History of Armenia, by Father Michael Chamich; from B. C. 2247 to ...

HISTORY or ARMENIA.
*^°*
course sackcloth.
On festivals he would carry
this bodily discipline to such an excess, that
people who beheld him were amazed.
His fame
havin-^^ reached tlie ears of Omar the caliph, he
was invited by that monarch to visit him, and
met with a nio>t respectful and honourable
reception. On his elevation to the pontificate,
he devoted himself assiduoisly to restore
tranquillity m the spiritual affairs of the Armenians,
among whom many con'usions and
perplexities had started up, occasioned by three
several reasons : fir^t, the people were agitated
and alarmed by the statements of two most
wicked sects, which had recently
sprung into
existence, and were denominated Paulicians
and Fanatics : secondly, much confusion arose
from the irregular lives many of the clergy
and laity led : thirdly, the nation was undecided
as to the performance of the religious
ceremonies ; some desiring to conform to the
custom of the Greeks, who administered the
Lord's Supper with leavened bread and wine
mixed with water ; who also omitted the word
"crucified'' in the anthem " The Jiohj God, c^'c."
and asserted that the birth of Christ should
be celebrated by a distinct feast; with many
other irregularities. Johannes the philosopher
a.d. 7ift^
wishing to apply a wholesome redress to these "a i68.
evils, assembled a large meeting in the city