Nectary Mikhaelyan, an Armenian

 

 

Nectary Mikhaelyan, an Armenian

 

 I grew up in a non-religious milieu and did not know about God; no one told me about Him. I would see an image of a lady with an infant in homes and cars, but I didn’t know who it was. But from my childhood I always had a feeling of God in my soul, and I would sometimes call upon Him with my childish requests. In the summer of 2009 I was in the hospital in Stavropol, waiting for an operation. An acquaintance of mine, an Orthodox Armenian named Elena, worked nearby and decided to come and visit me, although our acquaintance was only superficial. Now I understand that by this she was following the Gospel words: I was sick, and you visited me (Mt. 26:36).

 

A conversation started in which she asked me whether or not I believe in God. Although I never thought about this earlier, the question gladdened me. My soul shone with a bright feeling. I said that I believe, but have to admit that I do not know Who He is or how to turn to Him. Elena said that she also believes and goes to Church, where one kind father serves. This interested me, and I promised to go to church without fail, and to begin studying the Christian faith, because I want to be enlightened by Divine truth.

 

Elena became a sister in Christ to me. To this day I love and respect her as an example to emulate of hope in God’s will and mercy. I am thankful to the Lord that He granted me to have such an acquaintance. And I am very grateful also to Elena for leading me to Christ. After all, this is one of the greatest tasks in the modern world. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise (Prov. 11:30).

 

Every time I remember these events my soul is filled with reverence and awe before the Creator of all the worlds for His great mercy in responding to my sorrow and languishing. He returned me to life in order to save me from sin, the curse and death. Inspired by Elena’s little stories about her faith, I began thirsting for God.

 

As soon as I returned home from the hospital I began to familiarize myself with the Holy Scriptures. On the internet I found the video, “The Gospel in the works of the great masters of iconography and painting.” Listening to the Gospel, read by a professional Armenian reader with soft, Orthodox spiritual music in the background, I delved into the text of the Holy Scriptures. At the end of the film my heart was filled with spiritual joy. Finally I knew Who that Infant depicted on the icons is! That is how Jesus Christ was unexpectedly revealed to me, how He came into my heart, my life. The presence of God was tangible to me.

 

After this joy that I experienced, I desired to delve deeper into the meaning of the words of Holy Scripture. As it is possible to find almost anything you need on the internet, and Christ’s words seek, and ye shall find (Lk. 11:9) were running around in my head, I began seeking. I found on the web Priest Daniel Sisoyev’s explanation of the Gospel. I did not know this person, but with curiosity I downloaded his audio recordings. After the first few minutes of his talk he seemed to me an vital and zealous man. He spoke clearly and quickly.

 

I have heard criticism against Fr. Daniel that he hurries, talks too fast, and people can’t keep up. But he was in a hurry to pour the source of living waters out upon people, to make all of us partakers of Divine truth, to lead us from the darkness of ignorance to the light of knowledge. For me, Fr. Daniel’s trait of “speaking quickly” was a great plus, because I myself was in a hurry to know everything.

 

It is always joyful for me to reminisce about a person who brought me closer to the light of the Gospel by expounding on God’s Word. Then, the veil of ignorance truly fell from my heart.

 

I asked God in my prayers to help me in my choice of faith. I often thought about which Church I should receive Baptism in. It was a choice between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church. I would have been tormented over this choice for a long time if it hadn’t been for help from on high. Looking over the books by Fr. Daniel, I turned my attention to a little book, Why aren’t you baptized yet? After reading it I hadn’t the slightest doubt about which place I was destined to be born of water and the Spirit, to receive salvation and be written in the Book of Life.

 

In December of 2009, five months after my first meeting with Christ, I came to the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord in Stavropol. At the reading of the prayers during the Sacrament of Baptism, there were a few moments when I felt unwell. The priest even allowed me to sit down on the bench and drink some holy water. At that moment I recalled Fr. Daniel’s words when he talked about how an evil spirit nests in an unbaptized person’s heart, and tries to prevent him from coming to the Lord.

 

After Baptism I became a new man. I felt how my heart was transformed, and I was filled with an inexpressible joy. I was very happy that God had drawn me to Himself.

 

Through the Word of God Fr. Daniel lit a candle in my heart, and when the flame of faith began to burn, it lighted my path. Just one month after my first contact with Christianity I began to share the Word of God with people around me. I was impressed by Fr. Daniel’s sermons. But I especially liked his debates with Muslims. I still re-watch them with great interest.

 

I would like to carry that light of the Gospel, which I at one time saw through the priest-martyr Daniel Sisoyev, to my blood brothers. I dream about the Armenian Apostolic Church becoming a part of the one holy, catholic [universal] Church.

 

I hope that someday the Armenian Apostolic Church, with St. Gregory the Enlightener at it head, would once again be in unity of faith, love, and piety with the fullness of the Local Orthodox Churches, that it would again become a living part of the One Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

 

By God’s mercy, the number of Orthodox Armenians has increased lately, thanks to the preaching of the Gospel. I can’t express how happy I am that real Orthodox Armenians are appearing. Our people thirst for the Word of God, and they can only be satisfied through the Holy Scripture and the Tradition of the Orthodox Church.

 

 Recorded by Deacon Giorgi Maximov

 

source : http://www.pravoslavie.ru/