{"id":26910,"date":"2026-06-22T20:22:54","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T16:22:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/armenianchurchco.com\/?p=26910"},"modified":"2026-06-22T20:24:42","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T16:24:42","slug":"training-days-for-altar-servers-in-yerevan-june-1-5-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/armenianchurchco.com\/en\/26910.html","title":{"rendered":"Training Days for Altar Servers in Yerevan: June 1\u20135, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

From June 1 to June 5, 2026, training days for Altar Servers were organized at the Armenian Catholic Ordinariate’s premises in Yerevan, by the initiative and blessing of the Ordinary of Armenian Catholics, His Excellency Archbishop Kevork Noradounguian.<\/p>\n

The courses were led by the Very Reverend Father Petros Ts. Vrt. Yesayan, pastor of the Armenian Catholics of Moscow and Deacon of the Armenian Catholic communities in Russia, in cooperation with:\u00a0Very Reverend Father Mikayel Khachkalyan, Deacon of the Armenian Catholic communities in Georgia, Reverend Father Komitas\u00a0 Daveyan, Reverend Father Hovsep Galstyan, Reverend Father Ruben Missisyan, Reverend Father Mikayel Domburyan and Mrs. Gohar Shakhulyan, singing instructor.<\/p>\n

The course was attended by 56 children and young adults aged 10 to 27 from various communities across Armenia and Georgia.<\/p>\n

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A Comprehensive Agenda<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

The busy agenda included theoretical discussions on the meaning of the Holy Mass (Divine Liturgy) and Altar service, as well as practical lessons to ensure precision in serving at the Holy Altar. It also featured lessons in prayer recitation and singing, daily Holy Mass and recitation of the Holy Rosary, active sports (including a football match and other games), and a pilgrimage to the Holy Mother of God (Sourb Astvatsatsin) Church and fortress in Bjni.<\/p>\n

For the youths and children, these days provided an opportunity not only to enrich their knowledge but also to interact more closely with the clergy and receive answers to the questions on their minds. They expressed a deep interest in the specific characteristics of the Armenian Catholic rite\u2014for which they hold an enthusiastic love\u2014as well as various matters of faith and Christian doctrine. They sought to clarify their own views and understandings on these subjects through formal classes and informal meetings with the clergy.<\/p>\n

\n

Key Addresses by the Archbishop<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

His Excellency Archbishop Kevork Noradounguian held two meetings with the youth, focusing on the Mystery of the Holy Mass and the priestly vocation.<\/p>\n

The Archbishop invited them, first and foremost, to reflect upon the spirit of service<\/b>, without which ritual actions lose their meaning. He emphasized that one must realize why a server ascends the Altar and what the purpose of that service is. Hidden behind every action is a profound spiritual meaning that must be understood. The Archbishop also encouraged them to foster fraternal relationships among fellow servers.<\/p>\n

During his session on priestly ministry, the Ordinary shared his personal story of responding to the call to priesthood. It began in his early childhood with simple prayers and a love for the Holy Mass, developing and maturing as he realized that secular professions were not for him; his sole path was spiritual service to God and the Church. His story prompted the participants to reflect on how God calls individuals to the priesthood or other forms of ministry, illustrating that each person’s relationship with God is a unique story worthy of attention.<\/p>\n

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Discerning the Call<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

On the final day, the servers listened to a discussion by the Very Reverend Father Petros Yesayan regarding the discernment of a priestly vocation and entering holy ministry. The youth showed great interest in these stories, attempting to discern their own life paths and a potential calling from God to dedicate themselves to religious service.<\/p>\n

\n

\n

Fr. Hovsep Priest Galstyan<\/b><\/p>\n

Chancellor of the Armenian Catholic Ordinariate<\/i><\/p>\n

June 5, 2026<\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Serving the Holy of Holies, Striving for Holiness<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26823,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,44,36],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/armenianchurchco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26910"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/armenianchurchco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/armenianchurchco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/armenianchurchco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/armenianchurchco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26910"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/armenianchurchco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26910\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26913,"href":"http:\/\/armenianchurchco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26910\/revisions\/26913"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/armenianchurchco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/armenianchurchco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/armenianchurchco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/armenianchurchco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}