This Saturday starts the most important week in the Armenian Church liturgical calendar, a period dense with unique services and ceremonies that chronicle the final week of Jesus Christ’s ministry, and lead us to his resurrection.
Each of the celebrations is steeped in the Holy Gospels; click on the links below to find the readings for each observance.
Saturday (April 9) is dedicated to the Remembrance of the Raising of Lazarus. It tells one of the most uncanny episodes in the life of Jesus, in which the Lord arrives at the home of his dead friend, and calls him forth from the grave, restored to life. The story, filled with emotion from the bystanders and from Jesus himself, only appears in the Gospel of St. John.
That serves as the prelude to the most dramatic week in the Armenian Church calendar, commemorating the events leading to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, his victory over death, and the redemption of humanity. Our church re-enacts these episodes in the days leading up to Easter, and the “gateway” to it all is Palm Sunday (April 10), which tells the story of Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
Tuesday (April 12) is the Remembrance of the Ten Virgins, devoted to a parable Christ told late in his ministry. It conveys his stern advice to prepare for the coming of God’s kingdom, “for you know neither the day nor the hour” that it will arrive.
Great and Holy Thursday (April 14) begins the re-enactment of Christ’s Passion, with its remembrance of the Last Supper. Beyond it lie the services depicting the Lord’s crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. Learn more about the Holy Week cycle by clicking here.
Above: “Jesus Enters Jerusalem,” a fresco from the St. Baudelius hermitage (Sorio, Spain).