Page 102 - THE ARMENIAN CHURCH_Neat

Rich Spirituality 103

saints. Generally each saint is celebrated
alone, but sometimes they are celebrated
jointly. The Armenian Church's synaxary
includes more than 200 saints declared by the
universal church before the Council of Chal-
cedon, and more than 100 Armenian saints.
The Armenian Church also has a day for "all
saints, old and new, known and unknown." The
last canonized Armenian saint was St. Krikor
Datevatsi (15th C.). For the first time in almost
five centuries, the two Catholicoi, Karekin II
and Aram I, together initiated a process of
canonization by convening a council of
bishops, with the participation of the bishops
of the two Catholicosates (September 2013
and November 2014). The council of bishops
decided to canonize the martyrs of the
Armenian Genocide collectively. Led by the
two catholicoi, the canonization took place in
St. Etchmiadzin on the 23rd of April 2015,
on the occasion of the centennial of the
Armenian Genocide. The one-and-a-half mil-
lion martyred Armenian saints are to be com-
memorated each year on the 24th of April,
the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.
Fasting and abstinence are important
expressions of spirituality. Fasting implies
abstaining from foods containing meat,
fats, milk, and eggs; while abstinence means
eating no food at all. They refer to a quality
of life undergirded by spiritual and moral
values. The Armenian Church has 160 days