New book on Armenian worship crowns years of collaboration between St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in New York and St. Nersess Armenian Seminary.

For many Orthodox theologians Armenia is still an enigma. A short visit to Armenia reveals a universe that can be treated as a living Christian archaeological site. During the Liturgy, Orthodox theologians from Romania, Russia or Greece may discover that Armenian liturgical tradition still uses elements of an extinct wardrobe. Chants and other liturgical hymns differ from those used in other parts of the Orthodoxy.

This is one of the reasons St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary started a collaboration with St. Nersess Armenian Seminary decades ago. On December 6, 2006 the deans of the two major Orthodox institutions met to celebrate their long-term collaboration and to make public the release of a book of great importance: Worship Traditions in Armenia and the Neighboring Christian East, ed. Roberta R. Ervine.

New area for Armenian Liturgical tradition
As said by Dr Paul Meyendorff, the Father Alexander Schmemann Professor of
Liturgical Theology at St Vladimir's, the Armenian liturgical tradition enters a new era, in which, in spite of its apparent lack of importance and its extreme geographical position, it can give its contribution to the current liturgical studies. In the past years, Armenian documents were an off-limits area for most of the scholars due to the Soviet regime (Armenia was a former Soviet Republic) and to the lack of trained translators.

Roberta R. Ervine (photo), Associate Professor of Armenian Studies at St Nersess Armenian seminary and editor of the "Worship Traditions in Armenia" praised her colleagues at the St. Nersess Armenian seminary, saying they are people ready to do anything to contribute to a better knowledge of the Armenian liturgical and worship tradition.

New letter available in English
During the launch of "Worship Traditions in Armenia and the Neighboring Christian East", Dr Abraham Terian, series editor and Professor of Armenian Patristics and Academic Dean at St Nersess Armenian Seminary announced his translation of a four century document, an early fourth-century letter from Macarius I, Patriarch of Jerusalem, to the son of St Gregory the Illuminator, founder of the Armenian church.

This is a particularly important announcement, because the letter, unknown to the English-speaking public (and to other speaking publics for that matter) describes the rites of Baptism and Eucharist existing in the fourth century and bears a great importance, because it reveals hidden aspects of the liturgical traditions of the early church. Along with the Didaskalia and the Apostolic Constitutions, this document is one of the few documents dealing with the liturgy in the first Christian centuries.

Being in the avant-garde of liturgical studies, the two seminaries may also stir the interest of other Orthodox academic institutions and prompt a rediscovery of liturgical studies in general in the Orthodox world.

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