Armenian Rite

In Brief

The Armenian rite is the Mass of the Armenian Apostolic Church (the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia at Antelias, the patriarchates of Jerusalem and Constantinople) and of the Armenian Catholic Church, the patriarchate of Cilicia at Bzommar in Beirut.^1,2,3 It is its own tradition in the Catholic Code — not Byzantine, not West Syrian — though older scholarship filed it under "The Byzantine Rite", a dated view this Index reports as such.^4,5 Its Mass is the Surb Patarag, the Holy Oblation or Sacrifice, with one eucharistic prayer in ordinary use, called St Athanasius's in the manuscripts.^5,6 The chalice is unmixed, wine alone; the bread is unleavened; Christmas is kept with the Theophany on 6 January.^6,7,8 The words of institution are spoken aloud, the people answering Amen.^5,9

Where to Experience It

Armenia, first; then the old communities — Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Iraq, the patriarchate in Istanbul and the convent in Jerusalem — and the new diaspora: France, the United States, Canada, Argentina, Russia.^2,3

About six million Armenian Apostolic faithful is Findikyan's figure, and the Armenian Catholic numbers are thin and conflicting: his 344,000 of about 2003 against PRO ORIENTE's 760,000 on an undated page. The Index prints both, with their dates, rather than choosing.^3,6

Keep the two Cilicias distinct. The Apostolic Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia has its seat at Antelias in Lebanon — settled there in 1930, its seat church raised in 1941. The Catholic Patriarchate of Cilicia sits at Bzommar above Beirut, since 1750. They are not branches of one see.^2,3,22,23

Find a parish

• St Nersess Armenian Seminary — the Badarak texts

Your First Visit

Go in the summer or at Theophany. At a Catholic Badarak any Catholic may receive; it fulfils the Sunday obligation. At an Apostolic Badarak, do not — unless you cannot reach a Catholic priest, and then only after speaking to the priest. An Armenian parish page, drawing on Findikyan's FAQ on the Badarak, says Communion is given as a rule to its own members and those of the Oriental Orthodox Churches.^24,26

Follow the curtain. It closes over the preparation, opens on the people, closes again before communion and after it. Listen for the Creed with its anathema in the Apostolic books — none in the Catholic — and for the Trisagion with its "who wast crucified for us". After communion the priest distributes the blessed mas, Ps 34: take it; it is not the Eucharist.^5,9,10

The Shape of the Liturgy

The Church itself names four parts: the Preparation, the Liturgy of the Word, the Liturgy of the Faithful, the Blessing and release.³⁰

The order below follows Brightman's text of 1896, checked line by line against the 2011 Apostolic books in English and Armenian and the 2007 Catholic book. Where the books differ, the differences are printed as the books print them.

The rite begins in Latin dress. A Confiteor, a Misereatur, Ps 43 at the ascent: these are the 12th century's work, the Crusader contacts, and some manuscripts lack them into the 17th. Then the vesting hymn, the entrance, the Trisagion — and the Trisagion's "who wast crucified for us", a phrase every witness keeps, is the audible badge of the rite's Christology.^5,6,9,10

The word ends with the Creed, the catechumens dismissed, and the great entrance. The prayer "of Athanasius" is the offertory: "accept from us this presentation and consummate it into the mystery of the body and blood of thine onlybegotten."^5,9

The peace opens the anaphora. "Christ is revealed among us." Then the dialogue, the Sanctus, and the institution spoken aloud — after each of the words, the people answer Amen. In the Apostolic books the epiclesis comes in three blessings, bread, cup, both: "thou wilt make it truly the body … changing them by thy Holy Spirit", each said three times. The Catholic Grabar says "thou hast made", and says nothing of changing. The Western Armenian column beside it says "you make", and adds "transforming". The disagreement sits in the printed book, and this Index does not settle it.^5,9,10

The intercessions remember Thaddeus, Bartholomew and Gregory the Illuminator. The Our Father is sung "with open arms". "Unto the holiness of the holies." In the Apostolic liturgy the priest dips the whole Body into the Blood and the people receive the intincted Host; in the Catholic book there is no dipping. Ps 34, the mas, the Last Gospel at the end in the Apostolic books — John 1, read from the middle of the church. The Catholic low book has no Last Gospel.^5,9,10

The order of the Surb Patarag

1. The preparation
   The priest vests with a prayer at each garment — saghavart, shapik, urar, goti, bazpan, vakas, shurjar — and prepares the gifts at the prothesis. The deacon presents unleavened bread and wine; the priest pours wine alone into the chalice, no water named, and the gifts are veiled.^5,9,10
2. The penitential preface
   A Latin-framed beginning from the Cilician contacts: the priest's Confiteor and Misereatur, Ps 43 (Iudica) at the ascent to the altar. Current scholarship dates the frame to the 12th-century Crusader contacts; some 17th-century manuscripts still lack it.^5,6
3. The Trisagion
   'Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy and Immortal: who wast crucified for us, have mercy upon us.' Sung at the gospel procession; present in all witnesses, Apostolic and Catholic.^5,9,10
4. The lessons
   Old Testament lessons where the day has them, then the epistle and the Gospel. The Armenian lectionary is Jerusalem's, translated in the 5th century, and the year takes Jerusalem's shape.^5,6,21
5. The Creed
   Said or sung in full, with the added clauses — and, in the Apostolic books, the anathema 'But those who say there was when the Son was not'. No Filioque in any witness: the Creed has no clause on the Spirit's procession at all. The Catholic book prints no anathema.^5,10
6. The Great Entrance
   The hymn 'The body of the Lord and the blood of the Saviour are set forth'; the gifts are carried to the altar while the priest, bareheaded, prays 'None of us that are bound by fleshly passions'.^5,10
7. The prayer of Athanasius (offertory)
   Deacon: 'stand in prayer with awe before the holy table of God.' Priest: 'accept from us this presentation and consummate it into the mystery of the body and blood of thine onlybegotten.'^5,9
8. The kiss of peace
   'Christ is revealed among us' — 'Blessed is the revelation of Christ.' The peace opens the anaphora.^5,9,10
9. The dialogue and the preface
   'The grace, the love and the divine sanctifying power of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost be with you.' The deacon still calls 'The doors, the doors.'^5,9
10. The Sanctus
    'Holy holy holy Lord God of hosts … Blessed art thou that didst come and comest in the name of the Lord.'^5,9
11. The institution
    'Take, eat: this is my body, which is distributed for you and for many, for the expiation and remission of sins.' 'Drink ye all of this: this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for you and for many.' The words are spoken aloud; the people answer Amen. The Catholic book adds a genuflection after each.^5,9,10
12. The epiclesis
    The priest bows: 'send upon us and upon these gifts here set forth thy coeternal and consubstantial Holy Spirit', then three blessings — bread, cup, both — 'thou wilt make it truly the body … changing them by thy Holy Spirit', each thrice repeated. The Catholic Grabar puts the verbs in the aorist ('thou hast made') and has no 'changing'; its Western Armenian column has the present tense with 'transforming'.^5,9,10
13. The intercessions
    The diptychs: the saints, 'the first holy illuminators, the apostles Thaddaeus and Bartholomew, and Gregory the illuminator', the doctors, the kings; the patriarch 'of all Armenians'.⁵
14. The Lord's Prayer
    'And grant us with bold voice …' The Our Father is sung 'with open arms'.⁵
15. The elevation
    Deacon: 'Proschumen.' Priest, raising the holy bread: 'Unto the holiness of the holies.' Clerks: 'One holy, one Lord Jesus Christ to the glory of God the Father.'^5,10
16. The intinction, fraction and communion
    The priest dips the whole Body into the Blood and breaks it, the people receiving the intincted Host 'for salvation'. In the Catholic book there is no dipping: a small particle is put crosswise into the chalice, and the book's two columns disagree on the people's communion — the Body only in the Grabar, both kinds in the Western Armenian.^5,10
17. The thanksgiving
    'We have been filled, o Lord, from thy good things.' The curtain is drawn again for the thanksgiving.⁵
18. The Last Gospel
    John 1:1–14, read from the middle of the church before the dismissal. Present in all the Apostolic witnesses; the Catholic low book prints no Last Gospel.^5,9,10
19. The mas
    Ps 34 while the priest distributes the blessed unleavened bread, 'especially to those who … did not receive holy communion'. The people kiss the Gospel book: 'May the Lord remember all your sacrifices.'^5,9

The shape of its anaphoras

• Opening dialogue
• Preface / thanksgiving
• Pre-Sanctus
• Sanctus
• Post-Sanctus
• Institution narrative
• Anamnesis
• Epiclesis (after anamnesis)
• Intercessions
• Doxology

Each colour is one part of the eucharistic prayer, in the order the prayer says it. Compare every anaphora.

What makes it distinctive

• Its own tradition: the Armenian rite is one of the five Eastern traditions CCEO names, not a Byzantine rite in Armenian. The older scholarship that filed it so is reported as its dated view.^4,5,11
• One anaphora in ordinary use, called St Athanasius's in the manuscripts — 'since at least the tenth century'. The attribution is tradition, not authorship.^5,6
• The unmixed chalice: wine alone is poured in both the Apostolic books and the 2007 Catholic book; attested by 692 (Trullo c. 32). Florence asked the Armenians to add water — never the reverse.^7,9,10,14
• Unleavened bread, and not a Latin import: the earliest probable reference is late 6th-century, and James of Edessa wrote tracts against Armenian azymes in the 7th century — centuries before the Crusader contacts.^5,6
• The Creed has no procession clause in any witness, Apostolic or Catholic: no Filioque, because the question is absent. The Apostolic books keep the anathema; the Catholic book prints none.^5,10
• Christmas with the Theophany on 6 January — the original Eastern date of Christmas, kept. Florence ordered 25 December; the Church did not keep it.^6,8,14

History

Origins

Armenia became a Christian state under King Trdat, baptised by St Gregory the Illuminator: 301 is the date the Church keeps, and the Holy See keeps it with her. Gregory was consecrated at Caesarea in Cappadocia — a consecration the scholars put around 314 or 315 — and the Church's first liturgical grammar came from two places at once: Edessa to the south, Caesarea to the north.^1,6,28,31,32

By 389 Sahak I was Catholicos — "without reference to Caesarea", in Findikyan's phrase: the Church's independence begins to show its teeth.^6,11 Around 407 Mesrop Mashtots made the alphabet, and the Scriptures were translated from Syriac and Greek. In the 5th century the Jerusalem lectionary was translated into Armenian, and the Armenian year took Jerusalem's shape: the year, that is, comes from Jerusalem, while the prayers around it come from Edessa and Cappadocia.^6,21,32

Dvin held three synods — 506 under Babgen I, 554–555 under Nerses II, 607 under Abraham I — and by the third the rejection of Chalcedon was, in Van Rompay's phrase, straightforward. The break was not only Rome's but Constantinople's: the Georgians stayed with Chalcedon, and the two Churches parted.^32,33

The layers

This is Findikyan's frame, and the entry presents it as his. The base is Syriac and Cappadocian. On it, Jerusalem's lectionary and year. Over that, a Byzantine overlay — he puts its "apex early in the second millennium" — especially in the synaxis and the final rites. And the beginning and the end are Latin: the vesting prayers, the Confiteor, Ps 43; at the end, the Last Gospel and the final blessing. But "were not the result of an imposed latinization": the hierarchy chose them, and "with great discretion". They kept them even after the last hope of union died — which is why the 2007 Catholic book and the Apostolic books print the same Latin frame.⁶

The anaphora's Christology is what Findikyan thinks earned it the name of St Athanasius: "strikingly reminiscent", he writes, of the fourth-century Father. Whether it goes back to the conversion, as the tradition holds, is a question of faith; what the scholarship says is that Xosrov Anjewac'i, writing about 950, quotes it as the text in use.^5,6

The books

The first printed Patarag is Venice 1513. Brightman's English, of 1896, is translated from the Khorhrdatetr of Jerusalem 1873 and "founded on Malan's" — S. C. Malan's 1870 translation from the Constantinople 1823. The standard diaspora English of the last century was Tiran Nersoyan's of 1950, Armenian and English, since reprinted. In 2001 Daniel Findikyan and Socrates Boyajian published the St Vartan Press edition — modern Armenian and English, transliteration, musical notation. Of the same vintage are the St Nersess texts of 2011, English and Armenian, free on the seminary's site. And in 2007 the Armenian Catholic Patriarchate printed its low Badarak at Bzommar — the solemn form, if it exists in print, has not been found.^5,9,10,19,20

Unions and declarations

Sis accepted union with Rome in 1307; it failed outside Cilicia. Florence, in Exsultate Deo of 1439, laid down the terms: the Creed with "and the Son" at Mass on Sundays and greater feasts; water to be mixed in the chalice; bread "leavened or unleavened"; Christmas on 25 December. The Armenians kept the Filioque out of the Creed, the wine unmixed, and Christmas on the 6th of January. What Florence did not ask for was a change of bread — the leaven question was left open.^14,32

The union's remnant became the Armenian Catholic Church: Abraham Ardzivian elected in 1740, the pallium in 1742, the patriarchal seat at Bzommar from 1750. The Mekhitarists, founded by Mekhitar of Sebaste in 1701 and settled at Venice in 1715, carried the tradition in the West.^3,23,34

The three joint declarations — John Paul II and Karekin I in 1996, John Paul II and Karekin II in 2001, Francis and Karekin II in 2016 — agree the Christology: "Perfect God as to His divinity, perfect man as to His humanity … without confusion, without alteration, without division, without any form of separation." On the Eucharist, the declarations read contain nothing.^27,28,29

Milestones

1. 301The traditional date: Armenia becomes the first Christian state, King Trdat baptised by St Gregory the Illuminator. The Church and the Holy See keep the date; scholars date Gregory's consecration at Caesarea to c. 314/315^1,6,28,31
2. c. 407Mesrop Mashtots' alphabet ('traditionally dated in or around 407'); the Bible translated from Syriac and Greek texts^6,32
3. 5th c.The Jerusalem lectionary translated into Armenian; the Armenian year takes Jerusalem's shape^6,21
4. 506Synod of Dvin under Babgen I, condemning Nestorius³³
5. 554-555Second Council of Dvin under Nerses II: the repudiation of Chalcedon³³
6. 607Council of Dvin under Abraham I: the 'straightforward rejection' of Chalcedon; the break with the Georgians^32,33
7. 692Trullo c. 32 attests the Armenian unmixed chalice⁷
8. c. 950Xosrov Anjewac'i's commentary: the earliest extant text of the Athanasius anaphora — no Last Gospel, no Chrysostom prayer^5,6
9. 1185Nerses of Lambron translates the Latin Pontifical into the Armenian ordinations⁶
10. 1199Leo II crowned king of Cilician Armenia at Tarsus by a papal legate²³
11. 1307The Council of Sis accepts union with Rome; it fails outside Cilicia^23,32
12. 1375The fall of the Cilician kingdom to the Mamluks³²
13. 1439Florence, Session 8: Exsultate Deo — the Filioque Creed at Mass, water in the chalice, bread 'leavened or unleavened', 25 December¹⁴
14. 1441The Catholicosate re-established at Etchmiadzin; the line at Sis continues^2,11
15. 1461The Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople founded²
16. 1513The first printed Armenian Divine Liturgy (Venice)⁶
17. 1701Mekhitar founds his congregation at Constantinople (Venice 1715)³⁴
18. 1740Abraham (Peter) Ardzivian elected Catholicos-Patriarch of Sis; the pallium from Benedict XIV in 1742²³
19. 1750Bzommar (Lebanon) the Armenian Catholic patriarchal seat³
20. 1915The genocide ('Metz Yeghern'): 'the extermination of a million and a half Armenian Christians'^28,35
21. 1923The Gregorian calendar adopted (Jerusalem keeps the Julian)⁶
22. 1930The Apostolic Catholicosate of Sis established at Antelias, Lebanon²²
23. 2001The 1700th anniversary of 301; John Paul II at Etchmiadzin; the St Vartan Press Badarak^20,28
24. 2006The Armenian Catholic Patriarch approves the Western Armenian low Badarak ad experimentum for three years (book 2007)¹⁰
25. 2015Gregory of Narek proclaimed Doctor of the Church³⁵
26. 2021Raphaël Bedros XXI Minassian, Armenian Catholic Patriarch³

Texts & Books

One anaphora in ordinary use — called St Athanasius's in the Lyons, Munich and Venice manuscripts, quoted at Sis in 1342 as the "missale S. Athanasii". The attribution is tradition.⁵

There were once others. Fortescue, in 1913, counted four: the Illuminator's (the Armenian Basil), Gregory of Nazianzus's, Cyril of Alexandria's, Sahak the Great's. Brightman, editing the manuscripts, listed ten texts "no longer in use" — and only five of them does he classify as anaphoras. Winkler has since published the critical texts of Basil (2005) and Sahak (2011); Feulner the critical text of the Athanasius anaphora itself (2001). The numbers are not rival answers to one question; they are counts of different things. Never print one number.^5,11,36,37

The books that hold the one anaphora are listed in the glance above; the standard English of the last century was Nersoyan's; the working text of this entry is Brightman's, checked against the 2011 and 2007 books.^5,9,10,19

Theology & Spirit

The anaphora's Christology is what earned it the name, and the name is what the entry keeps: "strikingly reminiscent" of St Athanasius, Findikyan writes — the one nature of the incarnate Word, without the division the Fourth Council's formula asked of it. The 1996 common declaration says it in the agreed words: "Perfect God as to His divinity, perfect man as to His humanity … without confusion, without alteration, without division, without any form of separation."^6,27

The Trisagion adds "who wast crucified for us". It is the Trisagion's Antiochene form, and every Armenian witness keeps it, Apostolic and Catholic alike.^9,10

The epiclesis is where the two books part company. In the Apostolic books the priest asks God to "send upon us and upon these gifts … thy Holy Spirit", and then blesses the bread, the cup, both — "thou wilt make it truly the body … changing them by thy Holy Spirit" — each blessing said three times. In the 2007 Catholic book the Grabar puts the verbs in the aorist: "thou hast made". There is no "changing". The Western Armenian column beside it says "you make" and adds "transforming by your Holy Spirit". Three different moods on one printed page. The entry reports them; the Armenian grammar is flagged for an Armenian reader, and no interpretation is printed as settled.^5,9,10

One silence runs through all the witnesses. The Creed has no clause on the Spirit's procession — not in the Apostolic books, not in the Catholic. It is not that the Filioque was taken out. It was never put in.^5,10

Family & Relations

The Armenian Apostolic Church is one Church under two thrones: the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, where the Catholicos of All Armenians sits, and the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia at Antelias in Lebanon — settled in 1930, its seat church raised in 1941. With them, the patriarchates of Jerusalem (the Brotherhood of St James, keeping the Julian reckoning) and of Constantinople. The Armenian Catholic Church is the Patriarchate of Cilicia, at Bzommar above Beirut since 1750.^1,2,3,22,23

Only Churches are in communion with Rome, never rites. The Armenian Catholic Church is in full communion with Rome; the Armenian Apostolic Church is an Oriental Orthodox Church, and the joint declarations of 1996, 2001 and 2016 say what the two agree on — and what they leave unsaid.^27,28,29

Compare with

• Byzantine Rite: the tradition the older scholarship filed the Armenian liturgy under: Brightman heads his Armenian pages 'The Byzantine Rite', and Fortescue calls it 'the Byzantine rite in Armenian' — both dated views, reported as theirs^5,11
• Roman Rite: the rite most visitors know: here the Kiss of Peace opens the anaphora, the fraction precedes the Lord's Prayer, and the Catholic book adds genuflections at the consecration^5,10

The Rite Today

Since 1923 the Armenians keep the Gregorian calendar — except in Jerusalem, where the patriarchate keeps the Julian, so the Theophany falls on 19 January civil. Everywhere else it is 6 January: the original Eastern date of Christmas, kept with the Theophany as one feast.^6,8,12

The fasts are long. The Cilician Church counts 160 days of fasting in the year; the Great Lent fast is strict, and before it the Fast of the Catechumens keeps the five days of late January.^8,38

The 2006 decree of the Armenian Catholic Patriarch ordered a Western Armenian translation of the low Badarak — ad experimentum, for three years, for the low form only. The book came out at Bzommar in 2007. What followed the experiment, no source read has said; the entry does not pretend to know.¹⁰

The music is its own subject. The sharakan hymns, the eight modes (ut' dzayn), one for each day of the year; then the polyphonic settings — Ekmalian's Divine Liturgy, published in 1896, written after his study under Rimsky-Korsakov at St Petersburg, and Komitas's Patarag for men's chorus, published at Paris in 1933.^15,16,17,18

As of 20 September 2026.

Disputed Questions

Go Deeper

The public-domain English: Brightman's Armenian pages (pp. 412–457), and Conybeare's Rituale for the sacraments and the old Jerusalem lectionary. The Churches' own texts: the St Nersess English and Armenian Badaraks of 2011, free on the seminary's site, and the Mother See's account of the four parts.^5,9,21,30

For the history, Findikyan's New Catholic Encyclopedia article is the key — the four strata, the one anaphora since the tenth century, the native antiquity of the unmixed chalice and the azymes. Van Rompay for the Syriac contacts; the two Conybeare volumes for the lectionary.^6,21,32

The English of the Churches' books is the Churches' own. Other translations are the Index's own — and where the Index could not read the Armenian, it says so.^9,10

On Domus Dei

• The Anaphora of St AthanasiusThe rite's ordinary anaphora
• The Roman RiteThe visitor's own rite where he is a Catholic: the comparison row
• The 24 Catholic ChurchesEvery Church sui iuris on one board, the Armenian Catholic Church among them

Official resources

• The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin
• The Armenian Catholic Patriarchate

Recommended reading

• Findikyan, Michael Daniel, “Armenian Liturgy”, New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2nd ed..The key layering source: the four strata, and the native antiquity of the unmixed chalice and the azymes Read online
• Brightman, F. E., Liturgies Eastern and Western, vol. 1: Eastern Liturgies, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1896.The quotable English of the Badarak (pp. 412–457) Read online
• Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Divine Liturgy.The Church's own account: the four parts Read online
• Armenian Catholic Patriarchate, Khorhrdatetr Surb Pataragi ew Tiv Surb Patarag (The Manual of the Mystery of the Holy Oblation: the Low Holy Patarag), Bzommar, 2007.The Catholic book: where it differs from the Apostolic books, and where its own columns disagree

Sources

1. Primary textMother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Overview. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · Read in full 19 Sep 2026: 'In 301, Armenia became the first state to declare Christianity as the state religion'; the four hierarchical sees
2. Primary textMother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Hierarchical Sees of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · Read in full 19 Sep 2026: Catholicosate of All Armenians; Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia (Antelias, Aram I since 1995); Patriarchates of Jerusalem ('Since 2013 … Nurhan Manookian') and Constantinople ('Since 2019 … Sahak Mashalyan')
3. ReferencePRO ORIENTE (Vienna), The Armenian Catholic Church. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · Read in full 19 Sep 2026 (undated page): 'approximately 760,000' faithful; Raphaël Bedros XXI 'in office since 2021'; 18 bishops, 15 dioceses, 3 exarchates; Bzommar seat 'since 1750'; Mekhitar founded 1701
4. Magisterial / canonicalCode of Canons of the Eastern Churches, Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1990, can. 28 §2. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · URL repointed 18 Sep 2026 to the Latin text on vatican.va (part 1; cann. 656–657 are in part 2, codex-can-eccl-orient-2), because the caedm.ca English extract (616A) carries cc. 27–38 only; cann. 28, 40 §1, 656, 657 read there in the Latin, 18 Sep 2026. English translation: cann. 27–28 read in the caedm.ca PDF; cann. 671, 697, 707, 710, 713 read in the IntraText English edition; can. 881 §1 in IntraText, 2026-09-14
5. Primary textBrightman, F. E., Liturgies Eastern and Western, vol. 1: Eastern Liturgies, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1896, pp. xcvii-ci; p. xcix; p. 437; p. 419; p. 452; pp. 449, 455; pp. 413-414; p. xcvii; pp. 421, 426-434, 447-456; pp. 426-427, 449, 455, 457; pp. 412-421; pp. 426-433; pp. 433-439; pp. 439-457; pp. 413-419; pp. 412-413; p. 421; pp. 421-425; pp. 426-427; pp. 430-432; pp. 432-433; pp. 433-434; p. 435; pp. 435-436; p. 439; pp. 439-444; pp. 444-446; pp. 447-448; pp. 448-452; pp. 453-455; p. 456; p. 457; pp. 412-457; p. lxi; pp. xcvii-ci, 412-457; pp. 433-434, 447-452. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · archive.org full text; pp. lxxxiii, lxxxv, lxxxviii–lxxxix checked; order locators spot-checked 13 Sep 2026 (pp. 362, 377–378, 393, 394; glossary s.v. Zeon, Cancelli, Ektene). Checked 19 Sep 2026 for the Ge'ez entry: Preface p. xiii, the Ethiopic translations are the Rev. C. J. Ball's ('the Rev. C. J. Ball for the Ethiopic (including the collation of the British Museum manuscripts)'); p. lxiii, the Egyptian rite; pp. lxxii-lxxiii, the Rome printing of 1548 ('Testamentum novum.. Missale') and the Lord's anaphora there; pp. 194-244, the Ethiopic Liturgy of the Apostles from BM Or. 545 (1670-75); p. 232, 'THIS bread… IS MY BODY' (a rubric between) and 'DRINK… THIS CUP'
6. ScholarshipFindikyan, Michael Daniel, “Armenian Liturgy”, New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2nd ed.. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · Full article read 19 Sep 2026 via encyclopedia.com (bibliography cites works to 2000, so 2nd ed.): the key layering source — Syriac/Cappadocian base, Jerusalem lectionary and year, Byzantine overlay apex 'early in the second millennium', Latin beginning and end integrated 'with great discretion'; unmixed chalice and azymes native; one anaphora 'since at least the tenth century'; figures c. 6,000,000 and 344,000 (c. 2000–2003)
7. Primary textCouncil in Trullo (Quinisext), “Canons”, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 2nd series, vol. 14, 1900, can. 32. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · cann. 32 and 52 read (NPNF tr. Percival)
8. Primary textCatholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia, Feasts. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · Read 19 Sep 2026 via browser capture: Christmas 6 January; the five Taghavar feasts; 160 days of fasting; veil conceals the altar in Lent
9. Primary textSt Nersess Armenian Seminary, Divine Liturgy of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church — Complete text in English, 2011, p. 23; pp. 8, 39; pp. 8-9; pp. 31, 35; p. 32; pp. 15, 20, 38; p. 35; pp. 15, 31, 39; p. 15; p. 20; pp. 20-25; pp. 32-39; pp. 20-21; p. 22; p. 25; p. 38; p. 39. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · 43-page English PDF read in full 19 Sep 2026 (metadata author 'Michael Findikyan', 3 Dec 2011); translator not named in the file; the reading text, not a statement about celebration in English
10. Primary textArmenian Catholic Patriarchate, Khorhrdatetr Surb Pataragi ew Tiv Surb Patarag (The Manual of the Mystery of the Holy Oblation: the Low Holy Patarag), Bzommar, 2007, pp. 7, 9-10; p. 26; pp. 112-115; pp. 42-44; p. 40; pp. 58-79; pp. 98-124; p. 50; p. 58; pp. 68, 72; pp. 78-79; p. 98; pp. 104-115; pp. 122-124.Verified 2026-09-20 · Full book read 19 Sep 2026 from the Patriarchate's Patarag page via own ArmSCII-8→Unicode conversion; Patriarch's decree 7 Nov 2006 (pp. 7, 9–10) read in translation: Western Armenian ashkharhabar approved ad experimentum for three years, for the low Badarak only. The conversion drops byte 0xFE (apostrophe): Armenian strings and transliterations need an Armenian reader before print
11. ScholarshipFortescue, Adrian, The Lesser Eastern Churches, London: Catholic Truth Society, 1913, p. 442 n. 1; pp. 435-436; p. 441; p. 408; p. 416; pp. 388, 416; p. 442.Verified 2026-09-20 · Chs XII–XIV read at each passage 19 Sep 2026 via OCR: 'the Byzantine rite in Armenian' (p. 441), Iudica/Confiteor (p. 442), 'certainly a Latin infiltration' (p. 442, his dated judgement), Valarshapat 491 / Dvin 'apparently in 554' (pp. 412–413). Dated pre-conciliar Catholic view; quote with a note
12. Primary textChristian Media Center (Custody of the Holy Land), Armenian Christmas in Bethlehem, 2020.Verified 2026-09-20 · Read 19 Sep 2026: Armenian celebrations on the night of 18–19 January, 'following the ancient Julian calendar, moved forward by 13 days'
13. Primary textEastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America, Feast Days; Fasting during Great Lent, 2017.Verified 2026-09-20 · Read 19 Sep 2026: the six fixed feasts; saints' commemorations weekdays; ten weeklong fasts; Great Lent practice ('general guideline'); 'Fast of Catechumens' 25–30 January 2026 dated pages also read (Mother See)
14. Magisterial / canonicalCouncil of Florence, “Decrees (Laetentur caeli, 1439; Exsultate Deo, 1439)”, Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, ed. Norman Tanner, 1990, Exsultate Deo. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · Exsultate Deo (DS 1321) and Laetentur caeli (DS 1303) read in Tanner's translation; DS numbers and Latin checked in Denzinger
15. Primary textArak-29 (church-education site; provenance of the site not established), Sharakan: Introduction. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · Read 19 Sep 2026: a canon of sharakans is eight hymns 'sung in a fixed, logical succession', the grouping attributed to Stepanos Siunetsi (the site's attribution)
16. ScholarshipBodurian, A. and Drăgulin, S., “Armenian Church music: genres, modes, and notation issues”, Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşov, Series VIII, 13(62) no. 2, 2020.Verified 2026-09-20 · pp. 36–40 read 19 Sep 2026: the eight modes (ut' dzayn), four authentic and four plagal, one applied for each day of the year, Easter Sunday the first voice (reporting Kerovpyan); medieval khaz notation undeciphered
17. ScholarshipArmenian Sacred Music Project, Makar Yekmalyan. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · Browser capture read 19 Sep 2026: Yekmalian's 'Armenian Divine Liturgy' published 1896; he studied under Rimsky-Korsakov at St Petersburg; in 1891 Komitas sought his guidance in Tbilisi
18. Primary textKomitas Museum-Institute, Komitas' Patarag. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · Read 19 Sep 2026: 'Polyphonic Sacred Liturgy for Men's Chorus' first published 1933 in Paris; Komitas called Yekmalian's work 'the first polyphonic blossom in the desert of Armenian sacred song'
19. Primary textNersoyan, Tiran (ed. and tr.), Divine Liturgy of the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church, New York: Delphic Press, 1950.Verified 2026-09-20 · Catalogued (citation): HathiTrust search-only record (title, 1950); 'rev. 5th ed. (London, 1984)' Catalogued from two seen citations (Findikyan bibliography; arak29). Not opened
20. Primary textFindikyan, Daniel and Boyajian, Socrates (eds), The Divine Liturgy of the Armenian Church, with Modern Armenian and English Translations, Transliteration, Musical Notation, Introduction and Notes, New York: St Vartan Press, 2001.Verified 2026-09-20 · Catalogued (citation): arak29 'About' gives the St Vartan Press edition of 2001; the canon's '1999' is not supported by any source read
21. Primary textConybeare, F. C. (ed.), Rituale Armenorum: being the Administration of the Sacraments and the Breviary Rites of the Armenian Church, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905, pp. 507-509.Verified 2026-09-20 · PD translation read at the passages 19 Sep 2026 via archive.org (ritualearmenorum00cony): the old Jerusalem lectionary ('A record of the assemblies which are held in Jerusalem'); Khosrowik on the one-day Epiphany and Baptism (p. 508)
22. Magisterial / canonicalJohn Paul II and Aram I, Common Declaration, Vatican, 1997. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · Read in full 19 Sep 2026: the Catholicosate of Sis 'stabilito ad Antelias, in Libano, nel 1930'
23. ReferenceDevenny, J. A. (eds.), “Cilicia of the Armenians, Patriarchate of”, New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2nd ed.. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · Read in full 19 Sep 2026 via encyclopedia.com: Ardzivian elected 1740, pallium 1742; patriarch in Istanbul 1867–1928, Beirut from 1928; Apostolic Catholicosate of Sis 1293–1441, Lebanon (1928)
24. Magisterial / canonicalCode of Canon Law, Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1983, cann. 923, 1248 §1, 916, 919 §1; can. 844 §2; can. 919 §1; cann. 844 §2, 923, 1248 §1; cann. 923, 1248 §1. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · cann. 844, 919, 923 read on vatican.va; cann. 913–914 read 2026-09-12; can. 1248 §1 read on vatican.va 2026-09-14; cann. 6 §1, 912, 924 §§1–2 and 926 read on vatican.va 2026-09-15; can. 916 read 2026-09-16: 'A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to celebrate Mass or receive the body of the Lord without previous sacramental confession unless there is a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess'
25. Magisterial / canonicalPontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism, 1993, n. 124; nn. 123, 124. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · §§122–125 read verbatim on christianunity.va; §115 read 2026-09-14
26. Primary textSt George Armenian Church (Findikyan, Michael Daniel, via Frequently Asked Questions on the Badarak), Holy Communion for non-Armenians, 2020.Verified 2026-09-20 · Parish page read 19 Sep 2026 (Fr Voski Galstyan, 1 Oct 2020, citing Findikyan's FAQ): Communion 'as a general rule' to baptised members of the Armenian Church or the Oriental Orthodox Churches; to others only in exceptional cases after consulting the priest
27. Magisterial / canonicalJohn Paul II and Karekin I, Common Declaration, Rome, 1996. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · Read in full 19 Sep 2026: Christological formula 'Perfect God as to His divinity, perfect man as to His humanity … without confusion, without alteration, without division, without any form of separation'; no eucharistic provision
28. Magisterial / canonicalJohn Paul II and Karekin II, Common Declaration, Holy Etchmiadzin, 2001. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · Read in full 19 Sep 2026: 'in A. D. 301' the Armenian people 'were bathed in the divine light'; 'the first genocide of the twentieth century'; no eucharistic provision
29. Magisterial / canonicalFrancis and Karekin II, Joint Declaration, Holy Etchmiadzin, 2016. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · Read in full 19 Sep 2026 (vatican.va: 'Sunday, 26 June 2016' — christianunity.va's '27 June' is wrong); closes with a prayer of St Nerses the Gracious; no eucharistic provision
30. Primary textMother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Divine Liturgy. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · Read in full 19 Sep 2026: the four parts (Preparation; Liturgy of the Word; Liturgy of the Faithful; Blessing and release); at the epiclesis the priest asks God 'to change the offered bread and wine into the body and blood of His Only Begotten Son'
31. ReferenceMurphy, F. X., “Gregory the Illuminator, St.”, New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2nd ed.. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · Read in full 19 Sep 2026 via encyclopedia.com: consecrated by Leontius of Caesarea 'c. 315'
32. ScholarshipVan Rompay, Lucas, “Armenian Christianity, Syriac contacts with”, Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage (electronic edition, Beth Mardutho), 2011. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · Read in full 19 Sep 2026: alphabet 'traditionally dated in or around 407'; Sis 1307 union; 'straightforward rejection' of Chalcedon only at Dvin 607
33. ReferenceSetian, N. M., “Dwin”, New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2nd ed.. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · Read in full 19 Sep 2026 via encyclopedia.com: Dvin 506 (Babgen I), 554–555 (Nerses II), 607–608
34. Referenceel-Hayek, E., “Mechitarists”, New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2nd ed.. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · Read in full 19 Sep 2026 via encyclopedia.com: founded 1701 Constantinople; Venice 1715; split 1772 (Venice/Vienna)
35. Magisterial / canonicalFrancis, Message on the centenary of 'Metz Yeghern' and the proclamation of St Gregory of Narek as Doctor of the Church, 2015. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · Read in full 19 Sep 2026: 'dating from the year 301'; Benedict XV's letter of 10 Sep 1915; styles for the three hierarchs: 'Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians', 'Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia', 'Patriarch of Cilicia of Armenian Catholics'
36. ScholarshipWinkler, Gabriele, “Die Basilius-Anaphora: Edition der beiden armenischen Redaktionen und der relevanten Fragmente”, Anaphorae Orientales 2 = Anaphorae Armeniacae 2, Rome: PIO, 2005.Verified 2026-09-20 · Catalogued (citation): PIO catalogue (lx + 901 pp.). The critical text of the historical Armenian Basil anaphora. Not opened
37. ScholarshipFeulner, Hans-Jürgen, “Die armenische Athanasius-Anaphora: Kritische Edition, Übersetzung und liturgievergleichender Kommentar”, Anaphorae Orientales 1 = Anaphorae Armeniacae 1, Rome: PIO, 2001.Verified 2026-09-20 · Catalogued (citation): PIO catalogue (xx + 536 pp.); the critical edition of the anaphora in use. Not opened
38. Primary textMother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Fast of Catechumens (January 25–30); The Season of Great Lent (February 16 – April 04), 2026. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · Calendar pages dated 25.01.2026 and 16.02.2026 read 19 Sep 2026: Great Lent 16 Feb – 4 Apr 2026; Arajavorats attributed to St Gregory's call before Trdat's baptism ('according to the tradition of the Armenian Church')
39. ScholarshipTaft, Robert F., “Medieval Latinisms in the Armenian Surb Patarag”, The Armenian Surb Patarag or Holy Sacrifice of the Eucharist, ed. R. F. Taft (OCA 291), Rome: PIO, 2012, 135–148.Verified 2026-09-20 · Catalogued (citation): Taft's own 2013 bibliography, nos. 818–819. Not opened