Armenian Apostolic Holy Church The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin

On December 01, in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, under the presidency of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians; an event was held dedicated to the 150 th anniversary of Archimandrite Komitas (Vardapet).

Present at the ceremony were the Brotherhood members of the Mother See; Primates; Mr. Arayik Harutyunyan, Minister of the Education, Science, Culture and Sport of RA; Mr. Hakob Arshakyan, Minister of High-Tech Industry of RA; state officials; representatives of the diplomatic mission in RA; cultural figures and other guests.

The event was opened with the Lord's Prayer, following which the “The Hymn of Holy Etchmiadzin” was sung, then, Rev. Fr. Asoghik Karapetyan; Director of the Museums and Archives of the Mother See, conveyed his opening remarks.

In the event, under the presidency of the Ministers of High-Tech Industry and Education, Science, Culture and Sport of RA; His Grace Bishop Anushavan Jamkochyan, the Dean of the Theological Faculty of Yerevan State University, Dean of St. Gregory the Illuminator Mother Cathedral in Yerevan; Mr. Hayk Avagyan, Executive Director of “Haypost” CJSC; Mr. Hovik Musayelyan, President of the Armenian Union of Philatelists, Cancelation ceremony of an ornamented postage stamp was held dedicated to the topic entitled “Great Armenians; the 150 th anniversary of Komitas”.

Then, His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians; conveyed his Pontifical Massage and Blessings to the attendees on the occasion of the ceremony.

“Dear faithful,

With grateful hearts, we are welcoming to the concert participants dedicated to the occasion of the 150 th anniversary of Archimandrite Komitas. The anniversary of our great musician has been celebrated through various events this year, and today, once again we have gathered to honor the great son of our people, to be inspired by his works, which attract and excite with true Armenian melody and high art.

With endless love and zeal towards our people and native heritage, Archimandrite Komitas dedicated himself to the mission of collecting and developing our spiritual and folk music, the realization of which became revelation not only in the Armenian reality but also in the world’s culture. Yet in his study years at the Gevorkian Theological Seminary of Holy Etchmiadzin, Archimandrite Komias emphasized the importance of the preservation and development of the Armenian spiritual and national music, and being ordained as a celibate priest was given the priestly name Komitas in honor of the  Catholicos Komitas Aghtsetsi of VII century, hymn writer and poet. Archimandrite Komitas, nourished with native traditions under the auspices of our Church, indeed, became the treasurer of the musical values of our people. He brought out and presented the ancient origins of the Armenian song, returned the pure and unique smell and colour of the Armenain music art, as well as, the classic beauty and high value, back to our people. His great musical abilities and talent, that he had displayed in his childhood, the best education that he got in Europe, were not enough to perform such great and thorough job, instead, a devoted heart was needed to feel the soul of the native people and have the great and bright vision of its progress. 

It was with this consciousness and devotion that Komitas Vardapet created, taught, founded choirs, and preached the Armenian music from the various stages of different countries with his beautifully and expertly performances, conduction and high-level composition.

With deep reverence and admiration towards the  spiritual music the blessed Master with his God-granted talent also created songs and melodies, performed new melody for Divine Liturgy, which miraculously admires the souls of faithful, leads them to revere the God, to be strengthened in Christ and in the hope of His salvation.
With his work, which is  infused with the sacred faith and spirit of our ancestors, as well the scent and color of the  homeland, Komitas Vardapet, as an exquisite musician with his high art, also caused caring attitude towards the Armenian singing and our entire culture.
Preservation and development of our national heritage, aspiration and demand of progress must always be as a focal point  of our collective national thinking and guide our education and our generations, in order to build our homeland and national life with a strong national consciousness”,- noted the Armenian Pontiff.

His Holiness also expressed his appreciation to the initiators of the  Stamp Cancelation ceremony dedicated to the  150th anniversary of Komitas Vardapet, praying that Lord keeps our Homeland and its people and bless everyone's efforts for the strengthening of our native land, prospering  culture, and making our national awakening a reality.

At the celebration the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra (Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra Mr. Sergey Smbatyan) and the State National Academic Choir of Armenia (Artistic Director and Principal Conductor, RA national hero Mr. Hovhannes Chekijyan) gave a concert performance.

For the first time, during the jubilee event organized at the Mother See,  the "Memory" play for string orchestra and "Night of the Forest" play for the symphony orchestra were  drawn attention to the audience.