Pastor’s Points of Light –Vol. 54:5

Year of Church and Home

W Christ in our Hearts  W    cccccccccccc

               W Christ in our Homes W    

 Dear faithful,

 

When I was in Armenia in 1994 for the first time, one of the extraordinary things that I learned was that in spite of so many years of official state mandated atheism, many of the homes that I visited had a small corner of their home dedicated to prayer that the Armenians call a “Nareg”, named after Gregory of Nareg and his book prayers and lamentations.

The “sacred place” in most cases reminded one of church, filled with many of the items that one would see, in the sanctuary.  What  a wonderful way of not only bringing the church into the home, but to remind us that the home is a part and member of the household of God and that the prayers in and of the church are needed and included in the home.  The Nareg is a place of prayer and a place of worship, where the family ought to reserve time to spend with God, most traditionally done on Saturday evenings in preparation of the Lord’s Day.

This practice did not and does not replace going to church but compliments it and helps prepare us.

Items that are normally found in the traditional Nareg are a vigil lamp or candles, icons of the Lord, the Blessed Mother, saints, crosses, a khungaman or incense burner to use during family devotions, a Bible, a prayer book and any other religious artifacts that create a sacred place of prayer.  Often, deceased family members’ pictures can be found in this sanctuary.  Some of these items can be seen in the picture from the Souin family’s Nareg. 

 

In Christ’s love, I remain prayerfully,

Der Shnork