Bishop Narek Berberian, Primate of the Diocese of Brazil, has initiated a “Ritual Training Program”


The church’s scholastic class combines education with recreation and camp activities. Deacon Gevorg Geogjian supported the implementation of the program by providing a private house where the Bishop conducted the training course. Having served in the United States for more than 20 years, Bishop Narek Berberian has paid great attention to training young altar servers and involving them in church life.

 

The Armenian Apostolic Church will celebrate Pentecost on May 24


The Holy Spirit enlightens the disciples with tongues of fire, making them interpreters of God's word among the nations. They begin to speak in the languages ​​of the peoples to whom they were to preach Christianity.
 

On May 29, the presentation of books published by the Mother See Publishing House will take place


The presentation of the book “The Armenian Genocide: The Greatest Crime Committed During the First World War According to Unpublished Documents from the Vatican Secret Archives” by German historian and genocide scholar Michael Hezemann will take place at the “Vache and Tamar Manukyan” Matenadaran. There will also be presentations of “Armenian Migration During the First World War and the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church (1914-1917)” by Avetis Harutyunyan, “Azerbaijan’s Policy of Destruction and Misappropriation of the Cultural Heritage of Artsakh (2020-2025)” by Armine Tigranyan, “The Role of Holy Etchmiadzin in the Armenian Liberation Struggle of the 16th-17th Centuries” by Priest Ararat Poghosyan, “ARTSAKH. "Monasteries, Churches and Manuscripts" book presentations.
 

This year, Araratian Week will begin on June 1


The commemoration of the Virgins of St. Hripsimian will be followed by the commemoration of the Virgins of Gayanian, St. Hovhannes Karapet and Bishop Atanagin, and the commemoration of the departure of Gregory the Illuminator, the founder of the Armenian Catholicosate, from Khor Virap. The week will end on June 7 with the celebration of the Catholicosate of Holy Etchmiadzin.

 

Araratian Week launched with the feast of the Virgins of St. Hripsimie


This week, the Armenian Apostolic Church will celebrate the feasts of the Virgins of Gayany, St. Hovhannes Karapet and Bishop Atanagin, and the commemoration of the departure of Gregory the Illuminator, the founder of the Armenian Catholicosate, from Khor Virap. The week will end on June 7 with the celebration of the Feast of the Holy Erchmiadzin.
 

A festive liturgy will be served at the Holy Cross Church in Aparan on the Feast of Apparition of the Holy Cross


On the Feast of Apparition of the Holy Cross, the relic of Christ’s Cross will be transferred from the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin to the Holy Cross Church in Aparan. For many years, it was kept in the Holy Cross Monastery in Akhtamar, and after 1915 it was transferred to the Mother See. The Feast of the Holy Cross commemorates the miraculous appearance of a cross-shaped light in the sky of Jerusalem in May 351, from Golgotha ​​to the Mount of Olives. It is one of the four feasts glorifying the cross of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The festive liturgy begins at 10 a.m.

 

In Great Britain, Bishop Hovakim Manukyan presented the crimes of 1915


A solemn commemoration of the 111th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide took place at the “Eternal Flame” khachkar, which perpetuates the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide, in the Armenian-populated Ealing district of London. Bishop Hovakim Manukyan, the leader of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of Great Britain and Ireland, presented the crimes that took place in 1915. He considered it necessary to condemn the genocide.
 

The Catholicos of All Armenians, accompanied by the Brotherhood of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, will visit Tsitsernakaberd


A liturgy of intercession for the holy martyrs of the Armenian Genocide will be performed at the Memorial Complex. On this occasion, the relics of the holy martyrs of the Armenian Genocide will be brought to the Memorial Complex. On the day of commemoration of the holy martyrs, April 24, at 11:00 a.m., a Holy and Immortal Liturgy will be served in the Mother Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin, at the end of which a liturgy of intercession for the holy martyrs will be performed in front of the khachkar of Prayer and Vows.

The Mother See Demands the Restoration of Spiritual Service in Penitentiary Institutions


The Mother See urges the government to respect the law and the perceived church order and, without hindering the mission of the Church, to restore the normal course of spiritual service in penitentiary institutions. By an illegal decision of the Head of the Penitentiary Service of the Ministry of Justice, clergymen appointed by the Armenian Church were prohibited from entering places of imprisonment. The Head of the Penitentiary Service has effectively suspended the spiritual service in penitentiary institutions of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church, at the same time, bypassing the Mother See and ignoring legal regulations, he has signed employment contracts with individual clergymen.
 

On March 29, the Armenian Apostolic Church will celebrate Palm Sunday


On Palm Sunday, in the morning, the Andastan service will be held in all churches. The four cardinal directions will be blessed, as well as the willow branches and twigs. The altar curtains will be opened and communion will be given. According to the tradition established by the Patriarchal decree, at the end of the liturgy, a rite of blessing of children will be performed in all churches. Palm Sunday will end the Lenten period and begin Holy Week - the commemoration of the Lord's passion, crucifixion, burial and miraculous resurrection.

The celebration of Palm Sunday marks the end of the forty-day period of Great Lent and the beginning of Holy Week


Holy Monday is the day of remembrance of the parable of the barren fig tree and the gospel stories of the cleansing of the Temple in Jerusalem. Holy Wednesday is the day of remembrance of the anointing and betrayal of the Lord. Holy Thursday is the day of the Washing of the Feet. Before the Crucifixion, Christ knelt before his disciples in the Upper Room and washed their feet as an example of meekness and humility. Good Friday is the day of remembrance of the sufferings, crucifixion, death and burial of Jesus Christ. On Holy Saturday, in the evening, candles and lamps are lit in churches. On Sunday, April 5, in the morning, a Patriarchal Liturgy will be served in the Mother Cathedral of St. Etchmiadzin.
 

On March 1, the Armenian Apostolic Church will commemorate the Gospel story of the Prodigal Son


The parable of the Prodigal Son, presented in the 15th chapter of the Gospel of Luke, is the story of a man who repents for his sins, seeks forgiveness, and returns to his father's arms. The commentators consider the prodigal son a symbol of fallen and sinful humanity. Man commits sins in his life, whether he wills it or not, but blessed is the person who, following the example of the prodigal son, repents of his sins and seeks forgiveness from God.