Feast of the Ascension in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin
30.05.2019
On May 30, the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church celebrated the Feast of the Ascension of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This day also commemorates the return of the Catholicosate of All Armenians from Sis to the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin in 1441.
Under the presidency of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians; the feast is also designated as the Pilgrimage Day of Holy Etchmiadzin.
Led by the Catholicos of All Armenians, the Brotherhood of the Mother See attended the Divine Liturgy at the St. Gayane Monastery, which was also attended by the Primates of the Armenian Dioceses and numerous pilgrims. The Celebrant was Very Rev. Fr. Shahe Ananyan, Director of the Ecumenical Relations Department of the Mother See.
Father Shahe offered his sermon on the sanctity of the day and stated in part: “The Feast of the Ascension and the Evangelic Ascension Episode is a very important message to us, to remain faithful to the promise of the Almighty God, that ten days after the Ascension, during the Feast of Pentecost would be shed upon us as the grace of the Holy Spirit. The promise of God the Father was the establishment of the Church of Christ on earth. …And the apostles were moving on the footsteps of Christ, but they were not moving in despair and sorrow, they were moving because they already had the apostolic consciousness faithful to Christ's Promise. For them, life was no longer a desert, where there is only indifference and despair, for them, life was not a paradise or a free garden. Life was waiting for them to put the seeds of love, hope and faith into the soil and wait for the fertile communities to be established. It is after Christ's Ascension that we all became one body, one soul and one thought, one through baptism and one through the Lord”. Father Shahe stressed that through the Savior's Ascension, the Lord granted the faithful various graces.
The Celebrant also reminded the pilgrims that today is the historical commemoration of the return of the Catholicosate of All Armenians from Sis to the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.
“The Fathers who returned the Catholicosate of All Armenians from Sis to the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, realized that a new footprint has appeared in Armenia through the Illuminator's vision, so there should be the place of the Catholicosate of All Armenians. In our prayers, we consider that the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin is the feeder and educator for all Armenian churches. Etchmiadzin is not only a building, it is not only a stone-built church. Etchmiadzin is Christ's footprint in Armenia. Etchmiadzin is our sacredness which has been the creative mind, beating heart and an expression of the collective will of the Armenian people:, stated Fr. Shahe, and added that these two important events, both the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ and the return of the Catholicosate of All Armenians from Sis to the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, give us good news according to the word of the Lord, "Do not be afraid, for I am with you until the end of the world."
At the conclusion, Father Shahe urged the faithful to pray and once again, renew the faithfulness towards the promise of the Almighty God. At the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, under the presidency of His Holiness Karekin II, a Special Prayer Service was offered for the vibrancy of the Mother See.
