Palm Sunday Celebrated in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin
02.04.2023
On March 28, the Armenian Church solemnly celebrated the Feast of Palm Sunday, which commemorates the triumphant entry of our Lord Jesus Christ into Jerusalem. Years ago, with the Blessings of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians; Palm Sunday is declared to be the Blessing of Children Day.
On this occasion, following the Morning Service, His Holiness Karekin II presided over the blessing service of the four corners of the world (Andastan) and the Blessing of the Children in the courtyard of the Mother Cathedral.
On the occasion of the Feast, the Brotherhood of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin participated in the Divine Liturgy in the St. Gayane Monastery. The Celebrant was His Grace Bishop Artak Tigranyan, Dean of the Monasteries of the Mother See.
In His sermon, Bishop Artak reflected on the sacrament of the Sundays of the Great Lent, emphasizing in particular that the period between the Eve of the Great Lent (Boon Barekendan) till Palm Sunday is a wonderful opportunity to introspectively examine our hearts and start the Holy Week more strengthened in faith.
Then, referring to the sacrament of the day, Bishop Artak stated. "During the Palm Sunday, the people of Jerusalem were politically divided into several groups, but the idea of the Messiah brought the individual and universal interests of the people of Jerusalem into one place. The Pharisees and the Sadducees, the tax collectors and the zealots, had put aside political and doctrinal differences and had come to find both their individual and collective salvation”.
At the conclusion, Bishop Artak urged the attending faithful not to be like the people of those days in Jerusalem who spread their clothes and branches before the Lord, but days later they crucified Him, but to take our cross with responsibility and cross the road to Golgotha with self-examination.
Following the Divine Liturgy, a Blessing Service of the Children was offered under the presidency of His Holiness Karekin II.
On the same day, on the occasion of the feast, the Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II received and conveyed his Patriarchal blessings to the scribe children serving in the churches of different Armenian dioceses and the young choir singers.
