Catholicos of All Armenians Offered Washing of the Feet Service in Mother Cathedral
24.03.2016
On Holy Thursday, His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, presided during the Washing of the Feet service in the Mother Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin. His Holiness washed the feet of 12 men. The service commemorates Christ washing the feet of the 12 Apostles following the Last Supper, prior to his arrest and suffering.
The service began with a prayer. Members of the Brotherhood of Holy Etchmiadzin read scripture passages and the speech “About Love” by Archimandrite Hovhannes Pluz.
His Holiness then blessed the water and oil on the altar, after which, under the singing of hymns, His Holiness following the example of the Lord, kneeled down before twelve men and washed their feet and anointed them with oil.
Among the 12 were members of the Brotherhood of Holy Etchmiadzin, His Grace Bishop Mushegh Babayan and Rev. Fr. Zakaria Baghumyan; Gevorkian Theological Seminary Graduate Deacon Harutyun Keshishian; soldiers Samvel Minasyan and Hrach Chobanyan; students of the Yerevan State University Theological Faculty Vahagn Grigoryan and Hovhannes Muradian; and children from the Mother See’s Eurnekian Public School, David Sargsyan, Bayandur Harutyunyan, Ruben Tadevosyan, Melik Kondyan and Melik Melikyan.
Following the conclusion of the service, the blessed oil was distributed to the faithful.
