Christmas Eve Services in Holy Etchmiadzin
On the evening of January 5, the Eve of the Holy Nativity and Theophany of Jesus Christ, a candlelight Divine Liturgy was celebrated in the Cathedral of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, presided as His Eminence Archbishop Datev Sarkissian celebrated the liturgy and delivered the sermon.
With the joyous singing of "Christ is Born and Revealed!", the Armenian Church proclaimed the great tiding of Jesus' birth to her faithful in Armenia and the Diaspora. Hundreds of faithful, representatives of sister Churches and members of the Brotherhood of Holy Etchmiadzin gathered in the Cathedral to hear the traditional reading from the prophet Daniel, the readings from the Holy Scriptures concerning the birth of Christ and to participate in the liturgy.
Following the candlelight Divine Liturgy, His Holiness offered a Home Blessing service in the Pontifical Residence, and prayed for our Lord to keep and protect the Armenian Church, her hierarchal centers, her dioceses, clergy and faithful under the protection of His Holy Cross in 2005 and always.
