Armenian Awakening

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. The Armenians, like the Greeks and Latins, have seven sacraments. Baptism is administered to infants eight days old by threefold immersion, with the adjuncts of confirmation and unction. Baptism is regarded as the cause of regeneration, and is sup posed to remove original sin. It is held to be liter ally a christening. Without it the infant is a heathen; and an Armenian mother will not kiss her babe until it has been baptized. The Armenians celebrate mass as a propitiatory sacrifice. They believe in transubstantiation, and venerate the elements as the divine body and blood. Like the Latin church and unlike the Greek, they use unleavened bread in the eucharist, and unlike either mix no water with the wine. Prayers for the dead accompany the mass, but no purgatory is recognized. Oricular confession is observed preparatory to the communion, the priest imposing penance and pronouncing absolution.