~ Looys Kreesdosee ~

Presenting the ~ Light of Christ ~ as maintained by the Apostolic Orthodox Church of Armenia

Holy Icons ~Surpabadger~ of those who first brought Christ’s Light to the Armenian people.

St. Gregory:  The Illuminator of Armenia ~AD 301~ The first Christian Nation

St. Thaddaeus the Apostle One of the "1st Illuminators" of Armenia: Martyred c. AD 50

St. Bartholomew the Apostle One of the "1st Illuminators" of Armenia: Martyred c. AD 68

"The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death, Light has dawned."  -S. Madteos 4:16

Many Armenians have no idea what the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church is.  They don't know that the Armenian Church has the very authority of the Lord Jesus Christ.  They don't know that Jesus Christ's apostles, Thaddaeus and Bartholomew, passed on this authority to the Catholicos-Patriarch and other Bishops of the Armenian Orthodox Church.  They don't know that this same Armenian Church preserves the Orthodox Faith, as taught by Jesus Christ, in all its purity.  They don't realize that the Armenian Church is part and parcel of the one holy catholic and apostolic Church established by the Lord.  They don't know that the Armenian Church bears the very Light of Jesus Christ.  Many Armenians are near to the Light, but are asleep in the Light.  They need to wake and behold LOOYS KREESDOSEE, the Light of Christ maintained by the one and only Church Jesus Christ established for their salvation.       Armenians are the bearers of an ethnic and cultural patrimony which distinguishes them as one of the most ancient, continuous people in the world -having a recorded history of over three thousand years.  Armenia's majestic Mount Ararat is the place where Noah's Ark rested, making our historic homeland in Eastern Anatolia a 'cradle of civilization.'  But more important than these, is the fact that after two centuries of intense persecution upon those who adhered to the faith brought there by the Holy Apostles Thaddaeus and Bartholomew, Armenia became the first nation on earth to "turn to God from idols, to serve the living and true God."  The definitive conversion of the nation, in A.D. 301, was the result of the preaching and suffering of Saint Gregory the Illuminator.  He established the Holy Orthodox Church in Armenia.  Often misconceived as an isolated entitiy, the Armenian Church is actually part of the Oriental Orthodox Communion.       Today, many Armenians have lost or abandoned the Orthodox Faith embracing rather materialism, secularism and atheism.  They need to return to the Light of the knowledge of God.  As the ancient Church Father, St. Cyprian, once said, "No one can have God for his Father, who does not have the Church for his mother.  This website is designed to invite Armenians back to that Light which is still maintained by the Holy Orthodox Church of their Armenian ancestors.

As for us, we shall glorify Him who was before the ages, worshipping the Holy Trinity and the one Godhead, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and always and unto the ages of ages.  Amen. -The Divine Liturgy of the Church of Armenia

The following pages of this site are for your perusal: I.  Looys Kreesdosee:  The Orthodox Church of Armenia (Homepage)         The Symbol of Faith of the Church of Armenia         The Council of Chalcedon         Essays on the Orthodox Church of Armenia         Illuminating Articles on Church Tradition & Reform            The Armenian Genocide:  A Christian Perspective           The Soorp Stepanos Deacon's Page II. The Orthodox Evangelization Mission         The Orthodox Faith and Tradition         The Holy Scriptures in the Orthodox Church         A Page for Seekers of Orthodoxy         Medz Bahk:  The Great Fast         Soorp Zadeeg:  The Holy Passover of Jesus Christ         Ecumenical Links on the Orthodox and Catholic Church

Khatchkar: Traditional Armenian Stone Carving of the Holy Cross

The webservant, Sub-Deacon Lazarus Der-Ghazarian, serves at St. John the Baptist Armenian Orthodox Church of Southfield, Michigan. Thank you for visiting this website.

Did you find this website helpful?

You are visitor:

This is an unofficial web-site.  The views expressed herein are those of the authors.  To the best of my knowledge they are fully in accord with authentic Orthodox Holy Tradition.  If in doubt, I invite you to contact me with your questions or concerns (St. Mt. 18:15-17).