If you wish to speak to a minister of the Armenian Apostolic Church, you should keep in mind some formal rules of piety. When you approach a minister, bow to him and ask for his blessing. To do this, place one palm in the other (the right one in the left) and tilt your head. The minister will bless you with the sign of the cross. When you have received the blessing, kiss the hand of the priest blessing you like the invisible hand of Christ himself. After that you can ask your question.

When you approach a minister and you don't know his name, just call him that "Srbasan Hayr" (if it is a bishop), Hayr Surb (if it is a celibate priest) or "Ter Hayr" (if it is a married priest). This is the Armenian form of address, it is polite, simple and appropriate.

If you know the minister's name, call him e.g. "Hayr (father)..." (for celibate priests) or "Ter (Lord)..." (for married ones). Family names are not (very rarely) used in the Church.

When you approach a bishop (for how to distinguish a bishop, archbishop, metropolitan or patriarch by their robes, see Chapter 2 “The Church Vestments”), precede his name with the word “Vladyko” (lord), e.g. B. “Vladyko Sergiy”. You can ask for his blessing just as you would a priest.

Don't ever think that the minister doesn't have time to talk to you and that you're only bothering him with your questions! The minister in the church is your shepherd, he must respond to all your spiritual needs and help you. Therefore, do not, out of false modesty, withhold important questions that you cannot solve without the clergyman.

Below we present in detail the forms of address to the clergy in Armenian, Armenian transcription and in German (this is not a translation, but the form of address customary in Germany).