THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS

July 16, 2024 

Mr. Donald J. Trump
Forty-fifth President of the United States of America 

Dear Sir, 

In these turbulent times, when violence seems to erupt unexpectedly and even in our own beloved country, we the religious leaders of the Armenian American community come together to pray with and for you and your family. We pray for the families of the victims of the recent assassination attempt on your life in Butler, PA and for our great nation. We are grateful to our Sovereign God for showering you with His Mercy at that crucial moment in our history. 

We also joyfully respond to you, President Trump, and to your call to come together in unity so that we may live in peace. That unity, as your wife so eloquently expressed, requires that people not see in each other “inhuman political machines,” but human beings created in the image and likeness of God. We know that the next months and years will not be easy ones for our nation. The turmoil has not passed. There is much to be done, so that we can all wake to a morning of true peace.  

We pray to our Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, to give you and your family the strength and grace to stay vigilant and filled with hope as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death. 

May the Almighty God keep unshaken the foundations of our nation, built upon those values for which the Founding Fathers of the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave sacrificed their well-being.   

On this occasion we raise our voice with our Twelfth Century Armenian Church Father, St. Nerses the Graceful, and say: 

“Christ, Guardian of all creatures,
Let your right hand protect your servant
While at home and traveling,
Sleeping and rising
That we may never stumble.
Have mercy on us, great sinner. Amen” 

Archbishop Hovnan Derderian 
Primate, Western Diocese

Archbishop Anoushavan Tanielian
Prelate, Eastern Prelacy 

Bishop Mesrop Parsamyan 
Primate, Eastern Diocese

Archbishop Kegham Khacherian
Prelate, Western Prelacy 

Bishop Mikhael Mouradian 
Eparch, Arm. Catholic Eparchy

Rev. Hendrik Shanazarian
Minister, AEUNA  

Zaven Khanjian
Executive Director, AMAA