Diocese Journal Entry – 8/7/11

Diocese Summer Internship - 7/18/11 - 7/24/11

I’m thankful that I have people encouraging me, and praying for me…notably my Spiritual Director, Rev. Todd Zielinski, my Uncle/Godfather, Chris Garabedian, and my wonderful parents.

One of my biggest challenges so far is singing/chanting the liturgical prayers and litanies...

I never had a good singing voice, and up until now, anytime I did "sing", it was in my car, mostly to rock, metal, or Top 40, not Eastern chant, which to my ear is stylistically new and unique. To further complicate things, the pitch of the Liturgy is set higher than my natural singing voice. I also have to read music, of which I have some background, but there are no time signatures, and there is no accompanying sound to assist me. And at some point, I will have to sing out of memorization.

Furthermore, the Armenian Divine Liturgy is in classical Armenian, called Krapar, which is much more difficult than modern Armenian, in that many of the words spoken in the Liturgy are not at all easy to pronounce. [see below].

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, I need to be singing these words prayerfully, because that is what this is --prayer. It always helps when one knows the meaning of the words that are being sung/prayed, but in my situation this is not the case since I have not been trained in classical Armenian. I do know some words, and I do have access to an English translation, but the challenge still exists.

Please know that I am not complaining about my situation, or the challenges therein, nor do I regret that I have to sing and pray in classical Armenian. On the contrary, I am excited about what I am learning, and despite the common objections, it is a privilege to sing the same prayers in the same language as our Armenian Orthodox Church forefathers.

Here is an example of a prayer that is changed during the Divine Liturgy…

“Yev yevus havadov aghachestsook yev khuntrestsook ee Dyarneh Asdoodzo yev ee prgchen mermeh Heesooseh Kreesdoseh, ee zhamoos bashdaman yev aghoteets, zee arzhanee untoonelootyan arastseh. Luveetseh Der tsaynee aghachants merots; ungaltsee uzkhntrvadzus srdeets merots; toghtseh uzhantsanus mer, voghormestsee ee vera mer. Aghotk mer yev khntrvadzk hamenayn zham mdtsen arachee medzee derootyan nora, yev na datseh mez meeyapan, meeyov havadov yev artarootyamp vasdageel ee kordzus parees, zee zoghormootyan uzshnorhsun yoor arastseh ee vera mer. Dern amenagal getsoostseh yev voghormestsee.”

“Again in faith let us beseech and ask of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ, at this hour of service and prayers, that He may make them worthy of acceptance. May the Lord hear the voice of our supplications; may He receive the requests of our hearts; may He forgive our trespasses, and have mercy on us. May our prayers and requests at all times enter into the presence of His great majesty, and may He grant us to labor in good works with one accord, in one faith and in righteousness, so that He may send down on us the gifts of His mercy. May the Lord almighty save us and have mercy on us.”

By the way, that is the transliteration of the prayer using English letters, and not the Armenian alphabet.