224 ANDREW J. SHIPMAN MEMORIAL 



uted among us." Then the choir sings antiphons in honor of 

 the sacrifice of the Body and Blood, and the small curtain is 

 drawn. The priest kisses the sacred Victim, saying "I con- 

 fess and I believe that Thou art Christ, the Son of God, who 

 has borne the sins of the world." The Host is divided into 

 three parts, one of which is placed in the chalice. The choir 

 sing the communion hymns as appointed ; the priest and the 

 clergy receive the Communion first, and then the choir and 

 people. The little curtain is withdrawn when the Communion 

 is given, and the great curtains are drawn back when the peo- 

 ple come up for Communion. 



After Communion, the priest puts on his crown (or the 

 bishop his mitre), and the great curtains are again drawn. 

 Thanksgiving prayers are said behind them, after which the 

 great curtains are withdrawn once more, and the priest hold- 

 ing the book of gospels says the great prayer of peace, and 

 blesses the people. Then the deacon proclaims "Orthi" (stand 

 up) and the celebrant reads the Last Gospel, which is nearly 

 always invariable, being the Gospel of St. John, i, i sqq. : "In 

 the beginning was the Word, etc." ; the only exception is from 

 Easter to the eve of Pentecost, when they use the Gospel of 

 St. John, xxi, 15-20: "So when they had dined, etc." Then 

 the prayer for peace and the "Kyrie Eleison" (thrice) are said, 

 the final benediction is given, and the priest retires from the 

 altar. Whilst Psalm xxxiv is recited or sung by the people, 

 the blessed bread is distributed. The Catholic Armenians con- 

 fine this latter rite to high festivals only. The chief editions 

 of the Gregorian Armenian Missals are those printed at Con- 

 stantinople (1823, 1844), Jerusalem (1841, 1873 and 1884), 

 and Etschmiadzin (1873); the chief Catholic Armenian edi- 

 tions are those of Venice (1808, 1874, 1895), Trieste (1808), 

 and Vienna (1858, 1884). 



Armenian Catholics. — Armenians had come to the United 

 States in small numbers prior to 1895. In that and the fol- 

 lowing year the Turkish massacres took place throughout Ar- 

 menia and Asia Minor, and large numbers of Armenians emi- 

 grated to America. Among them were many Armenian Catho- 

 lics, although these were not sufficiently numerous to organize 

 any religious communities like their Gregorian brethren. In 

 1898 Mgr. Stephan Azarian (Stephen X), then Catholic Pa- 

 triarch of Cilicia of the Armenians, who resided in Constanti- 



