Sunday, December 25, was the Feast of St. Stephen, the Protomartyr, who was one of the seven deacons ordained by the Apostles according to the New Testament books of Acts.  As December 28 was the following Sunday, following Divine Liturgy, Fr. Mesrop gave a brief introduction of why we celebrate the feast of St. Stephen, and then invited the deacons that were present to express how and why they were inspired to become deacons.

Dn. Deron Kapeghian, said that he has been serving on St. John altar with his father since he was 7 years old. Last year with the support and encouragement of Fr. Mesrop he was ordained a deacon, for which he is grateful. He challenged parents to encourage their children to become altar servers.

Dn. Sarkis Kestekyan, said he has been serving on the altar since 1985, he is very proud to be a deacon and takes this responsibility very seriously.  His son Sub deacon Kevin also serves on the altar with him.

Dn. Anthony Catchatoorian, said that he started serving on the altar to avoid Sunday School. Little did he know that under the wings of his spiritual father Abp. Aris Shirvanian, he was trained to become an acolyte, later he became sub-deacon and deacon. He expressed his gratitude to the former priests of St. John Armenian Church and to Fr. Mesrop for their support and encouragement.

Fr. Mesrop blessed the deacons and expressed his gratitude to all the altar servers for their dedication to the Armenian Church.