154 Memoir of St. Nierses Clajensis. [Marci*, 



natural will, both divine and human, not resisting each other, but the 

 human will following and obeying the divine. III. The prayer " Holy 

 God" should be offered in your Church by the omission of " who wast 

 crucified for us," and the conjunction "and." IV. You should conform 

 to the Church of Greece in commemorating the feasts, that is to say, 

 the Annunciation day, on the 25th of March ; the Nativity, on the 25th 

 of December ; the Circumcision, on the eighth day after the birth of 

 Christ, to wit, on the 1st of January ; the Baptism on the 6th of Janu- 

 ary ; the Presentation of our Saviour to the temple on the fortieth day 

 after his birth on the 2nd of February, and in like manner, agreeing 

 with us in observing all the dominical feasts, as well as those of the 

 holy Virgin Mary, of St. John, of the Apostles and of others. V. 

 The preparation of the unction should be made of the oil of the fruit 

 of trees. VI. The Communion Service should be performed with lea- 

 vened bread, and wine mixed with water. VII. Let Armenian Chris- 

 tians, both clergy and laity, remain within the Church, during the 

 hours of prayer and the performance of communion service, with the 

 exception of public penitents, who are prohibited by ecclesiastical 

 canons from staying in the midst of the Church during the time. 

 VIII. You should accept the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh general 

 assemblies. IX. The choice of the nomination of your pontiff should 

 be vested only in the emperor of the Greeks. 



On the arrival of the embassy at Hiromcla, Theorianey and Jo- 

 hannes Uthman met with a very kind reception from Nierses the 

 Graceful, who having respectfully received the letters of the emperor 

 and patriarch of Constantinople, communicated the contents of them 

 to the principal bishops and friars of the Armenian Church, who had 

 repaired to Hiromcla from the mountains of Taurus and the frontiers 

 of Mesopotamia. Though they were easily persuaded to concede 

 to the chief points proposed by the Greeks, yet great difficulty 

 existed in obtaining the consent thereto of other Armenian bishops, 

 whose number amounted to upwards of three hundred, and who 

 were living in different distant quarters, especially in the frontiers 

 of Armenia major, save the body of monks who resided in monas- 

 teries, and who were almost of an equal number. Consequently, 

 Nierses thought it necessary to summon these worthies to the general 

 meeting which was shortly to be convened for taking into considera- 

 tion the points proposed by the authorities of Greece, and communi- 

 cating the result of the assembly in a suitable letter to the emperor. 

 He conceived the unanimous voice of all the principal dignitaries of 

 the Church of Armenia indispensably necessary in the adoption of the 

 points, which were the connecting links of the sister Churches, lest, he 



