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Rich Spirituality 99

significance in the liturgical life of the
Church. Of special importance is the offering
of sacrifice (matał) to God in memory of a de-
ceased person as a thanksgiving to God.
Matał, a practice that is rooted in the Old
Testament and was practiced in the early
church, involves the slaughter of sheep and
poultry, the cooked meat of which is then
distributed to the poor.
Through the liturgy, the Armenian Church
enhances the community character of the
church and spirituality. It also emphasizes
the personal dimension of spiritual life by
encouraging all forms and expressions of
prayer life in which personal prayer has an
important place. To this effect, alongside the
liturgical prayers, the Church has put at the
disposal of the faithful of all ages prayers
taken from the writings of Armenian and
universal church fathers and saints. These
prayers, which are brief and simple in
language, are recited before meals, before
starting a new job or a journey, for times of
difficulty, before sleeping, and in different
moments of our daily life.

Feasts
The Armenian Church's liturgy has a
wealth of feasts and related traditions. The
feasts are classified into five groups and
cycled around the date of Easter.
− Dominical feasts are directly connected