16 August 2015

On 15 August 2015 His Excellency Raphael Archbishop Minassian-Ordinary of Armenian Catholics of Armenia, Georgia, Russia and Eastern Europe ordained deacon Narek Mnoyan a priest.

The ordination took place in the newly built Cathedral Church of Holy Martyrs in Gyumri, in the process of Holy Mass served by His Excellency and with the assistance of Armenian Catholic priests who serve in the parishes of Armenia, Georgia and Eastern Europe (Mons. Mesrop Soulahian, F. Nerses Galstian, F. Garnik Hovsepian, F. Anton Grigorian, F. Raphael Kravchik, F. Karapet Tadeosian, F. Grigor Mkrtchian, F. Narek Tadevosian). Also, there were present two priests of Armenian Apostolic Church who are friends with the newly ordained Father Narek.

In accordance with the ritual tradition, the Archbishop installed his hands over the head of the candidate and prayed:

“I put my hands on and all of you pray for him to be worthy to keep the priesthood unstained before the holy table of the Lord…!”.

Then the Archbishop, with the help of the auxiliary priests, put the priestly clothes on the newly ordained priests, anointed his palms and forehead, breathed over him transmitting the grace of the Holy Spirit and uttering the words of the Lord Jesus.

After the rite of the ordination, the canon of the Mass continued to the end, and then His Excellency Raphael Minassian said to those present and the newly consecrated priest:

“Father Narek has been swimming against the tide since his very childhood. Having faced all the difficulties as a child, while growing up, while preparing for the priesthood, he remained faithful with unbreakable will to reach the priesthood…”.

His Excellency got excited and confused a little, and after a little break, continued.

“I’m excited because we have now another warrior for the Church of Christ, who must labour hard, get persecuted, criticized, but always stay belonging to Christ. I’ve also passed through this, and I’m still standing before the altar. I wish you to go ahead with an unbreakable will and faithful to your call because your glory is in that-in your lowliness, in your love when persecuted, in your simplicity when criticized, in your silence, smile…because it is not this world that awaits you but Jesus Christ”.

Father Narek Mnoyan was born on 29 March 1990, in Gyumri. He started to attend the Armenian Catholic Church regularly at the age of six. Narek Entered seminary when he was 13. He continued his study in the faculty of Theology of the Yerevan State University in 2005-2008, then from 2010-2012 in Gevorgian Seminary in Echmiadzin, after that, in October 2012 Narek entered the Papal University of the Salesian Order in Rome where he is still doing his classes. During the study Narek worked for the Armenian service of Radio Vatican preparing programmes on the Armenian Liturgy.

Narek was ordained Deacon on 2 September 2012.

On 16 August 2015-the feast of Mary’s Assumption into Heaven- Father Narek Mnoyan served his first Holy Mass in the same Cathedral Church dedicated to Saint Martyrs. In his sermon Father Narek thanked God for the grace of being ordained a priest in the newly built and long awaited Cathedral Church of the Armenian Catholic Church in Armenia, which in not yet anointed. The consecration ceremony is scheduled for 24 September 2015. He said he too was wrapped in the swaddles of the catholic parish of Gyumri like the infant Jesus in Nazareth, so it’s a great joy for him to be commence priestly mission in his native town. Father Narek asked for the prayers of the believers for himself.

As the Armenian tradition goes, after the Mass, Father Narek blessed the grapes, and the believers congratulated him on the first Holy Mass service.

After the Mass, His Excellency had an interview with the reporters and talked about the significance of this and the upcoming ordinations scheduled for 2015 in the light of the 100^th memorial of the Armenian Genocide. He said it is a great joy that there are pure souls in the Armenian nation who resolute to dedicate themselves to the service of God withstanding the claims, illusions of this world: it is a sign of the Lord’s charity towards the Armenian nation.

On the same day an ordination of a deacon also took place, before the Holy Mass. Vahe Lazarian was ordained a Deacon, he is now called Deacon Mashtots Lazarian. The newly consecrated deacon is 41 years old, was educated in the seminary of Mkhitarist Order, in San Lazaro, Italy. Deacon Mashtots is the founder and the director of a publishing company: he has translated from Italian into Armenian and published 29 theological and philosophical works, several of which can be found on his web-site  www.mashtoz.org.

Levon Galstian