Armenian Apostolic Church. Armenian Apostolic Church: difference from the Orthodox

Are Armenians Catholic or Orthodox? or who in general?

1. Heretics - because they are Monophysites. They did not accept the decisions of the Holy Council of Chalcedon and went into schism. Dissenters. But Christians, as well as Copts, are still Monophysites.
2. We have our own faith.
   Armenian Apostolic Church. (In a word, most Gregorians, but with slightly different customs)
   ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH, one of the oldest Christian churches, adheres to the Monophysite direction of Christianity (See Classification of Religions).

   The members of this church are usually referred to as Armenian Gregorians. The last name is due to the fact that Grigor the Illuminator (c. 240-332) is considered the founder of the Armenian Apostolic Church, who converted the king of Armenia Tiridates III to Christianity in 301 (according to legend, the first Christians appeared in Armenia as early as 34, after visiting this country by the apostle Thaddeus , however, reliable information about Armenian Christians dates back to the 2nd century). BUT

   Armenia became the first country in the world where Christianity was declared the state religion. At the beginning of the 5th c. Monk Mesrop Mashtots, together with Catholicos Sahak, translated the Bible into Armenian (apparently from Old Syriac). The independent Armenian-Gregorian Church, which rejected the decrees of the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon, has existed since 506.

   The doctrine of the Armenian Apostolic Church is similar to the doctrine of other Monophysite churches. The Armenian Gregorians adopt the decisions of the first three ecumenical councils, but do not recognize the decisions of the subsequent ones.

3. I don't know who all Armenians consider themselves to be? I consider myself Orthodox!
4. The Orthodox and Catholic Church does not accept them as Christians.
   The Gregorian faith is different from Christian faith
5. The most correct answer was given by the one who wrote that the majority of Armenians belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church, there are Armenians and Orthodox Christians, and there are also Catholics. I myself am an Armenian Catholic, baptized in catholic church(both my parents and grandparents and further up the tree were all Catholics), as were the Orthodox Armenians baptized in Orthodox churches. Both Catholics and Orthodox are CHRISTIAN!)
6. Armenians have their own CATHOLIKOS... So figure out who they are
7. After a new invasion of their country by the Persians in 428 and the inclusion of Armenia in the Persian region, the supreme patriarch Isaac the Great (378-439) makes efforts to create external resistance to the occupation of foreigners, strengthening the spirit and self-consciousness of the Armenians through church reforms. Especially protection was shown through Mesrob Mashtots, who created the Armenian alphabet of 36 letters, and thus the foundation for the development of Armenian philology was laid.
   Mesrob, the creator of the national language of the Armenians, later became the Catholicos (Patriarch) of Armenia. He translated the Holy Scriptures and the Church Fathers, mainly from the Greek and Syriac originals. Mesrob died in 440, 11 years before the Fourth Ecumenical Council in Chalcedon, which contains a creed that establishes a separation between the Armenian Church and the Orthodox Church.
   In connection with the enslavement of Armenia by the Persians 42 isolation and influence of the Syrian bishops. For reasons beyond their control, they could not arrive at the IV Ecumenical Council and they were not even informed in time for the same reasons, and they either stood in a pose of stubbornness, or, due to human weakness, were simply offended that without their presence they accepted dogmas. Most likely, the behind-the-scenes policy is not God's will, Satan held back.
   Syria and Palestine were at that time a breeding ground for all sorts of heresies. Mohammed did not assimilate the teachings, but picked up fragmentary knowledge from all the rumors of heresies, and it turned out that he came out of the VZ with suggestions from outside.
   Armenians are an ancient long-suffering people, but the mentality in end times was influenced by Islamo-Arab persuasion.
   It is quite possible that they will re-realize the fact of dogma and union with the Orthodox Church, the contradictions were papal, which was rejected by the Orthodox Church in the XII century (including Russia, baptized much later than Armenia in 988) Katoloks - in the sense of the primate.
8. ... they are Orthodox of a special kind .... they have their own rules in faith ....
9. Armenians in their absolute majority profess Christianity of the monophysical sense and belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church (A. A. Ts.). There are Catholics among the Armenians. Orthodox in Russia and Georgia, evangelists appeared in Armenia. More than 1 million hidden Muslim Armenians live in Turkey, some of whom are last years returns to Christianity. In the north-east of Turkey, there is a large group of Hemshilov Armenians who converted to Islam in the 16th century, but they consider themselves Armenians. According to the census conducted by the initiative group of Hemshils, there were more than 3 million Hemshiles Armenians in Turkey.
10. we are catholic
11. Armenian Church - AAC (Armenian apostolic church) - Armenians Monophysite apostles. but more than 1 million Catholic Armenians and more than 1.2 million Orthodox eat. The data is inaccurate.

Armenian Gregorian "Apostolic Church" ( Further AGAC) - one of the communities that calls itself Christian, but whether it is such will be considered further. We often hear that the Armenians were the first to accept the faith at the state level, but let us ask from whom did they accept the faith? From the Jerusalem and Byzantine Churches and, however, they failed to keep it intact! In addition, at the same time, edicts were issued in the Roman Empire that completely legalized Christianity, so there is no reason for the pride of the AGAC. For many centuries there has been no church unity between us, this does not exclude good neighborly relations, however, the schism and heresies of the AGAC run counter to the principle of preserving Unity of Faith handed down to us by the apostles and pointed out by the Word of God: « One God, one Vera, united baptism"(Ephesians 4:5). Since the 4th century, the AGAC has separated from the fullness of the ancient Orthodox local Churches (Constantinople, Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, etc.), accepting first by mistake, and then consciously, the Monophysite and Monothelite and Miaphysite heresies and went into schism from all the others. Until now, we have this unhealed wound in such a way that we can't pray and take communion together until the true teaching about God is restored in the AGAC. The hostages of this misfortune of heresy and schism are ordinary Armenians, unfortunately, often far from the subtleties of theology. You should know that it is impossible to be both Orthodox and included in the Armenian “church” at the same time, just as it is impossible to be simultaneously saved and lost, truthful and a liar. You have to choose between true and false. Before talking about the Armenian direction of Monophysitism, let's talk about what Monophysitism is and how it arose.

Monophysitism - this is an incorrect doctrine about Christ, the essence of which lies in the fact that in the Lord Jesus Christ only one nature, and not two (Divine and human), as taught by the Word of God and the Orthodox Church.

Orthodox Church confesses in Christ one person(hypostasis) and two natures – divine and human abiding unmerged, inseparable, inseparable, unchanging. Monophysites same (including AGAC) in Christ they acknowledge one face, one hypostasis and one nature. As a result, the Monophysites do not recognize the Ecumenical Councils starting from the 4th (and there are seven of them in total).

Most of the saints, therefore, they insult, condemn and do not accept. Monophysitism is not only a complete denial of the real human flesh of Jesus Christ the Son of God, but any slightest transfer, shift or distortion from the human nature of Christ towards His Divinity. The AGAC, after many hesitation, remained a confessor of the heresy of Monophysitism, which for them consists not in the denial of the Incarnation, but in stubborn insistence on the absorption by the deity of Christ of His human nature - which is a lie against Christ and a heretical teaching. It's all about this particular arrangement of accents in the Christology of the God-Man Jesus Christ. After that, neither the symbol of the Armenian faith, in which the Incarnation of Christ is confessed in Orthodoxy, nor the statements of individual fathers about the presence of the flesh of Christ have any meaning. The Armenian Church is twice Monophysite: by its own confession of heresy and by communion with the Monophysite churches (for according to the teaching of the Church, whoever communicates with a heretic is himself a heretic). In AGAC there is no k.-l. officially approved condensed statement of the fundamentals of the doctrine. Three Creeds are used in the AGAC: 1) a short Creed used in the rite of proclamation. 2) “middle” in the rank of the Divine Liturgy of the AGAC, 3) a lengthy Symbol, read by the priest at the beginning of the morning service. Phrase from the third voluminous Symbol "one face, one appearance, and united in one nature" completely heretical, and all lies and heresy are from the devil, which is unacceptable, especially with regard to God. This heresy leads to a lie about the God-man Christ, to the idea of ​​the impossibility of imitating Christ "because He is more God, and humanity is swallowed up in Him." That. humanity is humiliated in Christ and motivations for imitation of Christ are torn and grace is not given.

One delusion led to others. So only in the 12th century. icon veneration is finally recognized, during the sacred service, the AGAC consumes unleavened bread according to the Jewish custom and perform animal sacrifice (matah), they allow cheese and milk food on Saturday and Sunday during fasting. And from 965, the AGAC began to re-baptize Armenians who converted to it from Orthodoxy.

Main disagreements with Orthodoxy:

– in the AGAC they recognize the body of Christ not as consubstantial with us, but “incorruptible and passionless, and ethereal, and n created, and heavenly, who did everything that is characteristic of the body, not in reality, but in the imagination”;

– The AGAC believes that in the act of the Incarnation, the body of Christ “turned into the Divine and became consubstantial with it, disappearing in the Divine like a drop of honey in the sea, so that after that there are no longer two natures in Christ, but one, entirely Divine,” they confess in Christ two natures before the union, and after the union they profess a single complex, merging both - the Divine and the human, and as a result they call it a single nature.

In addition, Monophysitism is almost always accompanied by a Monophilite and Monoenergetic 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. This is also a terrible lie against the God-man Jesus Christ.

Does the Armenian direction of Monophysitism differ from its other types?

— Yes, it is different. There are currently only three:

1) Siroyakovites, Copts and Malabarians of the Severian tradition. 2) Armenian Gregorian AGAC (Etchmiadzin and Cilicia Catholicasates). 3) Ethiopian (Ethiopian and Eritrean "churches").

The AGAC in the past differed from the rest of the non-Chalcedonian Monophysites, even Sevir of Antioch was anathematized by the Armenians in the 4th century. at one of the Dvina cathedrals as an insufficiently consistent Monophysite. The theology of the AGAC was significantly influenced by aphthartodocetism (the heretical doctrine of the incorruptibility of the body of Jesus Christ from the moment of the Incarnation).

At present, interest in the history of Armenian Christological thought is shown rather by some Armenians, deliberately transferred from the AGAC to Orthodoxy , moreover, both in Armenia itself and in Russia.

With the AGAC today, a dogmatic dialogue is hardly possible at all, they are ready to discuss issues of social service, pastoral practice, various problems of social and church life, but he shows no interest in discussing dogmatic questions. Unfortunately, the representatives of the AGAC placed themselves outside the Church of Christ, which turned it into a self-isolated and separated from the Universal Church, a one-national church that has communion in faith only with the Monophysite heretical churches.

How are those baptized in the AGAC (and other Monophysites) today accepted into the Orthodox Church?

— Through repentance and a special rank. This is an ancient practice, and this is how non-Chalcedonites were received in the era of the Ecumenical Councils.

In 354, the first Council of the Armenian Church was held, condemning Arianism and reaffirming the adherence to Orthodoxy. AT 366 year the Church of Armenia, which was before in canonical depending on See of Caesarea Byzantium, received autocephaly (independence).

In 387, Great Armenia was divided, and soon it East End in 428 it was annexed to Persia, and the western part became a province of Byzantium. In 406, Mesrop Mashtots created the Armenian alphabet, which made it possible to translate the liturgy, Holy Scripture, and the works of the Church Fathers into the national language.

Representatives of the Armenian Church were present at the I and II Ecumenical Councils; decisions were also made III. But now the IV Ecumenical Council, held in 451 in the city of Chalcedon, passed without the participation of the Armenian bishops, and for this reason they were not aware of the exact resolutions of this Council. Meanwhile, the Monophysites arrived in Armenia and spread their delusions. True, the decrees of the Council soon appeared in the Armenian Church, but, due to ignorance of the exact meaning of the Greek theological terms, the Armenian teachers at first fell into a mistake without intent. However, the Armenian council in Dovin in 527 decided to recognize in Christ one nature and, thus, unequivocally put the AGAC among the Monophysites. The Orthodox faith was officially rejected and condemned. So the Armenian Church fell away from Orthodoxy. However, a significant part of Armenians remained in communion with the Ecumenical Church, passing into the subordination of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

In 591, Armenia was divided due to the attack of the Persians. Most of the country became part of the Byzantine Empire, and in the city of Avan (located northeast of Yerevan, now part of the city) was formed Orthodox catholicosate. He was opposed monophysite catholicosate, located in the city of Dvin, on Persian territory, and the Persians artificially supported it so that there was no unity with the Byzantine Orthodox Armenians, however, there were also many Orthodox Armenians on Persian territory. During the Byzantine-Persian War of 602-609. the Orthodox Catholicosate was abolished by the Persian invaders. The Monophysite Catholicos Abraham initiated the persecution of the Orthodox, forcing all clerics to either anathematize the Council of Chalcedon or leave the country.

Repression not eradicated Orthodox faith among Armenians. In 630, the Council of Karin was held, at which the Armenian Church officially returned to Orthodoxy. After the Arab conquests in 726, the AGAC again fell away from the Ecumenical Church into Monophysitism. Orthodox Armenians again began to move to the territory of Byzantium, under the omophorion of the Patriarch of Constantinople. Those that remained in the regions of Armenia bordering Georgia ended up under the jurisdiction of the Georgian Church. In the ninth century Orthodox were the population and princes of the Taron region and the majority of the population of the regions of Tao and Klarjeti.

Through the efforts of St. Photius of Constantinople, as well as Bishop Theodore Abu Qurra of Harran, under Prince Ashot I in 862 at the Shirakavan Cathedral The Church of Armenia returned to Orthodoxy, however, thirty years later, by the decision of the new Catholicos Hovhannes V, again veered towards monophysitism.

In the 11th century in Armenia, the number of departments consisting of in communion with Constantinople, in this period Orthodoxy began to prevail among the Armenians. After the invasion of the Seljuk Turks in the second half of the 11th century Orthodox Armenians came under jurisdiction Georgian Patriarch, and after a century and a half their bishops are already referred to and perceived as "Georgian".

The last attempt to return the Armenian Church to Orthodoxy was made in 1178. Her hierarchs at the Council convened by Emperor Manuel Komnenos recognize the Orthodox confession of faith. The death of Emperor Manuel prevented the reunion. In 1198, an alliance between the crusaders and the Armenian king of Cilicia led to the conclusion of a union between the heretical Roman Catholic and Armenian churches. This union, which was not accepted by the Armenians outside Cilicia, ended in a split in the Armenian Church, as a result of which the Armenian Catholic Church arose in 1198. Today, the majority of Armenians living in Armenia belong to the AGAC.

Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov, who was at the Caucasian cathedra, knew perfectly well the state of affairs in the Armenian Church and the opinions of many Armenians, drawn to the Orthodox faith. He said with great regret and sorrow that the AGAC is very close to the Orthodox faith in many ways, but does not want to abandon the heresy of Monophysitism that divides us. There is only one reason for this - pride, which from many centuries of wrong confession and from single nationality The Armenian Church (which brought a sense of national exclusivity and contradicts the Gospel) only got stronger, grew and increased pride Armenian religion. About falsity proud the path of national exclusiveness, God says in Scripture: “There is neither Greek nor Jew, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but all and in all Christ.” (Col. 3:11). As you know, God proud resists and does not give them His saving grace (1 Pet. 5:5). That is why we do not see in the AGAC such saints as Seraphim of Sarov, the Matrona of Moscow, and many other great saints who are born by the Orthodox Church.

St. John Chrysostom, a saint recognized by all, says: “to make divisions in the Church is no less evil than to fall into heresy… sin split not washed away even by martyr's blood. Therefore, with sorrow and pain, we are waiting for our Armenian brothers from sin heresy and schism fearing the eternal death of those souls who are not attentive to the personality and teachings of Christ's Unity of Faith (see Eph. 4:5).

“I beseech you, brethren, beware of those who produce divisions and temptations, contrary to the teaching that you have learned, and turn away from them; because such people serve not to our Lord Jesus Christ, but to your belly, and kindness and eloquence deceive the hearts of the simple." (Rom. 16:17)

So, the AGAC refers to communities that are not too far away from us, but are not in complete unity either. Due to certain historical circumstances, but, by the way, not without some human sin, after the IV Ecumenical Council of 451, she was among those communities that are called Monophysite, who did not accept the truth of the Church that in a single hypostasis, in a single person, incarnated The Son of God combines two natures: Divine and true human nature, inseparable and inseparable. It so happened that the AGAC, once a part of the one Ecumenical Church, did not accept this teaching, but shared the teaching of the Monophysites, who recognize only one nature of the incarnate God-Word - Divine. And although it can be said that now the sharpness of those disputes of the 5th-6th centuries has largely receded into the past and that the modern theology of the AGAC is far from the extremes of Monophysitism, nevertheless, there is still no complete unity in faith between us.

For example, the holy fathers of the Fourth Ecumenical Council, the Council of Chalcedon, which condemned the heresy of Monophysitism, are for us the holy fathers and teachers of the Church, and for representatives of the AGAC and other "ancient Eastern churches" - persons either anathematized (most often), or at least not using doctrinal authority . For us, Dioscorus is an anathematized heretic, but for them - "like a saintly father." At least from this it is already clear which traditions the family of local Orthodox churches inherits, and which ones are those that are called ancient Eastern. There are quite noticeable differences between the ancient Eastern churches themselves, and the degree of Monophysite influence is very different: for example, it is noticeably stronger in the Coptic churches (with all due respect to Egyptian monasticism, one cannot fail to see among the Copts, especially among Coptic modern theologians, a completely distinct Monophysite influence), and its traces in the AGAC are almost imperceptible. But it remains a historical, canonical and doctrinal fact that for a thousand and a half years there has been no Eucharistic communion between us. And if we believe in the Church as the Pillar and ground of the truth, if we believe that the promise of Christ the Savior that the gates of hell will not prevail against Her has not a relative, but an absolute meaning, then we must conclude that either the Church alone is true, and the other not completely, or vice versa - and think about the consequences of this conclusion. The only thing that cannot be done is to sit on two chairs and say that the teachings are not identical, but in fact they coincide, and that the one and a half thousand-year divisions stem solely from inertia, political ambitions and unwillingness to unite.

It follows from this that it is still impossible to take communion in turn in the AGAC, then in the Orthodox Church, and one should decide, and for this, study the doctrinal positions of the AGAC and the Orthodox Church.

Of course, it is impossible to formulate the theological doctrine of the AGAC in a short answer, and you could hardly expect it.

(By mother.arch. Oleg Davydenkov and Orthodox. Encycl.)

The history of Armenian culture dates back to ancient times. Traditions, way of life, religion are dictated religious views Armenians. In the article, we will consider the questions: what is the faith of the Armenians, why did the Armenians adopt Christianity, about the baptism of Armenia, in what year did the Armenians adopt Christianity, about the difference between the Gregorian and Orthodox churches.

Adoption of Christianity by Armenia in 301

The Armenian religion originated in the 1st century AD, when the founders of the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) Thaddeus and Bartholomew preached in Armenia. Already in the 4th century, in 301, Christianity became the official religion of the Armenians. Tsar Trdat III laid the foundation for this. He came to rule the royal throne of Armenia in 287.

Initially, Trdat was not supportive of Christianity and persecuted believers. He imprisoned Saint Gregory for 13 years. However, the strong faith of the Armenian people won. Once the king lost his mind and was healed thanks to the prayers of Gregory, a saint who preached Orthodoxy. After that, Trdat believed, was baptized and made Armenia the first Christian state in the world.

Armenians - Catholics or Orthodox, today make up 98% of the country's population. Of these, 90% are representatives of the Armenian Apostolic Church, 7% of the Armenian Catholic Church.

The Armenian Apostolic Church is independent of the Orthodox and Catholic churches

The Armenian Apostolic Church stood at the origins of the birth of Christianity of the Armenian people. It belongs to the oldest Christian churches. Its founders are the preachers of Christianity in Armenia - the Apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew. The dogmas of the AAC are significantly different from Orthodoxy and Catholicism. The Armenian Church is autonomous from the Orthodox and Catholic churches. And this is its main feature. The word apostolic in the title refers us to the origins of the church and indicates that Christianity in Armenia became the first state religion.

The AAC keeps track of the Gregorian calendar. However, she does not deny the Julian calendar either.

During the absence political management The Gregorian Church took over the functions of government. In this regard, the role of the Catholicosate in Etchmiadzin became dominant for a long time. For several centuries in a row, it was considered the main center of power and control.

In modern times, the Catholicosate of all Armenians in Etchmidizian and the Catholicosate of Cilicia in Antilias operate.

Catholicos - Bishop in the AAC

Catholicos is a related concept of the word bishop. Title highest rank at the AAC.

The Catholicos of All Armenians includes the dioceses of Armenia, Russia and Ukraine. The Catholicos of Cilicia includes the dioceses of Syria, Cyprus and Lebanon.

Traditions and rituals of the Armenian Apostolic Church

Matah - an offering in gratitude to God

One of the most important rites of the AAC is matah or refreshments, a charity dinner. Some confuse this rite with animal sacrifice. The meaning is to give alms to the poor, which is an offering to God. Matah is performed as thanksgiving to God for the happy end of some event (recovery native person) or as a request for something.

To conduct a matah, livestock (a bull, a sheep) or a bird are slaughtered. Bouillon is boiled from meat with salt, which was consecrated in advance. Meat should never be left uneaten until the next day. Therefore, it is divided and distributed.

forward post

This post precedes Lent. The advanced post begins 3 weeks before the Great and lasts 5 days - from Monday to Friday. Its observance is historically conditioned by the fast of St. Gregory. This helped the apostle to cleanse himself and heal Trdat with prayers.

communion

Unleavened bread is used during communion, however, there is no fundamental difference between unleavened or leavened. Wine is not diluted with water.

The Armenian priest dips the bread (previously consecrated) into wine, breaks it and gives it to those who wish to take communion.

sign of the cross

It is done with three fingers from left to right.

How is the Gregorian Church different from the Orthodox

Monophysitism - the recognition of the one nature of God

For a long time, the differences between the Armenian and Orthodox Church were not noticeable. By about the 6th century, differences began to be felt. Speaking about the division of the Armenian and Orthodox churches, one should remember the emergence of Monophysitism.

This is an offshoot of Christianity, according to which the nature of Jesus is not dual, and he does not have a body like a man. Monophysites recognize in Jesus one nature. So, at the 4th Council of Chalcedon there was a split between the Gregorian Church and the Orthodox. The Monophysite Armenians were recognized as heretics.

Differences between the Gregorian and Orthodox churches

1. The Armenian Church does not recognize the flesh of Christ, its representatives are convinced that his body is ether. The main difference lies in the reason for the separation of the AAC from Orthodoxy.
2. Icons. In Gregorian churches there is no abundance of icons, as in Orthodox ones. Only in some churches there is a small iconostasis in the corner of the temple. Armenians do not pray in front of holy images. Some historians attribute this to the fact that the Armenian Church was engaged in iconoclasm.

1. Difference in calendars. Representatives of Orthodoxy are guided by the Julian calendar. Armenian - into Gregorian.
2. Representatives of the Armenian Church are baptized from left to right, Orthodox - vice versa.
3. Spiritual hierarchy. In the Gregorian Church there are 5 degrees, where the highest is the catholicos, then the bishop, priest, deacon, reader. There are only 3 degrees in the Russian Church.
4. Fasting lasting 5 days - arachawork. Starts 70 days before Easter.
5. Since the Armenian Church recognizes one hypostasis of God, only one is sung in church songs.. Unlike the Orthodox, where they sing about the trinity of God.
6. During Lent, Armenians can eat cheese and eggs on Sundays.
7. The Gregorian Church lives according to the postulates of only three councils, although there were seven of them. The Armenians could not get to the 4th Council of Chalcedon, in connection with which they did not accept the postulates of Christianity and ignored all subsequent councils.

At present, according to the canonical structure of the unified Armenian Apostolic Church, there are two catholicosates - the Catholicosate of All Armenians, with the center in Etchmiadzin (arm. Մայր Աթոռ Սուրբ Էջմիածին / Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin) and Cilicia (arm. Մեծի Տանն Կիլիկիոյ Կաթողիկոսություն / Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia), centered (since 1930) in Antilias, Lebanon. Under the administrative independence of the Catholicos of Cilicia, the primacy of honor belongs to the Catholicos of All Armenians, who has the title of Supreme Patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

The jurisdiction of the Catholicos of All Armenians includes all the dioceses within Armenia, as well as most of the foreign dioceses around the world, in particular in Russia, Ukraine and other countries of the former USSR. The Catholicos of Cilicia governs the dioceses of Lebanon, Syria and Cyprus.

There are also two autonomous patriarchates of the Armenian Apostolic Church - Constantinople and Jerusalem, canonically subordinate to the Catholicos of All Armenians. The patriarchs of Jerusalem and Constantinople hold the spiritual degree of archbishops. 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

• Novo-Nakhichevan and Russian Diocese of Rostov Vicariate of the AAC Western Vicariate of the AAC

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

Spiritual degrees at 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/The bishop/ (has absolute authority to perform the Sacraments, including the Consecration of all spiritual degrees of the hierarchy, including bishops and catholicoses. The ordination and chrismation of bishops is performed in the concelebration of two bishops. The chrismation of the catholicos is performed in the concelebration of twelve bishops).
2. Bishop, Archbishop (it differs from the Catholicos in some limited powers. The bishop can ordain and chrismate priests, but usually he cannot ordain bishops on his own, but only serve the Catholicos in episcopal consecration. When a new Catholicos is elected, twelve bishops anoint him, elevating him to a spiritual degree).
3. Priest, Archimandrite(performs all the Sacraments except for the Consecration).
4. Deacon(serves in the Sacraments).
5. Dpir(the lowest spiritual degree obtained in 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 did not accept its decisions, like all the Ancient Eastern Churches. In its dogmatics it is based on the decrees first three Ecumenical Councils and adheres to the pre-Chalcedonian Christology of St. Cyril of Alexandria, who professed the One of the two natures of God the Word incarnate (miaphysitism). Theological critics of the Armenian Apostolic Church argue that its Christology should be interpreted as Monophysite, which the Armenian Church rejects, anathematizing both Monophysitism and Dyophysitism.

icon veneration

Among the critics of the Armenian Church, there is an opinion that iconoclasm was characteristic of it in the early period. Such an opinion could arise due to the fact that in general there are few icons in Armenian churches and there is no iconostasis, but this is only a consequence of the local ancient tradition, historical conditions and general asceticism of decoration (that is, from the point of view of the Byzantine tradition of icon veneration, when all the walls of the temple are covered with icons, this can be perceived as the “absence” of icons or even “iconoclasm”). On the other hand, such an opinion could have arisen due to the fact that believing Armenians usually do not keep icons at home. In home prayer, the Cross was used more often. This is due to the fact that the icon in the AAC must certainly be consecrated by the hand of the bishop with holy myrrh, 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 for its appearance are considered to be the rule in Armenia in the VIII-IX centuries of Muslims, whose religion forbids images of people, "monophysitism", which does not imply a human essence in Christ, 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 time of the Council of Chalcedon. Well, since the presence of icons in Armenian churches testifies against the assertion of iconoclasm in the Armenian Apostolic Church, the opinion was put forward that, starting from the 11th century, the Armenian Church converges with the Byzantine tradition in matters of icon veneration (although Armenia was under the rule of Muslims in subsequent centuries, and many The dioceses of the Armenian Apostolic Church are still in Muslim territories today, despite the fact that there have never been 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 combating 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, VIII-IX centuries), preachers of iconoclasm appeared in Armenia. Dvina priest Khesu with several other clerics proceeded to the regions of Sodk and Gardmank, where they preached the rejection and destruction of icons. The Armenian Church ideologically opposed them, represented by Catholicos Movses, theologians Vrtanes Kertokh and Hovhan Mairagometsi. But the struggle against the iconoclasts was not limited to theology. The iconoclasts were persecuted and, captured by the prince of Gardman, went to the court of the Church in Dvin. Thus, intra-church iconoclasm was quickly suppressed, but found ground in the sectarian popular movements of the middle of the 7th century. and the beginning of the 8th century, with which the Armenian and Alvanian churches fought.

Calendar and ritual features

Staff of vardapet (archimandrite), Armenia, 1st quarter of the 19th century

matah

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

The matah tradition is traced back to the words of the Lord:

Matah in the Armenian Apostolic Church is performed on various occasions, more often as gratitude to God for mercy or with a request for help. Most often, matah is performed as a vow for a 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 done as a petition for the repose. However, it is customary to make matah in the form of a public meal for members of the parish during the period of great church holidays or in connection with the consecration of the church.

Participation in the rite of the clergyman is limited solely to the consecration of the salt with which matah is prepared. It is forbidden to bring an animal to church, and therefore it is cut by the donor at home. For a matah, a bull, a ram or a poultry are slaughtered (which is perceived as a sacrifice). The meat is boiled in water with the addition of consecrated salt. It is distributed to the poor or they arrange a meal at home, and the meat should not be left 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 matah, when a dove is used - it is released into the wild.

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The advanced fast, currently unique to the Armenian Church, begins 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 Old 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 Hypostases of the Triune God. More often it 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 this or that biblical event.

So in the Sunday Liturgy and at Pascha it is added: "... that you have risen from the dead, have mercy on us."

In the non-Sunday Liturgy and on the feasts of the Holy Cross: "... that he was crucified for us, ...".

In the Annunciation or Epiphany (Nativity and Baptism of the Lord): "... who appeared for us, ...".

In the Ascension of Christ: "... that he ascended in glory to the Father, ...".

On Pentecost (Descent of the Holy Spirit): "... that he 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, whole, not diluted with water, is used.

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

sign of the cross

In the Armenian Apostolic Church, the sign of the cross is three-fingered (similar to Greek) and performed from left to right (like the Latins). Other variants of the Sign of the Cross practiced in other churches are not considered “wrong” by the AAC, but are perceived 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 Christian churches that have rights to the Holy Sepulcher, lives according to the Julian calendar, like the Greek Patriarchy.

An important prerequisite for the spread of Christianity was the existence of Jewish colonies in Armenia. As you know, the first preachers of Christianity usually began their activities in those places where there were Jewish communities. Jewish communities existed in the main cities of Armenia: Tigranakert, Artashat, Vagharshapat, Zareavan and others. Tertullian in the book “Against the Jews”, written in 197, narrating about the peoples who adopted Christianity: Parthians, Lydians, Phrygians, Cappadocians, - mentions about Armenians. This testimony is also confirmed by Blessed Augustine in his work 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), Khosrov I (196-216) and their successors. These persecutions were described by the Bishop of Cappadocia 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 bishop” (VI, 46. 2). The letter dates from 251-255. It proves that in the middle of the III century in Armenia there was a Christian community organized and recognized by the Ecumenical Church.

Adoption of Christianity by Armenia

Traditional historical date the proclamation of Christianity as "the state and only religion of Armenia" is considered to be 301. According to S. Ter-Nersesyan, this happened not earlier than 314, between 314 and 325, however, this does not negate the fact that Armenia was the first to adopt Christianity at the state level. St. Gregory the Illuminator, who became the first hierarch of the state Armenian Church (-), and the king of Greater 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 return his father's throne. In the estate of Yeriz, Gavar Ekegeats, when the king performs the ritual of sacrifice in the temple of the pagan goddess Anahit, Gregory, one of the king's associates, as a Christian, refuses to sacrifice to the idol. Then it is revealed that Gregory is the son of Anak, the murderer of the father of Trdat, King Khosrov II. For these "crimes" Gregory is imprisoned in the Artashat dungeon, intended for suicide bombers. In the same year, the king issues two decrees: the first of them orders to arrest all Christians within Armenia with the confiscation of their property, and the second - to put to death the hiding Christians. These decrees show how dangerous Christianity was considered for the state.

Church of Saint Gayane. Vagharshapat

Church of Saint Hripsime. Vagharshapat

The adoption of Christianity by Armenia is most closely associated with the martyrdom of the holy virgins of the Hripsimeans. 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, fascinated by the beauty of the virgin Hripsime, wished to take her as his wife, but met with 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 virgins Gayane, together with two virgins, in the southern part of the city, and one sick virgin 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 St. Nino Equal-to-the-Apostles.

The execution of the Hripsimian virgins caused the king a strong mental shock, which led to a severe nervous illness. In the 5th century, the people called this disease "pig", which is why the sculptors depicted Trdat with a pig's head. The king's sister Khosrovadukht repeatedly had a dream in which she was informed that only Gregory, imprisoned in prison, could heal Trdat. Gregory, who miraculously survived after spending 13 years in the stone pit of Khor Virap, was released from prison and solemnly received in Vagharshapat. After 66 days of prayer and preaching of 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 actual destruction of the sacred hierarchy in Armenia. For consecration to the rank of bishop, Gregory the Illuminator solemnly went to Caesarea, where he was ordained by the Cappadocian bishops, headed by Leontius of Caesarea. Bishop Peter of Sebastia performed the ceremony of enthroning Gregory in Armenia to the episcopal throne. The ceremony took place not in the capital Vagharshapat, but in distant Ashtishat, where the main episcopal see of Armenia founded by the apostles has long been located.

Tsar Trdat, together with the whole 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. In contrast to Osroene, where King Abgar (who, according to Armenian tradition, 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 finally move away 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 up, 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 covered up, in its place a temple dedicated to the Most Holy Theotokos was erected. Thus was founded the spiritual center of the Armenian Apostolic Church - Holy Etchmiadzin, which in 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 Maximinus II Daza (-) declared war on the Armenians, “long since the former friends and allies of Rome, moreover, this theomachist tried to force zealous Christians to sacrifice to idols and demons and this made them enemies instead of friends and enemies instead of allies ... He himself, together with his troops, suffered setbacks in the war with the Armenians” (IX. 8,2,4). Maximin attacked Armenia in last days of his life, in 312/313. For 10 years, Christianity in Armenia has taken such deep roots that for their new faith, the Armenians took up arms against the strong Roman Empire.

During the time of St. Gregory of Christ, the Albanian and Georgian kings accepted the faith, respectively making Christianity the state religion in Georgia and Caucasian Albania. The local churches, whose hierarchy originates from the Armenian Church, while maintaining doctrinal and ritual unity with it, had their own catholicoses, who recognized the canonical authority of the Armenian primate. The mission of the Armenian Church was also sent to other regions of the Caucasus. Thus, the eldest son of Catholicos Vrtanes Grigoris set out to preach the Gospel to the country of the Mazkuts, where he later was martyred by order of King Sanesan Arshakuni in 337.

After a long hard work (according to legend, by Divine revelation), Saint Mesrop in 405 created the Armenian alphabet. The first sentence translated into Armenian was “Know wisdom and instruction, understand the sayings of the understanding” (Proverbs 1:1). With the assistance of the Catholicos and King Mashtots opened in various places Armenian schools. Translated and original literature originates and develops in Armenia. The translation activity was headed 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 famous cultural centers of that time: Edessa, Amid, Alexandria, Athens, Constantinople and other cities for improvement in Syrian and Greek and translation of the works of the Church Fathers.

In parallel with the translation activity, 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 and every year solemnly celebrates the memory of the Cathedral of Holy Translators.

Defense of Christianity from persecution of the Zoroastrian clergy of Iran

Since ancient times, Armenia has been alternately under political influence 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 the Christian neighbor. Well aware of this, the Persian kings from time to time made attempts to destroy Christianity in Armenia and forcibly implant Zoroastrianism. Some nakharars, especially the owners of the southern regions bordering Persia, shared the interests of the Persians. Two political currents were formed in Armenia: Byzantophile and Persophile.

After the Third Ecumenical Council, the supporters of Nestorius, persecuted in the Byzantine Empire, found refuge in Persia and began to translate and distribute the writings 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 in their messages about the spread of Nestorianism.

In response letters, the Catholicos wrote that the 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 St. Sahak, addressed to Patriarch Proclus, as a model 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 “there appeared in Armenia false books brought, empty legends of a certain Roman named Theodoros.” Upon learning of this, Saints Sahak and Mesrop immediately took steps to condemn the champions of this heretical teaching and destroy their writings. Of course, we were talking about the writings of Theodore of Mopsuestia.

Armenian-Byzantine Church Relations in the Second Half of the 12th Century

Over the centuries, the Armenian and Byzantine churches have repeatedly made attempts to reconcile. For the first time in 654 in Dvin under the Catholicos Nerses III (641-661) and the Emperor of Byzantium Constas II (-), then in the VIII century under the Patriarch of Constantinople German (-) and the Catholicos of Armenia David I (-), in the IX century under the Patriarch of Constantinople Photius (-, -) and Catholicose Zechariah I (-). But the most serious attempt to unite the churches took place in the XII century.

In the history of Armenia, the 11th century was marked by the migration of the Armenian people to the territories of the eastern provinces of Byzantium. In 1080, the ruler of Mountainous Cilicia, Ruben, a relative of the last king of Armenia, Gagik II, annexed the plain part of Cilicia to his possessions and founded the Cilician Armenian principality 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 of Rome 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 Christmas on December 25. Innocent II also sent a bishop's baton as a gift to the Armenian Catholicos. Since that time, the Latin baton appeared in the everyday life of the Armenian Church, which the bishops began to use, and the eastern Greek-Cappadocian baton became the property of the archimandrites. In 1145, Catholicos Gregory III turned to Pope Eugene III (-) with a request for political assistance, and Gregory IV - to Pope Lucius III (-). Instead of helping, however, the popes again offered the AAC to mix water into the holy Chalice, to celebrate the feast of the Nativity of Christ on December 25, etc.

King Hethum sent a message from the pope to the Catholicos Constantine and asked him to answer it. The Catholicos, although he was full of respect for the Roman throne, could not accept the conditions that the pope proposed. Therefore, he sent a message to King Hethum, consisting of 15 points, in which he rejected the dogma of the Catholic Church and asked the king not to trust the West. The See of Rome, having received such an answer, limited its proposals and, in a letter written in 1250, offered to accept only the doctrine of the filioque. To answer this proposal, Catholicos Constantine in 1251 convened the III Council of Sis. Without coming to a final decision, the council turned to the opinion of the church leaders of Eastern Armenia. The problem was new for the Armenian Church, and it is natural that different opinions could exist in the initial period. However, no decision was ever made.

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, falls on the 16th-17th centuries. Therefore, from that time on, the dioceses and communities of the Armenian Apostolic Church were divided for several centuries on a territorial basis into Turkish and Persian. Both of these parts of a single church from the 16th century developed in different conditions, had a different legal status, which affected the structure of the hierarchy of the AAC and the relationship of various communities within it.

After the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1461, the AAC Patriarchate 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 the Christian communities that were not included in the uniting Greek Orthodox Christians in the territory Ottoman Empire"Byzantine" millet. In addition to the believers of other non-Chalcedonian Old 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.

Other historical thrones of the Armenian Apostolic Church - the Akhtamar and Cilician Catholicosates and the Jerusalem Patriarchate - also appeared on the territory of the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century. 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 an Armenian ethnarch in Turkey.

The throne of the Catholicoses of all Armenians in Etchmiadzin ended up on the territory of Persia, and the throne of the Catholicos of Albania, subordinate to the AAC, was also located there. The Armenians in the territories subordinated to Persia almost completely lost their rights to autonomy, and the Armenian Apostolic Church remained the only public institution here 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, getting the government to stop bureaucratic abuses and abolish taxes for the AAC. His successor Pilipos I sought to strengthen the ties between the ecclesiastical dioceses of Persia, subordinate to Etchmiadzin, and the dioceses in the Ottoman Empire. In 1651, he convened a local council of the AAC in Jerusalem, at which all the contradictions between the autonomous thrones of the AAC, caused by political division, were eliminated.

However, in the second half of the 17th century, a confrontation arose between Etchmiadzin and the growing strength of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Patriarch Egiazar of Constantinople, with the support of the High Porte, was proclaimed the Supreme Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church in opposition to the legitimate Catholicos of All Armenians with the throne in Etchmiadzin. In 1664 and 1679, Catholicos Hakob VI visited Istanbul and negotiated with Egiazar on unity and delimitation 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 throne of Etchmiadzin was occupied by Egiazar. 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 huge 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 a foreign land. By this time, the Armenian colonies with the corresponding church structure already existed in Iran, Syria, Egypt, as well as in the Crimea and Western Ukraine. In the 18th century, the positions of the AAC were strengthened in Russia - Moscow, St. Petersburg, New Nakhichevan (Nakhichevan-on-Don), Armavir.

Catholic proselytism among Armenians

Simultaneously with the strengthening of the economic ties of the Ottoman Empire with Europe in XVII-XVIII centuries there was an increase in the propaganda activity of the Roman Catholic Church. The Armenian Apostolic Church as a whole took a sharply negative position in relation to the missionary activity 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 accept Catholicism. At the beginning of the 18th century, the Armenian bishops of Aleppo and Mardin spoke openly in favor of converting to Catholicism.

In Constantinople, where the political interests of East and West intersected, 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 See of Rome.

At the same time, the ties of the Armenian Apostolic Church with the Catholics played a significant role in the revival of the national culture of Armenians and the spread of European ideas of the Renaissance and Enlightenment. Since 1512 in Amsterdam (printing house of the Agopa Megapart monastery), and then in Venice, Marseille and other cities Western Europe books began to be published in Armenian. First Armenian printed edition Holy Scripture was carried out in 1666 in Amsterdam. In Armenia itself, cultural activity was greatly hindered (the first printing house opened here only in 1771), which forced many representatives of the clergy to leave the Middle East and create monastic, scientific and educational associations in Europe.

Mkhitar Sebastatsi, who was carried away by the activities of Catholic missionaries in Constantinople, founded a monastery in 1712 on the island of San Lazzaro in Venice. Having adapted to local political conditions, the brethren of the monastery (Mkhitarists) recognized the primacy of the Pope; nevertheless, this community and its offshoot in Vienna tried to stay away from the propaganda activities of Catholics, being engaged exclusively in scientific and educational work, the fruits of which deserved national recognition.

In the 18th century big influence among the Armenians who collaborated with the Catholics, he acquired the Catholic monastic order of Antonites. The 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, most 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 Armenian Apostolic Church 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 scholar Vardan Bagishetsi. Armashi Monastery gained great fame in the Ottoman Empire. Graduates of this school enjoyed great prestige in church circles. By the time of the patriarchate in Constantinople, Zakariya II at the end of the 18th century, the most important area of ​​the Church's activity was the training of the Armenian clergy and the training 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 Armenian Catholicos to establish official relations with Russia. By the end of the 18th century, the Armenian communities of the Northern Black Sea region became 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 an active activity aimed at joining 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, the Bishop of Tiflis Nerses Ashtaraketsi contributed to the creation of Armenian volunteer detachments, which made a significant contribution to the victories of the Russian troops in Transcaucasia. In 1828, according to the Turkmanchay Treaty, Eastern Armenia became part of 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 directly part of the AAC. Compared with 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 distinctions of the Armenian Apostolic Church in the empire, where Byzantine Orthodoxy dominated, were reflected in the name “Armenian-Gregorian Church” coined by Russian church officials. This was done in order not to call the Armenian Orthodox Church. 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 were serious harassment of the AAC by the authorities. In 1885-1886. Armenian parochial schools were temporarily closed, and since 1897 they were transferred to the department of the Ministry of Education. In 1903, a decree was issued on the nationalization of Armenian church property, which was canceled in 1905 after mass indignations of the Armenian people.

In the Ottoman Empire, the Armenian church organization also acquired a new status in the 19th century. After the Russian-Turkish war of 1828-1829, thanks to the mediation of the European powers, Catholic and Protestant communities were created in Constantinople, and a significant number of Armenians became part of them. Nevertheless, the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople continued to be regarded by the High Porte as the official representative of the entire Armenian population of the empire. The election of the patriarch was approved by the sultan's letter, and the Turkish authorities tried in every possible way to put 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 sections of society were involved in the sphere of activity of the Patriarchate of Constantinople of the AAC, and the patriarch gradually gained significant influence in the Armenian Church of the Ottoman Empire. Without his intervention, the internal church, cultural or political issues of the Armenian community were not resolved. The Patriarch of Constantinople acted as an intermediary 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 jurisdiction of two councils: the spiritual (of 14 bishops chaired by the patriarch) and secular (out of 20 members elected by a meeting of 400 representatives of the Armenian communities).

Armenian Apostolic Church- a very ancient church, which has a number of features. There are many myths about its essence in Russia. Sometimes Armenians are considered Catholics, sometimes Orthodox, sometimes Monophysites, sometimes iconoclasts. The Armenians themselves, as a rule, consider themselves Orthodox and even a little more Orthodox than other Orthodox churches, which in the Armenian tradition are usually called "Chalcedonian". And the truth is that there are three types of Armenian Christians: Gregorians, Chalcedonians and Catholics.

FROM Catholics everything is simple: these are the Armenians who lived in the Ottoman Empire and were converted to Catholicism by European missionaries. Many Catholic Armenians then moved to Georgia and now inhabit the regions of Akhalkalaki and Akhaltsikhe. In Armenia itself, they are not numerous and live somewhere in the far north of the country.

FROM Chalcedonians already more difficult. These include both Catholic Armenians and Orthodox Armenians. Historically, these are the Armenians who lived on the territory of Byzantium and recognized the Cathedral of Chalcedon, that is, they were classical Orthodox. There were many Chalcedonians in the west of Armenia, where they built almost all the ancient churches. Several Chalcedon temples are located in Northern Armenia. Over time, these people converted to Catholicism (which, in fact, is also Chalcedonism) and almost disappeared from the face of the earth.

The Gregorian Armenians remain. It's a few conditional term introduced for convenience. Let's talk about them in detail.

Armenian Christianity before 505

In the first centuries of our era, paganism reminiscent of Iranian paganism was widespread in Armenia. They say that the conical domes of Armenian and Georgian churches are the heritage of that era. Christianity began to penetrate into Armenia very early, although it is not known exactly when and by what means. At the end of the 3rd century, it was already considered a problem and was persecuted, but a man named Gregory managed to save King Trdat III from illness, for which he legalized Christianity, and Gregory the Illuminator became the first bishop of Armenia. This happened either in 301 or 314. It is usually believed that Armenia became the first state with the Christian religion as a state religion, although there is a suspicion that the state of Osroene overtook Armenia by 100 years.

The ruins of the temple of Surb Harutyun (Resurrection), founded by Gregory the Illuminator in 305

In 313, an edict was issued on the freedom of belief in the Roman Empire, in 325 Christianity was accepted by the Kingdom of Aksum, in 337 - Iberia, in 380 Christianity was declared the state religion in Rome. Somewhere synchronously with Iberia, Caucasian Albania adopted Christianity - directly from Gregory the Illuminator.

In 354, the first church council ("Ashtishat") was convened, which condemned the Arian heresy and decided to create monasteries in Armenia. (I wonder why there were no monasteries in Georgia at that time)

Thus, for the first 200 years of its existence, the Armenian Church was an ordinary Orthodox Church and the center of the Christianization of Transcaucasia. From time to time, Iran tried to return Armenia to Zoroastrianism and organized "peace enforcement operations", and in 448, already in an ultimatum form, demanded to renounce Christianity. The reaction of the Armenians was so negative that in 451 Shah Yezigerd withdrew his demand, but there was no calm. In 451, Armenia lost the Battle of Avaray and the country plunged into chaos for almost half a century. When there was relative calm, it turned out that in Christian world a lot has already changed.

Monophysitism and Nestrianism

While Armenia was at war with the Persians, a problem arose in Byzantium, known in science as “Christological disputes”. The question of the relationship between the human and the divine in Christ was being resolved. The question was this: by whose sufferings was mankind saved? The suffering of the Divine or the suffering of Humanity? Supporters of Patriarch Nestorius (Nestorians) argued as follows: God cannot be born, suffer and die, therefore a person suffered and died on the cross, and the divine essence remained separately in him.

This version immediately had many opponents, who, however, went to the other extreme: they announced that Jesus was only God, and the human essence was completely absent in him. This thesis about the single nature (mono-physis) of Christ came to be called Monophysitism.

Any heresy is harmless as long as it exists in the form of an abstract philosophy, but bad when consequences are derived from it. All late totalitarianism, fascism, dictatorships and tyranny grew out of Monophysitism - that is, the philosophy of the superiority of the state over the personal. Islam is also pure monophysism.

In 449, the Council of Ephesus cracked down on Nestorianism, declaring Monophysitism to be the correct teaching. A few years later, the mistake was realized and in 451 the Council of Chalcedon was convened, which formulated such a doctrine about the essence of Christ that would not deviate to the extremes of Nestorianism or Monophysitism. Orthodoxy is always the doctrine of the middle. Extremes are more easily accepted by the brain and this is the reason for the success of all heresies.

And everything was going well, but the national factor intervened. Monophysitism was liked by the peoples of the Byzantine Empire as a "religion of the opposition". It rapidly spread throughout all non-Greek areas: Egypt, Syria and Palestine. At the same time, Nestorianism spread into Persia and moved further east as far as China, where the Nestorians built a church near Xi'an.

The split was deep and serious. Emperor Zeno, an immoral and not very thinking person, decided to simply reconcile everyone with everyone, refusing the decision of the Council of Chalcedon, but without condemning him directly. All this was set forth by the emperor in a document known as Zeno's Enoticon of 482.

When Armenia recovered a little after the Persian defeat, it had to somehow navigate the theological chaos. The Armenians acted simply: they chose the faith that Byzantium adhered to, and Byzantium in those years adhered to Zeno's enoticon, that is, in fact, Monphysitism. In 40 years, Byzantium will abandon the enoticon, and in Armenia this philosophy will take root for centuries. Those Armenians who find themselves under the control of Byzantium will remain Orthodox - that is, "Chalcedonites".

In 491, a council of the churches of Transcaucasia (Vagharshapar Cathedral) met, which rejected the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon as too similar to Nestorianism.

Dvina cathedrals

In 505, the First Dvinsky Cathedral of Transcaucasia met. The council once again condemned Nestorianism and adopted the document "Epistle of Faith", which has not survived to this day. In this document, the churches of Armenia, Georgia and Albania condemned Nestorianism and extreme Monophysitism, recognizing moderate Monophysitism as the basis of faith.

On March 29, 554, the Second Dvinsky Cathedral met, which developed an attitude towards aftartodocetism (Julianism)- to the doctrine of the incorruptibility of the body of Christ during his life. In 564, Emperor Justinian the Great tried to implement the same idea, but the Byzantine hierarchs opposed it. In Armenia, however, this Monophysite principle was nevertheless recognized. It was already, well, very radical Monophysitism, and over time, Armenia abandoned Julianism.

At the same council, it was decided to introduce into the prayer "Holy God, Mighty Holy ..." the addition "... crucified for us."

Around 590, the Chalcedonian Avan Catholicosate was formed on a part of the territory of Armenia. It did not last long and was soon liquidated by the Persians, but a trace of it remained in the form of an interesting Avan Cathedral.

In 609-610, the Third Dvina Cathedral was assembled. Georgia at that moment was gradually returning back to Orthodoxy, and the Armenian Church condemned these encroachments. At the council, it was decided to break off communication with the Georgian church, not to go to Georgian churches and not to allow Georgians to take communion. So in 610 the paths of the Georgian and Armenian churches finally diverged.

What happened next

So, the Armenian Church remained in relative loneliness - the church of Caucasian Albania and the small Kakhetian state of Hereti remained its like-minded people. A strange thing happened in Armenia itself: from 630 to 660, the Chalcedonites Ezra and Nerses were its catholicoses. It was under them that many famous temples were built - the temple of Gayane, Zvartnots and (in the region). It was Nerses who rebuilt the Etchmiadzin Cathedral, erected in 618, so such a strange assertion is possible that this cathedral was built by the Orthodox.

To the credit of the Armenian Church, it must be said that it gradually drifted from extreme Monophysitism to moderate, then to even more moderate. The Manazkert Council of 726 condemned Julianism and this radical Monophysite doctrine was finally rejected. A union with the Greek Church almost happened, but the Arab invasion prevented it. Gradually, the AAC became very close to Orthodoxy, but still did not take the last step and remained a non-Orthodox church. Subsequently, from time to time there were attempts to rapprochement with Byzantium, but each time they ended in failure.

Surprisingly, Armenia escaped Islamization and the Armenian Monophysite Christians did not turn into Muslims, like many Monophysites of Palestine and Syria. Monophysitism is so close to Islam in spirit that the transformation is almost painless, but the Armenians avoided such a transformation.

In 1118-1199, Armenia gradually, in parts, became part of the Georgian kingdom. This process had two consequences. First, many Chalcedonian monasteries appear in Northern Armenia. Second: mass temple construction begins. More than half of all Armenian monasteries were built during this period - from the end of the 12th to the end of the 13th century. For example, the buildings of the Goshvank monastery were erected in 1191-1291, in the Haghpat monastery the main temple was built in the 10th century, and the remaining 6 buildings - in the 13th. And so on. The relationship between the Georgian and Armenian churches during this period remains unclear. For example, how was the stay in the composition Georgian kingdom with the decisions of the Dvina Cathedral on the termination of communion between churches.

In 1802-1828, the territory of Armenia became part of the Russian Empire, and this time the Armenian Church was lucky. She was considered weak and in need of support, so she did not suffer the fate Georgian church, which practically ceased to exist as a result of the abolition of affokephaly. They tried to confiscate church property in 1905, but this caused violent protests and the confiscations were stopped.

What now

Now in Orthodoxy it is customary to perceive Monophysitism as a doctrine that has several gradations - from radical to liberal. The Armenian Church belongs to the latter - Monophysitism is weakly expressed in it, but still expressed. In turn, the AAC considers only the radical (the teachings of Eutyches and Julian) to be Monophysitism, to which it really does not belong. The AC calls its teaching "miaphysitism". If we call the Armenian religion Monophysite, then the Armenians will decide that they are accused of Eutychianism and will violently protest.

According to Orthodoxy, Christ had one hypostasis and two natures.

According to the teachings of Miaphysitism, Christ had one hypostasis and one "God-human" nature.

The reason for the disagreement is that Orthodox theology allows for multiple natures in one hypostasis, while Miaphysite believes that one hypostasis can have only one nature. So this is a very complex dispute about the properties of the hypostasis, which requires some philosophical preparation to understand.

In addition, Orthodox theologians do not really understand what a "God-human rite" is. This is the main question of this discussion - can the divine-human nature exist in principle? Try to figure out for yourself who is right and who is wrong in this dispute. Maybe you will be able to imagine "a single divine-human nature." I haven't been able to yet.

The teachings of the AAC are anathematized Ecumenical Councils, and the teaching of the Orthodox Church - under the anathema of the Dvina cathedrals. This situation is somewhat painfully perceived by the Armenian consciousness, and even in glossy brochures for tourists, I met not very clear justifications for the Armenian faith. It sounded like this: we are considered - what a horror - Monophysites, but we are, in essence, good guys.

Material culture of the Armenian Church

There are many temples and monasteries in Armenia, architecturally similar to the Georgian ones, although the Armenian ones are in many cases larger. The domes of the temples have the same conical shape as the Georgian ones - this is considered the legacy of Zoroastrianism. Frescoes in temples are unpopular. If you saw those, then there is a high probability that this is a Chalcedonian temple (for example, Akhtala). Contrary to popular belief, Armenia does not recognize iconoclasm. There are icons in Armenian churches, but in very modest quantities. But in Armenia it is customary to cover the walls with inscriptions. Here in the temples there is always a huge number of texts - on every wall and on every stone. Armenian temples are the most "talking" temples in the world, competing in this parameter with Chinese ones. There is also a fashion to carve crosses on the walls of temples.

Elements of church material culture
			gavits. This is a very strange design and it is found only here. Application. Since any Christian movement is based on the Creed, here is Armenian for general erudition. Հավատում ենք մեկ Աստծո` ամենակալ Հորը, երկնքի և երկրի, երևելիների և աներևույթների Արարչին: Եւ մեկ Տիրոջ` Հիսուս Քրիստոսին, Աստծո Որդուն, ծնված Հայր Աստծուց Միածին, այսինքն` Հոր էությունից: Աստված` Աստծուց, լույս` լույսից, ճշմարիտ Աստված` ճշմարիտ Աստծուց, ծնունդ և ոչ թե` արարած: Նույն ինքը` Հոր բնությունից, որի միջոցով ստեղծվեց ամեն ինչ երկնքում և երկրի վրա` երևելիներն ու անևերույթները: Որ հանուն մեզ` մարդկանց ու մեր փրկության համար` իջավ երկնքից, մարմնացավ, մարդացավ, ծնվեց կատարելապես Ս. Կույս Մարիամից Ս. Հոգով: Որով` ճշմարտապես, և ոչ կարծեցյալ կերպով առավ մարմին, հոգի և միտք և այն ամենը, որ կա մարդու մեջ: Չարչարվեց, խաչվեց, թաղվեց, երրորդ օրը Հարություն առավ, նույն մարմնով բարձրացավ երկինք, նստեց Հոր աջ կողմում: Գալու է նույն մարմնով և Հոր փառքով` դատելու ողջերին և մահացածներին: Նրա թագավորությունը չունի վախճան: Հավատում ենք նաև Սուրբ Հոգուն` անեղ և կատարյալ, որը խոսեց Օրենքի, մարգարեների և ավետարանների միջոցով: Որն իջավ Հորդանանի վրա, քարոզեց առաքյալների միջոցով և բնակություն հաստատեց սրբերի մեջ: Հավատում ենք նաև մեկ, ընդհանրական և առաքելական եկեղեցու, մի մկրտության, ապաշխարության, մեղքերի քավության և թողության: Մեռելների հարության, հոգիների և մարմինների հավիտենական դատաստանի, երկնքի արքայության և հավիտենական կյանքի We believe in one God the Father, the Almighty, the creator of heaven and earth, visible to all and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only begotten, begotten of the Father, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, uncreated, one being with the Father, through whom all things were created; For us people and for our salvation, he descended from heaven, became incarnate, became a man, born of the Virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit, from whom he received the body, soul and consciousness, and everything that is in man, is true, and not only apparently. Suffering, crucified, buried, resurrected on the third day, ascended to Nes in the same body and sat on right hand Father. And the coming in the same body and in the glory of the Father to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, uncreated and perfect, who spoke in the Law, the prophets and the Gospels, descended at the Jordan, preached through the apostles and lives in the saints. We believe in the One, Ecumenical, Apostolic and Holy Church, in one baptism of repentance, in the forgiveness and remission of sins, in resurrection of the dead, into eternal judgment over bodies and souls, into the Kingdom of Heaven and eternal life.