Habibullo-Eugene Kiselev
A Synopsis of my Life
April 27th, 2019, Saturday, 08:28:00 p.m.
Yekaterinburg, Russia. GMT 05:00
Finding out about different faiths, religious traditions and spiritual experiences of many people and even whole nations or races has been my passion and also the way of getting closer to The Supreme Deity, The Creator of everything. As I have already stated, I am definitely a believer. I believe in God, yes, I believe in God. However, my spiritual searchings are still continuing. Is this the right way? Oh, I do not know the answer to this question.
Religion does not only include religious rites, prayers and attending services. Rather, religion also comprises a very significant portion of spiritual culture, such as icon-painting, sculptures, etc. Religious subjects have also inspired painters, musicians, poets and prose writers. Let us take Paul Gustave Doré (1832 – 1883), Hieronymus Bosch, born Jheronimus van Aken (c. 1450 – 1516), Michelangelo di Lodovico di Leonardo di Buonarroti Simoni (1475 – 1564), Lin Tinggui (Chinese: 林庭珪; pinyin: Lín Tíngguì) (circa 1174 – 1189), Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri, commonly known by his name of art Dante Alighieri or simply as Dante (circa 1265 – 1321) for example. Religion was the very thing that inspired them to create their immortal works. Spirituality still gives opportunity for creative people to express themselves. Modern authors like for example Galina Titova or Marina Kamenskaya also find religion as a source of their poetical inspiration.
It was precisely the interest towards different religious traditions, that made me write an SMS-message to a local priest of The Armenian Apostolic Church (Armenian: Հայ Առաքելական Եկեղեցի, translit. Hay Aṙak’elakan Yekeghetsi) the other day. Today, I had a meeting with Father Aristakes Hovhannisyan (Armenian: Տեր Արիստակես Քահանան Հովհաննիսյան). I came to our local temple of this Church called The Church of Saint Karapet (Armenian: Եկատերինբուրգի Սուրբ Կարապետ եկեղեցի) in the afternoon. Having entered the churchyard, I walked around the temple to find the entrance. I saw a man clad in the priestly clothing coming towards the entrance to the temple. He was a man of average height, with black moustache, beard and hair with a bald patch. When I looked in his eyes, they were dark-brown, almost black. Yet I saw the eyes of a man of God. I beheld great piousness and devotion to his priestly duties. Also, his eyes radiated endless love towards God and towards all men on Earth. I greeted this holy man and said I needed to find Father Aristakes. “This is me, nice to see you” – the priest answered. I told him my name was Eugene and that I had written to him beforehand. The Father invited me to enter the temple. Regardless of the fact, that this cloister is situated in approximately the very central business district of Yekaterinburg, the atmosphere inside the temple is calm and meditative. The priest invited me to his room situated near the altar. Thus we got acquainted and started our conversation.
I saw some kind of religious pictures, which I thought were the icons, inside the temple and in the room of Father Aristakes. I asked the priest if they practiced the worship of icons, like in the Russian Orthodox Church, for example. The Father said they did not worship icons themselves; rather, they worshiped God and asked the intercession of the saints. “Canonization also exists in the Church” – he said.
“The Armenian Church works according to the jurisdiction that existed before the First, Second and Third Oecumenical Councils. When the Chalcedon Council took place in 451, it changed some of the church canons. However, the Armenian Apostolic Church acts according to the canons existed before 451. Of course, the Armenian Church was influenced by some other traditions; however, this influence was connected with the liturgical vestments of priests and things like that.
In 1717 the first Armenian Diocese was founded in Russia. The center of this Diocese was in Astrakhan. The liturgies are held in Old Armenian” – the Father said. He also added that earlier the center of the diocese was in Rostov-On-Don and in other cities. Our temple is under the jurisdiction of the Russian and new Naxçivan diocese of the Holy Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church (Armenian: Հայաստանեայց Առաքելական Եկեղեցու Ռուսաստանի և Նոր Նախիջևանի Հայոց Թեմ). Most of the territory of Russia as well as Belarus, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia are subjected to this diocese. The Head of the diocese is the Archbishop Ezras Nersisyan, whose worldly name is Mktrich Grigoryevich Nersisyan (Armenian: Մկրտիչ Գառնիկի Ներսիսյան). At the moment, the Head of the Armenian Apostolic Church is The Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of all Armenians, first Hierarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church Garegin II.
When I asked the Father about the sacraments of the Church, he said there were seven of them, like in any traditional church. “The Protestants have a different view of Christianity, they’re totally different” – Father Aristakes said. According to the private opinion of Father Aristakes Hovhannisyan, “cross and sacrifice towards God comprise the very essence of Christianity”.
When I left the church building at the end of our meeting, I felt great joy, happiness and contentment after a spiritual conversation with a man of God, who created a strongly positive spiritual impression on me.
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