Full name of the Armenian church. Why is the Armenian Church called Apostolic and Gregorian?

In 301, Armenia became the first country to adopt Christianity as a state religion. For many centuries there has been no church unity between us, but this does not interfere with the existence of good neighborly relations. At the meeting held on March 12 with the Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to Russia O.E. Yesayan, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill noted: “Our relations go back centuries... The closeness of our spiritual ideals, the common moral and spiritual value system in which our peoples live are a fundamental component of our relations.”

Readers of our portal often ask the question: “What is the difference between Orthodoxy and Armenian Christianity”?

Archpriest Oleg Davydenkov,d Doctor of Theology, Head of the Department of Eastern Christian Philology and Eastern Churches of the Orthodox St. Tikhon's Theological University answers questions from the portal “Orthodoxy and the World” about the pre-Chalcedonian churches, one of which is Armenian Church.

– Father Oleg, before talking about the Armenian direction of Monophysitism, tell us about what Monophysitism is and how it arose?

– Monophysitism is a Christological teaching, the essence of which is that in the Lord Jesus Christ there is only one nature, and not two, as it teaches Orthodox Church. Historically, it appeared as an extreme reaction to the heresy of Nestorianism and had not only dogmatic, but also political reasons.

Orthodox Church confesses in Christ one person (hypostasis) and two natures - divine and human. Nestorianism teaches about two persons, two hypostases and two natures. M Onophysites but they fell to the opposite extreme: in Christ they recognize one person, one hypostasis and one nature. From a canonical point of view, the difference between the Orthodox Church and the Monophysite churches is that the latter do not recognize the Ecumenical Councils, starting with the IVth Council of Chalcedon, which adopted the definition of faith (oros) about two natures in Christ, which converge into one person and into one hypostasis .

The name “Monophysites” was given by Orthodox Christians to the opponents of Chalcedon (they call themselves Orthodox). Systematically, the Monophysite Christological doctrine was formed in the 6th century, thanks primarily to the works of Sevirus of Antioch (+ 538).

Modern non-Chalcedonians are trying to modify their teaching, claiming that their fathers are unfairly accused of Monophysitism, since they anathematized Eutychus 1, but this is a change in style that does not affect the essence of the Monophysit doctrine. The works of their modern theologians indicate that there are no fundamental changes in their doctrine, no significant differences between the Monophysite Christology of the 6th century. and there is no modern one. Back in the 6th century. the doctrine of the “single complex nature of Christ” appears, composed of divinity and humanity and possessing the properties of both natures. However, this does not imply the recognition of two perfect natures in Christ - the divine nature and the human nature. In addition, monophysitism is almost always accompanied by a monophilite and mono-energist position, i.e. the teaching that in Christ there is only one will and one action, one source of activity, which is the deity, and humanity turns out to be its passive instrument.

– Is the Armenian direction of Monophysitism different from its other types?

- Yes, it’s different. Currently, there are six non-Chalcedonian churches (or seven, if the Armenian Etchmiadzin and Cilician Catholicosates are considered as two, de facto autocephalous churches). The ancient Eastern churches can be divided into three groups:

1) Syro-Jacobites, Copts and Malabarians (Malankara Church of India). This is the monophysitism of the Sevirian tradition, which is based on the theology of Sevirus of Antioch.

2) Armenians (Etchmiadzin and Cilician Catholics).

3) Ethiopians (Ethiopian and Eritrean churches).

The Armenian Church in the past differed from other non-Chalcedonian churches; even Sevier of Antioch itself was anathematized by the Armenians in the 6th century. at one of the Dvina Councils as an insufficiently consistent Monophysite. The theology of the Armenian Church was significantly influenced by aphthartodocetism (the doctrine of the incorruptibility of the body of Jesus Christ from the moment of the Incarnation). The appearance of this radical Monophysite teaching is associated with the name of Julian of Halicarnassus, one of Sevier’s main opponents within the Monophysite camp.

At present, all Monophysites, as the theological dialogue shows, come out from more or less the same dogmatic positions: this is a Christology close to the Christology of Sevier.

Speaking about the Armenians, it should be noted that the consciousness of the modern Armenian Church is characterized by pronounced adogmatism. While other non-Chalcedonian churches show considerable interest in their theological heritage and are open to Christological discussion, the Armenians, on the contrary, have little interest in their own Christological tradition. Currently, interest in the history of Armenian Christological thought is rather shown by some Armenians who consciously converted from the Armenian Gregorian Church to Orthodoxy, both in Armenia itself and in Russia.

– Is there currently a theological dialogue with the Pre-Chalcedonian churches?

– It is being carried out with varying success. The result of such a dialogue between Orthodox Christians and the Ancient Eastern (Pre-Chalcedonian) churches was the so-called Chambesian agreements. One of the main documents is the Chambesian Agreement of 1993, which contains an agreed text of Christological teaching, and also contains a mechanism for restoring communication between the “two families” of Churches through the ratification of agreements by the synods of these Churches.

The Christological teaching of these agreements aims to find a compromise between the Orthodox and Ancient Eastern churches on the basis of a theological position that could be characterized as “moderate monophysitism”. They contain ambiguous theological formulas that admit of a Monophysite interpretation. Therefore, the reaction in the Orthodox world to them is not clear: four Orthodox Churches accepted them, some accepted them with reservations, and some were fundamentally against these agreements.

The Russian Orthodox Church also recognized that these agreements are insufficient to restore Eucharistic communion, since they contain ambiguities in Christological teaching. Continued work is required to resolve unclear interpretations. For example, the teaching of the Agreements about wills and actions in Christ can be understood both diphysitely (Orthodox) and monophysitely. It all depends on how the reader understands the relationship between will and hypostasis. Is the will considered as a property of nature, as in Orthodox theology, or is it assimilated into hypostasis, which is characteristic of Monophysitism? The Second Agreed Statement of 1990, which underpins the 1993 Chambesian Accords, does not answer this question.

With the Armenians today, a dogmatic dialogue is hardly possible at all, due to their lack of interest in problems of a dogmatic nature. After in the mid-90s. It became clear that the dialogue with the non-Chalcedonians had reached a dead end, the Russian Orthodox Church began two-way dialogues - not with all the non-Chalcedonian Churches together, but with each one separately. As a result, three directions for bilateral dialogues were identified: 1) with the Syro-Jacobites, Copts and the Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia, who agreed to conduct dialogue only in this composition; 2) the Etchmiadzin Catholicosate and 3) with the Ethiopian Church (this direction has not been developed). The dialogue with the Etchmiadzin Catholicosate did not touch upon dogmatic issues. The Armenian side is ready to discuss issues of social service, pastoral practice, various problems of social and church life, but shows no interest in discussing dogmatic issues.

– How are Monophysites accepted into the Orthodox Church today?

- Through repentance. Priests are accepted in their existing rank. This is an ancient practice; this is how non-Chalcedonites were received in the era of the Ecumenical Councils.

Alexander Filippov spoke with Archpriest Oleg Davydenkov.

Information related to the most ancient period history of the Armenian Church are few in number. The main reason for this is that the Armenian alphabet was created only at the beginning of the century.

The history of the first centuries of the existence of the Armenian Church was passed down orally from generation to generation and only in the 5th century was it recorded in writing in historiographical and hagiographical literature.

A number of historical evidence (in Armenian, Syriac, Greek and Latin) confirm the fact that Christianity in Armenia was preached by the holy apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew, who were thus the founders of the Church in Armenia.

According to the Holy Tradition of the Armenian Church, after the Ascension of the Savior, one of His disciples, Thaddeus, arriving in Edessa, healed the king of Osroene Abgar from leprosy, ordained Addaeus as a bishop and went to Greater Armenia preaching the Word of God. Among the many who converted him to Christ was the daughter of the Armenian king Sanatruk Sandukht. For professing Christianity, the apostle, together with the princess and other converts, accepted martyrdom by order of the king in Shavarshan, in the Gavar Artaz.

A few years later, in the 29th year of the reign of Sanatruk, the Apostle Bartholomew, after preaching in Persia, arrived in Armenia. He converted the sister of King Vogui and many nobles to Christ, after which, by order of Sanatruk, he accepted martyrdom in the city of Arebanos, which is located between lakes Van and Urmia.

A fragment of a historical work has reached us, telling about the martyrdom of Sts. Voskeans and Sukiaseans in Armenia at the end - beginning of centuries. The author refers to the "Word" of Tatian (II century), who was well acquainted with the history of the apostles and the first Christian preachers. According to this scripture, the disciples of the Apostle Thaddeus, led by Hryusiy (Greek “gold”, in Armenian “wax”), who were Roman ambassadors to the Armenian king, after the martyrdom of the Apostle, settled at the sources of the Euphrates River, in the Tsakhkeats gorges. After the accession of Artashes, they came to the palace and began to preach the Gospel.

Being busy with the war in the east, Artashes asked the preachers to come to him again after his return and continue conversations about Christ. In the absence of the king, the Voskeans converted to Christianity some of the courtiers who had arrived from the country of the Alans to Queen Satenik, for which they were martyred by the king's sons. The Alan princes, converted to Christianity, left the palace and settled on the slopes of Mount Jrabashkh, where, after living for 44 years, they suffered martyrdom led by their leader Sukias on the orders of the Alan king.

Dogmatic features of the Armenian Church

The dogmatic theology of the Armenian Church is based on the teachings of the great fathers of the Church - centuries: St. Athanasius of Alexandria (†370), St. Basil the Great (†379), St. Gregory the Theologian (†390), St. Gregory of Nyssa (†394), St. Cyril of Alexandria (†444) and others, as well as on the dogmas adopted at the Nicaea (325), Constantinople (381) and Ephesus (431) Ecumenical Councils.

The break with Orthodoxy in the Armenian Church arose in the question of the union of two - Divine and human - natures in Christ (Monophysite heresy).

Russian theologian of the late 19th century. I. Troitsky, analyzing the “Exposition of Faith” by Nerses Shnorali, came to the following conclusions.

1. Nerses Shnorali, according to the Council of Chalcedon, defines the incarnation as the union of two natures: Divine and human.
2. In accordance with the Orthodox Church, it recognizes the body of Jesus Christ as consubstantial with the body of the Virgin Mary, avoiding the error of Eutyches about the heterogeneity of the body of Christ with the human body in general.
3. In accordance with the Orthodox Church, it recognizes that all the essential properties of both natures have been preserved completely in union, and thus rejects the disappearance of human nature in the Divine and the transformation of one nature into another.
4. According to the Orthodox Church, it recognizes the communion of properties.
5. In accordance with the Orthodox Church, he condemns Eutyches and the Monophysites.

From the Middle Ages until recent years The Armenian Church called the Orthodox Dyophysite, and the Armenian Orthodox Church - Monophysite.

In the city of Aargus (Denmark), a dialogue began between theologians of the Orthodox and Ancient Eastern Churches. The parties came to the following conclusions:

• The Orthodox Churches are not Dyophysitism, for Dyophysitism is Nestorianism, and the Orthodox Churches reject Nestorianism.
• The Ancient Eastern Churches, including the Armenian, are not Monophysit, for Monophysitism is a Eutychian heresy, which is anathematized by the Armenian Church.

The dialogue continues to this day.

Church organization

The Etchmiadzin Catholicosate is religiously subordinate to the Cilician Catholicosate (Antilias), the Jerusalem and Constantinople Patriarchates and diocesan administrations: in the USA (California and North America), in South America, in Western Europe (center in Paris), in the Near and Middle East (Iran- Azerbaijani, Tehran, Isfahan, Iraqi, Egyptian), in the Far East (Indian-Far Eastern), in the Balkans (Romanian, Bulgarian and Greek).

Armenians living within Turkey are subordinate to the Armenian-Gregorian Patriarch of Constantinople, while those living within Persia, Russia and Armenia are under the jurisdiction of the Etchmiadzin Patriarch. This last patriarch is considered the head of all Armenians of the Gregorian confession and has the title of Catholicos. The main principles of the hierarchical structure and governance of the Armenian Gregorian Church are similar to those adopted in the Orthodox Church.

Etchmiadzin: city and temple

Until 1945, Etchmiadzin was called Vagharshapat. This city was founded by King Vagharsh, and for a century and a half it was even the Armenian capital. There are almost no traces of those times left. But the Soviet times, when the city was the administrative center of the Armenian SSR, are reminiscent of many things here. I’ll say right away that there are three Etchmiadzins in Armenia: the city already familiar to us, the cathedral and the monastery that has developed around it. On the territory of the latter is the residence of the Catholicos - the head of the Armenian Church. For Armenians, Etchmiadzin is the center of gravity, if not the center of the universe. Every Armenian is obliged to visit here, no matter how far from his homeland he lives, no matter where he was born. Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II: “Holy Etchmiadzin is not only an Armenian, but also a world shrine. We are pleased to note that the heads of fraternal churches regularly visit Holy Etchmiadzin, and together we offer a prayer to our Lord, asking for peace for peace and brotherhood for nations. Children of others Churches visit the capital city in order to become familiar with our history, church and traditions."

Christianity was brought to Armenia by the companions of Christ, the apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew. That is why the Armenian Church is called Apostolic. In 301, earlier than anywhere else, Christianity became the state religion. Largely thanks to the sermon of the first bishop of Armenia, Gregory the Illuminator. Subsequently, he was canonized, in memory of him the Apostolic Church is also called the Armenian-Gregorian. The construction of the cathedral was started by the first Bishop of Armenia, Gregory. He had a vision: the only begotten son of God descended to earth and with a golden hammer pointed out the place where the holy altar should stand. Therefore, the cathedral erected on this very spot was called Etchmiadzin, which translated from Armenian means “the Only Begotten descended,” that is, Jesus Christ. Since then, Etchmiadzin has become the spiritual center of Armenia, the heart of Armenian Christianity. Agvan Gasparyan, deacon, translator of the sacristy at the Cathedral of St. Etchmiadzin: “Over time, so that the foot of a mortal would not stain the place of the descent of the Only Begotten, a small altar, or altar of descent, was erected. Services dedicated to the first Patriarch Gregory the Illuminator are held here.”

I had the opportunity to attend a solemn liturgy dedicated to the 1700th anniversary of the establishment of the Catholicosate in Armenia. The first Catholicos was the already mentioned Gregory the Illuminator. The current one, Garegin Narsesyan, is the 132nd. "Katalikos" means "universal". For Armenians, even non-believers, he is the father of the nation.

The Armenian Church is close to the Orthodox, but the influence of Catholicism is very noticeable in it. For example, the walls of Armenian churches are decorated not with icons, but with paintings. The service is accompanied by an organ. Some elements of church vestments were also borrowed from Catholics. Clothes for priests are sewn in a workshop near Etchmiadzin. Margarita has been working here for 37 years, and her daughter Ruzana works with her. Orders come from all over the world. The priest's everyday costume is a kaba in grey, black or beige. Embroidered fabrics for festive vestments are purchased in Italy and Syria. These conical tag hoods are characteristic only of the Armenian Church...

On the days of major holidays, there is nowhere for an apple to fall in Armenian churches. Sunday liturgies are also crowded. I was surprised to discover that not all the women in the temple had their heads covered. No one made any comments to them, much less tried to put them out on the street. A man came to the temple, and this is the main thing. But even a non-believer can observe traditions... Armenians cross themselves from left to right, like Catholics, but with three fingers, like Orthodox Christians. Then they put their hand to their chest - no one else does this. The Armenian Church, along with the Coptic, Ethiopian and Syrian, is one of the ancient Eastern Orthodox churches. Therefore, the order of service in them is closer to the Orthodox. Catholicos of All Armenians, Karekin II: “Since 1962, the Armenian Church has been a member of the World Council of Churches and maintains ties with other fraternal churches. However, we have closer relations with the Russian Orthodox Church. These relations reflect the warm relations between our peoples and states. In In theological sense, our Church, as an Eastern Orthodox Church, is much closer to the family of Orthodox churches." Despite all the similarities between the Armenian Apostolic and Russian Orthodox Churches, there are significant differences. They relate to dogma, features of worship and rituals. Armenians, for example, sacrifice a bull, a ram or a rooster on major holidays. Many sacraments are performed differently in these two churches.

I was invited to the baptism of Rafael Kandelyan, he recently turned one year old. What I saw was very different from our usual procedure. The ceremony lasted about an hour. And the entire priest dedicated it to Raphael alone, and not to twenty screaming babies at once. Baptism is God's adoption. The ritual is performed by immersion in blessed water three times, and when it is cold, by washing the face and parts of the body. All this is accompanied by the words: “This servant of God (in this case Raphael), who came from infancy to baptism, is baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit...” Armenians have only godfathers, no godmothers. Simultaneously with baptism, confirmation is performed, in Armenian “droshm”, “seal”. Each part of the body has its own prayer. For example, the anointing of the feet is accompanied by the following words: “May this Divine Seal correct your procession into Eternal Life.” Ashot Karapetyan, godfather: “This is a very important ceremony. A person is filled with faith in God, faith in good things, and I think this is one of the most important ceremonies in life, like a wedding, like a birth. Despite the fact that the child is one year old, he behaved solid, so to speak, ha ha ha."

In the Armenian Church, since the time of George the Illuminator, sacrifices, matah, have been practiced. Animals are usually sacrificed. If a child is born, be sure to go to church and ask the priest to perform the ceremony. If one of the relatives dies, then matah is performed for the repose of the soul. In Etchmiadzin, at the Church of St. Gayane, there is a special room where the butcher slaughters sacrificial rams and bulls. Other Christian churches consider matah a relic of paganism. Armenians do not agree with this. After all, meat goes to the poor, and who else but Christ commanded to love your neighbor.

Etchmiadzin is not only the Cathedral, the residence of the Patriarch and the monastery. These are also several temples that are highly revered by the people. Church of Saint Repsime. She was a martyr. Every Armenian knows her story... In 300, 33 Capadocian Christian women hid in Armenia from persecution by the Romans. The Armenian king Trdat was inflamed with passion for one of them, the beautiful Repsime. The girl rejected the king. For this, Trdat ordered the execution of all refugees. After the execution he became seriously ill. And Saint Gregory helped him. He buried the remains of the virgins and healed the king. The grateful Trdat accepted Christ’s teaching, and a church was built at the site of the execution of Christian women. Couples from all over Armenia go to the Church of St. Repsime to get married. I spent only a short time in this holy place and witnessed three weddings. For some reason, Armenians call this sacrament marriage. As we were leaving, more newlyweds arrived at the temple. Arthur is a US citizen. His fiancee Nvart is from Yerevan. Before the wedding, the newlyweds registered their marriage at the registry office. According to Armenian laws, this can be done if the bride is 16 and the groom is 18.

Armenia has lost its statehood more than once. Therefore, the church for Armenians is a symbol of unity. And not only spiritual. People come to church to pray, light a candle, and at the same time chat with friends. The year before last, thousands of people from all over the country, hundreds of representatives of the Armenian diaspora, came to Etchmiadzin. Once every seven years, the rite of consecration is held here. Myrrh is a special composition of fragrant substances for sacred anointing. In Armenia, it is made from olive oil, to which a special balm and 40 types of different aromatic mixtures are added. The components are boiled separately, then mixed and blessed. In addition to the Catholicos, 12 Armenian bishops participate in the ceremony. Representatives of the Apostolic Church come from Constantinople, Jerusalem and Beirut. They take turns pouring the ingredients into the cauldron and always the old myrrh left over from the previous ceremony. It is believed that there is a little oil left in it, consecrated by Christ himself. Then the Catholicos plunges a spear into the cauldron, supposedly the same one with which the Roman centurion Longinus pierced the chest of the Savior and ended His suffering. They interfere with the world with the Hand of George the Illuminator. This is the name of the shrine in which the relics of the first Catholicos of Armenia are kept.

In 2001, Pope John Paul II brought the relics of the first Armenian Catholicos to Armenia. For five hundred years, the relics of St. Gregory the Illuminator were kept in Naples, and are now in the Etchmiadzin Cathedral. In addition to the Holy Spear and relics, Etchmiadzin contains many other shrines revered throughout the Christian world. Many of them were taken from Turkey after the massacre of 1915. The most precious: a fragment of Noah's Ark - the kneecap of John the Baptist, a piece of the Tree of the Cross on which Jesus was crucified, and finally, a fragment of the Savior's crown of thorns. There are national relics of a later period in Etchmiadzin. Father Wagram: “You see here the golden alphabet, made of gold and precious stones, which was prepared in 1976. According to the will of His Holiness the Catholicos of All Armenians Vazgen I. And the very idea of ​​​​creating this golden alphabet was this. That there are 2 factors of the identity of the Armenian people: the alphabet and the Christian faith. And with this idea this golden alphabet and golden cross were created." The Armenian alphabet consists of 36 letters. Each is correlated with a specific word. For example, the first "A" with the word "Astvats" - "God". The last "Ha" - with "Christ". The Armenians even have a prayer consisting of 33 lines. Each one begins with a new letter.

The fate of this cross is amazing. The gold from which it is made is a gift from an Armenian family living in France. It was not possible to legally transport precious metal to the USSR in Brezhnev times. Then they made jewelry from it and distributed it to French tourists of Armenian origin. They delivered the contraband to Etchmiadzin...

Tourists coming to Armenia must visit the picturesque ruins of the Temple of the Vigilant Forces, Zvartnots. They are located very close to Etchmiadzin. The temple was built in the 7th century, and in the 10th it collapsed due to the architect’s miscalculations. They are going to restore Zvartnots and transfer it to the Armenian Church. Previously, Christian worship was performed in Greek and Syriac. In churches there were interpreters who translated passages from the Holy Scriptures for parishioners. In 406, the enlightener Archimandrite Mesrop Mashtots created the Armenian alphabet. After this, the Bible was translated into Armenian, schools arose in Armenia, and literature was born. Azat Bazoyan, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Director of the Karekin I Theological Center: “This is the day of the saints, Sahak and Mesrop, who created the Armenian alphabet. All translators of the Bible were canonized. How many are there? All were canonized, it is impossible to say how many. But we know their names." At the beginning of the 20th century, some of the valuable books from the Etchmiadzin library were transferred to the national book depository - the Yerevan Matenadaran. But there is still a lot left - 30 thousand volumes. The collection is constantly growing, there is literally nowhere to put the books. Etchmiadzin library employees: “This was the personal library of Vazgen I, and now we are trying to restore order here, create catalogs for all publications.” The Etchmiadzin collection contains extremely rare publications. A new building is being built for the library. It will be open to everyone. In the meantime, only students of the Etchmiadzin Theological Academy can use it.

It was founded 130 years ago. After the coup of 1917 it was closed and reopened only in 1945. For a long time The Etchmiadzin Theological Academy was the only educational institution that trained priests for the Armenian Church. Rector of the Theological Academy, Archpriest Egishe Sarkisyan: “Our competition is quite high: two or three people per place. Studying at the academy is difficult. We have no tests, only exams. During the training, students take about 40 disciplines, including ritualistics and sharatan studies, spiritual chants. Most of our listeners are yesterday’s graduates of rural schools.” Every year the Academy graduates 15-20 people. They travel all over the world, to wherever there are Armenian parishes: Argentina, France, the USA, Greece. There are more than 60 Armenian churches in the CIS alone.

Currently, according to the canonical structure of the united Armenian Apostolic Church, there are two Catholicosates - the Catholicosate of All Armenians, with its center in Etchmiadzin (Armenian. Մայր Աթոռ Սուրբ Էջմիածին / Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin) and Cilician (Armenian) Մեծի Տանն Կիլիկիոյ Կաթողիկոսություն / Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia), with its center (since 1930) in Antilias, Lebanon. With the administrative independence of the Cilician Catholicos, the primacy of honor belongs to the Catholicos of All Armenians, who has the title of Supreme Patriarch of the AAC.

The Catholicos of All Armenians is under the jurisdiction of all dioceses within Armenia, as well as most foreign dioceses around the world, in particular in Russia, Ukraine and other countries of the former USSR. Under the administration of the Cilician Catholicos are the dioceses of Lebanon, Syria and Cyprus.

There are also two autonomous patriarchates of the AAC - Constantinople and Jerusalem, canonically subordinate to the Catholicos of All Armenians. The Patriarchs of Jerusalem and Constantinople have the ecclesiastical degree of archbishop. The Jerusalem Patriarchate is in charge of the Armenian churches of Israel and Jordan, and the Patriarchate of Constantinople is in charge of the Armenian churches of Turkey and the island of Crete (Greece).

Church organization in Russia

• New Nakhichevan and Russian Diocese Rostov Vicariate of the AAC Western Vicariate of the AAC

• Diocese of the South of Russia AAC North Caucasus Vicariate of the AAC

Spiritual degrees in the AAC

Unlike the Greek tripartite (bishop, priest, deacon) system of spiritual degrees of hierarchy, there are five spiritual degrees in the Armenian Church.

1. Catholicos/Head of the Bishop/ (has absolute authority to perform the Sacraments, including the Consecration of all spiritual levels of the hierarchy, including bishops and Catholicoses. The ordination and anointing of bishops is performed in the concelebration of two bishops. The anointing of a Catholicos is performed in the concelebration of twelve bishops).
2. Bishop, Archbishop (differs from the Catholicos in some limited powers. The bishop can ordain and anoint priests, but usually cannot independently ordain bishops, but only concelebrate with the Catholicos in episcopal ordination. When a new Catholicos is elected, twelve bishops will anoint him, elevating him to a spiritual degree).
3. Priest, Archimandrite(performs all the Sacraments except Ordination).
4. Deacon(will serve in the Sacraments).
5. Dpir(the lowest spiritual degree received at episcopal ordination. Unlike a deacon, he does not read the Gospel at the liturgy and does not offer the liturgical cup).

Dogmatics

Christology

The Armenian Apostolic Church belongs to the group of Ancient Eastern churches. She did not participate in the IV Ecumenical Council for objective reasons and, like all the Ancient Eastern churches, did not accept its resolutions. In its dogmatics, it is based on the decisions of the first three Ecumenical Councils and adheres to the pre-Chalcedonian Christology of St. Cyril of Alexandria, who professed One of the two natures of God, the Word incarnate (miaphysitism). Theological critics of the AAC argue that its Christology should be interpreted as Monophysitism, which the Armenian Church rejects, anathematizing both Monophysitism and Dyophysitism.

Icon veneration

Among critics of the Armenian Church there is an opinion that in early period Iconoclasm was characteristic of her. This opinion could arise due to the fact that in general there are few icons and no iconostasis in Armenian churches, but this is only a consequence of the local ancient tradition, historical conditions and the general asceticism of the decoration (that is, from the point of view of the Byzantine tradition of icon veneration, when everything is covered with icons walls of the temple, this can be perceived as a “lack” of icons or even “iconoclasm”). On the other hand, such an opinion could have developed due to the fact that believing Armenians usually do not keep icons at home. The Cross was more often used in home prayer. This is due to the fact that the icon in the AAC must certainly be consecrated by the hand of the bishop with holy chrism, and therefore it is more of a temple shrine than an indispensable attribute of home prayer.

According to critics of “Armenian iconoclasm”, the main reasons that determined its appearance are considered to be the rule of Muslims in Armenia in the 8th-9th centuries, whose religion prohibits images of people, “monophysitism”, which does not presuppose in Christ a human essence, and therefore, the subject of the image, as well as the identification of icon veneration with the Byzantine Church, with which the Armenian Apostolic Church had significant disagreements since the Council of Chalcedon. Well, since the presence of icons in Armenian churches testifies against the assertion of iconoclasm in the AAC, the opinion began to be put forward that, starting from the 11th century, in matters of icon veneration, the Armenian Church converged with the Byzantine tradition (although Armenia in subsequent centuries was under the rule of Muslims, and many The dioceses of the AAC are still located in Muslim territories today, despite the fact that there have never been any changes in Christology and the attitude towards the Byzantine tradition is the same as in the first millennium).

The Armenian Apostolic Church itself declares its negative attitude towards iconoclasm and condemns it, since it has its own history of fighting this heresy. Even at the end of the 6th - beginning of the 7th centuries (that is, more than a century before the emergence of iconoclasm in Byzantium, 8th-9th centuries), preachers of iconoclasm appeared in Armenia. The Dvina priest Hesu and several other clergy proceeded to the Sodk and Gardmank regions, where they preached the rejection and destruction of icons. The Armenian Church, represented by Catholicos Movses and theologians Vrtanes Kertoh and Hovhan Mayragometsi, ideologically opposed them. But the fight against the iconoclasts was not limited only to theology. The iconoclasts were persecuted and, captured by the Gardman prince, went to the court of the Church in Dvin. Thus, intra-church iconoclasm was quickly suppressed, but found soil in the sectarian popular movements of the mid-7th century. and the beginning of the 8th century, with which the Armenian and Alvan churches fought.

Calendar and ritual features

Vardapet (archimandrite) staff, Armenia, 1st quarter of the 19th century

Matah

One of the ritual features of the Armenian Apostolic Church is the matah (literally “offering salt”) or charity meal, mistakenly perceived by some as an animal sacrifice. The main meaning of matah is not in sacrifice, but in bringing a gift to God in the form of showing mercy to the poor. That is, if this can be called a sacrifice, then only in the sense of donation. This is a sacrifice of mercy, and not a blood sacrifice like the Old Testament or pagan ones.

The mataha tradition traces back to the words of the Lord:

When you make lunch or dinner, do not invite your friends, nor your brothers, nor your relatives, nor rich neighbors, so that they do not invite you and you receive reward. But when you make a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed that they cannot repay you, for you will be rewarded at the resurrection of the righteous. Luke 14:12-14

Matah in the Armenian Apostolic Church is performed on various occasions, most often as gratitude to God for mercy or with a request for help. Most often, matah is performed as a vow for the successful outcome of something, for example, the return of a son from the army or recovery from a serious illness of a family member, and is also performed as a petition for the repose of the deceased. However, matah is also customary to serve as a public meal for parish members during major church holidays or in connection with the consecration of a church.

Participation in the rite of the clergy is limited solely to the consecration of the salt with which the matah is prepared. It is forbidden to bring an animal to church, and therefore it is slaughtered by the donor at home. For matah, a bull, ram or poultry is slaughtered (which is perceived as a sacrifice). The meat is boiled in water with the addition of blessed salt. They distribute it to the poor or host a meal at home, and the meat should not be left for the next day. So the meat of a bull is distributed to 40 houses, a ram - to 7 houses, a rooster - to 3 houses. Traditional and symbolic mate, when a dove is used, it is released into the wild.

Forward post

The advanced fast, currently unique to the Armenian Church, occurs 3 weeks before Lent. The origin of fasting is associated with the fast of St. Gregory the Illuminator, after which he healed the sick king Trdat the Great.

Trisagion

In the Armenian Church, as in other Ancient Eastern Orthodox churches, unlike the Orthodox churches of the Greek tradition, the Trisagion hymn is sung not to the Divine Trinity, but to one of the Persons of the Triune God. More often this is perceived as a Christological formula. Therefore, after the words “Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal,” depending on the event celebrated at the Liturgy, an addition is made indicating one or another biblical event.

So in the Sunday Liturgy and on Easter it is added: “... who rose from the dead, have mercy on us.”

During the non-Sunday Liturgy and on the feasts of the Holy Cross: “... who was crucified for us, …”.

On the Annunciation or Epiphany (Christmas and Epiphany): “... who appeared for us, …”.

On the Ascension of Christ: “... that he ascended in glory to the Father, …”.

On Pentecost (Descent of the Holy Spirit): “... who came and rested on the apostles, …”.

And others...

Communion

Bread In the Armenian Apostolic Church, when celebrating the Eucharist, according to tradition, unleavened is used. The choice of Eucharistic bread (unleavened or leavened) is not given dogmatic significance.

Wine When celebrating the sacrament of the Eucharist, the whole thing is used, not diluted with water.

The consecrated Eucharistic bread (Body) is immersed by the priest into the Chalice with consecrated wine (Blood) and, broken into pieces with the fingers, is served to the communicant.

Sign of the Cross

In the Armenian Apostolic Church, the sign of the cross is three-fingered (similar to the Greek) and is performed from left to right (like the Latins). The AAC does not consider other versions of the Sign of the Cross, practiced in other churches, to be “wrong,” but perceives them as a natural local tradition.

Calendar features

The Armenian Apostolic Church as a whole lives according to the Gregorian calendar, but communities in the diaspora, on the territory of churches using the Julian calendar, with the blessing of the bishop can also live according to the Julian calendar. That is, the calendar is not given a “dogmatic” status. The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, according to the status quo accepted between the Christian churches that have rights to the Holy Sepulcher, lives according to the Julian calendar, like the Greek Patriarchate.

An important prerequisite for the spread of Christianity was the existence of Jewish colonies in Armenia. As is known, the first preachers of Christianity usually began their activities in those places where Jewish communities were located. Jewish communities existed in the main cities of Armenia: Tigranakert, Artashat, Vagharshapat, Zareavan, etc. Tertullian in the book “Against the Jews,” written in 197, telling about the peoples who adopted Christianity: Parthians, Lydians, Phrygians, Cappadocians, also mentions Armenians This evidence is confirmed by Blessed Augustine in his essay “Against the Manichaeans.”

At the end of the 2nd - beginning of the 3rd centuries, Christians in Armenia were persecuted by the kings Vagharsh II (186-196), Khosrow I (196-216) and their successors. These persecutions were described by the Bishop of Cappadocian Caesarea Firmilian (230-268) in his book “The History of the Persecution of the Church.” Eusebius of Caesarea mentions the letter of Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria, “On repentance to the brothers in Armenia, where Meruzhan was the bishop” (VI, 46. 2). The letter dates from 251-255. It proves that in the middle of the 3rd century there was a Christian community organized and recognized by the Universal Church in Armenia.

Adoption of Christianity by Armenia

The traditional historical date for the proclamation of Christianity as the “state and only religion of Armenia” is considered to be 301. According to S. Ter-Nersesyan, this happened no earlier than 314, between 314 and 325, but this does not negate the fact that Armenia was the first to adopt Christianity at the state level. Saint Gregory the Illuminator, who became the first first hierarch of the state Armenian Church (-), and the king of Great Armenia, Saint Trdat III the Great (-), who before his conversion was the most severe persecutor of Christianity.

According to the writings of Armenian historians of the 5th century, in 287 Trdat arrived in Armenia, accompanied by Roman legions, to regain his father's throne. In the estate of Eriza, Gavar Ekegeats, when the king was performing a ritual of sacrifice in the temple of the pagan goddess Anahit, Gregory, one of the king’s associates, as a Christian, refused to sacrifice to the idol. Then it is revealed that Gregory is the son of Anak, the murderer of Trdat’s father, King Khosrow II. For these “crimes” Gregory is imprisoned in the Artashat dungeon, intended for death row. In the same year, the king issued two decrees: the first of them ordered the arrest of all Christians within Armenia with the confiscation of their property, and the second ordered the death penalty for harboring Christians. These decrees show how dangerous Christianity was considered for the state.

Church of Saint Gayane. Vagharshapat

Church of St. Hripsime. Vagharshapat

The adoption of Christianity by Armenia is closely associated with the martyrdom of the holy virgins Hripsimeyanki. According to legend, a group of Christian girls originally from Rome, hiding from the persecution of Emperor Diocletian, fled to the East and found refuge near the capital of Armenia, Vagharshapat. King Trdat, enchanted by the beauty of the maiden Hripsime, wanted to take her as his wife, but met desperate resistance, for which he ordered all the girls to be martyred. Hripsime and 32 friends died in the north-eastern part of Vagharshapat, the teacher of the maidens Gayane, along with two maidens, died in the southern part of the city, and one sick maiden was tortured right in the winepress. Only one of the virgins - Nune - managed to escape to Georgia, where she continued to preach Christianity and was subsequently glorified under the name of Equal-to-the-Apostles Saint Nino.

The execution of the Hripsimeyan maidens caused the king a strong mental shock, which led to a serious nervous illness. In the 5th century, people called this disease “pig disease,” which is why sculptors depicted Trdat with a pig’s head. The king's sister Khosrovadukht repeatedly had a dream in which she was informed that Trdat could only be healed by Gregory, imprisoned. Gregory, who miraculously survived after spending 13 years in a stone pit in Khor Virap, was released from prison and solemnly received in Vagharshapat. After 66 days of prayer and preaching the teachings of Christ, Gregory healed the king, who, having thus come to faith, declared Christianity the religion of the state.

The previous persecutions of Trdat led to the virtual destruction of the sacred hierarchy in Armenia. To be ordained a bishop, Gregory the Illuminator solemnly went to Caesarea, where he was ordained by the Cappadocian bishops led by Leontius of Caesarea. Bishop Peter of Sebaste performed the ceremony of enthroning Gregory to the episcopal throne in Armenia. The ceremony took place not in the capital Vagharshapat, but in distant Ashtishat, where the main episcopal see of Armenia, founded by the apostles, had long been located.

King Trdat, together with the entire court and princes, was baptized by Gregory the Illuminator and made every effort to revive and spread Christianity in the country, and so that paganism could never return. Unlike Osroene, where King Abgar (who, according to Armenian legend, is considered an Armenian) was the first of the monarchs to adopt Christianity, making it only the sovereign’s religion, in Armenia Christianity became the state religion. And that is why Armenia is considered the first Christian state in the world.

To strengthen the position of Christianity in Armenia and the final departure from paganism, Gregory the Illuminator, together with the king, destroyed pagan sanctuaries and, in order to avoid their restoration, built Christian churches in their place. This began with the construction of the Etchmiadzin Cathedral. According to legend, Saint Gregory had a vision: the sky opened, a ray of light descended from it, preceded by a host of angels, and in the ray of light Christ descended from heaven and struck the Sandarametk underground temple with a hammer, indicating its destruction and the construction of a Christian church on this site. The temple was destroyed and filled up, and a temple dedicated to the Most Holy Theotokos was erected in its place. This is how the spiritual center of the Armenian Apostolic Church was founded - Holy Etchmiadzin, which translated from Armenian means “the Only Begotten descended.”

The newly converted Armenian state was forced to defend its religion from the Roman Empire. Eusebius of Caesarea testifies that Emperor Maximin II Daza (-) declared war on the Armenians, “who had long been friends and allies of Rome, moreover, this god-fighter tried to force zealous Christians to sacrifice to idols and demons and thereby made them enemies instead of friends and enemies instead of allies ... He himself, together with his troops, suffered failures in the war with the Armenians” (IX. 8,2,4). Maximin attacked Armenia in the last days of his life, in 312/313. Within 10 years, Christianity in Armenia took such deep roots that the Armenians took up arms against the strong Roman Empire for their new faith.

During the time of St. Gregory, the Alvan and Georgian kings accepted the faith of Christ, respectively making Christianity the state religion in Georgia and Caucasian Albania. Local churches, whose hierarchy originates from the Armenian Church, maintaining doctrinal and ritual unity with it, had their own Catholicoses, who recognized the canonical authority of the Armenian First Hierarch. The mission of the Armenian Church was also directed to other regions of the Caucasus. So the eldest son of Catholicos Vrtanes Grigoris went to preach the Gospel to the country of the Mazkuts, where he later suffered martyrdom by order of King Sanesan Arshakuni in 337.

After much hard work (according to legend, by Divine revelation), Saint Mesrop created the Armenian alphabet in 405. The first sentence translated into Armenian was “To know wisdom and instruction, to understand the sayings of understanding” (Proverbs 1:1). With the assistance of the Catholicos and the Tsar, Mashtots opened schools in various places in Armenia. Translated and original literature originates and develops in Armenia. The translation work was led by Catholicos Sahak, who first of all translated the Bible from Syriac and Greek into Armenian. At the same time, he sent his best students to the famous cultural centers of that time: Edessa, Amid, Alexandria, Athens, Constantinople and other cities to improve their Syriac and Greek languages ​​and translate the works of the Church Fathers.

In parallel with translation activities, the creation of original literature of various genres took place: theological, moral, exegetical, apologetic, historical, etc. The contribution of the translators and creators of Armenian literature of the 5th century to the national culture is so great that the Armenian Church canonized them as saints every year solemnly celebrates the memory of the Council of Holy Translators.

Defense of Christianity from persecution of the Zoroastrian clergy of Iran

Since ancient times, Armenia was alternately under the political influence of either Byzantium or Persia. Starting from the 4th century, when Christianity became the state religion first of Armenia and then of Byzantium, the sympathies of the Armenians turned to the west, to their Christian neighbor. Well aware of this, the Persian kings from time to time made attempts to destroy Christianity in Armenia and forcibly impose Zoroastrianism. Some nakharars, especially the owners of the southern regions bordering Persia, shared the interests of the Persians. Two political movements emerged in Armenia: Byzantophile and Persophile.

After the Third Ecumenical Council, supporters of Nestorius, persecuted in the Byzantine Empire, found refuge in Persia and began to translate and disseminate the works of Diodorus of Tarsus and Theodore of Mopsuestia, which were not condemned at the Council of Ephesus. Bishop Akakios of Melitina and Patriarch Proclus of Constantinople warned Catholicos Sahak about the spread of Nestorianism in letters.

In his response messages, the Catholicos wrote that preachers of this heresy had not yet appeared in Armenia. In this correspondence, the foundation of Armenian Christology was laid on the basis of the teachings of the Alexandrian school. The letter of Saint Sahak addressed to Patriarch Proclus, as an example of Orthodoxy, was read out in 553 at the Byzantine “Fifth Ecumenical” Council of Constantinople.

The author of the life of Mesrop Mashtots, Koryun, testifies that “false books brought to Armenia appeared, empty legends of a certain Roman named Theodoros.” Having learned about this, Saints Sahak and Mesrop immediately took measures to condemn the champions of this heretical teaching and destroy their writings. Of course, we were talking here about the writings of Theodore of Mopsuestia.

Armenian-Byzantine church relations in the second half of the 12th century

Over the course of many centuries, the Armenian and Byzantine churches made repeated attempts to reconcile. For the first time in 654 in Dvina under Catholicos Nerses III (641-661) and Emperor of Byzantium Konstas II (-), then in the 8th century under Patriarch Herman of Constantinople (-) and Catholicos of Armenia David I (-), in the 9th century under the Patriarch of Constantinople Photius (-, -) and Catholicos Zacharias I (-). But the most serious attempt to unite churches took place in the 12th century.

In the history of Armenia, the 11th century was marked by the migration of the Armenian people to the territory of the eastern provinces of Byzantium. In 1080, the ruler of Mountain Cilicia, Ruben, a relative of the last king of Armenia, Gagik II, annexed the flat part of Cilicia to his possessions and founded the Armenian Principality of Cilicia on the northeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. In 1198 this principality became a kingdom and existed until 1375. Together with the royal throne, the patriarchal throne of Armenia (-) also moved to Cilicia.

The Pope wrote a letter to the Armenian Catholicos, in which he recognized the Orthodoxy of the Armenian Church and, for the perfect unity of the two Churches, invited the Armenians to mix water into the Holy Chalice and celebrate the Nativity of Christ on December 25. Innocent II also sent a bishop's staff as a gift to the Armenian Catholicos. From that time on, the Latin staff appeared in use in the Armenian Church, which bishops began to use, and the Eastern Greco-Cappadocia staff became the property of the archimandrites. In 1145, Catholicos Gregory III turned to Pope Eugene III (-) for political assistance, and Gregory IV turned to Pope Lucius III (-). Instead of helping, however, the popes again suggested that the AAC mix water into the Holy Chalice, celebrate the Nativity of Christ on December 25, etc.

King Hethum sent the pope's message to Catholicos Constantine and asked for an answer. The Catholicos, although full of respect for the Roman throne, could not accept the conditions that the pope proposed. Therefore, he sent a 15-point message to King Hethum, in which he rejected the teachings of the Catholic Church and asked the king not to trust the West. The Roman throne, having received such a response, limited its proposals and, in a letter written in 1250, proposed to accept only the doctrine of the filioque. To respond to this proposal, Catholicos Constantine convened the Third Council of Sis in 1251. Without reaching a final decision, the council turned to the opinion of church leaders in Eastern Armenia. The problem was new for the Armenian Church, and it is natural that in initial period There could be different opinions. However, no decision was ever made.

The 16th-17th centuries saw the period of the most active confrontation between these powers for a dominant position in the Middle East, including power over the territory of Armenia. Therefore, from that time on, the dioceses and communities of the AAC were divided on a territorial basis into Turkish and Persian for several centuries. Since the 16th century, both of these parts of the single church developed under different conditions and had different legal status, which affected the structure of the AAC hierarchy and the relationships of various communities within it.

After the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1461, the Patriarchate of the Armenian Apostolic Church of Constantinople was formed. The first Armenian patriarch in Istanbul was the Archbishop of Bursa Hovagim, who headed the Armenian communities in Asia Minor. The patriarch was endowed with broad religious and administrative powers and was the head (bashi) of a special “Armenian” millet (ermeni milleti). In addition to the Armenians themselves, the Turks included in this millet all Christian communities that were not included in the “Byzantine” millet that united Greek Orthodox Christians on the territory of the Ottoman Empire. In addition to the believers of other non-Chalcedonian Ancient Eastern Orthodox churches, the Maronites, Bogomils and Catholics of the Balkan Peninsula were included in the Armenian millet. Their hierarchy was administratively subordinate to the Armenian Patriarch in Istanbul.

In the 16th century, other historical thrones of the AAC also found themselves on the territory of the Ottoman Empire - the Akhtamar and Cilician Catholicosates and the Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Despite the fact that the Catholicoses of Cilicia and Akhtamar were higher in spiritual rank than the Patriarch of Constantinople, who was only an archbishop, they were administratively subordinate to him as the Armenian ethnarch in Turkey.

The throne of the Catholicos of all Armenians in Echmiadzin ended up on the territory of Persia, and the throne of the Catholicos of Albania, subordinate to the AAC, was also located there. Armenians in the territories subordinate to Persia almost completely lost their rights to autonomy, and the Armenian Apostolic Church remained the only public institution that could represent the nation and influence public life. Catholicos Movses III (-) managed to achieve a certain unity of governance in Etchmiadzin. He strengthened the position of the church in the Persian state, obtaining from the government an end to bureaucratic abuses and the abolition of taxes for the AAC. His successor, Pilipos I, sought to strengthen the ties of the church dioceses of Persia, subordinate to Etchmiadzin, with dioceses in the Ottoman Empire. In 1651 he convened local cathedral AAC in Jerusalem, at which all contradictions caused by the political division between the autonomous thrones of the AAC were eliminated.

However, in the 2nd half of the 17th century, a confrontation arose between Etchmiadzin and the growing power of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Patriarch Egiazar of Constantinople, with the support of the Sublime Porte, was proclaimed the Supreme Catholicos of the AAC, as opposed to the legitimate Catholicos of all Armenians with the throne in Etchmiadzin. In 1664 and 1679, Catholicos Hakob VI visited Istanbul and negotiated with Yeghiazar on unity and division of powers. In order to eliminate the conflict and not destroy the unity of the church, according to their agreement, after the death of Hakob (1680), the Etchmiadzin throne was occupied by Yegiazar. Thus, a single hierarchy and a single supreme throne of the AAC were preserved.

The confrontation between the Turkic tribal unions Ak-Koyunlu and Kara-Koyunlu, which took place mainly on the territory of Armenia, and then the wars between the Ottoman Empire and Iran led to enormous destruction in the country. The Catholicosate in Etchmiadzin made efforts to preserve the idea of ​​national unity and national culture, improving the church-hierarchical system, but the difficult situation in the country forced many Armenians to seek salvation in foreign lands. By this time, Armenian colonies with the corresponding church structure already existed in Iran, Syria, Egypt, as well as in Crimea and Western Ukraine. In the 18th century, the positions of the AAC strengthened in Russia - Moscow, St. Petersburg, New Nakhichevan (Nakhichevan-on-Don), Armavir.

Catholic proselytism among Armenians

Simultaneously with the strengthening of economic ties of the Ottoman Empire with Europe in the 17th-18th centuries, there was an increase in the propaganda activity of the Roman Catholic Church. The AAC as a whole took a sharply negative position towards the missionary activities of Rome among the Armenians. Nevertheless, in the middle of the 17th century, the most significant Armenian colony in Europe (in Western Ukraine), under powerful political and ideological pressure, was forced to convert to Catholicism. At the beginning of the 18th century, the Armenian bishops of Aleppo and Mardin openly spoke out in favor of converting to Catholicism.

In Constantinople, where they crossed paths political interests East and West, European embassies and Catholic missionaries from the Dominican, Franciscan and Jesuit orders launched active proselytizing activities among the Armenian community. As a result of the influence of Catholics, a split occurred among the Armenian clergy in the Ottoman Empire: several bishops converted to Catholicism and, through the mediation of the French government and the papacy, separated from the AAC. In 1740, with the support of Pope Benedict XIV, they formed the Armenian Catholic Church, which became subordinate to the Roman throne.

At the same time, the ties of the AAC with Catholics played a significant role in the revival of the national culture of the Armenians and the dissemination of European ideas of the Renaissance and Enlightenment. Since 1512, books in the Armenian language began to be printed in Amsterdam (the printing house of the monastery of Agop Megaparta), and then in Venice, Marseille and other cities of Western Europe. The first Armenian printed edition of the Holy Scriptures was carried out in 1666 in Amsterdam. In Armenia itself, cultural activity was greatly hampered (the first printing house opened here only in 1771), which forced many members of the clergy to leave the Middle East and create monastic, scientific and educational associations in Europe.

Mkhitar Sebastatsi, fascinated by the activities of Catholic missionaries in Constantinople, founded a monastery on the island of San Lazzaro in Venice in 1712. Having adapted to local political conditions, the brethren of the monastery (Mkhitarists) recognized the primacy of the Pope; nevertheless, this community and its branch that arose in Vienna tried to remain aloof from the propaganda activities of Catholics, engaging exclusively in scientific and educational work, the fruits of which earned national recognition.

In the 18th century, the Catholic monastic order of the Antonites acquired great influence among Armenians who collaborated with Catholics. Antonite communities in the Middle East were formed from representatives of the Ancient Eastern churches who converted to Catholicism, including from the AAC. The Order of Armenian Antonites was founded in 1715, and its status was approved by Pope Clement XIII. By the end of the 18th century, the majority of the episcopate of the Armenian Catholic Church belonged to this order.

Simultaneously with the development of the pro-Catholic movement on the territory of the Ottoman Empire, the AAC created Armenian cultural and educational centers of national orientation. The most famous of them was the school of the monastery of John the Baptist, founded by the clergyman and scientist Vardan Bagishetsi. The Armashi monastery became very famous in the Ottoman Empire. Graduates of this school enjoyed great authority in church circles. By the time of the patriarchate of Zakaria II in Constantinople at the end of the 18th century, the most important area of ​​activity of the Church was the training of the Armenian clergy and the preparation of the necessary personnel for the management of dioceses and monasteries.

AAC after the annexation of Eastern Armenia to Russia

Simeon I (1763-1780) was the first among the Armenian Catholicos to establish official ties with Russia. By the end of the 18th century, the Armenian communities of the Northern Black Sea region found themselves part of the Russian Empire as a result of the advance of its borders in the North Caucasus. The dioceses located on Persian territory, primarily the Albanian Catholicosate with its center in Gandzasar, launched active activities aimed at the annexation of Armenia to Russia. The Armenian clergy of the Erivan, Nakhichevan and Karabakh khanates sought to get rid of the power of Persia and linked the salvation of their people with the support of Christian Russia.

With the beginning of the Russian-Persian War, Tiflis Bishop Nerses Ashtaraketsi contributed to the creation of Armenian volunteer detachments, which made a significant contribution to the victories of Russian troops in Transcaucasia. In 1828, according to the Treaty of Turkmanchay, Eastern Armenia became part of the Russian Empire.

The activities of the Armenian Church under the rule of the Russian Empire proceeded in accordance with the special “Regulations” (“Code of Laws of the Armenian Church”), approved by Emperor Nicholas I in 1836. According to this document, in particular, the Albanian Catholicosate was abolished, the dioceses of which became part of the AAC itself. Compared to other Christian communities in the Russian Empire, the Armenian Church, due to its confessional isolation, occupied a special position that could not be significantly affected by certain restrictions - in particular, the Armenian Catholicos had to be ordained only with the consent of the emperor.

The confessional differences of the AAC in the empire, where Byzantine-style Orthodoxy dominated, were reflected in the name “Armenian-Gregorian Church”, invented by Russian church officials. This was done in order not to call the Armenian Church Orthodox. At the same time, the “non-Orthodoxy” of the AAC saved it from the fate that befell the Georgian Church, which, being of the same faith with the Russian Orthodox Church, was practically liquidated, becoming part of the Russian Church. Despite the stable position of the Armenian Church in Russia, there was serious oppression of the AAC by the authorities. In 1885-1886 Armenian parish schools were temporarily closed, and since 1897 they were transferred to the Ministry of Education. In 1903, a decree was issued on the nationalization of Armenian church properties, which was canceled in 1905 after mass outrage among the Armenian people.

In the Ottoman Empire, the Armenian church organization also acquired a new status in the 19th century. After Russian-Turkish war 1828-1829, thanks to the mediation of European powers, Catholic and Protestant communities were created in Constantinople, which included a significant number of Armenians. Nevertheless, the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople continued to be considered by the Sublime Porte as the official representative of the entire Armenian population of the empire. The election of the patriarch was approved by the Sultan's charter, and the Turkish authorities tried in every possible way to bring him under their control, using political and social levers. The slightest violation of the limits of competence and disobedience could lead to deposition from the throne.

Increasingly wider layers of society were involved in the sphere of activity of the Patriarchate of Constantinople of the AAC, and the patriarch gradually acquired significant influence in the Armenian Church of the Ottoman Empire. Without his intervention, internal church, cultural or political issues of the Armenian community were not resolved. The Patriarch of Constantinople acted as a mediator during Turkey’s contacts with Etchmiadzin. According to the “National Constitution”, developed in 1860-1863 (in the 1880s, its operation was suspended by Sultan Abdul Hamid II), the spiritual and civil administration of the entire Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire was under the authority of two councils: the spiritual (of 14 bishops chaired by the patriarch) and secular (of 20 members elected by a meeting of 400 representatives of Armenian communities).

Most historians believe that the Armenians officially became Christians in 314, and this is the latest possible date. Numerous followers of the new faith appeared here long before the proclamation of the Armenian Church as a state institution.

The faith of the Armenian people is considered chief apostolic, that is, received directly from the disciples of Christ. Despite their dogmatic differences, the Russian and Armenian churches maintain friendly relations, especially in matters of studying the history of Christianity.

Before the adoption of Christianity, paganism reigned in the ancient state on the banks of Sevan, leaving scant monuments in the form of stone sculptures and echoes in folk customs. According to legend, the apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew laid the foundation for the destruction of pagan temples and the erection in their places Christian churches. In the history of the Armenian Church one can highlight the following milestones:

• 1st century: the sermon of the apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew, which determined the name of the future Church - Apostolic.
• Mid-2nd century: Tertullian mentions “a large number of Christians” in Armenia.
• 314 (according to some sources - 301) - martyrdom of the holy virgins Hripsime, Gaiania and others who suffered on Armenian soil. The adoption of Christianity by the King of Armenia Trdat III under the influence of his servant Gregory, the future holy Enlightener of Armenia. Construction of the first Etchmiadzin temple and establishment of the patriarchal throne in it.
• 405: creation of the Armenian alphabet for the purpose of translating the Holy Scriptures and liturgical books.
• 451: Battle of Avarayr (war with Persia against the introduction of Zoroastrianism); The Council of Chalcedon in Byzantium against the heresy of the Monophysites.
• 484 - removal of the patriarchal throne from Etchmiadzin.
• 518 - division with Byzantium in matters of religion.
• XII century: attempts to reunite with Byzantine Orthodoxy.
• XII - XIV centuries - attempts to accept a union - to unite with the Catholic Church.
• 1361 - removal of all Latin innovations.
• 1441 - return of the patriarchal throne to Etchmiadzin.
• 1740 - separation of the Syrian community of Armenians, whose religion became Catholicism. Armenian Catholic Church spread in Western Europe, there are parishes in Russia.
• 1828 - entry of Eastern Armenia into the Russian Empire, new name “Armenian-Gregorian Church”, separation of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, which remained on the territory of the Ottoman Empire.
• 1915 - extermination of Armenians in Turkey.
• 1922 - the beginning of repression and the anti-religious movement in Soviet Armenia.
• 1945 - election of a new Catholicos and gradual revival of church life.

At present, despite the friendly relations between the Orthodox and Armenian churches, there is no Eucharistic communion. This means that their priests and bishops cannot celebrate the liturgy together, and the laity cannot be baptized and receive communion. The reason for this is differences in creed or tenet.

Ordinary believers who do not study theology may not be aware of these obstacles or may not attach importance to them. For them, ritual differences, caused by history and national customs, are more important.

In the 3rd-4th centuries, debates about faith were as popular as political battles are now. To resolve dogmatic issues, Ecumenical Councils were convened, the provisions of which shaped the modern Orthodox doctrine.

One of the main topics of discussion was the nature of Jesus Christ, who He was, God or man? Why does the Bible describe His sufferings, which should not be characteristic of the divine nature? For Armenians and Byzantines, the authority of the Holy Fathers of the Church (Gregory the Theologian, Athanasius the Great, etc.) was indisputable, but the understanding of their teaching turned out to be different.

The Armenians, along with other Monophysites, believed that Christ was God, and the flesh in which He dwelt on earth was not human, but divine. Therefore, Christ could not experience human feelings and did not even feel pain. His suffering under torture and on the cross was symbolic, apparent.

The teaching of the Monophysites was dismantled and condemned at the First V. Ecumenical Council, where the doctrine of the two natures of Christ - divine and human - was adopted. This meant that Christ, while remaining God, accepted the present at birth human body and experienced not only hunger, thirst, suffering, but also the mental anguish characteristic of man.

When the Ecumenical Council was held in Chalcedon (Byzantium), the Armenian bishops were unable to take part in the discussions. Armenia was in a bloody war with Persia and on the verge of destruction of its statehood. As a result, the decisions of the Chalcedon and all subsequent Councils were not accepted by the Armenians and their centuries-long separation from Orthodoxy began.

The dogma about the nature of Christ is the main difference between the Armenian Church and the Orthodox Church. Currently, theological dialogues are ongoing between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church (Armenian Apostolic Church). Representatives of the learned clergy and church historians are discussing what contradictions arose due to a misunderstanding and can be overcome. Perhaps this will lead to the restoration of full communication between faiths.

Both Churches also differ in their external, ritual aspects, which is not a significant obstacle to the communication of believers. The most noticeable features are:

There are other features in worship, vestments of clergy and church life.

Armenian renegadeism

Armenians who wish to convert to Orthodoxy will not have to be baptized again. The rite of joining is performed over them, where a public renunciation of the teachings of the Monophysite heretics is expected. Only after this can a Christian from the AAC begin to receive the Orthodox Sacraments.

In the Armenian Church there are no strict regulations regarding the admission of Orthodox Christians to the Sacraments; Armenians are also allowed to receive communion in any of the Christian churches.

Hierarchical structure

The head of the Armenian Church is the Catholicos. The name of this title comes from the Greek word καθολικός - “universal”. The Catholicos heads all local churches, standing above their patriarchs. The main throne is located in Etchmiadzin (Armenia). The current Catholicos is Karekin II, the 132nd head of the church after St. Gregory the Illuminator. Below the Catholicos are the following sacred degrees:

The Armenian diaspora in the world numbers about 7 million people. All these people are held together folk traditions related to religion. In places of permanent residence, Armenians try to erect a temple or chapel where they gather for prayer and holidays. In Russia, churches with characteristic ancient architecture can be found on the Black Sea coast, in Krasnodar, Rostov-on-Don, Moscow and other large cities. Many of them are named after the Great Martyr George - the beloved saint of the entire Christian Caucasus.

The Armenian Church in Moscow is represented by two beautiful churches: the Resurrection and the Transfiguration. Transfiguration Cathedral- cathedral, i.e. a bishop constantly serves in it. His residence is located nearby. Here is the center of the New Nakhichevan diocese, which includes all the former republics of the USSR except the Caucasian ones. The Church of the Resurrection is located at the national cemetery.

In each of the temples you can see khachkars - stone arrows made of red tuff, decorated with fine carvings. This expensive work is performed by special craftsmen in memory of someone. The stone is delivered from Armenia as a symbol of the historical homeland, reminding every Armenian in the diaspora of his sacred roots.

The most ancient diocese of the AAC is located in Jerusalem. Here it is headed by the patriarch, who has his residence at the Church of St. James. According to legend, the temple was built on the site of the execution of the Apostle James; nearby was the house of the Jewish high priest Anna, before whom Christ was tortured.

In addition to these shrines, the Armenians also keep the main treasure - the third part of Golgotha ​​granted by Constantine the Great (in the Church of the Resurrection of Christ). This property gives the right to the Armenian representative, along with the Patriarch of Jerusalem, to participate in the ceremony of the Holy Light ( Holy Fire). In Jerusalem, a service over the Tomb is celebrated daily. Mother of God, owned in equal shares by Armenians and Greeks.

Events in church life are covered by the Shagakat television channel in Armenia, as well as by the English and Armenian-language Armenian Church channel on YouTube. Patriarch Kirill and the hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church regularly take part in the celebrations of the AAC associated with the centuries-old friendship of the Russian and Armenian peoples.

V. Armenian Church

1. Country and people

The country, which is called Armenia in all languages ​​(self-named also Hayastan), once represented a union of Armenian tribes (Khai, Armen, Arart, etc.) that occupied the territory of the collapsed state of Urartu and the country of Hayas. For centuries, Armenians sought to maintain their national independence, but due to geographical location were constantly under the rule of the Medes, the Greeks, the Romans, the Persians, the Byzantines, the Arabs and the Turks. In the VI century. BC Darius I Hystaspes, breaking the resistance of the Armenians, annexed their country to the Persian monarchy. After the fall of the Achaemenid dynasty, the Armenian lands were partially conquered by Alexander the Great, after whose death, as a result of civil strife, two Armenian kingdoms were formed in Greater and Lesser Armenia, which were initially part of the Seleucid state as vassal regions. After the defeat of the Seleucids by the Romans at the Battle of Magnesia (190 BC), the rulers of Greater Armenia and Sophene declared their independence, becoming the founders of the Artashesid and Shahuni dynasty. Tigranes II (95–56), grandson of Artashes I (189–161), expanded the territory of the Armenian kingdom from the Kura and the Caspian Sea to the Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea and from the middle reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates to the Cilician Taurus. After the defeat inflicted by the Romans on Mithridates VI Eupator, an ally of Tigranes II, the Armenian king concluded a peace treaty with Pompey, abandoning Syria and the lands of Asia Minor for the sake of preserving Greater Armenia (65 BC). However, Rome continued to move east. Then the allied Parthian-Armenian troops defeated the Romans in the 1st century AD, and the peace treaty in Rendea, confirming the sovereign rights of the Armenian kings, again recognized the borders established in accordance with the treaty of 65 BC. During this period, Armenia was considered an independent state under the nominal protectorate of two great powers - Rome and Parthia.

2. The emergence of the Armenian Church

The first information about the appearance of Christianity in the country is vague. According to legend, the first evangelists of the faith of Christ were the apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew, who arrived at the house of Foragmus after the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1–2). Apostle Thaddeus preached in Armenia for 17 years. His relics were buried in Maku (Artaz region), where there is still a monastery of the Apostle Thaddeus. There is a legend that at the Artaz See, seven subsequent bishops maintained continuity until the 3rd century, and according to another legend, the Apostle Bartholomew, after his exploits in India and Persia, arrived in Armenia and built many churches along the river. Araks, founded a monastery near the village of Van and died a martyr (68) in southeastern Armenia.

The spread of Christianity in Armenia is evidenced by Tertullian, St. Augustine, Faustus of Byzantium (IV century) in his “Historical Library”, Agathangel, Armenian writer of the 5th century, in his “History of the reign of Tiridates and the sermons of St. Gregory the Illuminator” and others. The most famous Armenian historian, who considered himself a student of Isaac the Great and Mesrop, is Moses of Khoren. However, his chronology is considered inaccurate, and there are other legends that contain evidence that the Christian faith penetrated into this country very early, taking deep roots here. Eusebius of Caesarea and the Syrian chronicle relate that the Thaddeus of tradition is in fact Addaeus (Addai), Bishop of Edessa, and, therefore, Christianity penetrated here either from Edessa or from Nizibisi, which at that time were the main centers of the spread of Christianity. A letter from Dionysius of Alexandria (248–265), written in 252 to the Armenian bishop Merujan (230–260), who, according to the Armenian list of Catholicoses beginning with Thaddeus, is the tenth bishop of the Armenian Church, also confirms that Christianity was introduced from Syria. At the end of the 1st and beginning of the 2nd centuries, Christianity in the country was spread by the apostolic men Elisha, Amphilochius, Urban, Nerses and Aristobulus, who labored in this country, squeezed on both sides by two pagan powers - Rome and Persia. Eusebius in his Church History says that the reason for the military campaign of Emperor Maximian was the confession of the faith of Christ by the Armenians and their reluctance to worship pagan gods. The Persians undertook repeated persecution of Christians under Khosroes I and Tiridates the Great. Thus, Gregory the Illuminator did not spread Christianity, but was already working at the end of the 3rd and beginning of the 4th centuries. over the spread and organization of the Armenian Church.

In 226, as a result of a coup d'etat in Persia, the Sassanids came to power, dreaming of expanding their western borders. A long struggle of the Armenian people with the Persians begins, a struggle that was of a religious and political nature. But among the Armenian princes there was not sufficient unity in the fight against common enemy, and one of them, Ashak, the father of the future Enlightener of Armenia, killed the Armenian king Khosroes, for which he and his entire family paid with their lives. Gregory himself, having barely escaped death, as a two-year-old child (233) was sent to Caesarea in Cappadocia, where he received an education and became a Christian. Tiridates, the son of King Khosroes killed by Ashok, defeated the Persians in 262, and at the celebrations on the occasion of the victory he learned that Gregory, who had returned to Armenia by that time, was a Christian, and also a relative of his father’s murderer. Gregory is thrown into prison, where he languishes for 15 years. However, thanks to the miraculous healing of Tiridates from an incurable illness through the prayers of St. Gregory, the king not only became a Christian himself, but also declared Christianity the state religion (301). He saw that Christianity could serve as a means of uniting Armenians in the struggle for the country's national independence. Therefore, he sent Gregory (302) to Caesarea in Cappadocia, from where he, having been ordained by Archbishop Leontius, returned, accompanied by Greek clergy, as a bishop and head of the Armenian Church. The first see of the Catholicos was Ashtishat on the Euphrates. During his earthly life, Saint Gregory, with apostolic zeal, took care of the Christianization of Iberia and the Caspian regions, at the same time strengthening the faith of Christ in Armenia itself, as Saint Athanasius the Great says in his word on the Incarnation. The ecclesiastical languages ​​during this period were Greek and Syriac, and the Armenian Church was a metropolitanate of the Church of Caesarea. This is confirmed by the signature under the acts of the First Ecumenical Council of Leontius, Archbishop of Caesarea of ​​Cappadocia, Pontus of Galatia, Paphlagonia, Pontus of Polemaic, Lesser and Greater Armenia. At the same council, along with the other four bishops, Gregory's son and successor Aristakis (325–333) was present. It should be noted here that Gregory, by his own example, introduced marriage among bishops, making the right of succession to the Catholic throne of the Armenian Church hereditary. True, this custom was condemned as Jewish by the 33rd rule of the Council of Trullo (691), nevertheless, at least until the 5th century, a married priest was not prohibited from accepting the rank of bishop.

Gregory's successor (†330) was his second son Aristakis (325–333), killed by Prince Archelaus, and then his eldest son Vertanes, who, according to Armenian historians, annexed the Church of Iberia to his jurisdiction (333–341). However, paganism was still strong and after the death of Tiridates it immediately began to fight Christianity. Vertanes' successor, Catholicos Iusik (341–347), was subjected to torture for denouncing King Tigran and soon died. After the pious but weak-willed Parnerzech (348–352), the great-grandson of Gregory Nerses the Great (353–373), who grew up in Caesarea, was ordained bishop there by Eusebius of Caesarea. A strong-willed, talented and devoted archpastor to the Church, at the Ashtishat Council (361) he proposed a number of reforms that the Church needed. He made it a duty to fulfill church canons, built monasteries, churches, schools, took care of the poor and sick, and put under control not only his personal life, but also the life of Tsar Arshak. The latter, indignant at the Catholicos, put him in the fortress, electing an anti-Catholicos in his place.

At this point, Armenia was subjected to devastating raids by the Persian king of the Sasanian dynasty, Shapur II (309–379). Arshak was captured by the Persians, and his son Vav (369–374) became the Armenian king, who first freed and then poisoned Nerses for denouncing his wicked actions. By order of Vava, who expelled the Persians with the help of the Romans, Isaac I of Monazkert (373–377) was elected Catholicos, whose successor was Zaven of Monazkert (377–381). During this period, the Church was busy with its internal affairs and therefore was unable to send its representatives to the Second Ecumenical Council.

3. Further history of the independent Church

Finally, the war between the Greeks and the Persians ended with the division (387) of Greater Armenia between Persia and the Byzantine Empire. The latter got 1/5 of the country. King Arshak IV remained in the Greek part, and the Persians installed Khosroes IV (395–400), whose residence was in Dvina. Catholicos Aspurakes also remained in the Persian part. However, governance in the western part through a Greek procurator and in the eastern through a Persian governor (marzpan) greatly irritated the Armenians, who were striving for complete independence of the country. This caused not only national liberation movements, but also internal church disputes that ended in a break with the Church of Caesarea. In 387, the son of Nerses Isaac was elected to the throne of Catholicos, who, by royal order, was ordained not by the Caesarea archpastor, but by local bishops. Saint Basil the Great spoke out against this disobedience, and Catholicos Isaac made repeated attempts to restore the previous relations of both Churches, but national and political factors contributed to the weakening of Armenia's relations with Caesarea and the creation of an independent Armenian Church. Since then, the Armenian Catholicos received the title of patriarch with a see in Vagharshat (Etchmiadzin).

This period is characterized by the fact that the Armenians were aware of the need to create their own national writing, which would become the property of the entire Armenian people. It should be noted that worship performed in Greek required a special institution of translators to translate the text of the Holy Scriptures, prayers and explain rituals to believers. Therefore, Isaac the Great (387–439), being an expert in Greek literature, sought to reform his church along the Byzantine model. Many reforms entered church life during the patriarchate of Isaac. His remarkable assistant was the secretary of the royal court, a student of St. Nerses, Mesrop Mashtots, who compiled the Armenian alphabet of 36 letters and laid the foundations of the new Armenian language (406). With the help of these two great men, 100 translators were mobilized, previously trained to translate the Holy Scriptures. They translated the Bible, liturgical books from the Church of Caesarea, the works of Saints Basil the Great, Cyril of Alexandria, Athanasius the Great, John Chrysostom and others. In 439, the Armenian liturgy was created on the basis of Byzantine worship. Armenian writing was studied in the schools of Greater and Lesser Armenia, in the Greek Church, in Georgia, Agvania, gradually spreading to the north and west of Vagharshapat. However, the Persians, dissatisfied with the introduction of national Armenian writing, imprisoned Isaac, as a result of which he was unable to attend the Third Ecumenical Council, and then forced him to retire to Roman Armenia, where he died (439) six months before the death (440) of Mesrop Mashtots .

At the III Ecumenical Council, Nestorius was condemned, and his followers, expelled to the east of the Byzantine Empire, tried to sow the seeds of heretical teaching. Saint Isaac, after his release from prison (435), convened the Ashtishat Council, at which he anathematized Nestorius, Theodore of Mopsuestia and Diodorus of Tarsus. However, the members of the council decided to send priests Aberius and Leontius to the Patriarch of Constantinople Proclus (434–446) to consult with him regarding their decision. Proclus spoke out in defense of the opinion of Babyla of Edessa, who fought against Nestorianism in Syria, including his decision in the so-called “Armenian Tomos”. This written answer of Patriarch Proclus, accepted by the Armenians in the form of a symbol, had a great influence on the theological development of the Armenian Church, which, having become an implacable opponent of Nestorianism, then created in itself a predisposition to deviate into Monophysitism.

At the end of the 4th and beginning of the 5th centuries, the Church was under the yoke of the Persians, who sought to assimilate the Armenians and convert them to their faith. For decades, the Armenians resisted, and when the yoke became unbearable, everyone - the clergy, the nobility, and the common people - rose up against their enslavers. At the head of this struggle was the Armenian national hero Vartan Mamikonyan, who, however, was defeated and killed in the Avarey Valley on May 26, 451, that is, in the year of the convening of the Council of Chalcedon. Catholicos Joseph I (440–454), together with other clerics, was taken to Persia and there suffered a martyr’s death (454). The reasons for the defeat were the refusal of the Byzantine emperor Marcian to help the Armenians, so as not to disturb the peace with the Persians, and the lack of unanimity among the Armenian princes. But the Armenians transferred their hatred of the Byzantine emperor, who abandoned them at the most critical moment of the war with the Persians, to the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon. In addition, the Nestorians spread rumors that the Council of Chalcedon contradicted the Council of Ephesus (431), which adopted the formulation of St. Cyril of Alexandria “the one incarnate nature of God the Word,” accepted by the Armenians. Thus, the Armenian Church, which had already condemned the three teachers of Nestorius, having not received an invitation to the IV Ecumenical Council, obviously because it was considered the metropolis of the Church of Caesarea in Cappadocia, or perhaps because it was outside the Byzantine Empire, looked at Chalcedon with distrust . In a country where Persian terror reigned, constant persecution of Christians and Mazdaism (the current of Zoroastrianism) was imposed, the Church sought to preserve what it had accumulated over the short history of Christianity, and the fear of Nestorianism with the low theological level of the clergy, distrust of the Greeks, who refused to help fellow believers brothers in the fight against the Persians, contributed to the fall of the Armenians into Monophysitism. The situation was aggravated by the difficulty of translating Greek theological terms, because among the Armenians the concepts of “nature” and “hypostasis” were conveyed in one word pnution. The symbol read during the consecration shows that Christ has “one united nature” ( Miavorial mi pnution), however, on the issue of the method of combining natures, there were two different directions: Julian and Sevirian, which defended the incorruptibility or corruption of the body of Christ until the Council of Monazkert (726).

Revolts in Armenia, Kartli and Azerbaijan (481–484) against the Sassanids forced the Persians to recognize the inviolability of the rights and privileges of the Armenian nobility and the Church. Armenia became a semi-independent and self-governing country. However, the place of Persian Mazdaism is taken by the influence of Byzantium, which at that time was on the side of Monophysitism. Thanks to the Uniate policy of the Monophysit emperors Basiliscus (district epistle of 475), Zeno (Henotikon of 482) and Anastasius (disputes about divine suffering 491–518), the ideas of the IV Ecumenical Council penetrated into Armenia, although it was forbidden to talk about it. The councils in Vagharshapat (491) and Dvina (506) condemned Nestorius, Eutyches, Dioscorus, the Monophysites, the Mixophysites, and the “Nestorian” decision of the Council of Chalcedon, which allegedly confessed two persons in Christ, and thereby anathematized the IV Ecumenical Council.

Thus, the Armenians rejected the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon and accepted Monophysitism because, having condemned Nestorius, the council passed over in silence his teachers Iva of Edessa, Theodore of Mopsuestia and Theodoret of Cyrus, who had already been condemned by the Armenian Church. Other reasons for the separation of the Armenian Church from the Ecumenical Church were: a misunderstanding of the terms “nature” and “hypostasis”, the constant wars of the Persians and Greeks and the fear of Byzantine influence in the event of the Armenians accepting the decisions of Chalcedon. Despite this, the Armenian Church did not potentially break away from the Orthodox Church, since it was present at subsequent Ecumenical Councils, although its participation or non-participation in these councils did not meet with unanimous approval among church members.

Emperor Justinian, during whose reign (527–565) there were two Greco-Persian wars (527–532 and 540–561), sought to protect eastern borders empire, patronized the Armenians, built temples and monasteries for them, condemned Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theodoret of Cyrus and Willow of Edessa at the V Ecumenical Council. After the victory of Emperor Mauritius (582–602) over the Persians in the battle of Nisibia (589), according to the peace treaty (591), part of Armenia up to Lake Van went to Byzantium. The emperor was also interested in reconciliation with the Armenians. He arranged interviews with the Armenians at councils convened several times. After the refusal of Catholicos Moses II to attend the council in Constantinople (his see was located on Persian territory in Dvina), Mauritius, uniting the bishops of Greek Armenia, elected Catholicos John III (595–616), who in 611 during one of the campaigns of Khosroes II Parvez (590–628) was taken captive to Asia Minor, and the Greeks no longer appointed a Catholicos. The gap between the Armenian Catholicos Abraham, successor of Moses II, and the Georgian Catholicos Kirion, whom the Armenians anathematized at the Dvina Council (596), dates back to the same period. Emperor Mauritius failed to reconcile them.

Moses of Khorensky and many other Armenian historians make the spread of Christianity in Georgia dependent on the Armenian Church, arguing that Saint Gregory, at the request of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina, sent missionaries and a piece of the Honorable Cross of the Lord to Georgia.

At first glance it may indeed seem probable that the Georgian Church was within the jurisdiction of the Armenian Church, because Vertanes, the son and successor of St. Gregory, made his 15-year-old son Gregory Catholicos of Iberia and Albania. Nerses the Great sent his deacon Job to care for the Georgian Church. Mesrop Mashtots, who invented the Armenian alphabet, created a similar one for the Georgians, working hard to translate the Holy Scriptures into their language. Finally, Georgian bishops were present at the Council of Vagharshapat (491), which condemned the IV Ecumenical Council.

However, we should not forget that Georgia during the period of the emergence of Christianity was not a single state, but represented a number of more or less independent principalities, so the possibility of subordination of some Georgian provinces to the Armenian Catholicoses is not excluded, although this does not mean at all that the entire Georgian people, even temporarily, found himself in this dependence. If we assume that Georgia adopted the Christian faith from the Armenians (the ancient historians Rufinus, Theodoret, Socrates, Sozomen say nothing about this), then how to explain the long-term dependence of the Georgian Church either on Constantinople or on Antioch? After all, it is known that the Armenian Catholicoses were subordinate to the Archbishop of Caesarea.

The Persians, who captured the eastern part of Georgia in 498, also could not subject the Georgians to the jurisdiction of the Armenian Church, because then one must assume that the Georgian Church gradually fell under Monophysite errors.

Most likely, there was confusion here, and the Agavans, that is, the Caspian Albanians who were present at the mentioned Vagharshapat Cathedral, were mistaken for Georgians.

In any case, relations between Georgians and Armenians can be called good neighborly relations. However, after the Dvina Council of 596, which condemned the Georgians for accepting the IV Ecumenical Council, a final break occurred between the Armenian and Georgian Churches.

The Persian Shah Khosroes II, who conquered (607) Mesopotamia, Syria (611), took Damascus (613), Jerusalem (614) and reached the Bosporus in 619, understood that by siding with the Monophysites, he would gain a reliable ally in the face of the Armenians. Therefore, he convened a council in 616 with the participation of the Jerusalem Patriarch Zechariah and two Armenian bishops and, deciding to put an end to dogmatic differences, ordered all subject Christian peoples to profess the Armenian faith.

Emperor Heraclius (610–641), during his first campaign against the Persians (622), invaded Armenia and took Dvin in 623, and after the second campaign, defeating the Persians at the ruins of Nineveh (627) according to the peace treaty (628) of Byzantium with Persia , returned Armenia, Mesopotamia, Syria and Egypt to the empire. In an effort to ensure peace that would be based on religious and political unity, Heraclius convened a council in Erzurum (633) with the participation of Greek and Armenian bishops, where the authority of the Council of Chalcedon was recognized, the decisions taken under the Catholicos Nerses II, Moses II and Abraham were anathematized, The theopaschite (the doctrine of the Divine suffering on the cross) expression “crucified for us” was removed from the Trisagion, and the feasts of the Nativity of Christ and the Epiphany were separated. However, this union did not last long, because Islam was already emerging in the East (630). The Arabs invaded (633) Persia, conquered Palestine, Syria, Mesopotamia (634–640), Dvin (640), Egypt (641), and in 648 they were already in Cilician Armenia. During this period, Armenia was subjected to devastating raids by the Greeks, Khazars, Arabs, and at the same time the Byzantine emperors - Constant II (641–668) with Catholicos Nerses III in Karina, and Justinian II (685–695) with Catholicos Isaac III in Constantinople - sign acts of reunification. However, the Council of Monazkert (650) opposed the Uniate tendencies of the Byzantine emperors, condemning, along with the Council of Chalcedon, the council in Karina. The Council of Trullo (692) condemned some liturgical customs of the Armenian Church, to the great chagrin of the Armenians, who, together with Catholicos Isaac III, who returned from the council, abolished this union.

At the very beginning of the 8th century, the Arabs finally subjugated Armenia, but its dependence was of a vassal nature. Armenia with Kartli and Caspian Albania formed a viceroyalty (emirate) with its center in Dvin. Thanks to this, Armenia enjoyed peace for almost two hundred years (until 859), as a result of which crafts and trade developed. At the same time, the large princely family of the Bagratids gradually secured vast areas in the center of the country and, feeling strong enough, led the people's liberation movement, which culminated in victory (862) over the Arabs. Ashot Bagratuni was proclaimed “prince of the princes of the Armenians”, and then the king of Armenia (885). He founded his capital in Ani (100 km from Etchmiadzin). The Bagratid dynasty ruled Armenia and Georgia for two centuries (856–1071), after which Armenia, divided into small principalities, came under the rule of the Seljuk Turks led by Alp Arslan, who devastated the country, turning the Ani Cathedral into a mosque. Thus, Greater Armenia, the original home of the Armenian nation, ceased to exist as a political unity.

The location of the Armenian Church also influenced its daughter Churches of Iberia and Caspian Albania. Armenian Catholicos Vertanes, the son of St. Gregory the Illuminator, made his eldest son Gregory “Catholicos of Iberia,” as a result of which close relations between the two Churches began, which were interrupted under the Catholicos of Iberia Kirion (608). Lower Iberia, having recognized the IV Ecumenical Council, became independent during this period, and Upper Iberia, which was under the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Antioch, gained independence in the next period, namely under Emperor Constantine IX Monomakh (1042–1055).

During this period, attempts were observed on the part of the Armenian Catholicos to conform the dogmatic position of their Church with the Orthodox. The most prominent archpastor of the Armenian Church was Catholicos John III the Philosopher (719–729), who in his correspondence with the Patriarch of Constantinople Germanus I (715–730) supported the teachings of St. Cyril of Alexandria and Pope Leo the Great, and at the Council of Monazkert in 719 (or 726) accepted The Council of Chalcedon, although it limited itself to the expression of St. Cyril of Alexandria “one incarnate nature of God the Word” due to the difficulty in the lexical formulation of the dogma. Catholicos Nerses IV (1166–1173) subsequently wrote about him: “He, filled with divine jealousy, opposed the Monophysites.” The same Catholicos, expressing the point of view of the Armenian Church on the issue of Christology, said: “To recognize that in Christ Jesus there are two natures in one Person does not contradict the truth, provided that this unity is not divided into two.”

Under Patriarch Photius the Great of Constantinople (858–867 and 877–886), attempts at reconciliation were also made. Catholicos Zacharias (855–877), after correspondence with the Patriarch of Constantinople, convened a council in Shirakavan (862), which was attended by Metropolitan of Nicea, sent by Photius. Patriarch Photius himself admitted that “the Armenian country contains a purely Orthodox Christian faith” (Message to the Eastern Patriarchal Thrones). The Patriarch of Constantinople Nicholas the Mystic (912–925) wrote to the Armenian prince Sabat, son of Ashot, urging him to accept the Orthodox confession, but demanded that the Armenian Catholicos come to Constantinople for an interview and consecration. The question was about the subordination of the Armenian Church to Constantinople, so Prince Sabat (913–925) temporarily put an end to the relations of both Churches. Catholicos Vahan of Syuni (968–969) with his special zeal for icon veneration and the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon, alienated the supporters of Monophysitism. A council was convened in Ani (969), which deposed Vagan and elected Stephen III of Sevan (969–971). There was a division into two Catholicosates: the western one with Stefan and the eastern one with Vagan (in Akhtamar on Lake Van).

The successful campaigns of the emperors John I Tzimisces (969–976) and Basil II the Bulgarian Slayers (976–1025) in Mesopotamia, Syria, Lebanon and the Caucasus ensured Byzantine influence in the occupied countries for some time. The rulers of Abkhazia, Aspurakan and Ani also recognized vassal dependence on Byzantium. However, a new threat was approaching from the east - the Seljuk Turks, who had recently converted to Islam. Unable to resist, the Armenian princes and their people began to move to the west. At the time of the capture of Ani by the Turks, the largest resettlement of Armenians took place, who, under the leadership of Prince Ruben from the Bagratid clan, settled on the spurs of the Taurus mountain range and in the Cilician Valley, between Antioch and Adana. The kingdom of Lesser Armenia (1095–1375) was founded here. Feudal states of Seljuk rulers were formed in indigenous Armenia. Of the Armenian kingdoms, Syunik and Tashir-Dvoraget continued to exist, which during the reign of the Georgian king David the Builder (1089–1125) strengthened their friendly ties with Georgia and, through Trebizond, with Russia. The husband of the Georgian Queen Tamara (1184–1213), Prince Yuri Bogolyubsky (son of Andrei Bogolyubsky), played a big role in the liberation of Armenia from the Turkish yoke.

Over time, the Cilician state grew so much that under King Leon II the Great (1182–1219) it represented a significant force for the Greeks and Turks. Frankish barons arrived here to join the first crusade (1097). The Armenians, dissatisfied with the aggressive policy of Byzantium, greeted them with jubilation. The influence of Rome on the Armenians began, who gradually adopted some Latin customs in the field of law, church organization, liturgical texts, rituals and vestments. However, some Armenian Catholicos, whose see was located in Rum-Kala, sought an alliance with the Greeks rather than with Rome, while the clergy of old Armenia opposed this agreement.

4. Theological dialogue between Byzantium and Armenia

The Emperor of Constantinople Manuel I Komnenos (1143–1180) had negotiations with Catholicos Gregory III, and then with his successor Nerses IV (1166–1173), who gained fame as a great theologian and orator. Unable to go to Cilicia himself, the emperor sent the state master, monk Theorian, there to conduct a discussion with the Armenians. There were three phases of dialogue in total.

The first dialogue took place between Theorian and Nerses IV[ in Rum-Kala from 1170–1172. on the basic dogmatic difference. During this discussion, Nerses admitted: “The Perfect Deity took the perfect human nature, soul, mind and body from the Ever-Virgin Mary and became new from two natures united into one Hypostasis. There was no division or transformation into humanity or humanity into Divinity. Therefore, we do not divide, according to Nestorius, one Christ into two persons and do not merge, according to Eutyches, into one nature, but we say two natures, according to Gregory the Theologian (in a letter to Clidonius, who writes against Apollinaris and others like him)<…>For Christ was double by nature, but not by Hypostasis. And now we, according to the tradition of the Holy Fathers, anathematize those who say “the one nature of the Word became incarnate by transformation or change.” But we teach about one nature in Christ, and not merging according to Eutyches and not belittling according to Apollinaris, but according to Cyril of Alexandria, as he wrote in his book against Nestorius (One incarnate nature of the Word)<…>We accept the great and Ecumenical Fourth Holy Council of Chalcedon and those Holy Fathers whom it recognizes, and those whom it anathematizes, that is, Eutyches and Dioscorus, Sevirus and Timothy Elur and all those who bothered him with their chatter, we also anathematize.” . When Theorian read and explained to him the content of the Chalcedonian definition, Nerses exclaimed: “I did not find anything in it contrary to the Orthodox faith.” However, the Catholicos, fearing a reaction among the population, sent two letters to the emperor through Theorian, one intended only for the emperor, with a purely Orthodox statement of faith, and the second ambiguous, so as not to arouse suspicion among the Armenians of sympathy for the Greeks.

On behalf of the emperor, Theorian again (1172) arrived in Armenia, accompanied by the Armenian monk John. Nerses convened a council of Armenian bishops, who suspected the Catholicos of making the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon. Byzantine representatives reported the conditions for the union put forward by the emperor and the Patriarch of Constantinople Michael III (1170–1178). They consisted in the anathematization of Eutyches, Dioscorus, Sevirus, Timothy Elur, in the confession of the Lord as one Hypostasis in two natures, in the acceptance of the Trisagion without the theopaschite “crucified for us”, in the adoption of the Greek church calendar, in the celebration of the Eucharist on leavened bread and wine diluted with water , in the adoption of the seven Ecumenical Councils and in the preparation of the Holy Chrism in olive oil. The Armenian Catholicos was henceforth to be supplied by the Byzantine Emperor. In the heat of controversy, the Greeks revealed the secret, reporting the contents of a secret letter from Nerses IV to the emperor. Nerses was forced to dissolve the cathedral and soon (1173) died.

In the second phase of negotiations (1173–1193), when Nerses IV's nephew Gregory IV became Catholicos, the head of the Armenian Church asked Emperor Manuel to reduce the number of conditions to two, because most of the conditions required the abolition of local customs of the Armenians. The Emperor agreed.

The Armenians had to anathematize those who said that Christ has one nature, that is, Eutyches, Dioscorus, Sevirus, Timothy Elur and all their like-minded people. They must confess our Lord Jesus Christ as one Son, one Lord, one Person, one Hypostasis, consisting of two perfect natures, united inseparably, inseparably, unchangeably, unfused, God and man, and in two natures of one and the same Lord Jesus Christ, having two natural wills - Divine and human, not contradicting one another, but consonant with the will of the Divine... Together with Emperor Manuel, Patriarch Michael of Constantinople, under whose chairmanship the Council of Constantinople was held at that time, also responded. Having received a conciliar decision in a letter dated January 10, 1177, Catholicos Gregory IV convened a council of 33 bishops in Rum-Kala (1179), who, in two reply messages to the emperor and patriarch, recognized the confession of the Greeks as Orthodox, accepted it and anathematized Nestorius and Eutyches. This council finally recognized two natures in Christ. “We note,” says the acts of this council, “that the Holy Fathers spoke not about one nature of Christ, but about two, united, by energy and will in one Person, performing either the actions of the Divine or the actions of humanity. Therefore, we do not diverge from the teaching of the Holy Fathers.” However, Emperor Manuel (†1180) did not wait for this message, and after his death, unrest and riots began in Constantinople, which forced the Armenian question to be postponed for some time.

The third phase of negotiations reached its climax at the Armenian Council of Tarsus (1196–1197) under Archbishop Nerses of Tarsus. Greek bishops also participated here. The Council responded to all the conditions put forward by the Greeks; as for the anathematization of Eutyches, Dioscorus, Sevirus and Timothy Elur with their like-minded people, it declared: “Eutyches has already been anathematized by the Armenians. If Dioscorus and his supporters have the same faith, then there is no difficulty in anathematizing them in the same way.” However, Nerses noticed that the name of Dioscorus was not on the list of heretics sent to the Armenians by St. Germanus, Patriarch of Constantinople. To the demand that the Armenians confess in Jesus Christ only one Person in two natures, two wills and two actions, the council replied: “This is the faith of the Fathers. The expression “one nature” (m…afЪsij) used by the Armenians should be understood in the Orthodox sense of Cyril, Athanasius and the two Gregori…”. Regarding councils V, VI and VII, the Armenians replied: “If the other three councils agree with the first four, we also accept them.” At this council the teaching of the Armenian Church was clearly stated. Nerses of Tarsus expressed the opinion that the dogmatic differences of both Churches are only in words, and that in essence both Churches profess the same thing. However, the excessive claims of the Armenians and Byzantines in matters of administrative and jurisdictional matters led these negotiations to complete failure. Nerses' opponents reported him to King Leon II as a dangerous innovator. Nerses died in 1198, the same year that Leon II turned to the West, asking Pope Celestine III (1191–1198) and Emperor Henry VI of Germany to recognize him as king of Cilician Armenia for the implementation of an ecclesiastical union with the Western Church. Later attempts to unite with the Greeks were also unsuccessful.

5. Relations with Rome

The capture of Constantinople by the Crusaders (1204) excluded any possibility of an agreement between the Byzantines and the Armenians, although unsuccessful negotiations from the Nicene state were also undertaken by Patriarch Germanus II (1228–1240) and Patriarch Isaiah (1321–1334).

The development and course of political events contributed to the fact that the newly created Armenian kingdom in Cilicia established relations with the crusaders, whom it considered its patrons and helpers in the fight against numerous enemies. Back in 1098, the Armenians helped Godfrey of Bouillon take Antioch, and as a reward for this they expanded the borders of Armenian Cilicia almost to Edessa. However, the crusader border after the first crusade, stretching along the entire eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, divided Cilicia in half, so that the Armenians who were in the territory captured by the crusaders experienced the special influence of the Roman Church. In the end, Catholicos Gregory III yielded to the claims of the popes. After participating in the Antioch (1141) and then the Jerusalem (1143) councils of the Roman Church, he sent a delegation to Pope Eugene III (1145–1153), agreeing to introduce the ritual customs of the Roman Church, for which he was awarded the highest gifts by the pope - miter, ring and bishop's staff. Catholicos Gregory VI in his letter to Pope Innocent (1198) called the Roman Church the mother of all Churches, and on January 6, 1199, in the Trinity Cathedral of Tarsus, Archbishop of Mainz Konrad Wittelsbach crowned royal crown Prince Leon II. Thus, Cilician Armenia, despite the attempts of Emperor Alexius III Angelus to keep it under Byzantine influence, was subordinated to the Roman Church. The Armenians were dismayed by this rather strange church union. Catholicos Vesag of Ani (1195–1204) and Anania of Sebastia (1204–1206) opposed him. However, the three Councils of Sis (1204, 1246 and 1251) compiled thirty-one rules of a liturgical and canonical nature, which the Armenian Catholic Church still adheres to, and adopted filioque. And although Catholicos James I did not send his representatives to the Council of Lyons (1274), nevertheless, fifteen consecutive Catholicoses of the See of Sis (1293–1441) observed their dependence on the Holy See. This, however, is explained by the fact that the crusades of Frederick (1228) and Louis IX (1248) strengthened the position of the Latins in the east, and therefore their influence on the Armenians. Even the Mongols led by Genghis Khan, who conquered Transcaucasia (1225–1239) and defeated the Iconian Sultanate at the Battle of Kösedago (1243), did not dare to attack Cilicia.

However, this alliance of Armenians with Catholics aroused strong suspicions on the part of the Turks. First, the Seljuks of Rum (1257–1263) began a war with Cilicia, and then the Egyptian Mamelukes, led by Sultan Baibars (1260–1277), entered Asia Minor and defeated the Armenians. In 1299, Rum-Kale was destroyed and Catholicos Gregory VIII was forced was to move to Sis of Cilicia. During this period, the Latinization of Armenia by Franciscan and Dominican monks continued. Councils convened in Sis (1307) and Adana (1313) adopted many of the customs of the Roman Church. The Council of 1342 dealt with the dogma of the Ascension of the Mother of God into heaven, while the days of the Armenian state were already numbered. In 1375, the Turks inflicted a final defeat on the Rubenid-Gatumin dynasty, the last representative of which Leon V (1374–1393) died in exile in Paris.

However, the Armenian nation, scattered throughout Anatolia, Egypt, India, Russia and Poland, continued to exist. The Church became the only custodian national traditions and the only refuge of the long-suffering people, although it itself lost its unity, as a result of which several patriarchs arose. In order to save the Armenian Church, it was decided to transfer the Catholicos' chair from Sis to Etchmiadzin (1441), which was under Persian rule. The Akhtamar Catholicos also kept himself apart. Mahmut II, having captured Constantinople (1453), established two jurisdictions - the Greek Patriarch (for all Orthodox Greeks, Bulgarians, Serbs, Croats, Syrians, Melchites and Arabs) and the Armenian Patriarch (for Monophysites, Armenians, Syrians, Chaldeans, Copts, Georgians and Abyssinians). The Jerusalem Patriarchate was founded even earlier (1311), as a result of the refusal of the Jerusalem Armenian decisions of the Council of Sis (1307).

After the transfer of the Catholicos' chair to Etchmiadzin under Gregory IX (1439–1446), there was Catholicos Constantine VI in Sis, who sent two Armenian bishops to the Council of Florence with a letter expressing their readiness to accept the decisions of this council. According to the Uniate bull signed on November 22, 1439, Armenians were supposed to observe the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed with filioque, the doctrine of two natures and wills in Christ, the primacy of the pope, the doctrine of purgatory and the Roman calendar. However, this agreement was short-lived, because the Armenians adhered to a conciliatory policy with Rome if they saw some kind of political benefit; otherwise they remained true to their traditional teachings. However, the Armenians of the West continued to remain supporters of an alliance with Rome. Since the 13th century, there were many Armenians in Poland, who forced the Catholicos of Etchmiadzin Melchizedek (1616) who arrived in Lviv to commit an act of loyalty to Rome (1629). An Armenian archdiocese was founded, directly dependent on the Holy See and lasting until 1945. In Cilicia, also as a result of the Uniate actions of the Catholicoses, the Armenian Catholic Patriarchate was founded under Patriarch Gregory XIII (1572–1585), whose see was first in Sis.

In 1742, the Armenian Catholic Bishop of Aleppo Abraham Peter I was proclaimed by Pope Benedict XIV as Patriarch of the Armenian Catholics of Cilicia with a see in Sis, and then (1750) in Baomar (Lebanon). However, in 1758 the pope installed an Armenian Catholic bishop in Constantinople, subordinate to the papal vicar located in that city, who was later (1830) elevated to archbishop with jurisdiction over all of Asia Minor and Armenia. During the Greek Revolution, thanks to the intervention of the French ambassador to the Sublime Porte, the Turks allowed the Armenian Catholics to have a representative in Constantinople. For the Armenian Catholics, their own political power was thus established, so that, having freed themselves (1831) from the former dependence of the Gregorians, they had their own authorized representative civil cases (narira), while the archbishop was their spiritual head. In 1867, Catholicos Hassoun Peter IX combined both of these titles in his person, and after a council convened in Baomar (Lebanon) in the same year, on the basis of a bull of Pope Pius IX, he received the title of patriarch and moved his see to Constantinople (1867–1928) . The Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople was governed on the basis of the Armenian Charter developed in 1860. However, Peter IX's adoption of the decisions of the First Vatican Council caused a war between his supporters and opponents (Hassunites and anti-Hassunites), and Peter was forced to flee to Rome, where he died as a cardinal (1884). After this, many returned to the Armenian Gregorian Church.

Hassun Peter was succeeded by Stephen Peter X, and then Azary (1884–1899), who condemned the provision of 1890, according to which the Turks had the right to sanction any church act, but adopted the “Armenian National Statute” of 1888, which granted the laity significant rights in the issue of church government. However, disputes among the Armenian Catholics of Constantinople continued. In 1910, the laity opposed the election of Paul VPeter XIII (†1931) to the patriarchal throne, fearing his reforms. During this period of the “Asia Minor catastrophe” a meeting was held in Rome (1911), at which eighteen bishops drew up a canon on liturgical issues and issues of an administrative nature. For a number of years the Armenian Catholic Patriarch was forced to live in Rome, and then (1928) his see was transferred to Beirut, while an archbishop was appointed to Constantinople. The successor of Paul VPeter XIII was Patriarch Avid Peter XIV (Arpiarian), who was succeeded by Gregory XIV Peter XV Agadzhanyan (Dec. 3, 1937 - Aug. 1962), who later became a cardinal (1946). Now the head of the Armenian Catholics is Patriarch John Peter XVIII (Kasparyan).

The church has a patriarchate in Beirut. The dioceses are as follows: Aleppo, Constantinople and Mardin, Baghdad (Armenian Catholics in Iraq number up to 2,000, while Gregorians number up to 15,000), Alexandria (Armenian Catholics in Egypt number up to 3,500, and Gregorians number 18,000), Isfahan (1,000).

Before the Second World War, there was an archbishop in Lviv, and apostolic representatives in Greece and Romania; in 1921, an apostolic representative was appointed in Tbilisi. About 5,000 Armenians live in the United States, and there are Armenians in India, but they are subordinate to the local Catholic hierarchy. Founded at the beginning of the 18th century. The brotherhood of Mekhitarist monks, having settled in Venice with the aim of strengthening the connection of Armenians with Rome, launched extensive preaching and publishing activities in Poland, Transylvania and Turkey. Now there are about 100,000 Armenian Catholics, who are spiritually nourished by 120 priests, 104 monks and 184 nuns.

6. Armenian Church and Protestants

Since the beginning of the 19th century, interest in the ancient Eastern Churches arose in the West. Protestants sought to establish relations with the Armenians through the Mekhitarist monks, who had a printing house at their disposal, through Armenian students studying in Europe, or through direct communication. In 1813, the British Bible Society distributed the Holy Scriptures in Armenian among the Armenians. American Presbyterians who arrived in Constantinople (1839) began to conduct proselytizing activities among the Armenians, so that Patriarch Matthew of Constantinople (1835–1846) was forced in 1845 to issue a district message, which found the support of the Ottoman government, prohibiting the entry of Protestants. However, with the intervention of England and America, Patriarch Matthew (1846) was dethroned, and the Turkish government recognized (1847) the Armenian Protestant community. Following this, Protestant missionary work began to spread rapidly throughout the Middle East, so that in the first quarter of the twentieth century the Protestant denomination numbered approximately 80,000 members throughout Turkey. The bulk of the Protestant Armenians were concentrated in Kharput, Aintab and Merzifun. Many Armenians studied at the American college “Robert College” in Roumele Guichard (near the Bosphorus), founded in 1863.

7. Armenian-Gregorian Church after the 12th century

In 1236 the Mongols took Ani. Eastern Armenia, politically isolated from Western Armenia, defended its borders from the conquerors together with the Georgians. However, by 1239 Transcaucasia was conquered by the Mongols. The people's liberation movement within the country begins. A century and a half later, Timur’s hordes devastated Georgia and Armenia, but after the collapse of the Mongol Empire (1455) a period of calm began. As a result of the Battle of Chaldiran, the state of the Ak-Koyunlu horde, which had broken up into appanages, was captured by the Ottomans, led by Sultan Selim I (1514), and then Suleiman I (1520–1566), and thus in the first half of the 17th century, Armenia found itself between Turkey from the West and Persia from the East. The Turks systematically plundered the country, the Persians also sowed destruction. Arriving at the very beginning of the 17th century, led by Shah Abbas (1586–1628), they devastated the country, destroyed part of the population and took many to Persia, where they founded the city of New Julfa near Isfahan. During this period, most of the Armenian lands comprised the Khanate of Yerevan, which was under Persian rule, while western Armenia was divided into pashaliks, in which Kurdish and Turkish sheikhs and beks committed violence against the local population with impunity. Armenians fled to Western Europe and Russia. In 1673, they turned to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, asking for protection from the Persians. They turned to both Peter I (1701) and Catherine II (1762–1796), but to no avail. The Armenians began to think about how they could carry out the struggle in alliance with Georgia after the Armenian prince Melik David (†1728) led a successful revolution.

By the middle of the 18th century, Persia's position in the Transcaucasus was shaken, and Georgia, taking advantage of this, made the Yerevan and Ganja khanates its tributaries. Empress Catherine II, by a special decree in 1768, promised to take Armenians under her protection. The Armenian Church, together with its people, began its new history. In 1773, Catholicos Simeon I (1763–1780), an ardent opponent of Catholicism, appointed Bishop of Argutinsky as his representative and diocesan bishop of the Armenians in Russia. Russian government decrees allowed Armenians to freely worship and build churches not only in Armenia, but also in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Astrakhan and other cities.

After the successful completion of the Russian-Turkish wars strengthened Russia's position on the Black Sea coast, the Russian-Georgian Treaty was concluded in Georgievsk (1783). The Shah of Persia responded with a devastating campaign against Karabakh and Georgia. During the Russian-Persian (1804–1813) and Russian-Turkish (1806–1812) wars, Armenians were on the side of Russia, helping it in every possible way in the fight against the Persians and Turks. The second Russian-Persian war, which began in 1826, ended with the Treaty of Turkmanchay (February 10, 1828), according to which the Yerevan and Nakhichevan khanates were annexed to Russia, forming the Armenian region, where more than 40 thousand Armenians from Persia moved. As a result of the second Russian-Turkish war (1828–1829), when, according to the Treaty of Adrianople (September 2, 1829), Russia returned Kars, Ardahan, Bayazet, Erzurum to Turkey, 90 thousand Armenians moved to the east under Russian rule. During Crimean War(1853–56) and the national liberation movement in the Balkans, the Armenians helped the Russians in every possible way in the fight against Turkey. In 1877–1878 Bayazet, Alashkert, Ardahan, Kars, and Erzurum were liberated from the yoke of Turkey. However, the terms of the Treaty of San Stefano (February 19, 1878), according to which these regions ceded to Russia, were revised by the Berlin International Congress (June 1878), and Russia retained Kars, Ardahan and Batum. All this caused persecution of the Armenians by the Turkish government, which dreamed of their destruction as a nation. Thousands of refugees left for America, Europe and other countries at the end of the last and first quarter of this century.

During this period, in Etchmiadzin, under the Catholicos, there was already a Synod (since 1828), which elects two candidates for the patriarchal throne and submits it to the Russian Emperor for approval. Until the very October Revolution The Armenian Church complied with the “Regulation” of 1836, which consisted of 141 articles.

In December 1917, by decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR, “Turkish Armenia” received the right to free self-determination. In Armenia, the government was headed by Dashnaks. In 1918, Turkey, breaking the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, occupied a significant part of Armenia. After the defeat of Denikin’s troops, and then the Turkish troops that invaded Armenia in 1920, on the initiative of the Dashnaks, Armenia was forced to agree to the conditions of Ankara and Alexandropol, and in December 1920 it became a small state with a territory of 30 thousand square meters. km. Since December 1922, it became part of the RSFSR and became part of the USSR.

During this period, the Armenian Church, together with the people, fought for its independence, being a reliable guardian of national traditions, the only consolation of Armenian Christians during the years of trials. Armenians can be proud of the fact that, despite their repeated dispersion throughout the globe, they never accepted Islam, firmly adhering to the faith of their fathers.

At the head of the Armenian-Gregorian Church in Etchmiadzin during this period are such Catholicoses as Gevorg V Surenyan (1911–1930), Khoren Muradbegyan (1933–1938), and after the period of widowhood of the throne (1938–1945) - Gevorg VI (1945–1954) ), who had previously been the locum tenens of the patriarchal throne. Currently, the Supreme Catholicos of all Armenians is Karekin, the 131st Catholicos on the throne in Etchmiadzin.

After the Second World War, many Armenians, including Uniates, returned to their homeland. In 1946/47, about 37 thousand Uniate Armenians returned from the countries of the Middle East, then 3 thousand left Persia, where up to 5 thousand Armenian families had previously lived; in 1962, 400 Gregorian Armenians returned from Cyprus, and in November 1964, 1000 Armenians arrived from Aleppo.

8. The Armenian Church at the present time. Control.

In the modern hierarchical system of the Armenian Church, the highest authority is two Catholicos and two Patriarchs, who lead the Armenian flock in various places around the globe. These are the Catholicos of all Armenians in Etchmiadzin, the Catholicos of Cilicia in Antalias (Lebanon), the patriarchs of Constantinople and Jerusalem. However, due to historical events, traditions of the Armenian Church and its customs, the advantage has always been given to the Catholicos who kept the right hand of St. Gregory, the Enlightener of the Armenians. After the Council of Florence, the relics of the Saint ended up in Etchmiadzin, where, according to legend, the apostles Thaddeus Bartholomew preached, and where Saint Gregory himself established the Armenian Church. The Catholicos of Etchmiadzin, due to constant raids, was forced to change the location of his see, which was located in Ashtishat, Vagharshapat, Dvin, Akhtamar, Arkin, Ani, Zhaminta (near ancient Amasya), Rum-Kala and Sis. Now, being in Etchmiadzin (since 1441), the Catholicos bears the title “Servant of God, Great Patriarch and Catholicos of all Armenians.” Although other Catholicoses and Patriarchs are not subordinate to him, he has the primacy of honor, his spiritual jurisdiction extends to all Armenians. The Catholicos is always a bishop, but during his installation a rite is performed that resembles an ordination, during which the hand of St. Gregory is placed on his head. At the same time, twelve bishops also lay their hands on his head and then anoint him with holy myrrh. The Etchmiadzin Catholicos has the privilege of ordaining the Patriarchs of Constantinople and Jerusalem.

Now the Catholicos is Karekin, elected in 1996, who lives in the Etchmiadzin monastery. The Synod consists of seven archbishops, two bishops and two vardapets. The Synod has a monastic council and a publishing committee.

The following dioceses are under the jurisdiction of the Etchmiadzin Patriarchate: Ararat led by Bishop Komitas, Shirak (Leninakan), Georgian (Tbilisi) with Bishop George, Azerbaijan (Baku) with Bishop Yusik and New Nakhichevan-Russian (Moscow) with Bishop Parkev. There are a total of 60 priests, an academy and a seminary with 50 students in Etchmiadzin. Training: three years at the seminary and three at the academy.

In addition, there are dioceses abroad. In Iran - Tabriz, Tehran and Isfahan. Indian Armenians form the diocese of India and the Far East. Iraq is home to the Iraqi Diocese, centered in Baghdad (1,500 Armenians), where the Armenian oil magnate Gulbekian built a huge temple. The Egyptian diocese includes Ethiopia and Sudan. The Greek diocese, consisting of ten thousand Armenians, has ten churches and a theological school in Athens. There are also dioceses in Bulgaria, Romania, Western Europe (Paris), Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, and Venezuela. The Diocese of American and Canadian, centered in New York, is the largest of all foreign dioceses (100,000). In 1962, about 11,000 Armenians arrived from Egypt to Canada. The Bishop of New York, being the senior Armenian hierarch of the American continent, is elected for a term of four years. The Diocese of California, which also includes Mexico (with its center in Los Angeles), has up to 60,000 Armenians.

The second Catholicos of Cilicia had a see in Sis (near Adana) since 1299, but in 1921, under pressure from the Turks, the Armenians were forced to leave the borders of the Turkish Republic and, approximately 120,000 people, moved to Syria, where the Catholicos and his see moved. However, in July 1939, the Syrian region of Alexandretta (Hatay) was transferred by the French mandate authorities to the Turkish Empire, and the Armenians living in this territory were forced to move to Syria and Lebanon. Catholicos of Cilicia Isaac II (1903–1939) moved his residence to the Antalias Monastery (near Beirut), so that since then his successors Peter Sarazhdan (since 1940), Garegin Hovsepyan (†1952), Sareh Payaslyan (1956–1962) and, finally, the current ruling Aram (since 1996) have their own see here, uniting more than 600,000 believers under their jurisdiction. The Catholicos of Cilicia is equal in honor to the Catholicos of Etchmiadzin, following him in rank, he has the same church privileges to ordain bishops, bless the holy chrism, grant divorces, observe church canons and express competent opinions on liturgical issues. The Catholicos today has six archbishops and two bishops, of which one is in the United States, and about 130 priests. Its jurisdiction extends to Syria, Lebanon, Cyprus, Greece (since 1958), Persia and some parishes in Europe. There are three monastery schools in Beirut, Latakia and Damascus.

The Cilician Catholicos, in addition to his spiritual power over the Armenians of his jurisdiction, also has secular power, which was given to him on the basis of the constitution of 1860, approved by the Turkish government (1863) in order to resolve the issues of the Armenian population in Turkey. After the separation of Syria and Lebanon into independent states, the governments of these countries, as well as the Balkans, Europe and Egypt, recognized it as a private constitution regulating the church and national life of the Armenian communities. Since 1941, this constitution was supplemented by two legislative points: 1) on the election of the Catholicos and his relationship to bishops (38 articles) and 2) on the rules of the monastic community and the monastic brotherhood of the Catholicosate, and received the name “Special Cilician Regulations”. By the way, the 11th article of this “Regulation” gives the Cilician Catholicos two votes when electing the Etchmiadzin Catholicos, who has the same privilege when electing the Cilician. Despite the fact that both Catholicos were completely independent in the management of their Churches, relations between them were sometimes strained. Thus, the consecration of the Bishop of Ankara, which was under the jurisdiction of Etchmiadzin, by the Cilician Catholicos, caused a schism, which was liquidated by the Jerusalem Council in 1652. The Etchmidzian Catholicos Gevork IV (1866–1882), for his part, sought to rule the entire Armenian Church, and the resulting clash with The Cilician Catholicos Mekertikh I ended only with the death of George IV, when his successor Mekertikh I Kerimian (1892–1907) sent a congratulatory message to Isaac II of Cilicia, as a result of which the situation was settled. Both Catholicos, seeking to strengthen fraternal ties with each other, made a decision (Etchmiadzin in 1925, and Cilician in 1941) providing for the representation of another Catholicosate during the election of candidates for the patriarchal throne. However, this decision caused new difficulties in the future. After the death of Cilician Catholicos Garegin Hovsepyan in June 1952, local Armenians supported the candidacy of Sareh Payaslyan (1956–1962), but Patriarch Vazgen opposed this election. A period of misunderstandings begins between the two Catholicosates. To show its canonical independence, the Cilician Catholicosate scheduled elections for February 1956. Then Vazgen arrived uninvited in Antalias to participate in the elections in order to, if possible, deprive Sareh of his chances of election. However, having failed to achieve his goal, he left for Cairo, where he convened a council of Armenian bishops of his jurisdiction and declared the election of the Cilician Catholicos invalid. By his actions, the Catholicos of Etchmiadzin sought to subjugate all Armenians. However, these claims were rejected. Vazgen then proceeded to elect a new candidate for the Cilician throne, Archbishop Kad Akhabagyan (from the Cilician jurisdiction). Subsequently, events developed in such a way that the Armenian communities of Iran, Greece and the USA (1958–1960) decided to abandon the jurisdiction of Etchmiadzin and move to the jurisdiction of Antalias. The Archbishop of Damascus also decided to create his own Armenian patriarchate in the Middle East. A schism began in the theological seminary in Bikafaya. All this made a strong impression on Serach, and in February 1963 he died of a heart attack at the age of 49. After the elections to the Cilician throne of Khoren I, there was some softening in the relations between the two Catholicoses. Nevertheless, representatives of the Cilician Patriarchate were not present (1969) in Etchmiadzin at the celebrations of the world-making, which occurs once every seven years.

The third Catholicos was Akhtamarsky with a see on Lake Van. After destruction by the Arabs in the 9th century. Armenian Catholicos John V (899–931) arrived here and settled on the small island of Akhtamar, ordaining a successor for himself. In 1113, the archbishop of this city refused to recognize Gregory Pakhlaguni (1113–1166) as Catholicos, seeking to take the throne himself, but was deposed by the synod. Since then, his jurisdiction extended only to this island and the surrounding area of ​​Lake Van. After the First World War this Catholicosate was abolished.

In addition, there are two more patriarchates: Jerusalem and Constantinople.

Jerusalem was founded in 1311 as a result of the refusal of the monks of the monastery of St. James in Jerusalem to accept the definitions of the Council of Sis (1307). However, the council convened in Jerusalem (1652) reconciled not only the Cilician Catholicos, but also the Patriarch of Jerusalem with the Etchmiadzin Catholicos. From the 18th century The “Apostolic See of the Jerusalem Armenians” could already consecrate the chrism for themselves, but later this was abolished, as well as the right to ordain a bishop for themselves. In 1957, Tigran Nersoyan was elected to the throne, but the Jordanian government forbade him, as an adherent of the Etchmiadzin Catholicosate, to begin governing the Church. In August 1958, he, along with a bishop and six priests, was expelled from the country. In March 1960, the locum tenens of the patriarchal throne, Yeghishe II Derderyan, an adherent of the Cilician Catholicosate, was elected. During his trip to America (1964), he collected donations for his poor patriarchy. His pulpit is located in the monastery of St. James. He has a suffragan archbishop, two bishops and four vardapets. Its jurisdiction is limited to Palestine. On January 6, 1964, Pope Paul VI paid a visit to Patriarch Yeghishe II of Jerusalem, who has 10,000 believers under his jurisdiction.

Beginning with the Council of Sis (1307), Constantinople already had a bishop for the spiritual needs of the Armenians there. However, after the fall of Constantinople, Sultan Mahmud II united all Monophysites under the leadership of the Armenian Bishop of Bursa Joachim, whom he summoned from Bursa to Constantinople and made (1461) the patriarch of all Armenians with jurisdiction over all fellow tribesmen living in the Ottoman Empire. During the period of the Ottoman Sultanate, he was the most influential of all the Armenian patriarchs, although he recognized the primacy of the Etchmiadzin Catholicos, following in rank after the Cilician. Until 1828, he was canonically subordinate to the Catholicos of Etchmiadzin, but when Greater Armenia ceded to Russia, the Turkish government made him independent with the title of “Patriarch of all Armenians of Turkey.” Since 1961, it has been led by Snork Kalustian, who is the head of the 100,000 Armenians living in Turkey (in the areas of Istanbul, Ankara, Sivas, Malatya and Diyarbakir). In 1954, an Armenian seminary was opened in the suburb of Constantinople, Scutari.

The Catholicos in the Armenian Church is the spiritual head of the Armenian believers and is elected by the spiritual-secular session, and is confirmed in this title by twelve bishops, after which he is anointed with chrism. He wears a ring, ordains bishops, blesses the chrism, and has the right of veto in divorces. Bishops are mainly from the unmarried clergy. In the second degree of the priesthood the first place is occupied by Vardapets, who are priest-theologians who have the right to preach and govern special districts where they have the right to bear the pastoral staff. Next come the protopresbyters, then the unmarried priests, followed by the married ones.

9. Dogmatic teaching

The Armenian Church recognizes the first three Ecumenical Councils along with the dogmas established on them. Her Symbol of Faith is the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Symbol with minor modifications, the Athanasian Symbol, and the Symbol read during consecration (XIV century). The latter is also called “Confession of the Orthodox Faith” and is compiled on the basis of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan symbol, the Apostolic and Creed of St. Athanasius. It is read during the consecration. In addition to the Creeds, there are so-called confessions, which also express the dogmatic position of the Armenian Church. These are the confession of St. Gregory (†951), the statement of faith of Catholicos Nerses IV, sent to Emperor Manuel I Komnenos, the three confessions of Catholicos Nerses V, the confession of Nerses of Dambras, read at the Council of Tarsus (1196).

The Christology of the Armenian Church is contained in its “Confession” in the following words: “We believe that God the Word, One of the Persons of the Holy Trinity, born of the Father before the ages, in time descended into the Virgin Mary the Mother of God, assumed Her nature and united with His Divinity. Having remained nine months in the womb of the immaculate Virgin, the perfect God became a perfect man with spirit, soul and flesh, one Person and one united nature. God became man without undergoing change or transformation. He was conceived without seed and born without blemish. Just as His Divinity is without beginning, so His humanity is endless, for Jesus Christ is the same now and ever and unto ages of ages. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ walked the earth, was baptized at the age of thirty, and the Father testified from above, saying: “This is My beloved Son.” And the Holy Spirit descended on Him in the form of a dove. He was tempted by Satan, but defeated him. He preached the salvation of people, suffered physically, experienced fatigue, hunger and thirst. Then He suffered according to His will, was crucified, died bodily and remained alive in His Divinity. His body, united with the Deity, was placed in a coffin. With his soul and undivided Divinity He descended into hell.” In Christology, Armenians place the main emphasis on the unity of two natures, Divine and human, fearing a bihypostatic understanding of the union in Christ. The Father of the Armenian Church, Saint John Mandakuni (5th century), speaking against duality in the issue of uniting two natures, says that “The Word took on flesh and became man, thereby uniting with Himself our base flesh, the whole soul and body, so that the flesh truly became the flesh of God Words. That is why it is said about the Invisible that He is visible, and about the Incomprehensible that He suffered, was crucified, buried and rose again on the third day, for He suffered and at the same time was impassive, was mortal and immortal. Otherwise, how could the Lord of Glory be crucified? To show that He is Man and God, the expression “God incarnate” is required.” However, during the period of Christological disputes, the Armenians accepted Monophysitism as it was after the Acacian schism (484–519), that is, in its theopaschytic form. And at the Council of Dvina (525) they accepted the theopaschiteship of Sevier of Antioch with the assistance of Emperor Anastasius (491–518), who approved the expression of Peter Gnafevs “crucified for us” in the Trisagion Song. Catholicos Nerses IV refers this insertion to the human nature of Christ, but the Armenians do not agree to accept the Council of Chalcedon, suspecting hidden Nestorianism in it. In correspondence with Patriarch Photius of Constantinople, Vardapet Isaac responds to the former’s proposal to accept the Council of Chalcedon: “Our fathers rejected the Council of Chalcedon and taught about Christ as One of two natures, united without confusion or division. The Chalcedonians divided Him into two natures, two wills, and two actions, thereby following the false teaching of Nestorius. However, they also portrayed Him as the One in order to attract the simple-minded to their side, saying that they were far from the Nestorian heresy.” However, Isaac finds the unity of personality without the unity of nature absurd, finding hidden Nestorianism in this. In support, he cites an analogy with a person who consists of soul and body, but represents one being, which is addressed as a single and integral organism. In correspondence with Metropolitan Theodore of Metilen, the Armenian theologian Samuel, on behalf of the Catholicos Khachik (10th century), compared the union of two natures with the light of a lamp, which is united with sunlight and cannot be separated from it. In other words, the human essence is inseparably united with the divine and does not act separately of its own will, for the Strongest surpasses the weaker by uniting him with Himself and deifying him.

For Armenian theologians, the term nature, understood in an abstract sense, that is, in the sense of designating the properties belonging to the Divinity and humanity in Christ, was more understandable and acceptable than the tomos of Leo the Great about two natures. This resulted in the non-acceptance of the Council of Chalcedon. For us, the basis of Christology has always been the phrase “And the Word became flesh,” where, so to speak, the subject was always God the Word, and human Nature did not abide by itself in Christ, but was assumed by God and became His own.

The greatest theologian and Catholicos of the Armenian Church, Nerses IV, in his dialogue with Theorian (XII century), emphasized the inseparability and non-fusion of this union: “Those who say that one suffered, and the other did not suffer, fall into error, since there was no one else , except the Word, Who suffered and suffered death in the flesh, for the same Word, being passionless and incorporeal, agreed to undergo passions in order to save humanity by His passions.” “We agree with those who profess two natures, not divided, like Nestorius, and not merged, as the heretics Eutyches and Apollinaris teach, but united, unfused and indivisible<…>We do not think of man as a soul and a body, but as a combination of both concepts. So they say about the nature of Christ that it is one, not merged, but two natures are inextricably united with one another.<…>However, according to the writings of the Fathers, after union, duality in the sense of separation disappears. Consequently, when they speak of One nature as an inseparable and inseparable connection, and not of confusion, and when they speak of two natures as unmerged, inseparable and indivisible, then both remain within the framework of Orthodoxy.” Bishop Garegin Sargsyan, speaking about the way of uniting two natures in Christ, concludes: “When we talk about one, we always talk about the united one, and not about the numeral one” .

Thus, the Christology of the Armenian Church, due to the lack of suitable terminology to express the concept of the union of two natures, remains moderately Monophysite.

The doctrine of the procession of the Holy Spirit is Orthodox, despite the fact that the Latins claim that until the 13th century the Armenian Church adhered to the doctrine of filioque.

The Armenian Catechism clearly sets out the Church's teaching on the seven sacraments. Baptism is performed through threefold immersion, then, like the Orthodox, confirmation is performed. The Divine Eucharist is celebrated with unleavened bread and wine without water. Convened by Catholicos John III (717–729), the council in Monazkert (719 or 726) condemned the use of leavened bread with its 8th rule. The councils of Sis (1307) and Adana (1313) decided to mix wine with water during the liturgy, but the Council of Sis in 1359, chaired by Catholicos Mesrop, again prohibited the use of water. Communion is celebrated under both types. The sacrament of the priesthood is performed through the laying on of the bishop's hands on the person being consecrated and the invocation of the Holy Spirit. Episcopate celibacy was introduced in the 13th century. Marriage after ordination is permitted only to deacons. The sacrament of confession is performed like the Orthodox. Marriage is considered indissoluble, except in cases of adultery, and only the Catholicos has the right to divorce. The Armenian Church does not accept the doctrine of purifying fire and rejects indulgences, but prays, like the Orthodox Church, for the dead.

1. Canon of Holy Scripture

The invention of the Armenian alphabet by Saint Mesrop Mashtots resulted in the translation of the Holy Scriptures into Armenian (412) from the copy of the translation of the Seventy, which was given to him by the Patriarch of Constantinople Atticus (406-425). Many are inclined to argue that the Armenian translation of the Old Testament is the most accurate reproduction of the text of the Seventy. The 24th canon of the Partavian Council (767) established the currently used canon of the Holy Scriptures of the Armenian Church. The non-canonical books of the Old Testament, although included in the canon, are never read in church.

11. Worship

All Armenian services are performed in classical Armenian. The currently existing liturgy of the Armenian Church dates back to the 4th–5th centuries, although it acquired its final form in the 9th century. The ancient Church had at least ten anaphoras and a liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. Obviously, this is due to the fact that some monasteries enjoyed the privilege of using their own liturgical type. At present, only one liturgy is used, which is essentially the liturgy of Basil the Great translated into Armenian with some modifications as a result of Syrian influence. At the Council of Sis (1342), the liturgies of Basil the Great and John Chrysostom are mentioned as prototypes of the Armenian liturgy.

The early main authors of Armenian liturgy are St. Gregory the Illuminator (301–325), Catholicos St. Nerses the Great (353–373), Isaac of Parthia, who was Catholicos in 337–439. Saint Mesrop Mashtots (5th century), Catholicos John of Mantakuni (478–490) and Moses of Khoren (5th century). These authors compiled the main prayers and chants of the missal and other church liturgical collections. The hymns of the Nativity of Christ and Epiphany are attributed to Moses of Khoren, Holy Week and the Cross of Isaac of Parthia. Hymns in honor of the prophets, apostles, fathers of the Church and the Transfiguration were composed by John Mantakuni. Archbishop Stefan of Syunii introduced a system of canons into the collection of church hymns and wrote Easter hymns. Gregory of Narek (951–1003) composed prayers and hymns in honor of the Mother of God, for which he was called the “Pindar of Armenia.” Until the 15th century, Armenian worship was enriched with various chants, which have since entered into everyday church use.

During the Great Pentecost and during Lent Aratshavorats from Monday to Friday inclusive, the liturgy is not celebrated.

Manuscripts of the Armenian liturgy stored in European libraries go back to XIII century, and their translations were subsequently printed and published by Mekhitarist monks in Venice, Constantinople (1706, 1825, 1844), Jerusalem (1841, 1873, 1884) and Etchmiadzin (1873).

The daily rites in the Armenian Church, as well as among the Orthodox, are Midnight Office, Matins, the first, third, sixth and ninth hours, Vespers and Compline. The Liturgy begins with the cry “Blessed is the Kingdom...”. The Cherubic song is not sung. After communion there is a dismissal, before which an excerpt from the Gospel of John (1:1-18) is read, and in the period from Easter to the Ascension - an excerpt from the same Gospel (21:15-20).

• Liturgical books

The following liturgical books are in common use: Donashtoits, corresponding to the Orthodox Typikon, Cortadedre, the book of the sacrament of the Divine Eucharist, containing the rite for the serving priest and some exclamations of the deacon; Diashotz with excerpts from the Gospel and the Apostles for reading during the Liturgy; Terbruciun, book of consecrations; Saragen, a book of chants and prayers during the Liturgy; Yamakirk, Book of Hours of the Armenian Church; Khaishmavurk, Synaxarium with the lives of saints and teachings for the Lord's feasts; Mashdots, containing the rites of the sacraments and other requirements.

Armenian liturgical books were first printed in 1512 in Venice.

• Church music

Modern musical notation rests on an older one, the main creator of which was Baba Hambartsumyan. In the 12th century, Katsiadur of Dara transformed the ancient spelling of vowels and thereby made a remarkable contribution to the history of Armenian music. During worship, two musical instruments are used: the tsintsga, consisting of two copper disks, which are struck like cymbals, and the keshots - liturgical ripids, on which bells are suspended in a circle, emitting melodic sounds. At present, polyphonic singing has already been introduced, which, however, has not changed the nature of ancient Armenian singing. In Etchmiadzin, singing is accompanied by an organ.

• Vestment and sacred vessels

The vestments of the clergy of the Armenian Church are generally similar to those in the Eastern Churches, although they are somewhat Latinized. The deacon wears a surplice and orarion, the priest wears a surplice, an epitrachelion, a belt, armbands, a bell-shaped phelonion, and around his neck a wide collar embroidered in gold, and sometimes with gold or silver icons, a cross, sandals and a Byzantine miter. Bishops wear a Latin miter, omophorion, panagia, ring, crozier and cross. The Catholicos, as well as the patriarchs, carry a club. Everyday vestments outside the temple consist of a black cassock and a cone-shaped hood on the head, over which unmarried clerics, vardapets and bishops wear a cone-shaped basting.

The sacred vessels are the same as those of all Eastern Churches.

• Church calendar

In Armenia, the chronology began with Hayk, the grandson of Japheth (2492 BC), who, until legend, was the ancestor of the Armenians. Catholicos Nerses II, abolished the introduced Greek calendar, adopted his own calendar at the Dvina Council (July 11, 552), which began chronology precisely from the moment this cathedral. Was later introduced Julian calendar, replaced in 1892 by the Gregorian, which in 1912 was accepted by the entire Armenian Church. The church year, like the Chaldeans, begins on December 1. Since the 5th century, a seven-week cycle of worship has been introduced. The Lord's holidays are moving and immovable. Movable holidays include Easter and every holiday dependent on it. Easter is determined on the basis of the decisions of the First Ecumenical Council. The Easter circle includes 24 Sundays, that is, ten before Easter and fourteen after it, ending with the Transfiguration, which is celebrated on the seventh Sunday after Pentecost. The most ancient holiday of Epiphany, which is connected with the Nativity of Christ (January 6), belongs to the fixed holidays. These two holidays were celebrated separately in the 5th century, but after the Council of Dvina (525) they are celebrated together. The Circumcision of Christ is celebrated on January 13, and the Presentation on February 14.

The main feasts of the Mother of God are as follows: the Conception of the Virgin Mary (December 9), the Nativity of the Virgin Mary (September 8), the Entry into the Temple of the Blessed Virgin Mary (November 21), the Annunciation (April 7) and the Dormition of the Mother of God (August 15).

In addition to the Exaltation of the Honest and Life-Giving Cross (September 14), the Finding of the Honest Cross is celebrated as a special national-ecclesiastical celebration, particles of which, brought from Jerusalem by the Armenian saint Chrypsinia and hidden on Mount Varak before her martyrdom along with other fifteen virgins, were, according to Armenian legend, discovered in 652 by the monk Totiy and placed in the Etchmiadzin Monastery as a shrine of the entire Armenian Church and the Armenian people.

An outstanding place among the saints of the Armenian Church is occupied by St. Gregory, the Enlightener of the Armenians, whose memory is celebrated several times. The main holiday is celebrated the day after the Dormition of the Mother of God. In addition, the event of the appearance of a rainbow to Noah after the flood is celebrated.

If major holidays fall on ordinary days, they are moved to Sunday for greater solemnity.

Of the 365 days in a year, about 277 are days of fasting. Weekly fasts are Wednesday and Friday; the Dvina Cathedral (525) established one week of fasting in each month. There is fasting before Epiphany, before Easter (48 days), before the Assumption (5 days). Fasts can be strict, medium and soft.

Armenian church art influenced the development of Western art and was the forerunner of all church architectural designs. Square or cuboid Armenian temples with a cone-shaped drum-roof are the starting point of all later styles, from Byzantine to Gothic and Baroque. For example, the cathedral in Ani is a model for the Gothic temple of the Middle Ages, while the temple of St. Chrypsimia in Vagharshapat is a model for the later Baroque style. The regular pyramidal vault rests on ancient semicircles (dating back to the 10th and 11th centuries). The Armenian Catholic Church of the Annunciation and the Gregorian Church in Cairo are successful examples of the Armenian architectural type.

The 8th-century Armenian-Byzantine style was apparently the product of a fusion of Armenian, Byzantine, Persian and Arab architecture. Inside the temple is divided into a vestibule, main temple, ending to the east with a solea, on which stands the choir and the episcopal pulpit, and the holy altar, which is four steps higher than the solea; there is no iconostasis in front of it, but there is a curtain, sometimes decorated with icons. The Holy See is located on the site of the Holy Gate. On the left side of the altar there is an altar for proskomedia.