Commencement on the Occasion of the Feast of the Apostles St. Thaddeus and St. Bartholomew
01.12.2018
On December 1, with the blessings of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians; an event dedicated to the Apostles St. Thaddeus and St. Bartholomew was held in the Events Auditorium of Gevorkian Theological Seminary.
The event was attended by the Brotherhood of the Mother See, Gevorkian Theological Seminary professors, students and other guests.
The event was opened with the Lord’s Prayer, following which the hymns of the Republic of Armenia and the Gevorkian Theological Seminary were sounded. Then, Rev. Fr. Karekin Hambardzumyan, Dean of the Gevorkian Theological Seminary, welcomed the attendees, presenting his reflections on the feast and the Apostolic preaching in Armenia.
“The two apostles who shed the light of Christ in the world, preferred to make their lives a source of inspiration for the future generations. As one well-known author states: “You're either an apostle or just a field of mission. You are either a soldier of the Cross or those soldiers standing near the Cross. You are either the one seeking God or the one that God seeks”. The great contribution of our first apostles in the apostleship gave countless devotees: Patriarchs, bishops, Archimandrites, deacons and laymen, for whom to stand and admire before the mystery of the Cross or talking about the mystery was incomplete or perhaps not useful. According to this, the most important mission of their life was the search for the Cross and relying on that mystery they found God. Some of them found Holy Etchmiadzin on their way seeking to God and bowed before their destiny”, he added that this day of commemoration of the Apostles is symbolic for the Seminary students, as in the journey of salvation that has not yet been realized, they see sometimes individuals representing various layers of weak and social life who by God’s one word change from simple individuals into heroes changing the course of human history. In this case, the diploma and other certifications are just conditionality”, stated Fr. Karekin.
At the conclusion, Fr. Karekin congratulated everyone on the occasion of the feast and wished to be a soldier of the cross and always seek for God.
Then, the documentary film ‘The Holy Lance: the weapon of Life” was displayed (director Mr. Hrant Movsisyan, screenwriter Mr. Levon Galstyan).
Ph.D. Hovik Grigoryan, lecturer of the Gevorkian Theological Seminary, delivered a speech on the preaching of the Apostles St. Thaddeus and St. Bartholomew in Armenia. During the event, the ‘Etchmiadzin’ choir of the Gevorkian Seminary performed spiritual and patriotic songs dedicated to the mystery of the feast. The event was concluded with the ‘Protector’ prayer.
