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98 The Armenian Church

– Rest Hours or Compline (hangstean žam)
addressed to the Father, performed at night.
These services are composed of psalms,
prayers, ascriptions, supplications, hymns,
canticles, and melodies that aim at providing
spiritual sustenance and guidance to the
daily life of the faithful. All church services
contain readings from the Old and New
Testaments, which are selected according to
sacraments, saints, or feasts. In ancient times
these services were performed regularly on a
daily basis. Today, due to practical reasons,
night, morning, and evening hours services
are performed every day, and sunrise, peace,
and rest hours services are performed only
during the Great Lent.
Special blessings and prayers are offered
for different occasions, such as the presen-
tation of an infant, usually at the age of forty
days, the cutting of an infant’s hair, the bles-
sing of the rings of an engaged couple, the
blessing of a home, usually a new home or
at Christmas and Easter, the blessing of
grapes on the feast of the Ascension of the
Holy Virgin, the blessing of gardens, water,
salt, and bread. The Processional Office (an-
dastan), a service performed during great
feasts, in which, according to biblical tra-
dition, the celebrant blesses the four corners
of the earth, and the Opening of the Curtain
·
(drnbac‘ēk‘), a service which takes place
on Palm Sunday, have unique spiritual