Ordination of Priests in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin
29.04.2002
On Sunday, April 28, the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin celebrated the Feast of the Apparition of the Holy Cross. During the celebration of Divine Liturgy, five deacons of the Armenian Church were anointed and ordained into the Holy Order of the Priesthood by His Grace Bishop Navasard Ktchoyan, Vicar General of the Araratian Pontifical Diocese. His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, presided during the Liturgy.
As per the Ritual Book (Mashtots) of the Armenian Church, during the recitation of psalms, the candidates for priesthood ascended to the Holy Altar of the Cathedral while kneeling. Turning to the faithful in attendance, they raised their hands as a sign of their resignation from secular life. The ordaining bishop anointed the candidates? foreheads, and palms of both hands with Holy Chrism (Muron), and gave them new names. Thus, Deacon Hovhanness Antonian was renamed Fr. Zgon; Deacon Tigran Yeghiazarian became Fr. Rouben; Deacon Nelson Babayan became Fr. Moushegh; Deacon Hrant Kostanian became Fr. Zohrap; and Deacon Edgar Soghomonian became Fr. Gnel. Following the anointing, His Grace passed the chalice (which is used to prepare and distribute Holy Communion) to the newly ordained priests, transferring to them the power and right to celebrate the Divine Liturgy and distribute the Body and the Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ to the people.
Later that same day, during the Evening Service, the service of "the Blessing of the Cowl" was performed. The cowl is a black monastic hood bestowed on celibate priests, which symbolizes the renunciation of the world and its pleasures. Three of the newly ordained priests - Fr. Moushegh, Fr. Zohrap, and Fr. Gnel, took their oath of celibacy and received the monastic hood. As such, by the end of the day, three new celibate priests and two new married priests joined the religious order of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.
Following the traditional 40-day seclusion period of fasting, meditation and prayer, the new priests will celebrate their inaugural Divine Liturgies.
