St. Nersess Dean Visits Jerusalem

In January, during the Feast of the Nativity and Theophany of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Rev. Fr. Mardiros Chevian, dean of St. Nersess Seminary, traveled to Jerusalem to meet with His Beatitude Archbishop Nourhan Manougian, the Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem, to discuss collaboration and cooperation between the Patriarchate of Jerusalem and St. Nersess Seminary.

During his stay, Fr. Mardiros also met with the Very Rev. Fr. Theodoros Zakaryan, Dean of the Theological Seminary of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, to exchange ideas about inter-seminary cooperation. On that occasion, he also reviewed their seminary’s collection of English language books on religious topics in its library and suggested ways to enrich it, including getting books donated that should be a part of their collection. He also had occasions to meet with seminarians and deacons.

While in Jerusalem, Fr. Mardiros took a moment to pose next to the original gochnag, a wooden plank, which was replicated for use at St. Nersess. The St. Nersess gochnag is used each morning and evening to announce worship services in St. Hagop Chapel. A seminarian strikes it with a mallet, producing ancient vibrating melodic sounds, in the Call-to-Worship Garden donated by Hagop and Ica Kouyoumdjian. The St. Nersess gochnag is the only one of its kind outside of Jerusalem.