The San Francisco call., 1895-12-15

nan;ed hv bartholomew and Judas, A. II.
54 Probably the real founder OF the Ar
| menian church was St. Gregory, caiieo Tue
nIllnminator." Prince of the relgnlng
| family of the Arsacide, convert 10
| Christianity, who endured many PerseCu-
| tions, but who, at last, succeeded IN VII
ming to his faith the reigning King anu
many of his subjects. Gregory was ouly
consecrated Bishop of Armenia at DIS, OF
Ccesarea. 3O2 A D. In spite OF the oppo,,
sition of heather fellow-countrymen anu
Persian conquerors the Bible was tIahs-
latedsin 402 A. D. Gregory's successors
afteryard assumed the title OF Patrlarcn
or Catholico. .,
The rejection of the decisions OF the
Council of Chalcedon and their annuli, III,
ment by the Catholico in full synod IN 45t
caused the separation from the uIeeA
church. The breach was gradually "ioeneu, 20
though Armenian Bishops attenoeo sln sMe
great councils cd Constantinople, 900.
and the Sd of $50. and NIcaa 1881. guar,
rels, banishments, national calamltles ana
foreign disasters caused schlsm III tne
fifteenth century, fomented by Jesuit mis-
slonaries, who endeavored to Drlng tne
Armenian church into subJectlon TO tnat
of Rome. The Catholic Armenians became
a separate immunity about the eno OF
the sixteenth century, old feuds were re-
ylved, and the subsequent existence OF Tho
old Armenian church is due almost en-
tirely to the intervention of Peter the
Great of Russia in the early part of the
eighteenth century.
To-day a reformed church has arisen,
and is allied more especially to the CALVIN
lst churches of Europe and America. AS
to doctrine the Armenian church Is almost
Identical with that of the Greek; they
deny the filioque in the Nlcene Greed and
the distinctive doctrines of the Roman
church. The liturgy is said to date from the
| first century, and to have been founded on
that of st. John of jerusalem. Prayers
are said for the dead, and entreaties are
made for the pardon of their sins, but pur-
gatory and indulgences are not believed in.
The sacraments are; Baptism, confir-
nation, the eucharist, ,penance, ordlna-
ton, marriage and extreme unctlon. The
order Of clergy is threefold, as in the
Protestant Episcopal church, viz: Blsh-
ops, priests and deacons, only, that there
are three degrees of episcopal rank-the
archbishops (chief of whom is the catho-
licos or patriarch), the bishop, and the
vartabed, or doctor of theology. The
clergy are divided into black and white.
The former are monks and are alone elig-
ible to the higher ecclesiastical offices; the
white clergy are simply parish pastors.
They may marry before ordination, but
not after, and a priests widow is not
allowed to remarry. The priesthood is
hereditary. =.
There are four patriarchs, who have their
seats at Constantinople, Jerusalem, Sis
(Casarea) and Etchmiadzin. The clergy
of all ranks are entirely supported by the
voluntary gifts of the people.
The present Catholics is 10 years old,
a native of Van, the scene of recent hor-
rors. He was elected Patriarch of Constan-
tinople IN 1870, but exiled by the present
Sultan of Turkey to Jerusalem in 1880. He
was reelected Catholics by the entire
Armenian nation in 1885. He went to St.
Petersburg last year to offer his coincidence
and that of his church to the Czar on the
death of his father, and, as it is part Of
his priestly functions to be present at the
coronation of every Gear. he will go to
| Moscow and assist at the Kremlin, where
all the Czars are crowned and consecrated
head of the Greek church.