Fr. Anthony Tandilyan was born (1975) in Armenia.  After graduating from the local high school (1992), he continued his education at the Pedagogical College of Yerevan and received his bachelor’s degree in education with the dream of becoming a teacher. In 1995, he was accepted to the Pedagogical Institute of Yerevan, but instead of continuing his education in graduate school, he chose to become a member of the Armenian Orthodox Church with the hope of serving as a clergy. This required a long journey of seven years in the monastic community of the Mother See of Holy Echmiadzin. With God’s Grace, he graduated from Gevorkian seminary in the summer of 2001, after defending his thesis concerning “Bioethical problems of possible human cloning” (In this work, the moral and ethical aspects of the achievements of modern biology are discussed).

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He was ordained to the Holy Diaconate on July 22nd, 2001, on the feast of The Holy Transfiguration and assigned to work at the Religious News center of the Mother See.  While there, he prepared daily Church news for public media through the central TV station and weekly radio programs through two central radio stations of Armenia.

In 2002, Fr. Anthony was accepted to Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, MA, USA. Here, he received his master’s degree in theological studies in 2005. In 2009, he started a TV show concerning life and faith issues, called “Feast of Healthy Thoughts”, co-hosted by Dr. Kyriaki FitzGerald.  (These programs can be viewed on YOUTUBE). Later the same year, Fr. Anthony was received into the Greek Orthodox Church and became a member of the St. Nicholas community in Manchester, NH.  In 2011, Fr. Anthony returned to Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology and finished the course work for the THM. 

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Fr. Anthony was ordained to the holy priesthood on the feast day of St. Demetrios, October 26, 2015, at St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Weston, MA by His Eminence, Metropolitan Methodios of Boston.  

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He was assigned by His Eminence to serve as the assistant priest of St. Vasilios Church in Peabody as of November 1st, 2015. On March 15th, 2019, Fr. Anthony was assigned by His Eminence, Metropolitan Methodios of Boston as a Presiding Priest of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church in Somerville, MA, where he now serves. 

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Fr. Anthony and Presvitera Kellie are blessed with three children, Michael, Ella, and David.