Atop the Holy Altar of every Armenian Church hangs an oil lamp. This lamp is called a Gantegh (Կանթեղ), and is part of one of the most beautiful traditions in the Armenian Church. The Gantegh is refilled and lit every morning by a deacon or a priest. Loosavorichi ganteghe (Լուսաւորչի կանթեղը) is the “lamp without cord” that St. Gregory the Illuminator hung from the sky to protect the Armenian world in times of darkness. Since then Armenians, true believers, fear the wrath of god when the lamp goes out, for every Gantegh represents the Illuminator’s oil-lamp that should never be extinguished. Hovhannes Toumanian and Vahan Tekeyan wrote poetry about it. The name in Armenian for a candle is mom (մոմ), a word that they assume comes from the fifth century (borrowed from Pahlavi, one of the languages spoken in Iran) and actually meant “wax.”The etymology of candle is assumed to be the Latin word candela which is (“a light, torch, candle”), which comes from the verb candere (“to shine”). English a chandelier shines bright etc.
That said there is the Armenian word cognate to candle which is gantegh (կանթեղ). In ancient Armenian, it designated a candle, a torch or an oil lamp. Every time I turn a light or rather I light a candle or an oil lamp or a torch (chah / ջահ) in Armenian I think of the ancient alters of the Armenians that were destroyed to usher in the new religion.
Armenians know the oil lamp as the Loosavorichi ganteghe (Լուսաւորչի կանթեղը) (illuminators oil lamp) for it is the symbolic “lamp without cord” that St. Gregory the Illuminator hung from the sky to protect the Armenian world in times of darkness, the darkness I assume that he caused when he destroyed the old Armenia to help usher in the new.
The oil lamp was relatively new in the fifth century, and it was used by writers like Koriun, the disciple of Mesrob Mashdots; Agatangeghos, the mysterious author of the account on the conversion of Armenia to Christianity; and Ghazar Parbetsi, the historian of the post-Avarayr period.
Loosavorichi ganteghe (Լուսաւորչի կանթեղը) is the “lamp without cord” that St. Gregory the Illuminator hung from the sky to protect the Armenian world in times of darkness. Famous poets like Hovhannes Toumanian and Vahan Tekeyan wrote about it.
Below I offer Fr. Alexander Schmemann’s thoughts about the concept of time in the liturgical context which applies to the ancient tradition that have been superimposed on the ancient cyclic callendar.
“The Church announces every morning that God is the Lord, and 'she' begins to organize life around God. In the Church the first lights of Matins are candles, as foretaste of the sun. then the sun itself rises, dispelling the darkness of the world, and in this Church sees the rising of the true Light of the world, Son of God.”
The morning contains three prayer services: the Night Hour, the Morning Hour and the Sunrise Hour. These three prayer services traditionally take place before the sunrise, during the sunrise, and after the sunrise, respectively. Cathedrals typically perform one prayer service prior to celebrating the Divine Liturgy, with the Sunrise Hour reserved for the Lenten season. Before the service starts, the sextons (Lusarar or Jamgotch) have the responsibility to refill and light the Gantegh. Today, we usually start the morning service around 7:00 am, when the sun has already risen. Before seeing the sun’s light, however, it is essential to see the light of this lamp, which declares Christ’s presence in our midst.“I am the Light of the World. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life”. (John 8:12)
We cannot start our day, as Christians, before seeing this true Light of our life. That light remains at the center of our life, even as the world rotates unceasingly around the sun. The world not only receives the sun’s light, but also reflects it. Therefore, we light the Gantegh in the morning, not just to remind us that Christ is the Light of our world and life, but also, to reflect His light by our thoughts, words and deeds.
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