,    On Sunday, April 28, clergy and parishioners from four Merrimack Valley area Armenian Churches (Sts. Vartanantz in Chelmsford, St. Gregory in North Andover, Ararat Armenian Congregational in Salem & Armenian Apostolic Church at Hye Pointe in Haverhill) gathered together for the annual commemoration of the Holy Martyrs of the Armenian Genocide and the 109th anniversary observance of the beginning of this tragic event in the history of the Armenian people. The event was organized by the Armenian Genocide Commemorative Committee of Merrimack Valley.
    The Divine Liturgy was celebrated by Rev. Fr. Vart Gyozalyan, pastor of the Hye Pointe Church. Rev. Fr. Stephan Baljian, pastor of Saint Gregory Armenian Apostolic Church, delivered the sermon. The Holy Altar was served by deacons, sub-deacons and altar servers from the various churches. The choir was made up of choir members from each respective church. A procession brought the entire crowd outside to the church's Khachkar Martyrs' Monument, where intercessory prayers were offered to God through the Holy Martyr Saints.
    Following the liturgical services, a luncheon was offered in the church's Ermonian Hall, followed by a commemorative program. Rev. Fr. Khachatur Kesablyan, pastor of Sts. Vartanantz Armenian Apostolic Church, offered the keynote address, highlighting the loss of historical Armenian religious properties such as churches and monasteries in historical Western Armenia during the Genocide and in its aftermath, as well as the loss of such properties more recently in occupied Artsakh.
    During the artistic portion of the program, many talented youth, representing each church, displayed their talents through performances of music, dance and poetry.  The events of the day concluded with encouraging words and a benediction by Rev. Janely Pierre, pastor of Ararat Armenian Congregational Church.

  ​       On Sunday, April 14, parishioners of Saint Gregory Armenian Apostolic Church in North Andover, Massachusetts, gathered to honor the late Very Rev. Yeghishe Manjikian on the occasion of the 40th day of his passing. Fr. Yeghishe served in the Eastern Prelacy during the years 1997-2003, the last three of which he spent as pastor of Saint Gregory Church.
    Following the solemn Requiem service in the church sanctuary, everyone gathered in Jaffarian Hall for a memorial tribute in his memory. The church’s pastor, Rev. Fr. Stephan Baljian, relayed the condolences and blessings of His Eminence Archbishop Anoushavan Tanielian, Prelate, who, due to prior commitments, could not be there to preside in person.
    Der Hayr acknowledged that, due to the amount of time that had passed since Hayr Soorp served as pastor of the church, that most people in attendance were either too young or too new to the parish to have known him. He also mentioned that gathering together to memorialize one of the church’s former pastors was an important step in honoring/preserving the history and legacy of the church community, and although in its short history of 53 years, there have been seven priests who have served as pastor, only three of those priests – including himself – remain alive today.
    He then read the biography of Fr. Manjikian, highlighting his early life, his entry into the Seminary of the Catholicosate of Cilicia and subsequent ordination as a member of the monastic brotherhood, his many stints in pastoral and administrative roles in various dioceses and his prolific output in the area of Armenian history and literary scholarship.
    Offering his own personal reflection, Der Stephan remembered him as a very scholarly man who also had a great sense of humor. He revealed that he remembered enjoying his classes, especially his Classical Armenian class, at the St. Gregory of Datev Institute during the years prior to his leaving for Antelias to pursue his studies for the priesthood.
      Dn. James Haddad, who was also among the parishioners gathered, also reflected on how Hayr Yeghishe had been his Classical Armenian teacher during his time at the Seminary later in that same decade.
     Deacon Avedis Garavanian also made a heartfelt tribute to the late Hayr Yeghishe, remembering his stern demeanor when it came to church knowledge, and also his keen intellect and warm sense of humor. “We could always count on him to teach us the right thing to do on the altar,” Dn. Avedis said, “whether it was the proper place to stand, the correct pronunciation or reading or the proper way to sing the chants of the Liturgy. He was a very supportive priest to the altar servers.”
    Deacon Dr. John Saryan remembered how his vast knowledge of Armenian history, language and culture was akin to that of his late parents, Sarkis and Arminé Saryan. He recalled how Hayr Soorp’s presence and pastoral care was a blessing to him and his family when Mr. Saryan passed away in late 2001.
     
    Hayr Yeghishe entered into his eternal repose on February 21 and was laid to rest at the Holy See in Antelias.

    Կիրակի, 14 Ապրիլին, յաւարտ Ս. Պատարագի, Ս. Գրիգոր Լուսաւորիչ եկեղեցւոյ (Նորթ Անտովըր, Մէսէչուսէթս) ծխականները ոգեկոչեցին հանգուցեալ Գերպ. Տ. Եղիշէ Ծ. Վրդ. Մանճիկեանը, վախճանման քառասունքին առիթով։ Անցեալ 21 Փետրուարին մահացած Հայր Եղիշէն 1997-2003ին ծառայած էր Թեմիս մէջ, իսկ 2000-2003ին վարած էր Ս. Գրիգոր Լուսաւորիչ եկեղեցւոյ հոգեւոր հովուութեան պաշտօնը։
    Հոգեհանգստեան պաշտօնէն ետք, ներկաները հաւաքուեցան «Ճաֆարեան« սրահին մէջ։ Հոգեւոր հովիւ՝ Արժպ. Տ. Ստեփան Քհն. Պալճեան, ներկաներուն հաղորդեց Թեմիս բարեջան Առաջնորդ՝ Անուշաւան Արքեպիկոպոսի ցաւակցութեան եւ օրհնութեան խօսքը։ Այլ պարտականութիւններու պատճառով, Առաջնորդ Սրբազան Հայրը չէր կրցած անձամբ ներկայ ըլլալ եւ նախագահել հանդիսութեան։
    Տէր Հայրը նշեց, թէ ներկաներուն մեծամասնութիւնը շատ երիտասարդ էր կամ ծուխին նորանդամակցած՝ Հայր Եղիշէն ճանչցած ըլլալու համար։ Նախկին հովիւներէն մէկուն այս ոգեկոչումը կարեւոր քայլ մըն էր պահպանելու համար ծուխի պատմութիւնը, որ իր 53-ամեայ պատմութեան մէջ եօթը հովիւներ ունեցած է։ Այնուհետեւ կարդաց Հայր Եղիշէի կենսագրականը եւ յիշեց զինք իբրեւ հմուտ եւ նոյն ատեն զուարթախոհ անձնաւորութիւն մը, որուն գրաբարի դասերը վայելած էր «Ս. Գրիգոր Տաթեւացի» լսարանին մէջ, նախ քան Անթիլիաս մեկնումը քահանայական դասերուն հետեւելու համար։
    Յակոբ Սրկ. Հատտատ նաեւ վերյիշեց Հայր Եղիշէի գրաբար դասերը Անթիլիասի մայրավանքին մէջ նոյն տասնամեակին։ Աւետիս Սրկ. Կառաւանեան եւ տոքթ. Ճոն Սրկ. Սարեան իրենց սրտալից տուրքը մատուցեցին հանգուցեալ վարդապետի յիշատակին։

Թարգմանեց՝ Դոկտ. Վարդան Մատթէոսեան

      ​St. Gregory Men’s Club held its monthly dinner/meeting on Tuesday, April 9 in
Jaffarian Hall. The meal consisted of a Lebanese Falafel dinner prepared by Zareh
Bulbulian followed by dessert called Sfouf prepared by Zareh’s wife Mireille. Jon
Makris brought in homemade appetizers prepared by his wife Becky.
      Discussed was the Orphan Program. Throughout the years the Men’s Club has
been sponsoring many orphans in Armenia and presently we are sponsoring
three. They are Atom and Arsen Hovhannisian whose ages are 4 and 8 respectively
and Mariam Abrahamian who is 13 years old. Sadly, Atom and Arsen’s father was
killed in 2020 in the Artsakh war and Mariam’s father was a martyr in 2016.
At the end of the meeting, a special birthday tribute was paid to Raffi, Zareh’s
youngest son.
       The May Men’s Club Dinner/Meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 14 and the
dinner theme will be Mexican which will be prepared by our chefs Jamie Corriveau and Jim Apovian.

​
Upcoming Men’s Club events:

June 13: Mercedes Super Raffle and Cigar Night dinner which will be held at the
Tuscan Kitchen, Burlington, MA. That event will replace our regularly scheduled
meeting for June.

July 9: The Men’s Club barbeque, held at Sarkisian Farms in Andover, will be our final event before the summer break. Open to all men in the Merrimack Valley and beyond.

Story by Richard Shahtanian
     It’s hard to miss Armena Bizios on a Sunday morning. She is usually the first parishioner to enter the sanctuary, always entering on the right side, and always taking the same seat in the pews. Armena is a deeply religious woman who attributes her long healthy life of 94 years to the following pillars: her strong Christian faith, love for her family, and over a half century of unwavering dedication and service to Saint Gregory Armenian Apostolic Church of Merrimack Valley.
     In 1958, Armena married a nice young man from Haverhill named Hector “Middy” Bizios. Middy was raised in a Haverhill Greek Orthodox church and Armena in a Haverhill Armenian Apostolic church. They grew up in the same Haverhill neighborhood near Lafayette Square which was predominately made up of French, Armenian and Greek ethnicities. Back in those days, it was expected that she would marry an Armenian. But Armena and Middy’s love for each other made it acceptable (somewhat) to go against the grain and tradition. Nevertheless, they still had to have two wedding ceremonies: one at the Greek church and one at the Armenian church.
​      They agreed to raise their family in Haverhill but were still undecided whether to raise their children in the Armenian or Greek church until a special evening changed their lives forever. Sometime in 1971, St. Gregory was hosting a fundraising/social event and Armena and Middy attended thanks to invitations from a family friend of Armena named Arev Kasparian and a friend of Middy’s from the Rockingham Racetrack named Richard “Dick” Shahtanian. Upon entering the church hall that evening, Dick hollered and waved for Middy from across the hall to come over and meet a bunch of the guys. It was there that Dick introduced Middy to a few of the St. Gregory stalwarts, specifically Michael Boloian, Sarkis Sarkisian, Jim Apovian, Greg Johnson, and Ara Shrestinian, all of whom would eventually become Middy’s lifelong friends. Middy and Armena had such a wonderful time that evening that they decided that night St. Gregory Church would be the place to call their family’s “spiritual home.”
    In the early years, as their children Charla and John attended Armenian and Sunday School, Armena and Middy became very active and supporting members of St. Gregory Church. As time passed and their kids began their adult lives (Charla became a successful attorney and is now an employment law consultant and John now works in the dental equipment industry), Armena and Middy continued serving on the Board of Trustees, Ladies Guild, ARS, Avak, Men’s Club, Food Fairs, and all the other organizations that still make our church operational today.
    In addition, Charla also recalls how her father and David Brundage were instrumental in starting the Men’s Club Scholarship Fund for St. Gregory students. However, it wasn’t until sometime around 1991 when their lives took a significant turn. Middy was approaching retirement at the former Bradlees Department Stores as a manager and Armena in typical fashion was working alongside him as a part-time department clerk and secretary also at Bradlees, when they agreed to chair the weekly St. Gregory Bingo games each and every Wednesday night which at that time was the church’s largest fundraiser.
​     Having a successful Bingo operation, which St. Gregory Church did for nearly 30 years, required significant parishioner participation to prepare and serve refreshments, sell tickets, call numbers, prepare and generate the required lottery paperwork, as well as setting up and cleaning the church hall and downstairs designated areas. Armena recalls having to leave their home around 3 p.m. on Wednesday afternoons and not returning home until well after 11 p.m. It was a true labor of love for both of them and they really enjoyed working alongside other parishioners who they called their best friends as well as talking with the bingo players, many of whom loyally attended every week.
     After Middy passed away in 2002, Armena didn’t slow down as she continued serving her church in the many capacities as she had in the past as well as attending Bible study on a regular basis. In addition, soon thereafter she volunteered to serve on the newly formed Building Committee and rarely missed a meeting, as the same can be said for everything else she participated in.
    In fact, Ann Apovian is amazed at her close friend’s dedication and resiliency: “Armena serves as an example for all of us. Her deep faith, love of God, and commitment to St. Gregory Church is second to none. For years she has worked hard in our kitchen, managed the “Country Kitchen” at our bazaars for at least 35 years, and she never complained… not once. I can’t remember her ever missing a picnic, bazaar or any other event. She brings that same work ethic to everything else she does for our church. She is simply an amazing person!”
     Often times there are only a few parishioners in the sanctuary at the very start of Divine Liturgy at 10:00 a.m. One person our parish priest, Rev. Fr. Stephan Baljian, can always count on seeing at 10:00 a.m. sharp is Armena Bizios. Der Stephan remarks: “Armena is in every aspect a staple of our church community. She has always been reliable for all these decades. She brings a spirit of pride and dedication to everything she does for our church, including simply attending on Sundays and rolling up her sleeves to work on countless events and projects. On the rare occasion she is absent from Sunday services or a church function, its doesn't quite feel the same without her there.”
     Armena continues keeping her body and mind in great shape. She prays at various times throughout the day and stays physically active and independent. She still enjoys golfing and participating in many other activities.
​     Armena’s memories of the last 50 plus years at St. Gregory Church are filled with endless joy and happiness. “St. Gregory was the foundation of our lives and that remains true for me today. We made lifelong friends through our church and our social life always centered around St. Gregory Church. When Middy passed away, I don’t know what I would have done without my church girls and all their love and support,” said Armena.
    Today, she prays that the younger generations can also find that same closeness and spiritual connection to St. Gregory Church as she and her generation experienced.

     ​“And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back.” Mark 16:2-8
    The women who came early to the tomb of our Lord Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday morning to anoint the Lord’s body with myrrh were faced with a few great challenges. The first was that since Jesus was crucified the day before the Sabbath (Saturday), the day on which according to the Jewish Law they were not allowed to do any work, they would be delayed until the next day for completing their task. The second was that, due to the circumstances surrounding the Lord’s trial and execution, their actions were probably under a watchful eye and visiting the tomb was most likely a dangerous action. At any rate, guards had been placed at the tomb, and who knows what orders they were under for dealing with anyone trying to gain access? Lastly, even if they were able to safely make it to the tomb undetected (albeit a day late) and to get past the guards, they still faced one last challenge: the large, heavy stone that had been secured at the entrance of the tomb.
     This was the obstacle that seemed to preoccupy them the most. “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” Indeed, it seemed to preoccupy them so much that as they nervously discussed the issue en route to the tomb, they became unaware their surroundings. Notice how they had to “look up” in order to actually notice that the stone had been rolled away? All the while they had been pondering about how they would get that stone away from the entrance to the tomb… how they would make the impossible possible. Yet, when they arrived at the tomb they saw that the stone had already been moved away for them. What a miracle! The impossible had been made possible by a power greater than their own – God’s power! Now I am sure they were amazed by what happened next: seeing the angel in the tomb and hearing the news that Christ was not in the tomb, but had indeed risen from the dead. However, the first emotion they experienced must have been relief that that stone wasn’t there. Now, that may have been for just a moment, as they may have soon after started to become alarmed as to why the stone had been moved. Was there something amiss? Had something happened to the Lord’s body? But nevertheless, even if it was only for a split second, I like to think that that first feeling in their heart was one of relief and gratefulness that the main obstacle they had worried about getting around had already been removed for them.
      Similarly to the women who needed to get to close to Jesus but faced an obstacle, sometimes there are obstacles to our getting close to God as well, and we feel that these obstacles are just too great for us to be able to get around. We want to go to him, to be in his presence, to be in his good graces, but there may be some sin or sinful habit, a reluctance or rebelliousness, or we have some kind of pain or anger that we are holding on to, which keeps us from being able to fully let go and come close to him in our hearts.
     What we need to understand, unlike the myrrh-bearing women of that first Easter Sunday, is that God knows our situation… he knows our needs and our necessities, more so than even realize! We often expect a lesson in problem solving, when what we really get is a lesson in having faith in God’s grace and trusting in his will.
     There is a story of a man who once fell off a cliff in the dark and on the way down grasped a branch and hung on for dear life. Exasperated at what had just happened, hanging there precariously in the dark, he realized he had to cling to that branch for dear life or else it meant certain doom for him. Weakening, he finally cried out to heaven, “Please, help me!” Then he heard the voice of God say, “Let go!”
    “But if I let go, I’ll surely die,” the man replied. But “Let go!” was the response that he heard. When finally he could hold on no longer, he did let go, knowing it was the horrible end. To his great surprise, the ground was only a foot below him!
     Only when we put our trust in God can we be freed from our worries and start to feel his power in our lives. Like he mercifully raised the very earth itself to meet that man, or rolled away the big stoned that stood as an obstacle in between the Holy Myrrh-bearers and Jesus’s body, our Lord will also come to us, bend to us, move mountains for us, when we need him to. He will find the solution. He will make things possible when they seem possible. We only have to seek out his will for our lives, much like the women sought out the body of their Lord and the man from the story sought out emergency aid from God in heaven.
      But the greatest obstacle God shows that he has removed today is the obstacle of death, and particularly spiritual death, which is the kind of eternal death that goes beyond the natural of the death of the physical body, which awaits every single human being. Spiritual death is the death that comes from being cut off from the divine presence of God completely. Jesus himself said, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both body and soul in hell.” (Matthew 10:28)
     We will all die a bodily death someday, but what we must try to avoid is the eternal death of our spirits. It’s like the stone rolled in front of the tomb… how do we avoid it? What can we do about it? How will ever be able to move it so we can get around it??   Thanks be to God that today the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ rolls that proverbial stone away and restores our relationship with God, our heavenly Father. The introit for today’s liturgy reads, “He trampled over death by his death, and by his resurrection granted us life.”
      Jesus’s death and resurrection is the “who will roll away the stone?” moment for us. We don’t know how or why, but he made the impossible possible for us. He made sinners like us, who stand convicted of sin and disobedience before the Almighty Judge, righteous and sinless before him. Not because we moved the stone ourselves, not because we figured out a way to save ourselves from the peril of the threatening abyss… but because he, through his steadfast love, saved us and invited us to inherit his eternal kingdom.
     Paul the Apostle, in his letter to the Romans, sums it up this way, “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God.” (Romans 5:6-9)
We have been justified through his blood. We have been saved through him… He has rolled the stone blocking our path to God away. Today, let us now wonder about how we will bring about all these things. Let us instead contemplate how God gives us what we need and makes the things that need to happen for us happen.
    Dearly beloved brothers and sisters, on this beautiful Easter Sunday morning, the stone is rolled away and the tomb is empty! Through the resurrected and glorified Jesus Christ, God is now closer to you, to me and to us than ever before! No more obstacles. No more worries. Believe in him, trust in him!

Prayerfully,
Fr. Stephan Baljian, Pastor
Holy Pascha - Holy Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ
March 31, 2024