Ordination of Priests in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin
02.02.2016
On February 2, the Feast of St. Ghevond the Priest, under the presidency of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenia, the sacrament of ordination and consecration of priests was offered in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin during the celebration of Divine Liturgy.
The celebrant was His Grace Bishop Mkrtich Proshyan, Primate of the Diocese of Aragatsotn; who anointed and ordained twelve deacons into the Holy Order of Priesthood.
His Grace consecrated the foreheads, then the right and left hands of the new priests with Holy Chrism (Muron) and gave them new names:
Deacon Rafael Petrosyan was renamed Fr. Vazgen; Deacon Gagik Hovhannisyan was renamed Fr. Geghard; Deacon Srkis Galamdaryan was renamed Fr. Makar; Deacon Rafik Khachatryan was renamed Fr. Aris; Deacon Davit Saribekyan was renamed Fr. Sevak; Deacon Gevorg Gyozalyan was renamed Fr. Hrachya; Deacon Norvan Isakhanyan was renamed Fr. Vagharsh; Deacon Sevak Dermenjyan was renamed Fr. Grigoris; Deacon Mesrop Ashuryan was renamed Fr. Zareh; Deacon Hrant Aghasyan was renamed Fr. Sedrak; Deacon Poghos Balayan was renamed Fr. Ghukas; Deacon Arthur Mikaelyan was renamed Fr. Artsrun.
At the end of the ordination ceremony, the newly ordained priests conveyed their first blessings to the attendees.
Bishop Mkrtich addressed his sermon to the feast and ordination, stating in part: “Today, in this sacred Cathedral, the mystery of the day is more important when with the creative wisdom of our Patriarch, the Feast of St. Ghevond the Priest is combined with the sacred mystery of the priestly ordination to which the whole clergy of Armenia and Artsakh are prayerful. Every individual, nation, or society has a desire and resolution to live in this world. Catholicos Karekin Hovsepyants describes it as follows: “The foremost idea is a luminous goal, to which the individual, society or nation is willing to seek”. It is said that we should not be afraid of death, but what happens to a man after death. And it is also said that death, which is perhaps the greatest evil of human life, stops being such because of the assurance of faith, as it is not only the beginning but also not the end. We, that meet death once in our life and leave it half-way, in fact, we win over death. It means that we exist and there is no death, because there is Him, Who is forever with us, according to His true words: “Here I am with you”. He is the beginning and the end. This is the belief which they said: “Even if we were immortal and would have to die for the sake of Christ’s love, it would be worthy”.
…We are hopefull that the souls of our current day Ghevonds are not vacant of heavenly virtue, therefore they are fearless; they are not outraged by every word, are not dismayed from everything, for as their spirit is greater than their body, so is their vision of mind, greater than their body. We believe that they will be guided by the great spirit of Holy Priests of Ghevond and that they will constantly be educated with their divine wisdom”.
Then, the celebrant conveyed his message to the newly ordained priests: “Dear newly ordained priests, spiritual brothers, since 451 the world has not changed much till today, because the prince of the world has not changed. It just became more experienced and unreadable, and this means that we send you into the world as lambs among wolves.
Today, some principles of life are contrary to the truth of our Holy Church, which have invisibly invaded our lives over time. In today's materialistic world, for those whose souls are weakened by heavenly goodness, the truth is what they like. This is especially clearly seen in the matters of Church and faith. For their material resources, such people are obtaining means exclusively by criticizing our Church and its servants. Defamation has become a profitable art for many people, but, this is not as unfortunate as those who see themselves as true Christians believe to that obvious forgery without any doubt. Therefore, the world has remained the same, just the faces and events have changed, the means and methods”.
Bishop Mkrtich urged the clergy to go on without mixing courage and cowardice. He also stressed that the Armenian faith covenant is not with man but with God, which is impossible to separate.
Bishop Mkrtich congratulated His Holiness and the clergy on the occasion, and expressed his wish that they continue to live with the consciousness of St. Ghevond’s martyrdom.
During the Kiss of Peace, the members of the Brotherhood of Holy Etchmiadzin ascended the Holy Altar and congratulated the new priests of the Armenian Church.
Later that same day, the Granting of the Cowl (veghar) service will be offered. Fr. Gheghard and Fr. Vazgen will be vested with their cowls and become members of the Brotherhood of Holy Etchmiadzin.
Following their ordination, the new priests will follow the traditional 40-day seclusion period of fasting after which they will offer their first Divine Liturgy, after which they will be appointed to serve in different Dioceses of the Armenian Holy Apostolic Church and in different departments of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.
