His Holiness Karekin II Performs the Service of the Washing of the Feet
28.03.2002
On Holy Thursday, March 28, at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, the major services of Holy Week began. Divine Liturgy was celebrated in the Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin in commemoration of the Last Supper of our Lord Jesus Christ, wherein He established the sacrament of Holy Communion. His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians presided during the Liturgy, and the Very Rev. Fr. Artak Tigranian was the celebrant.
Later in the afternoon, His Holiness Karekin II, in commemoration of Jesus washing the feet of His Disciples, led the Service of the Washing of the Feet.
Following the readings from the Holy Scriptures and the Gospels, His Holiness blessed the water and the oil. The Catholicos then knelt down before the Holy Altar and washed and anointed the feet of 12 students from the Kevorkian Theological Seminary.
During the moving service, each one of the students approached His Holiness and sat across from him. His Holiness first washed and dried, then made the sign of the cross using the blessed oil on each student?s right foot. Each seminarian in turn, took the right hand of His Holiness and kissed it, receiving a final blessing. The service was concluded with the Gospel reading, which taught once again of Christ?s display of true humility and love in this act.
After the service, blessed oil was distributed to the faithful in attendance. According to the tradition, the faithful may use the blessed oil in case of family illnesses, or mix it with the oil kept in their homes.
