Blessing of the Grapes in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin
18.08.2003
The Feast of the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God was celebrated in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin with great pageantry on Sunday August 17, 2003. Divine Liturgy was celebrated in the Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin by His Grace Bishop Paren Avetikian, dedicated to the 1,700th Anniversary of the Consecration of the First Church of the Armenian People. The Universal Cathedral, the design of which St. Gregory the Illuminator saw in a vision illustrated by the Only Begotten Son of God, was consecrated exactly 1,700 years ago on the Feast of the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God. As a result, the Cathedral was dedicated to St. Mary.
Many churches dedicated to St. Mary the Mother of God are pilgrimage destinations on this Feast Day, and faithful begin arriving the prior night and in the early morning hours to offer their prayers, light candles, sing hymns and prepare to participate in the worship during the Divine Liturgy on Sunday morning.
His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians presided during the solemn Liturgy, as thousands of faithful pilgrims from throughout Armenia and the Diaspora prayed and worshipped together, offering their thanks and praise to God for this blessed day. In his sermon, His Grace Bishop Paren noted the significant events throughout history which forever tied the Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin and the Catholicosate of All Armenians with the Armenian Nation and all of her people throughout the world. His Grace noted the establishment of the Mother See by the hands of St. Gregory and King Trdat in 301, the consecration of the Mother Cathedral in 303, the return of the Pontificate of All Armenians to Etchmiadzin in 1441, and the 1700th Anniversary of the Great Conversion of the Armenians which was celebrated in a free and independent Armenia for the first time in centuries in 2001.
Following the Divine Liturgy, the Pontifical procession headed by His Holiness, led the faithful to the Open Altar of Sts. Trdat and Ashkhen on the grounds of the Mother See, to offer the Service of the Blessing of the Grapes. His Holiness Karekin II, assisted by the bishops and members of the Brotherhood of Holy Etchmiadzin, offered prayers up to Heaven for the fruit of the vine, asking God to bless the harvest and protect the farmers, vineyards and all lands where Armenians live and work. At the conclusion of the Blessing of the Grapes service, the blessed grapes were distributed to the faithful.
