The Armenian Apostolic Church Trivia Quiz

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.

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.

Answer: True

In 301AD, after King Trdat the Great was reconciled with, and baptised by, St. Gregory the Illuminator, he declared Christianity to be the official religion of all Armenians. Many were baptised in the river Aratsani, which is part of the Euphrates.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Answer: Patriarch of Jerusalem

The Apostolic Seat of St. James in Jerusalem is in the Armenian quarter of the city. The Armenian population of Jerusalem (and the very few Armenians in other parts of Israel) are the only congregation who use the Julian Calendar; the rest of the Armenian Church uses the Gregorian Calendar.