Many times, the pain we carry does not come only from what is happening. It also comes from what we imagine may happen. The mind runs ahead. The heart begins to tremble. And before the trial even arrives, we have already started suffering. One of the desert fathers once said, “He who fears suffering suffers from fear itself.” What a deep and honest truth. Fear has a way of making us live the trouble before its time. It places tomorrow’s burden on today’s shoulders. It makes t

My grandfather, Zhirayr Parsamyan, was a survivor of the Armenian Genocide. He lost his father during those dark days, and with his mother and two brothers, he found refuge in Thessaloniki. Life there was not easy. They lived with hardship, poverty, and the pain of being uprooted from their homeland. Then, in 1935, he made his way to Eastern Armenia. And do you know what he did first? He went to Holy Etchmiadzin, the Mother Cathedral of All Armenians, he lit a candle and offe

Today, on April 24 we remember the martyrs of the Armenian Genocide, who remained faithful to God even unto death. We remember lives uprooted, homes emptied, churches silenced, and countless faithful souls who carried the name of Christ on their lips to the very end. And on this day, the words of our Lord come to us with special depth: “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:24). A