Diocese Journal Entry - 7/17/11

Diocese Summer Internship - 7/5/11 - 7/17/11

After spending the 4th of July weekend with my family, including a 90th birthday party for my grandfather, Sarkis Garabedian....

July 5th – I arrived in NYC at the Eastern Diocese. My first task was to park Fr. Daniel’s car in a parking garage. This meant I had to drive around the block…in Manhattan…for the first time in my life. I’ll admit, I was really nervous, but I flawlessly pulled it off.

July 6th – First day at the Diocese. To those that are unaware, I was invited by the Bishop of the Eastern Diocese to spend the summer here (living at the Diocese) in order to learn, study, and get a good foundation prior to entering seminary this fall. There are 3 main things I will be learning while I'm here:

• Armenian Language
  
• Music/Chanting
  
• Deacon’s Rituals and Altar Serving Rubric

My first week was pretty stressful due to a general lack of sleep, not eating correctly, adjusting to a new place and routine, learning new subjects, breathing city 'air' into my lungs, and getting sick for a few days. I have since settled in and adapted to my environment.

As I first started to practice chanting in my room, I caught a glimpse of the seriousness of what I was pursuing. I realized that I was actually studying to become a priest, which weirded me out, and made me nervous. I also caught a glimpse of how much work it will take to do this, and how much of God’s grace I will need.

Here is some wisdom that I received from my mentors during my first week…

...while learning to chant (which is in liturgical Armenian), my mentor stressed the idea that these litanies and hymns are prayers; direct speech to God. He translated some of the words in order to point out that understanding the words would determine how I would sing them. Also, in reality there is no didactic explanation as to how to sing them, even with musical notation, since it is speaking to God from the heart. Furthermore, we don’t talk (sing) to God like we talk to our friends, since He is God, and He is holy. Thus, I should sing appropriately.

…as a seminarian, I will be the center of examination, and evaluated as a potential leader; that character, and doing things right will be very, very important.

…put my studies first, don’t overwhelm myself and get distracted with other things, stay focused, stay the course, and there is a right way to do things, so learn the correct way.

July 9th – I took a train to St. Nersess Seminary to give the High School Summer Session a lecture on Baptism, and my journey from Protestantism to Armenian Orthodoxy.

Cool things I did in NYC so far:

• Studied at the NY Public Library.
  
• Visited St. Bartholomew's Church, and took pictures inside.
  
• Randomly ran into one of my best friends who happened to be visiting Manhattan that day with his family.