On Sunday, December 26, we celebrated St. Stephen’s Day commemorating the life and sacrifice of our church’s patron St. Stephen the first deacon and Christian martyr.

At the end of Badarak, our deacons: Dn. Ara, Dn. Chris, Dn. Trending, and Dn. Ari donned priestly crowns in honor of St. Stephen and in recognition of their dedicated service, singing the church’s hymn “Naghasargavak” and the first part of “Park ee Parcunus”, they censeed around the church.
Then Dn. Ari offered a short message regarding the feast day and the diaconal ministry.
At the conclusion of the Requiem Service dedicated to the souls of deceased deacons, altar servers, and choir members of St. Stepanos / St. Mary Armenian Church, our deacons once again incensed the congregation while wearing crowns.
Behalf of our community, just before the last blessing, Der Hayr thanked our deacons for their service, for their dedicated ministry, for their love for God, and for their willingness to serve people and remind us that we all are beloved of God. And so, our journey in FAITH continues.

The festivities and Christmas Armenian celebration began on Wednesday, January 5, with the traditional Evening Services of the Armenian Church. At the end of the service, we continued with the Order of Lamp Lighting services for the Eve of the Nativity and Theophany of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Altar Servers and Choir Members alternated with readings for the Christmas vigil, in English & Armenian. The prophecy of Daniel was chanted by Alek Mouradian, Dylan Mouradian, and by Dn. Dr. Terenig Terjanian. We were happy to have with us our altar servers Haig Bakhtiarian who played on organ our beautiful Badarak.

At the end of the Divine Liturgy, Der Hayr followed by the Altar Servers singing Khorhoort Medz proceeded to the sanctuary for the final scripture reading and distribution of light to all parishioners (Jrakalalouitz).

On the morning of Thursday, January 6th, our church community celebrated the Armenian Orthodox Christmas Badarak, where Armenians all over the world celebrate the Nativity of Our Lord. After the Divine Liturgy, the Blessing of the Water (Choororhnek) Ceremony took place.

This year’s Godfather for the Ceremony was Mr. John Mouradian. We were very happy to see Dn. Ara Karakashian serving on the altar with his son Vicken Karakashian and with our young parishioners Alek and Dylan Mouradian.
Fr. Daniel, after his closing remarks, acting as Santa gave to all parishioners who attended Badarak the traditional chocolate Christmas gifts-bags.