Acolyte Ordination at St. Garabed Church of Hollywood

On Sunday, April 18, 2021, H.G. Bishop Torkom Donoyan, Prelate, presided over Divine Liturgy and performed the Acolyte ordination at St. Garabed Church in Hollywood. The ordination was assisted by the church pastor Archpriest Fr. Vicken Vassilian. During the ordination, which was full of heavenly blessings, the four levels of acolyte (door keeping, reading, swearing-in, and chanting) were bestowed upon five young dedicated servants of the church; Hovhannes Balyan, Dikran Magarian, Albert Yunanian, Norayr Torchian and Avo Arakelian, who have been a accountable presence in the church’s life for more than four years.

Following the ordination, the Prelate delivered his message by quoting Luke 16:10; “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.” Emphasizing the importance of fidelity to the temple of God, the Prelate said: “Today, we awarded this honor of service to five devotees of St. Garabed Church; whose hairs were recently cut crosswise as a symbol of the vow they made towards God and the church. Judas was not faithful to Jesus, he sold his allegiance for 30 pieces of silver, but we are invited to remain faithful to Jesus and not to betray our faithfulness, no matter what offers are made to us, such as money, position or order. Faithfulness that we must first and foremost have in our Creator, because God Himself is loyal and united with us. He is our Lord, our Father, our Guide, and will never betray us. But we are the ones, who sometimes as humans, forget our Lord and make other gods for ourselves such as; money, office, fame and power, instead of worshiping our living God.”

After explaining the four responsibilities of the acolyte, the Prelate also cited the English poet Kipling’s definition of “Man” and urged the devotees to continue their vow as a Kipling man, remaining true to their identity, church, family and friends, because “love grows in faithfulness, and God reveals Himself.”
In conclusion, the Prelate said: “Today, these servants are joined to our Lord Jesus Christ with unwavering loyalty. In this temple, they vow to remain committed to the values of our church, to our Savior, to our lives, and to cling to the ministry that Jesus Christ has opened before us. He then instructed the five young men to always act with love and decency, to give comfort to those around them, and especially to attend church with joy, just as King David brings to mind that ‘he is always full of joy when he goes forth towards the door of God.’

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