An Invitation Into the Liturgy

The liturgical services of the Armenian Church have always been something you could feel. Now they are something you can truly know.

What if simply following along in the church service could transform the way you experience it?

The question seems simple enough, yet for Fr. Hovhan Khoja-Eynatyan, Chair of the Sacred Music Council and the Coordinator of the Diocesan Liturgical Committee, it planted a seed that would grow slowly and deliberately over nearly a decade of careful refinement. His efforts, carried out in close collaboration with fellow clergy of the Eastern Diocese, have now resulted in something of lasting significance: four newly-published liturgical books that establish a formal standard for how the faithful engage with these sacred services.

Just as English translations of the Divine Liturgy opened the Badarak to every worshipper, these four books carry that same vision forward, extending it to specific services that have long lived primarily in the hands of clergy and choir. These new Diocesan publications do not reinvent that tradition. They deepen it. A formal framework for participation now guides the faithful through each service in both modern Armenian and English, conducting when the clergy speaks, when the choir responds, and when the congregation is called to give voice.

Thoughtfully designed with a larger format and generous font size, they are accessible to worshippers of all ages, ensuring nothing stands between the faithful and the fullness of the service.

“Presence at a service is only the first step; it is the comprehension of its meaning that makes it truly come alive.”

— Father Hovhan

Each of the four publications corresponds to a distinct and meaningful moment within the Armenian Church.

First, The Sunrise Service, celebrated at the break of dawn, commemorates Christ’s appearance to the disciples following the Resurrection, the light of morning made inseparable from the light of faith.

Second, The Peace and Rest Service, observed after sunset, closes the day in prayer and stillness encouraging reflection.

Third, The Order of the Opening of the Doors, observed on Palm Sunday, marks the close of the Great Lent and the solemn beginning of Holy Week: a threshold moment in which the faithful are ushered from a season of fasting and penitence into the holiest days of the Christian year.

Fourth, The Washing of the Feet, celebrated on Holy Thursday afternoon, marks a solemn passage: from the joy of the Eucharist, the Last Supper, into the Passion of Christ. In it, Jesus offers His disciples a final and enduring lesson in service, kneeling before them as both teacher and servant.

Together, these four volumes do not simply document the liturgy; they open a door into it. What has emerged is not a revision of the Armenian liturgical tradition, but a key to its meaning; a pathway for people to enter into something that has always been waiting for them.

Central to the project’s vision is the inclusion of English translations set alongside the Armenian text. For those who came to the church through heritage rather than language, the service has long carried a beauty that remained, in part, opaque. These translations do not simply decode the words; they illuminate the theological depth and teaching embedded within each movement of the liturgy.

To understand what one is praying, Father Hovhan suggests, is not merely an intellectual exercise. It is what turns attendance into encounter — encounter with the tradition, with God, and, in ways that resist easy description, with oneself.

The Liturgical Committee, working alongside Bishop Mesrop Parsamyan and Bishop Daniel Findikyan, brought rigorous attention to the translation, ensuring that accuracy never came at the expense of clarity. The Diocese’s Sacred Music Council worked in concert with these efforts, helping to guide the broader initiative forward. Through it all, it was Bishop Parsamyan’s steadfast encouragement and unwavering support for Father Hovhan that proved instrumental in shepherding these volumes from years of careful labor into the hands of Diocesan parishes — a resource now available to churches and their members throughout the Eastern Diocese.

“The service becomes not just something attended, but something truly experienced. When you understand what is being said and why, you are no longer an observer of the liturgy — you are part of it.”

— Father Hovhan

Copies are available for purchase at the St. Vartan Cathedral Bookstore. Browse the individual service books using the links below: