THE SUNDAY MESSENGER
April 12, 2020

EASTER SUNDAY

Feast of the Glorious Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ 

The Feast of the Glorious Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ or the Easter Feast is one of the five major feasts of the Armenian Church. The main origin of the feast is the following.

The Mystery of Easter is the mystery of Jesus Christ, His Salutary Holy Blood shed for mankind and His Rising from the dead for mankind. The Son of God should incarnate, be subjected to tortures, be crucified, buried and the third day raise from death (Ps 15:9-11, 29:4, 40:11-13, 117:16-17, Ho 6:2-3).

Following the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ His body was taken off the cross and placed into the tomb and the entrance to the tomb was closed by a large stone and the soldiers were ordered to control the entrance to the tomb. After three days the three women, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the Mother of James and Joseph, and the wife of Zebedee brought spices and perfumes to anoint the body of Jesus. They found the stone rolled away from the entrance to the tomb, so they went in but they didn’t find the body of the Lord. They stood there puzzled about this, when suddenly two angels dressed in white appeared and said to them, “Why are you looking among the dead for one who is alive? He is not here, he has been raised” (Lk 24:5-6). The women returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven disciples and the rest. According to Peter more than 500 people saw Christ who had risen from the dead. So, this is the evangelical tiding of the fact of Easter or Holy Resurrection.

Christ died for the salvation of mankind and by His Blood took away the sin in the world, so that we should inherit eternal life.

Fifty-day period beginning from the Easter Feast – the Holy Feast of the Glorious Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ – and lasting till Pentecost in the Holy Armenian Apostolic Church is called Hinounk or Hinants period. That period is dedicated to the mystery of Resurrection of the Lord, and that is why it is Dominical period.

The last ten days of the Hinants period are dedicated to the Ascension of Christ. Hianats period is concluded with the Feast of Ascension. According to the Church laws there are no fasting days during all fifty days of Hinants period, which means that all people can eat everything during that period.

TODAY’S BIBLE READINGS:

Acts 1: 15-26 (pages 108-109) New Testament
Mark 16: 2-8 (page 50) New Testament – (Please follow the Armenian Reading in your Bible)

“LORD, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night….” (Nehemiah 1:5-6). Prayers are requested for Edward Tatoian, Rose Minassian, Ethel Terzian, Taron Poghosyan, Alice Charles and Armen & Theodora Mirakian.

ALTAR FLOWERS (LILIES), HOLY SATURDAY and CHRIST TOMB FLOWERS are donated by:

• Ralph and Nane Arpajian
• Fred and Denise Hess in memory of Helen Mirijanian
• Joyce Killian in memory of Patrick Killian and John & Dorothy Chalikian
• Thomas Torcomian in memory of Fran Torcomian
• John Bandaian in memory of the Bandaian Family
• Jan D. Mirijanian in memory of John D. Mirijanian
• Linda Santerian in memory of Albert Santerian
• Eric and Tia Silk
• Susan Karpinski in memory of Ara and Lillian Ambarian & Robert Karpinski
• Merle Santerian in memory of Ned Santerian, Dr. Corrine Santerian Moore, John & Rose Serabian
• Jeanette Der Hagopian

FAR UPDATE: Ayo! Raises More than $14,000 in 24 Hours for its Emergency Covid-19 Campaign
During its first 24 hours, Ayo! raised more than $14,000 for its COVID-19 Emergency Fundraising Campaign.

Ayo!, the crowdfunding initiative of Fund for Armenian Relief, decided to launch the campaign to supplement the efforts of the Armenian government, other non-profits and local businesses to help the thousands of those who have suffered job or income losses, and those in dire need as a result of Armenia’s shelter-in-place mandate. Often these people are single mothers and people with families to support. Many of them come from communities that were already in great need.

Donations raised through Ayo!’s campaign will fund food parcels, hygiene supplies, medical kits, and other necessities. Ayo!’s team is partnering with local partners in the non-profit and government sectors to make distributions.

The initial amount raised is already enough to fund support packages to about 500 people, but the need is far greater. To learn more about Ayo!’s campaign and how to support it, go to https://weareayo.org/home. Please help in any way you can – big or small!