical Calendar of the Armenian Apostolic Church is now available at the Prelacy. This 27x36 inch poster belongs in every classroom, church hall and home.
The Armenian Apostolic Church uses a liturgical calendar to mark its feasts and fasts and seasons, like all traditional churches, but with its own unique features. As one can readily see, the Armenian Church year has eight seasons, depicted on the poster in different colors with the names of the seasons indicated in the outermost ring: 1) Nativity and Epiphany, 2) Lent, 3) Easter, 4) Pentecost, 5) Transfiguration, 6) Assumption of the Holy Mother of God, 7) Exaltation of the Holy Cross, 8) Advent. The innermost ring shows the months.
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| The weeks of the year are represented by the sectors of the circle, starting with Sunday and moving towards the center, with slots for each day of the week. Sunday is the first day of the week, mi-ya-shapat (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1), the day Jesus rose from the dead. Christians from the earliest times designated Sunday as “the day of the Lord” (deroonee / deroonagan). The word geeragee (Sunday) comes from the Greek Kyriaki, meaning dominical, lordly, royal. Thus, all Sundays are dominical days. Some dominical feasts could also be celebrated during the week, for instance, the Nativity and Epiphany of our Lord Jesus Christ on January 6.
In addition to dominical (deroonee) feasts, we also have feasts dedicated to saints. On saints’ days the church remembers and celebrates those Christians who have bore an exemplary witness to Jesus Christ and to his gospel—these include the apostles, the martyrs, the confessors, teachers, ascetics, bishops, priests, deacons, kings, queens, princes, and people from all walks of life, male and female, young and old. In our tradition, saints are commemorated and celebrated on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, except during the weekdays of Great Lent and the 50 days of Easter.
The church does not always celebrate. There are also days of fasting, set aside for self-restrain and self-examination. Hence festivities are not compatible with the ethos of the days of fasting. In the Armenian tradition, Wednesdays and Fridays are designated as days of fasting, except during the eight days of the Christmas festivities and during the forty days after Easter festivities. We also have ten weeklong fasts preceding major feasts and commemorations, observed from Monday through Friday, except for the fast of the Nativity, which is six days. And there is the great fast (medz bahk) of Great Lent, preceding the feast of feasts: The Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ (Easter).
The liturgical calendar poster indicates all these with names and dates—showing all Sundays and other dominical days, saints’ days, and days of fasting.
As part of the celebration and commemoration of feasts and saints’ days, as well as observing days of fasting, the Armenian Church has assigned Bible readings for all these days. To see the daily Bible readings prescribed in our lectionary, please visit the Prelacy's website at armenianprelacy.org.
To order copies of the liturgical calendar poster, please contact the Prelacy at 212-689-7810 or at arec@armenianprelacy.org. The cost of the poster is only $5.00 plus shipping and handling.
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| BIBLE READINGS
Sunday, December 20, Fifth Sunday of Advent are: Isaiah 40:18-31 Hebrews 4:16-5:10; Luke 18:9-14.
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt:
“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14)
For a listing of the coming week’s Bible readings click here
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|  | Saint James the Less by Pompeo Batoni, 1740-1743, Oil on canvas |
| DAVID THE PROPHET KING;
HOLY APOSTLE JAMES
Next Thursday, December 24, the Armenian Church commemorates David the Prophet King and James the Brother of the Lord.
David was the youngest of eight brothers and was brought up to be a shepherd where he learned courage, tenderness, and caring. David became the second King of Israel. In the Bible, the name David belongs solely to him, which indicates the unique place he had as an ancestor and forerunner of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the New Testament there are more than 50 references to David, including the title given to Jesus—Son of David. David was a poet and the author of some of the Psalms.
James the Apostle, called “Brother of the Lord,” probably because of his close relationship with Jesus, was granted a special appearance of the Lord after the Resurrection. He is believed to have been a first cousin of the Lord, or as some biblical scholars have suggested, a son of Joseph. After the Resurrection and the Ascension, while the other apostles scattered all over the world, James remained in Jerusalem where he served as the Bishop and became a leading spokesman of the early church.
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| NEWS FROM THE CATHOLICOSATE
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PRESS CONFERENCE IN INSTANBUL
The Turkish members of the legal team of the Catholicosate of Cilicia, Mr. Cem Sofuoglu and Dr. Taner Akcam, held a press conference to explain the lawsuit initiated by the Catholicosate. They were accompanied by Very Rev. Fr. Housig Mardirossian, Ecumenical Officer, and Very Rev. Fr. Bedros Manuelian, Director of Communications. Mr. Sofuoglu and Dr. Akcam addressed journalists from the Turkish dailies, Cumhunyet, Radikal, Hurriyet, as well as Reuters and BBC. Also attending were the Armenian member of Parliament in Turkey, Garo Paylan, other Turkish politicians and intellectuals, and the general counsils of Ireland and the Netherlands.
The press conference informed the public about the lawsuit initiated by the Catholicosate on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, claiming from the Turkey the return of its confiscated Seat in Sis (currently Kozan). Press conferences were also held earlier in Washington, Geneva, Beirut, and interviews were given by His Holiness Catholicos Aram I.
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| CHRISTMAS CONCERT IN DEARBORN
The second annual Christmas Concert hosted by St. Sarkis Church in Dearborn, Michigan, took place last Sunday, December 13, featuring the popular artists Hooshere and Sean Blackman. Taline Derderian was the MC of the day. She introduced both artists who performed a beautiful collection of bilingual Christmas music that thrilled and inspired the audience with the spirit and sounds of Christmas.
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|  | Parishioners and friends enjoy the Christmas concert. | |  | Hooshere and Sean Blackman offered bilingual Christmas music. | |
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| THIS WEEK IN ARMENIAN HISTORY
Prepared by the Armenian National Education Committee (ANEC)
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| Death of Emil Artin (December 20, 1962)
People of Armenian descent are also, in a certain way, part of Armenian history. One of the leading mathematicians of the twentieth century, Emil Artin, and his son Michael, an emeritus professor at MIT who also specialized in algebra, have enabled another mathematician, Carl Faith, to write: “The Artins or Artinians are true mathematical royalty despite the assertion by Euclid: there is no royal road to geometry.”
Emil Artin was born in Vienna (Austria) on March 3, 1898. He descended from an Armenian merchant who had settled in the country in the nineteenth century. His father, also called Emil, was born in Austria from mixed Austrian and Armenian descent, and was either an opera singer or an art dealer. His mother Emma Maria Laura was an opera singer.
Emil lost his father in 1906 and his mother remarried a year later to Rudolf Hübner, a prosperous manufacturer in Reichenberg (now Liberec in the Czech Republic). After a year in a boarding school, he returned to Reichenberg in 1908, where he pursued his secondary education until 1916.
Emil Artin matriculated at the University of Vienna, having focused on mathematics. His studies were interrupted by the military draft in 1918. He stayed in Vienna from 1918-1919, when he matriculated at the University of Leipzig. In June 1921 he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, based on his oral examination and his dissertation, “On the Arithmetic of Quadratic Function Fields over Finite Fields.”
Artin moved to Göttingen, considered the "Mecca" of mathematics at the time, in the fall of 1921. After a year of post-doctoral studies in mathematics and mathematical physics, in 1922 he accepted a position offered at the University of Hamburg, and by 1926 he had been promoted to full professor, becoming one of the two youngest professors of mathematics in Germany.
In August 1929 Artin married Natalia Naumovna Jasny (Natascha), a young Russian émigré who had been a student in several of his classes. Their first two children, Karin and Michael, were born in 1933 and 1934. Artin’s situation became increasingly precarious after Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany and the Nazi regime was established, not only because his wife was half Jewish, but also because Artin made no secret of his distaste for the Hitler regime.
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| In July 1937 Artin lost his post at the University. Thanks to the efforts of colleagues already relocated to the United States, a position was found for him at Notre Dame University in Indiana. After the arrival of the Artin family to the United States, the mathematician taught at Notre Dame for the rest of the academic year. He was offered a permanent position the following year at Indiana University, in Bloomington, where he taught from 1938-1946. His third son, Thomas, was born in November 1938.
In 1946 Artin was appointed Professor at Princeton University, which had become the center of the mathematical world following the decimation of German mathematics under the Nazis. He and his wife were granted American citizenship in the same year.
Artin was one of the leading algebraists of the century. He worked in algebraic number theory, and also contributed to the pure theories of rings, groups and fields. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1957. In 1958 he moved permanently to Germany, where he was offered a professorship at Hamburg. His marriage was seriously frayed, and he divorced his wife in 1959. He was granted German citizenship in 1961, and passed away of a heart attack in Hamburg at the age of 64, on December 20, 1962. The University of Hamburg honored his memory on April 26, 2005 by naming one of its newly renovated lecture halls The Emil Artin Lecture Hall.
Before that, the Emil Artin Junior Prize in Mathematics was established in 2001. It is presented usually every year to a former student of a university in the Republic of Armenia, who is under the age of thirty-five, for outstanding contributions in algebra, geometry, topology, and number theory. The award is announced in the Notices of the American Mathematical Society.
Previous entries in “This Week in Armenian History” are on the Prelacy’s web site (www.armenianprelacy.org)
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LISTEN TO THE PODCAST WITH FATHER NAREG
(Pastor of St. Sarkis Church, Douglaston, New York)
This week’s podcast features:
• Year End Discussions…
• Interview with Rev. Fr. Mesrob Lakissian, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of his ordination…
• And more.
Click on the image above to link to the Podcast
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| FROM THE BOOKSTORE...
HERE ARE SOME CDs to enhance your holiday listening:
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| SEVEN SPRINGS
By ZULAL
Armenian A Cappella Folk Trio
(Yeraz Markarian, Teni Apelian, Anais Tekerian)
Zulal takes Armenia’s village folk melodies and weaves intricate arrangements that pay tribute to the rural roots of the music while introducing a sophisticated lyricism. Seven Springs is Zulal’s third CD. It is an ode to the spring equinox celebrated in ancient Armenia, a night on which the universe loosened and fortunes were revealed. This compilation of old melodies, rendered new, includes folk favorites such as the Tamzara, Shogher Jan, Mogats Harsner, and lots more.
Seven Springs, $18.00, plus shipping and handling.
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| MENK YEV ASHKHAREH
(Us and the World)
Western Armenian Fairy Tales and Songs
A truly beautiful selection of songs that will thrill you throughout the year. Makes a great “stocking stuffer” for young and old.
SPECIAL PROMO PRICE IS VALID UNTIL JANUARY 6, 2016.
Menk yev Ashkhareh,
Special Promo Price $7.50,
plus shipping and handling.
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| AREVAKAL (Sunrise Service)
This CD of the hymns of the Sunrise Service is for the enjoyment of the general listener, as well as a guide for the faithful and church choirs. These hymns composed by Catholicos Nerses Shnorhali in the 12th century, are poetic and musically enriching.
Arevakal (Sunrise Service), $10.00 plus shipping and handling.
To order contact the Prelacy Bookstore by email (bookstore@armenianprelacy.org) or telephone (212-689-7810).
Need an Armenian Book? Check the Prelacy Bookstore web page. Click here.
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| PRELATE’S APPEAL
If you have not responded to the 2015 Prelate’s Appeal, please consider doing so before the end of the year. All donations are tax-except to the full extent of the law. Thank you.
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| SIAMANTO ACADEMY—Meets every second Saturday of the month at the Hovnanian School, 817 River Road, New Milford, New Jersey. For information: anec@armenianprelacy.org or 212-689-7810.
December 3, 10, and 17—“Living Out Our Baptism,” a three-part Bible study presented by Deacon Shant Kazanjian, executive director of Armenian Religious Education Council, 7 to 8:30 pm. Registration required. Contact office@stilluminators.org or arec@armenianprelacy.org, or 212-689-7810.
December 19—Emergency Appeal for Syrian Armenian Relief, at Sts. Vartanantz Church, 461 Bergen Boulevard, Ridgefield, New Jersey, at 7 pm. Guest speaker, Nerses Sarkisian, member of the Syrian Armenian Relief Coordinating Committee.
December 20—Nareg Armenian School Christmas Hantes following the Divine Liturgy, Sts. Vartanantz Church, 461 Bergen Boulevard, Ridgefield, New Jersey. Lunch and program and guest of honor, Gaghant Baba.
December 20—St. Sarkis Sunday School Christmas Pageant, Lillian Arakelian Hall, Dearborn, Michigan. Refreshments offered by the parents.
December 27—St. Sarkis Church, Dearborn, Michigan, Christmas Carol Sing-a-long following the Divine Liturgy. All are invited to attend.
December 27—Sunday School Christmas Pageant, Sts. Vartanantz Church, 461 Bergen Boulevard, Ridgefield, New Jersey, following the Divine Liturgy. Lunch and dessert served.
January 3—St. Sarkis Church, Dearborn, Michigan, Ladies Guild Christmas Luncheon, Lillian Arakelian Hall. Donation: adults $25; children $10. Special Christmas program and surprises!
January 6—Christmas celebration followed by Avak luncheon, St. Gregory Church, 158 Main Street, North Andover, Massachusetts. Speakers: Yn. Alice Baljian and Elizabeth Blumin, “Healing Oils in the Bible.”
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| Web pages of the parishes can be accessed through the Prelacy’s web site.
To ensure the timely arrival of Crossroads in your electronic mailbox, add email@armenianprelacy.org to your address book.
Items in Crossroads can be reproduced without permission. Please credit Crossroads as the source.
Parishes of the Eastern Prelacy are invited to send information about their major events to be included in the calendar. Send to: info@armenianprelacy.org
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