A Summer Reflection

by Seminarian Eric Vozzy

I arrived in Jerusalem on June 1st and stayed in the Armenian Monastery of Saints James for nearly three months until August 20th. I began my trip properly by praying on Mt. Zion before the relic of St. James the Apostle located in the Armenian Cathedral of Sts. James, and thereafter began my daily Armenian language classes with my teacher Anoush Nakashian. Besides learning and speaking Armenian with my personal mentor, I interacted with local Armenian residents and seminarians and participated in various Badaraks, Morning and Evening Services, and Tapor located at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. I was also privileged to witness the enthronement of the newly elected Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Nourhan Manougian. After a summer that passed very quickly, I am eager to resume my studies at St. Nersess this fall with my improved Armenian.

In addition to Eric Vozzy’s studies in Jerusalem, St. Nersess seminarians spent the summer months participating in various Armenian programs, including: Dn. Vahe Bagdasarian – St. Vartan Camp; Dn. Aram Kaberjian – Intensive English Language Course; Saro Kalayjian – Intensive Armenian Language Course; Edgar Gevorgyan – St. Nersess Summer Conference and Western Diocese Camp (with St. Nersess graduate Fr. Sarkis Petoyan); Levon Asdourian – Western Diocese Camp and Eastern Diocese Hye Camp.