Answer: Holy Mother of God
The Patriarchy of Constantinople is the smallest Patriarchy in the Oriental Orthodox Church. The cathedral church in Istanbul is known as the Surp Asdvadzadzin Patriarchal Church. In the Orthodox calendar, Christmas Eve is on January 5th, and Christmas Day is celebrated on January 6th.
The first Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople was Hovakim I, who was installed in 1461.
From Quiz: The Armenian Apostolic Church
Answer: Cracking red eggs
Cracking red eggs is a very old tradition, symbolizing the blood of Jesus while on the cross. Palm fronds are given out by the priest on Palm Sunday, not Easter. Asking forgiveness for a wrongdoing is ALWAYS a thing you should do, not just on Easter. Finally, there is no tradition in which you walk around your house three times, although people do walk around the church at the midnight service.
From Quiz: Pascha!
Answer: Mt. Athos
Mt. Athos is, strictly speaking, a peninsula, but it has been called by its present name for centuries. It is not only home to groups of Greek heritage. Monasteries for the Orthodox Churches of Russia, Serbia and Bulgaria are also found there.
From Quiz: The Greek Orthodox Church
Answer: Egypt
The headquarters of the Church are in Alexandria. The name Coptic also applies to a language and culture in northern Egypt. Coptic may be heard in the liturgy; however, much Church business is also conducted in Arabic.
From Quiz: The Coptic Orthodox Church
Answer: Philip the Evangelist
St. Philip was a deacon in Jerusalem. (He was not the same person as the apostle Philip.) He would be called "the Evangelist" for preaching there as well as in Samaria and Gaza. St. Philip is said to have converted Simon Magus.
From Quiz: The Ethiopian Orthodox Church
Answer: The Pantokrator
The name is from the Greek for "all-ruler". In churches without a dome-style roof, this icon may be placed above the altar.
From Quiz: Orthodox Iconography
Answer: St. Gregory the Illuminator
St. Gregory's Feast Day is celebrated on March 23rd. In the year 301AD he baptised King Trdat the Great and was instrumental in bringing Christianity to the people of Armenia. It is believed that some of his relics are now buried under the church of San Gregorio Armeno in Naples, with others resting in Armenia and Lebanon.
From Quiz: The Armenian Apostolic Church
Answer: The Deer Hunter
The film was released in 1978. It was directed by Michael Cimino. The cathedral is part of the Orthodox Church in America, a denomination with Russian heritage but which conducts its services in English. St. Theodosius was the site of the elaborate and beautiful wedding scenes in the film.
From Quiz: The Russian Orthodox Church
Answer: Alithos Anesti
Xristos Anesti means "Christ is risen", and Alithos Anesti means "Truly he is risen".
From Quiz: Pascha!
Answer: Pope
In the early days of Christianity, the heads of the churches in two cities were known as Pope. One was Rome; the other was Alexandria. The Coptic Church and the Roman Catholic Church still use these honorifics today. The title 'Pope' has its origins in the Greek term 'papas,' which means 'father.' This in turn harks back to the tradition that in ancient times, a father was the head of the household, and led the family in prayer.
From Quiz: The Coptic Orthodox Church
Answer: The Mother of God of Kazan
For many years, the icon had been kept by the Roman Catholic Church in Vatican City. However, Pope John Paul II had it returned to its country of origin. The icon was sent to Russia in August, 2004, and in 2005 was installed in Annunciation Cathedral, Kazan, amid a joyous celebration.
From Quiz: Orthodox Iconography
Answer: Onion dome
The domes may be covered by metal leaf. They are topped by an Eastern-style three-bar cross.
From Quiz: The Russian Orthodox Church
Answer: Lamb
Lamb has always been eaten during Pascha, usually roasted on a spit.
From Quiz: Pascha!
Answer: Agpeya
The Agpeya is sometimes called the "Coptic manual of the Hours," because it lists prayers to be recited at certain times. A missal is a book of the Roman Catholic Church, a typikon is a guide to the responsibilities of various people at Greek Orthodox church services, and a molebnik (literally "collection of prayers") is a manual used by the Russian Orthodox Church.
From Quiz: The Coptic Orthodox Church
Answer: Ge'ez
Ge'ez was once the day-to-day language in Ethiopia and the surrounding region. Over time, Amharic replaced it as the medium of daily communication, with Ge'ez used in church, just as Latin once was in the Roman Catholic Church.
From Quiz: The Ethiopian Orthodox Church
Answer: The Hospitality of Abraham
The icon was designed by Andrei Rublev. The image is from the Biblical story of the angels' visit to the home of Abraham and Sarah. Sometimes it is referred to as "The Hospitality of Abraham and Sarah", or "Rublev's Trinity".
From Quiz: Orthodox Iconography
Answer: Fire
The ancient celebrations in honour of the Sun and fire were incorporated into the worship of the Church, and are held on or near Candlemas. Candlemas is February 2nd, and the Armenian Catholic Church celebrates Trndez on that day.
From Quiz: The Armenian Apostolic Church
Answer: Our Father
Most prayers at an Orthodox service are sung or chanted. The "Our Father" appears in Luke 11:2-4.
From Quiz: The Russian Orthodox Church
Answer: Ayapis
Ayapis means "day of love". Malias is "one with lots of hair", while Tsoureki and Loukoumathes are both lovely desserts.
From Quiz: Pascha!
Answer: St. Mark
This saint is credited with the authorship of one of the canonical Gospels. Although the book usually appears second in the order of the Gospels in the New Testament, it is believed to be the oldest of the four.
From Quiz: The Coptic Orthodox Church
Answer: The Coptic Orthodox Church
In the 1950s, the Ethiopian Church was granted autocephaly, or self-government with the ability to appoint its own leaders. The Coptic Orthodox Church is centered in Egypt.
From Quiz: The Ethiopian Orthodox Church
Answer: Thaddeus and Bartholomew
St. Thaddeus is often identified with St. Jude. In the Roman Catholic Church he is the Patron Saint of lost and hopeless causes.
St. Bartholomew is often identified with Nathaniel. Tradition tells us that he was martyred by flaying and crucifixion, in Armenia, during the first century AD.
From Quiz: The Armenian Apostolic Church
Answer: Monastery
The first monastery on that site was built in the 14th century. It was closed by the Soviets in 1920 but deeded back to the Church in 1945.
From Quiz: The Russian Orthodox Church
Answer: 33
33 symbolizes the number of years Christ was alive on earth.
From Quiz: Pascha!
Answer: The Catechetical School of Alexandria
It is believed the original school was opened by St. Mark himself. Its modern incarnation boasts schools in the American states of California and New Jersey, as well as the mother campuses in Egypt.
From Quiz: The Coptic Orthodox Church
Answer: The Baptism of Christ
In the icon, angels look on as John baptizes Christ in the Jordan River.
The feast of the Epiphany, also called Theophany, commemorates the baptism of Christ and the manifestation of the presence of God in that event. It is celebrated in the Orthodox Church on January 6.
From Quiz: Orthodox Iconography
Answer: He denounced the Hamidian massacres
The Hamidian massacres occurred between 1894 and 1896, and as many as 300,000 Armenians lost their lives at the hands of soldiers of the Ottoman Empire. The Cathedral in the town of Urfa was burned to the ground while up to 3000 refugees, mainly women and children, were inside. Madteos III, Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople, publicly denounced the massacres, and was forced into exile in Jerusalem by Sultan Abdulhamid II.
From Quiz: The Armenian Apostolic Church
Answer: Lake Ladoga
The monastery is renowned for its choir. They have recorded several albums.
From Quiz: The Russian Orthodox Church
Answer: To eliminate the possibility of distracting others with their beauty
The men should have heads uncovered, and women should have kerchiefs to hide their beauty, so as not to distract others from the service. According to custom, women are therefore supposed to wear long skirts and kerchiefs.
From Quiz: Pascha!
Answer: He was sent into exile
Pope Shenouda III was ordered to remain in St. Pishoy's Monastery in Scetes, Egypt, for his refusal to meet with then-President Anwar Sadat's delegates and hold public Easter celebrations. His exile began in 1981. The death of Sadat that same year did not end the ban. Shenouda was not allowed to leave the monastery and return to his office until 1985, when he did so with the permission of Sadat's successor, Hosni Mubarak.
From Quiz: The Coptic Orthodox Church
Answer: Missionaries who traveled to Ethiopia in the 5th Century A.D.
These saints are believed to have come from Syria, Turkey and parts of Europe. They moved into Ethiopia and Eritrea, where they taught the Orthodox faith.
From Quiz: The Ethiopian Orthodox Church
Answer: The Removal of Christ from the Cross
A very poignant image. Mary cradles the body of Christ after He has been taken down from the Cross. Joseph of Arimathea, who assisted in the removal and burial of the body, is also present, as are other saints.
(Catholic artist Michaelangelo's sculpture "The Pieta" depicts the same event; however, it includes only Mary and Christ.)
From Quiz: Orthodox Iconography
Answer: Large stones carved with crosses
The city of Vagharshaphat, also known as Echtmiadzin, is the seat of the Catholicos of All Armenians. The Cathedral was founded by St. Gregory the Illuminator in the early 4th century AD, and tradition has it that the Saint received a vision of Christ coming down from Heaven to strike the earth with a golden hammer, telling him where to build his Church.
Khachkars were erected for many reasons - to mark a grave, or as a votive offering, or to mark a great victory in battle, or a celebration. They are most often used as gravestones, and as well as the cross, they can have flowers, fruits, and abstract patterns carved on them.
From Quiz: The Armenian Apostolic Church
Answer: Fire
The event took place on August 25, 2006. There were no injuries. The central dome and another cupola took the worst of the damage.
From Quiz: The Russian Orthodox Church
Answer: Bread blessed by the priest, but not for use in Holy Communion
'Antidoron' means 'instead of the gift.' The bread is given out as a sign of fellowship. Only individuals who have been baptized into the Orthodox Church may receive Holy Communion; however, anyone is welcome to take some of the antidoron.
From Quiz: The Greek Orthodox Church
Answer: St. Mesrob Mashtots
Prior to Saint Mesrob's invention of a written alphabet, in the early fifth century AD, the Armenian language was purely an oral one. He devised an alphabet of thirty-six letters, and tradition has it that the first sentence to be written in Armenian was the first line of the Biblical Book of Proverbs.
The modern Armenian alphabet has thirty-eight letters, after two more were added in the 1100s.
From Quiz: The Armenian Apostolic Church
Answer: The Hanging Church
The beautiful house of worship was also called the Staircase Church, because of the 29 steps leading to its entrance. The church interior is adorned by over 100 icons, which date from the 8th to the 18th Centuries.
From Quiz: The Coptic Orthodox Church
Answer: Abune
The word "Abune," sometimes also spelled "Abuna," means "father." The other terms are the titles of leaders of other churches: Catholicos for the Armenian Orthodox Church, Pope for the Roman Catholic and Coptic Orthodox Churches, and Archbishop for the Anglican Church.
From Quiz: The Ethiopian Orthodox Church
Answer: Lebanon
The area once known as Cilicia is in Asia Minor, to the south of the Anatolian plateau. The Holy See of the Armenian Church is now in the Lebanese town of Antelias, a short distance from Beirut.
From Quiz: The Armenian Apostolic Church
