Last Sunday, December 25, Holy Martyrs celebrated St. Stephen’s Day – a day commemorating the life and sacrifice of St. Stephen, the first deacon and Christian martyr. During the beginning of Badarak, our deacons donned priestly crowns in honor of St. Stephen and in recognition of their humble service on the altar during the past year. At the conclusion of Badarak, Dn. Narek read about the life of St. Stephen. Afterwards, all the deacons sang a special sharagan while incensing the congregation and wearing crowns. Fr. Abraham thanked the deacons for their service and blessed them with prayers for a long life. Thank you to our deacons – Garbis Martayan, Hagop Yagliyan, Narek Garabedian, Karnik Kiliciyan (missing from photo), Alexander Calikyan and Samvel Zakaryan.