14 Febrary 2016. On Saturday evening, His Holiness Aram I presided over the Service celebrating the eve of the feast of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple. The St Gregory Illuminator Cathedral was filled with many young parents who, following the example of Mary and Joseph, came to the church to present their young children. During the hymn, “Jesus King of Glory”, His Holiness lit a candle in the centre of the Church with the fire from the altar candle; this flame symbolized baby Jesus. Then the priests performed the ritual of the presentation of the children to the altar.

In his message the Catholicos said that under the most difficult moments of Armenian history, the family protected the identity and spiritual values of the Armenian nation, and he called upon the young parents to continue the sacred mission of the Armenian family by working to ensure the continuity of spiritual and moral values through the education of their children.

At the end of the Service, Catholicos Aram I carried the flame and started the traditional bonfire. Then, the clergy, seminarians, the children and their parents gathered around the fire, and, as the seminarians sang, the people lit their candles to take home.