Armenian Apostolic Holy Church The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin

My Beloved Armenian People,

This morning we share the good news of the Holy Resurrection. “The earth, O Lord, is full of thy mercy.” (Psalms 119:64). Our souls are abounding with the faith, hope and optimism of the victory of Resurrection and Life, which is revealed with the message of God’s Living Word, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life.” (John 14:6).

With the mystery of the miraculous Resurrection of Christ, we live with the consolation that God has not abandoned His creation to be alone with sin and on the path of perdition. Rather, He has revealed Himself continually to mankind, through the patriarchs and the prophets, and in the fullness of time He became incarnate and dwelt amongst men.

Christ came with the mission of sowing the love of another world in the souls of men; a world of peace and brotherhood, a world saved through reconciliation with God. He came with the task of the destruction of sin and death, through the shedding of His immaculate blood on the cross. “Having loved his own…He loved them unto the end”, says the apostle, (John 13:1). With the endless love of the Savior, the path to the Crucifixion of Golgotha was marked, and the Light of the Resurrection was ignited, as the true evidence of the victory of love and the good, as expiation and forgiveness, as reconciliation.

Today we, whom Christ loved forever as well, are standing in front of the empty tomb, from whose entrance the stone has been rolled aside.  Beyond the tomb, there is a road liberated of the shadow of death, and Christ Resurrected reminds us, “Where I am going you know, and you also know the way... I am the Way and the Truth and the Life.” (John 14:4-6).

Dear brothers and sisters,

With the saving mission of the Only Begotten Son of God, we have the grace to know the truth, to discover the meaning and the purpose of life, to find the road to happiness. Truth and life must spring forth from our hearts.  They must emanate from the hearts of those who love Christ, who believe in His Word and in the Holy Gospel, who have trust in His Resurrection and in His divine presence amongst us, who have faith in eternal life and in the life affirming power of Christian moral values.  Our each and every word and action either validates the truth or offers it up for sale, either soothes and consoles our neighbor or stabs his heart, either builds or destroys, either gives birth to light or falls to darkness.  Let us not be sellers of the truth, as those bribed soldiers who gave false testimony, declaring that the body of Jesus had been removed by the disciples. Let us instead, with an incorruptible spirit, a righteous heart and unadulterated faith in the Resurrection, be in communion at the Holy Altars of our Church with the life giving body and blood of the Only Begotten Son of God.  He who has known the truth, does not desire darkness.  He who has walked on the paths of veracity, does not wander in obscurity. Our path is the One, Holy, Apostolic, Armenian Church, who preaches Christ Resurrected, instilling in us the belief, and sustaining in us the path to the Resurrection.

My Dear Armenian Faithful,

Resurrection has dawned anew in Armenia, in Artsakh and in the Diaspora, with the anticipation of an inspiring new life, filled with virtue, secure, prosperous and happy. When there is a new dawn of the Resurrection in Armenian reality, let us not be afraid to defend justice and law in our Motherland, and to secure truth and righteousness.  Let us turn to the unconcealed Light of the Resurrection, let us open our heart before the Resurrected Christ who forgives, renews and saves us. When it is the new daybreak of the Resurrection, how can we overlook deception in silence?  How can we allow our lives to become the marketplace for false values, fake ideas and lawless transactions, through indifference and carelessness?  The renaissance of Christian morality today is a national issue, and the subject of concern for each one of us, since without love, without honesty, without righteousness and without law and order, all accomplishments and successes will be temporary.  Without these, we will have an economy void of free and harmonious development, science far removed from its vocation of service to the progress of life, and the arts merely imitating and soulless.  We cannot create anything lasting, which contributes to happiness, without the Savior.  Christ is the way, “the fountain of life and the dispenser of grace.”  Our Lord says, “…he who believes in me will also do the works that I do,” (John 14:12). Identifying the good as noble, the evil as wicked; these are the acts which differentiate good from evil, acts which are inspired by the vision of courage, acts which are filled with the breath of the Resurrection, acts that are triumphant, miraculously born, and which make the impossible possible.

Armenia will be born anew through the journey of the Resurrection - the path identified by the Savior, cleared of the obstacles through His blood, and blossoming with His love.  It will be mighty in truth, full of vitality and happiness, the land of Paradise. To our Armenians dispersed throughout the world, it will not only be the historical Motherland, but it will be the residence of their fathers, assembling us near the Ark-bearing Ararat, under the shelter of the Only Begotten built Holy Etchmiadzin.

With faith in the Resurrection, let us proclaim throughout the world the invitation of the new covenant of “Armenia-Diaspora” unity.  With vibrancy, delight and trusting in the Lord, let us engage in the building of independent Armenian statehood - the shaping of our new life.  Let us set aglow new lights in the Holy Temple of our national unity, let us trust in our power through Christ, let us love our unanimity, and keep our Holy Apostolic Church whole and bright.  Our Church, where the Almighty dwells with His blessings, where His true power radiates from the Resurrection which has filled with awakening the meadows of Armenian life.  The Resurrection transmits a new lifeblood to Free Artsakh and the Armenian Diaspora, who are living with creativity and believing in the victory of life.  Let us live with Christ and our life will always be a dawn that greets the Resurrection.

From the Mother See of All Armenians, where the Only Begotten Descended, We offer wondrous tidings of “Christ is Risen”, bringing Our warm filial greetings to the gracious incumbents of the Hierarchical Sees of Our Apostolic Church, His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, His Beatitude Archbishop Torkom Manoogian, the Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem, and His Beatitude Archbishop Mesrob Mutafian, the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople.

With the good tidings of the Resurrection We bring Our Pontifical blessings to the entire ranks of our dedicated and oath-keeping clergy, and all our faithful in Armenia, in Artsakh and in the Diaspora.

With the Hymn of the Resurrection upon Our lips, We greet the high-ranking officials of the Armenian government, led by the President of the Republic of Armenia, Robert Kocharian, and the leaders and representatives of the diplomatic missions working in Armenia.

We convey Our loving and filial greetings in Christ to the Spiritual Heads of the Sister Churches and We ask for the abundant graces of the Risen Savior to be bestowed on the faithful flock of Christ throughout the world.  Christ is Risen.  Mankind and the universe have been resurrected and renewed through Christ.  There is no death, “For He established all things that they might have life, and the labor of the world is for salvation” (Wisdom 1:14).

With the Resurrection of Christ, the road to life has been opened, and the choice is ours to make; for we are at the new dawn of the third millennium and the newly independent Armenian State.  “Where I am going you know, and you also know the way...”

Christ is Risen from the dead,
Great tidings to you and to us.

KAREKIN II

CATHOLICOS OF ALL ARMENIANS