The Armenian Church is Orthodox or Catholic. Armenian Apostolic Church: difference from the Orthodox. Key aspects Catholic proselytism among Armenians

The Christian world is so secularized that the European nations, which were once the stronghold of evangelical values, are called post-Christian civilization. The secularity of society makes it possible to embody the most phantasmagoric aspirations. The new moral values ​​of Europeans come into conflict with what religion preaches. Armenia is one of the few examples of fidelity to thousand-year-old ethnocultural traditions. In this state, at the highest legislative level, it is evidenced that the centuries-old spiritual experience of the people is a national treasure.

What is the official religion in Armenia?

More than 95% of the country's three million population are members of the Armenian Apostolic Church. This Christian community is one of the oldest in the world. Orthodox theologians classify the Transcaucasian community of believers among five other, so-called anti-Chalcedonian communities. The established theological definition does not provide a comprehensive answer to the question of what religion is in Armenia.

The Orthodox call the Armenians monophysites - recognizing in Christ one physical essence; Armenian Orthodox theologians accuse the Orthodox of the opposite. These dogmatic subtleties are understandable only to theologians. Upon closer examination, it turns out that the mutual accusations are wrong. The official name of the community of believers in Armenia is “One Holy Ecumenical Apostolic Orthodox Armenian Church.”

The first Christian state in the world

A whole decade before the adoption of the Edict of Milan by the Great, in 301, King Trdat III broke relations with paganism and proclaimed Christianity as the state religion. During a time of terrible persecution of the followers of Jesus throughout the Roman Empire, the ruler took a decisive and unexpected step. This was preceded by turbulent events in Transcaucasia.

Emperor Diocletian officially proclaims Trdat king of Armenia, which was part of the Roman province of Cappadocia. In 287, through mediation, he returned to his homeland and assumed the throne. Being a pagan, Trdat begins to zealously fulfill the command to begin the persecution of Christians. The brutal execution of 40 Christian girls makes a sharp turn in the fate of the king and his subjects.

Great educator of the Armenian people

The baptism of an entire people occurred thanks to the educational activities of St. Gregory. He was a descendant of the noble Arksaid family. For his confession of faith, Gregory suffered many torments. Through the prayers of Saint Trdat, he was punished with mental illness for torturing Christian women. Gregory forced the tyrant to repent. After this, the king was healed. Having believed in Christ, he was baptized along with his courtiers.

In Caesarea, the main city of Cappadocia, in 302, Gregory was elevated to the rank of bishop. After returning to Armenia, he begins to baptize the people, build churches and schools for preachers. In the capital of King Trdat III, by revelation from above, the saint founded a temple, which was later named Etchmiadzin. On behalf of the enlightener, the Armenian Church is called Gregorian.

Centuries of struggle

Christianity, as the official religion of Armenia, became an irritant to the rulers of neighboring Persia. Iran took decisive action to eradicate the new faith and introduce Zoroastrianism. This was greatly facilitated by pro-Persian landowners. From 337 to 345, Shapur II, having executed tens of thousands of Christians in Persia itself, made a series of devastating campaigns in Transcaucasia.

Shahinshah Yazdegerd II, wanting to strengthen his position in Transcaucasia, sent an ultimatum in 448. The Council of clergy and laity assembled in Artashat gave the answer that the Armenians recognize the secular power of the Persian ruler, but religion should remain inviolable. With this resolution, Armenia rejected the proposal to accept an alien faith. The uprising began. In 451, the largest battle in the history of the country took place on the Avarayr field. Although the defenders lost the battle, the persecution was stopped. After this, for another thirty years Armenia fought for its faith, until in 484 a peace treaty was concluded with Persia, according to which the Armenians were allowed to freely practice Christianity.

Administrative structure of the Armenian Apostolic Church

Until 451, the Armenian Apostolic Church represented one of the local communities of the united Christian Church. However, due to an incorrect assessment of the decisions of the fourth, a misunderstanding arose. In 506, the Armenian Church officially separated from the Byzantine Church, which significantly influenced the history of the state, its political and social activities.

The main religion of Armenia is practiced on five continents by more than 9 million believers. The spiritual head is the patriarch-catalicos, whose title indicates that he is the spiritual leader of the Nation both in Armenia itself and of Armenians scattered throughout the world.

The residence of the Armenian Patriarch since 1441 is located in. The jurisdiction of the Catholicos includes dioceses in all CIS countries, as well as in Europe, Iran, Egypt, North and Australia and Oceania, vicariates in India and the Far East. The Armenian patriarchs in Istanbul (Constantinople), Jerusalem and the Great House of Cilicia (modern Kozan in Turkey) are canonically subordinate to the Etchmiadzin Catholicosate.

Features of the Armenian Church

The Armenian Church is an almost mono-ethnic religious community: the vast majority of believers are Armenians. The small Udin community in northern Azerbaijan and several thousand Azerbaijani Tats belong to this denomination. For the Bosha gypsies assimilated by Armenians, wandering in Transcaucasia and Syria, this is also their native religion. Armenia retains the Gregorian chronology of the church calendar.

The liturgical features are as follows:

• Bread for communion is used, as in the Catholic tradition, unleavened, and wine is not dissolved in water.
• The Liturgy is served exclusively on Sundays and on special occasions.
• The sacrament of unction is performed only on clergy, and immediately after death.

Divine services in Armenian churches are performed in the ancient language of Grabar, and the priest delivers the sermon in modern Armenian. Armenians cross themselves from left to right. Only the son of a priest can become a priest.

Church and State

In accordance with the Constitution, Armenia is a secular state. There is no specific legislative act determining that Christianity is the state religion of Armenia. However, the spiritual and moral life of society cannot be imagined without the participation of the Church. Thus, Serzh Sargsyan considers interaction between the state and the church to be vital. In his speeches, he declares the need to preserve the relationship between secular and spiritual power both at the present historical stage and in the future.

Armenian legislation establishes certain restrictions on the freedom of activity of other religious denominations, thereby showing which religion is dominant in Armenia. The Law of the Republic of Armenia “On Freedom of Conscience,” adopted back in 1991, regulates the position of the Apostolic Church as a national religious association.

Other religions

The spiritual image of society is formed not only by orthodox religion. Armenia is home to 36 parishes of the Armenian Catholic Church community, which are called “Franks”. The Franks appeared in the 12th century along with the Crusaders. Under the influence of the Jesuits' preaching, a small community of Armenians accepted the jurisdiction of the Vatican. Over time, supported by missionaries of the Order, they united into the Armenian Catholic Church. The residence of the patriarch is located in Beirut.

The small communities of Kurds, Azerbaijanis and Persians living in Armenia profess Islam. In Yerevan itself in 1766 the famous

The idea that in reality there is not much difference and, in the end, all Churches are talking about the same thing, to put it mildly, is far from the truth. In fact, the Armenian Apostolic Church has serious reasons to claim that it has retained special fidelity to the apostolic tradition. Each Church has taken a special name for itself; the Armenian Church calls itself Apostolic. In fact, the name of each of the Churches is much longer than just Catholic, Orthodox, Apostolic. Our Church is called the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Holy Church (Orthodox - in the sense of the truth of faith). Look how many definitions there are, but we most often use one, the closest and dearest to us and the most characteristic.

For centuries, our Church has had to defend the purity of the dogmas of faith. In 451, not only the Armenian Church, but also other Eastern Orthodox Churches - Coptic, Syrian, Ethiopian - did not accept the decision of the Council of Chalcedon, having significant dogmatic reasons. There were serious grounds for fears that Chalcedon was restoring what was condemned at the Third Ecumenical Council of Ephesus - primarily the heresy of Nestorius.

The main reason for the disagreement is that the Armenians preferred to remain faithful to the theological tradition of the Alexandrian school, founded by the great feat primarily of St. Athanasius the Great and Cyril of Alexandria. Only after the death of the latter was it possible to implement the decisions taken by the Council of Chalcedon. The cathedral was led not by clergy, but by Emperor Marcian himself and Empress Pulcheria. It must be admitted that Chalcedon only confirmed the already existing theological contradictions between the Alexandrian and Antiochian schools. These differences had roots in different spiritual and cultural layers; they arose as a result of the collision of the holistic religious contemplation of the East and differential Hellenistic thinking, the unity and dualism of the confession of the Savior, the specific and generalized perception of the human reality of Christ.

The Armenians remained faithful to the decisions of the three Ecumenical Councils, which without distortion defined the faith coming from the apostolic period. We did not have an empire, we did not even have time for respite, forced to constantly fight for existence. We did not try to adapt Christology to imperial ambitions, to the service of empire. Christianity was the main thing for us, for the sake of it we were ready to give up what we had - this property was mainly life. As for the churches with which, unfortunately, we do not have Eucharistic communion, we must take from them all the best. There is a lot of good there, especially in Russian spiritual literature, in the amazing evidence of spiritual life. We have a special spiritual closeness with the Russian people. We constantly pray for the restoration of the Eucharistic unity of the Church of Christ. But until this happens, everyone must be in their own spiritual reality. This does not mean that we prohibit our believers from going to Russian Orthodox churches. Thank God, we are not characterized by such fanaticism. You can come in, light a candle, and pray. But during Sunday liturgy you must be in your Church.

Sometimes a dispute arises when Armenians themselves can prove that they are not Orthodox. This creates an absurd situation - the person actually claims that his faith is not true. Orthodox Christians in Russia do not consider Armenians Orthodox. The same is reflected in our theological tradition - we recognize the Orthodoxy of only five eastern churches - ours, Coptic, Ethiopian, Syrian, Indian-Malabar. The Chalcedonian Churches, from the point of view of the doctrine of the AAC, are not considered Orthodox. In our theological literature they are simply called the Greek Church, the Roman Church, the Russian Church, etc. True, we can also briefly call our Church Armenian.

Of course, Churches have their own official name, and in official relations we call them what they call themselves. But, recognizing all the differences between us and the Orthodox Chalcedonians, we cannot shy away from the assertion that we have the Orthodox, in other words, the correct, true faith.

Father Mesrop (Aramyan).

From an interview with Aniv magazine

Readers of our portal often ask the question: “What is the difference between Orthodoxy and Armenian Christianity”?

Archpriest Oleg Davydenkov, Doctor of Theology, Head of the Department of Eastern Christian Philology and Eastern Churches of the Orthodox St. Tikhon's Theological University answers questions from the Orthodoxy and World portal about pre-Chalcedonian churches, one of which is the Armenian Church.

– Father Oleg, before talking about the Armenian direction of Monophysitism, tell us about what Monophysitism is and how it arose?

– Monophysitism is a Christological teaching, the essence of which is that in the Lord Jesus Christ there is only one nature, and not two, as the Orthodox Church teaches. Historically, it appeared as an extreme reaction to the heresy of Nestorianism and had not only dogmatic, but also political reasons.

Orthodox Church confesses in Christ one person (hypostasis) and two natures - divine and human. Nestorianism teaches about two persons, two hypostases and two natures. M onophysites but they fell to the opposite extreme: in Christ they recognize one person, one hypostasis and one nature. From a canonical point of view, the difference between the Orthodox Church and the Monophysite churches is that the latter do not recognize the Ecumenical Councils, starting with the IVth Council of Chalcedon, which adopted the definition of faith (oros) about two natures in Christ, which converge into one person and one hypostasis .

The name “Monophysites” was given by Orthodox Christians to the opponents of Chalcedon (they call themselves Orthodox). Systematically, the Monophysite Christological doctrine was formed in the 6th century, thanks primarily to the works of Sevirus of Antioch (+ 538).

– Is the Armenian direction of Monophysitism different from its other types?

- Yes, it’s different. Currently, there are six non-Chalcedonian churches (or seven, if the Armenian Etchmiadzin and Cilician Catholics are considered as two, de facto autocephalous churches). The ancient Eastern churches can be divided into three groups:

1) Syro-Jacobites, Copts and Malabarians (Malankara Church of India). This is the monophysitism of the Sevirian tradition, which is based on the theology of Sevirus of Antioch.

2) Armenians (Etchmiadzin and Cilician Catholics).

3) Ethiopians (Ethiopian and Eritrean churches).

The Armenian Church in the past differed from other non-Chalcedonian churches; even Sevier of Antioch itself was anathematized by the Armenians in the 4th century. at one of the Dvina Councils as an insufficiently consistent Monophysite. The theology of the Armenian Church was significantly influenced by aphthartodocetism (the doctrine of the incorruptibility of the body of Jesus Christ from the moment of the Incarnation). The appearance of this radical Monophysite teaching is associated with the name of Julian of Halicarnassus, one of Sevier’s main opponents within the Monophysite camp.

At present, all Monophysites, as the theological dialogue shows, come out from more or less the same dogmatic positions: this is a Christology close to the Christology of Sevier.

Speaking about the Armenians, it should be noted that the consciousness of the modern Armenian Church is characterized by pronounced adogmatism. While other non-Chalcedonian churches show considerable interest in their theological heritage and are open to Christological discussion, the Armenians, on the contrary, have little interest in their own Christological tradition. Currently, interest in the history of Armenian Christological thought is rather shown by some Armenians who consciously converted from the Armenian Gregorian Church to Orthodoxy, both in Armenia itself and in Russia.

– Is there currently a theological dialogue with the Pre-Chalcedonian churches?

- It is being carried out with varying success. The result of such a dialogue between Orthodox Christians and the Ancient Eastern (Pre-Chalcedonian) churches was the so-called Chambesian agreements. One of the main documents is the Chambesian Agreement of 1993, which contains an agreed text of Christological teaching, and also contains a mechanism for restoring communication between the “two families” of Churches through the ratification of agreements by the synods of these Churches.

The Christological teaching of these agreements aims to find a compromise between the Orthodox and Ancient Eastern churches on the basis of a theological position that could be characterized as “moderate monophysitism”. They contain ambiguous theological formulas that admit of a Monophysite interpretation. Therefore, the reaction in the Orthodox world to them is not clear: four Orthodox Churches accepted them, some did not accept them with reservations, and some were fundamentally against these agreements.

The Russian Orthodox Church also recognized that these agreements are insufficient to restore Eucharistic communion, since they contain ambiguities in Christological teaching. Continued work is required to resolve unclear interpretations. For example, the teaching of the Agreements about wills and actions in Christ can be understood both diphysitely (Orthodox) and monophysitely. It all depends on how the reader understands the relationship between will and hypostasis. Is the will considered as a property of nature, as in Orthodox theology, or is it assimilated into hypostasis, which is characteristic of Monophysitism? The Second Agreed Statement of 1990, which underpins the 1993 Chambesian Accords, does not answer this question.

With the Armenians today, a dogmatic dialogue is hardly possible at all, due to their lack of interest in problems of a dogmatic nature. After in the mid-90s. It became clear that the dialogue with the non-Chalcedonians had reached a dead end; the Russian Orthodox Church began bilateral dialogues - not with all the non-Chalcedonian Churches together, but with each one separately. As a result, three directions for bilateral dialogues were identified: 1) with the Syro-Jacobites, Copts and the Armenian Cilician Catholicosate, who agreed to conduct dialogue only in this composition; 2) the Etchmiadzin Catholicosate and 3) with the Ethiopian Church (this direction has not been developed). The dialogue with the Etchmiadzin Catholicosate did not touch upon dogmatic issues. The Armenian side is ready to discuss issues of social service, pastoral practice, various problems of social and church life, but shows no interest in discussing dogmatic issues.

– How are Monophysites accepted into the Orthodox Church today?

- Through repentance. Priests are accepted in their existing rank. This is an ancient practice; this is how non-Chalcedonites were received in the era of the Ecumenical Councils.

Alexander Filippov talked with Archpriest Oleg Davydenkov

Are Armenians Catholics or Orthodox? or who?

1. Heretics - because Monophysites. They did not accept the resolutions of the Holy Council of Chalcedon and went into schism. Raskolniki. But Christians, as well as Copts, are also Monophysites.
2. We have our own faith.
   Armenian Apostolic Church. (In short, most are Gregorian, but with slightly different customs)
   THE ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH, one of the oldest Christian churches, adheres to the Monophysite direction of Christianity (See Classification of religions).

   Members of this church are usually called Armenian Gregorians. The latter name is due to the fact that the founder of the Armenian Apostolic Church is considered to be Gregory the Illuminator (c. 240-332), who converted King Tiridates III of Armenia to Christianity in 301 (according to legend, the first Christians appeared in Armenia already in 34, after the Apostle Thaddeus visited this country , however, reliable information about Armenian Christians dates back to the 2nd century). A

   Armenia became the first country in the world where Christianity was declared the state religion. At the beginning of the 5th century. monk Mesrop Mashtots, together with Catholicos Sahak, translated the Bible into Armenian (apparently from Old Syriac). The independent Armenian-Gregorian Church, which rejected the decisions of the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon, has existed since 506.

   The doctrine of the Armenian Apostolic Church is similar to the doctrine of other Monophysite churches. Armenian Gregorians accept the decisions of the first three ecumenical councils, but do not recognize the decisions of the subsequent ones.

3. I don’t know who all Armenians consider themselves to be? I consider myself Orthodox!
4. The Orthodox and Catholic churches do not accept them as Christians.
   Gregorian faith is different from Christian faith
5. The most correct answer was from the one who wrote about the fact that the majority of Armenians belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church, there are Armenians and Orthodox, there are also Catholics. I, myself, am an Armenian Catholic, baptized in the Catholic Church (and my parents and grandparents, and further up the tree, were all Catholics), as well as Orthodox Armenians, baptized in Orthodox churches. Both Catholics and Orthodox are CHRISTIANS!)
6. Armenians have their own CATHOLICOS... So draw a conclusion WHO they are
7. After the new invasion of their country by the Persians in 428 and the inclusion of Armenia into the Persian region, the Supreme Patriarch Isaac the Great (378-439) made efforts to create external resistance to the occupation of foreigners, strengthening the spirit and self-awareness of the Armenians through church reforms. Protection was especially shown through Mesrob Mashtots, who created the Armenian alphabet of 36 letters, and thus laid the foundation for the development of Armenian philology.
   Mesrob, the creator of the national language of the Armenians, later became the Catholicos (patriarch) of Armenia. He translated the Holy Scriptures and the Fathers of the Church, mainly from the Greek and Syriac originals. Mesrob died in 440, 11 years before the IV Ecumenical Council in Chalcedon, which contained a creed that established a division in the relationship between the Armenian Church and the Orthodox Church.
   Due to the enslavement of Armenia by the Persians 42 isolation and influence of Syrian bishops. For reasons beyond their control, they could not come to the IV Ecumenical Council and they were not even informed on time for the same reasons, and they either became stubborn, or due to human weakness they were simply offended that they accepted the dogmas without their presence. Most likely, the politics behind the scenes is not God’s will, Satan restrained it.
   Syria and Palestine at that time were a hotbed of all sorts of heresies. Muhammad did not master the teachings, but picked up fragmentary knowledge from all the rumors of heresies and it turned out that he came out of the Old Testament with suggestions from the outside.
   The Armenians are an ancient, long-suffering people, but their mentality in recent times has been influenced by the Islamic-Arab sense.
   It is quite possible that they will re-realize the fact of the dogma and the union with the Orthodox Church; the contradictions were papal, which was rejected by the Orthodox Church in the 12th century (including Rus', which was baptized much later than Armenia in 988). Katolox - in the meaning of primate.
8. ...they are Orthodox of a special kind...they have their own rules in their faith....
9. Armenians in their absolute majority profess monophysical Christianity and belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church (A.A.C.). There are Catholics among the Armenians. In Russia and Georgia there are Orthodox Christians, and evangelists have appeared in Armenia. There are more than 1 million hidden Armenians living in Turkey who profess Islam, some of whom have returned to Christianity in recent years. In the northeast of Turkey live a large group of Hemshil Armenians who converted to Islam in the 16th century, but they consider themselves Armenians. According to the census conducted by the Hemshil initiative group, more than 3 million Hemshil Armenians were counted in Turkey.
10. we are Catholics
11. Armenian Church - AAC (Armenian Apostolic Church) - Armenians Monophysites Apostles. but there are more than 1 million Catholic Armenians and more than 1.2 million Orthodox Christians. Data is inaccurate.

The history of Armenian culture dates back to ancient times. Traditions, way of life, religion are dictated by the religious views of the Armenians. In the article we will consider the questions: what kind of faith do the Armenians have, why did the Armenians accept Christianity, about the baptism of Armenia, in what year did the Armenians accept Christianity, about the difference between the Gregorian and Orthodox churches.

Adoption of Christianity by Armenia in 301

The religion of the Armenians originated in the 1st century AD, when the founders of the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC), Thaddeus and Bartholomew, preached in Armenia. Already in the 4th century, in 301, Christianity became the official religion of the Armenians. This was started by King Trdat III. He came to rule the royal throne of Armenia in 287.

Apostle Thaddeus and Bartholomew - founders of the Armenian Apostolic Church

Initially, Trdat was not favorable to Christianity and persecuted believers. He imprisoned Saint Gregory for 13 years. However, the strong faith of the Armenian people prevailed. One day the king lost his mind and was healed thanks to the prayers of Gregory, a saint preaching Orthodoxy. After this, Trdat believed, was baptized and made Armenia the first Christian state in the world.

Armenians - Catholics or Orthodox - today make up 98% of the country's population. Of these, 90% are representatives of the Armenian Apostolic Church, 7% are representatives of the Armenian Catholic Church.

The Armenian Apostolic Church is independent of the Orthodox and Catholic churches

The Armenian Apostolic Church stood at the origins of the emergence of Christianity for the Armenian people. It belongs to the oldest Christian churches. Its founders are considered to be the preachers of Christianity in Armenia - the apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew.

The dogmas of the AAC differ significantly from Orthodoxy and Catholicism. The Armenian Church is autonomous from the Orthodox and Catholic churches. And this is its main feature. The word apostolic in the name refers us to the origins of the church and indicates that Christianity in Armenia became the first state religion.

The AAC keeps chronology according to the Gregorian calendar. However, she does not deny the Julian calendar.

During times of lack of political governance, the Gregorian Church took over the functions of government. In this regard, the role of the Catholicosate in Etchmiadzin became dominant for a long time. For several centuries in a row, it was considered the main center of power and control.

In modern times, the Catholicosate of All Armenians operates in Etchmidizian and the Cilician Catholicosate in Antilias.

Catholicos - bishop in the AAC

Catholicos is a related concept to the word bishop. The title of the highest rank in the AAC.

The Catholicos of All Armenians includes the dioceses of Armenia, Russia, and Ukraine. The Cilician Catholicos includes the dioceses of Syria, Cyprus and Lebanon.

Traditions and rituals of the AAC.

Matah - offering in gratitude to God

One of the most important rituals of the AAC is the matah or treat, a charity dinner. Some people confuse this ritual with animal sacrifice. The meaning is to give alms to the poor, which is an offering to God. Matah is performed as a thank you to God for the successful end of some event (the recovery of a loved one) or as a request for something.

To perform matakh, livestock (bull, sheep) or poultry are slaughtered. The meat is used to make broth with salt, which has been consecrated in advance. Under no circumstances should the meat remain uneaten until the next day. Therefore, it is divided and distributed.

Forward post

This post precedes Lent. Advanced fasting begins 3 weeks before the Great Fast and lasts 5 days - from Monday to Friday. Its observance is historically determined by the fast of St. Gregory. This helped the apostle to cleanse himself and heal King Trdat with prayers.

Communion

Unleavened bread is used during communion, however, there is no fundamental difference between unleavened and leavened. Wine is not diluted with water.

The Armenian priest dips the bread (previously consecrated) into wine, breaks it and gives it to those who wish to receive communion to taste.

Sign of the Cross

Performed with three fingers from left to right.

How does the Gregorian Church differ from the Orthodox Church?

Monophysitism - recognition of the one nature of God

For a long time, the differences between the Armenian and Orthodox churches were not noticeable. Around the 6th century, differences became noticeable. Speaking about the division of the Armenian and Orthodox churches, we should remember the emergence of Monophysitism.

This is a branch of Christianity, according to which the nature of Jesus is not dual, and he does not have a corporeal shell, like a man. Monophysites recognize one nature in Jesus. Thus, at the 4th Council of Chalcedon, a split occurred between the Gregorian Church and the Orthodox Church. The Armenian Monophysites were recognized as heretics.

Differences between the Gregorian and Orthodox churches

1. The Armenian Church does not recognize the flesh of Christ, its representatives are convinced that his body is ether. The main difference lies in the reason for the separation of the AAC from Orthodoxy.
2. Icons. In Gregorian churches there is not an abundance of icons, as in Orthodox churches. Only in some churches there is a small iconostasis in the corner of the temple. Armenians do not pray in front of holy images. Some historians attribute this to the fact that the Armenian Church was engaged in iconoclasm.

1. Difference in calendars. Representatives of Orthodoxy are guided by the Julian calendar. Armenian 1 to Gregorian.
2. Representatives of the Armenian Church cross themselves from left to right, Orthodox Christians - vice versa.
3. Spiritual hierarchy. In the Gregorian Church there are 5 degrees, where the highest is the Catholicos, then the bishop, priest, deacon, and reader. There are only 3 degrees in the Russian Church.
4. Fasting for 5 days - arachawork. Starts 70 days before Easter.
5. Since the Armenian Church recognizes one hypostasis of God, only one is sung in church songs.. Unlike the Orthodox, where they sing about the trinity of God.
6. During Lent, Armenians can eat cheese and eggs on Sundays.
7. The Gregorian Church lives according to the tenets of only three councils, although there were seven of them. The Armenians were unable to attend the 4th Council of Chalcedon, and therefore did not accept the tenets of Christianity and ignored all subsequent councils.