Eastern Liturgy in the West: The Case of the Armenian Church by Fr. Michael Daniel Findikyan is a paper providing a wealth of insight on the Armenian Church and its people. It goes deeper than an adumbration of the liturgy, a history of the people, or a synopsis of the peculiarities of their devotions. I can only describe it as a cohesive journal of the thoughts of one priest trying to convey what his Church is, has to offer, and how history, language, and distance are affecting what people "should" get out of a life lived within his Church.
I am not a specialist in the field of inculturation, so what I offer you is not at all a scholarly address; I will not in any way claim to be comprehensive or definitive in my remarks. That leaves me free to ruminate and to reflect with you on the topic at hand without the obligation to be systematic, or even to tie up loose ends. I shall speak to the topic of inculturation as a student of the history of liturgy and as a representative of the Christian East, specifically as a priest of the Armenian Orthodox Church, and as a practitioner of the Armenian Rite. My hope is that my remarks will leave many threads for you to pick at during our discussion later.
Let our ruminations begin, therefore, with a bit of background for the purpose of contextualization. The Armenian Church is one of the so-called Oriental Orthodox Churches. Along with the Coptic, Ethiopian, Syrian (”Jacobite“), and Malankara Orthodox Churches, the Armenian Church is distinguished from the other Orthodox Churches (Greek, Russian, and so on) by its Christology, that is, by its rejection of the Fourth Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon and its particular formulation for understanding the humanity and divinity of Jesus Christ. In liturgical rite, history, and spirituality, however, the Oriental Orthodox Churches are actually quite distinct one from the other.1 Today the Armenian Rite is used or practiced by an estimated six million faithful of the Armenian Church, as well as approximately three hundred forty-four thousand members of the Armenian Catholic Church in communion with Rome.
What we call the Armenian Rite is a complete and integrated system of worship; a unique synthesis of liturgical usages and practices that expresses the instinctive, traditional response of the Armenian people to God’s providential activity in history. That history begins with the Bible, of course. Medieval Armenian historians have traditionally viewed the history of the Armenian people in direct continuity with the Bible.2 Since the proclamation of Christianity as the state religion in the early fourth century, Armenian historiographers have systematically and unapologetically interpreted their own unfolding history in light of their faith in Christ. Until the eighteenth century there simply is no such thing as Armenian secular history...
Let our ruminations begin, therefore, with a bit of background for the purpose of contextualization. The Armenian Church is one of the so-called Oriental Orthodox Churches. Along with the Coptic, Ethiopian, Syrian (”Jacobite“), and Malankara Orthodox Churches, the Armenian Church is distinguished from the other Orthodox Churches (Greek, Russian, and so on) by its Christology, that is, by its rejection of the Fourth Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon and its particular formulation for understanding the humanity and divinity of Jesus Christ. In liturgical rite, history, and spirituality, however, the Oriental Orthodox Churches are actually quite distinct one from the other.1 Today the Armenian Rite is used or practiced by an estimated six million faithful of the Armenian Church, as well as approximately three hundred forty-four thousand members of the Armenian Catholic Church in communion with Rome.
What we call the Armenian Rite is a complete and integrated system of worship; a unique synthesis of liturgical usages and practices that expresses the instinctive, traditional response of the Armenian people to God’s providential activity in history. That history begins with the Bible, of course. Medieval Armenian historians have traditionally viewed the history of the Armenian people in direct continuity with the Bible.2 Since the proclamation of Christianity as the state religion in the early fourth century, Armenian historiographers have systematically and unapologetically interpreted their own unfolding history in light of their faith in Christ. Until the eighteenth century there simply is no such thing as Armenian secular history...
Complete article here.
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