THE ARMENIAN CHURCH OBSERVES THE FEAST OF SAINT MARY

 

“WE WILL COLLECTIVELY FIGHT FOR THE PRESERVATION OF SPIRITUAL AND MORAL VALUES”

 

SAYS HIS HOLINESS ARAM I

Commemoration of the feast of St. Mary's Assumption into heaven, Saturday 16 August 2008, Bikfaya    Bishop Kegham Khatcherian, Primate of the Diocese of Lebanon

Commemoration of the feast of St. Mary's Assumption into heaven, Saturday 16 August 2008, Bikfaya   Commemoration of the feast of St. Mary's Assumption into heaven, Saturday 16 August 2008, Bikfaya   Commemoration of the feast of St. Mary's Assumption into heaven, Saturday 16 August 2008, Bikfaya

Commemoration of the feast of St. Mary's Assumption into heaven, Saturday 16 August 2008, Bikfaya    Commemoration of the feast of St. Mary's Assumption into heaven, Saturday 16 August 2008, Bikfaya

Commemoration of the feast of St. Mary's Assumption into heaven, Saturday 16 August 2008, Bikfaya   His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of Cilicia delivering his pontifical message   Commemoration of the feast of St. Mary's Assumption into heaven, Saturday 16 August 2008, Bikfaya

08/16/2008 

 

The Catholicosate of Cilicia ceremoniously observed the Feast of Saint Mary on August 16 during the Holy Mass officiated by His Holiness Aram I on a special altar built for this purpose outside the St. Asdvadzadzine Monastery in Bikfaya.

 

Armenian believers take unique spiritual relish in this traditional feast held annually in the Monastery in Bikfaya, which they visit in large numbers on this occasion.

 

The Primate of the Diocese of Lebanon, Bishop Kegham Khatcherian performed the Holy Mass. The believers sung the hymns led by the Seminary choir.

 

According to the traditions of the Armenian Church, His Holiness Aram I performed the blessing of grapes, which symbolizes the presentation to God of the earth’s harvest and the prayers of its people. After the service, His Holiness delivered his sermon to the believers, among which the number of youth was noticeable. Also attending the service were several young Armenians who were participating in the Catholicosate’s youth conference from various corners around the world.

 

The message was delivered by His Holiness Aram I. The main theme of the message was the crucial importance of spiritual and moral values. In his introductory remarks His Holiness pointed out the meaning and importance of moral and spiritual values that must govern our individual and community life. He said: “These values give substance and identity to our life. These values ensure the quality of our life. They come to us from the Bible and our church fathers. As Christians, we must respond positively to these values with the profound sense of faithfulness and responsibility”.

 

After these general remarks, with a more specific approach, His Holiness first focused his attention on family by stressing the unique role of family in Christian life. “Family is the backbone of a society and the heart of Christian community. It is in the family that a child is grown up and formed with Christian values and teachings. In a world in which the family is exposed to the kind of trends which this integrate the family life and jeopardize its Christian values, we must pay a particular attention to family life, safe guarding its integrity and morality”.

 

The second point of emphasis of His Holiness was the actual state of Christian education on Armenian schools. Catholicos Aram I “reminded the crucial importance of Christian education. For us, Christians, there is only one education: Christian education. Our approaches, methodologies and perspectives may be change in the course of time and in different contexts, but the essence of Christian education based on Biblical teaching and values must remain the same. Our schools must integrate Christian education, beyond being a learning process as a formation process, in there curriculum and activities”. His Holiness also reminded the faithful that a few weeks ago a conference was held with his initiative specifically on reorganizing Christian education in the Armenian schools.

 

His Holiness gave a special attention in his message to the youth. He said that a pan-Diaspora Armenian Youth conference is taking place at the Catholicosate. He expressed his joy about the active and serious participation of young people from different parts of the world. His Holiness said “This is the time that we start listening what the youth are saying. We must engage in dialogue with them. A meaningful interaction with the youth is crucial for the progress and wellbeing of our church and communities. Youth should not remain on the periphery of our life. They must become active participants in all aspects of our church and community life. This is the message that I gave to youth”.

 

The Pontiff raised his prayers to St. Mary for her mediation with her God-given Son to grant peace, love, unity, harmony and progress to the Armenian nation.

 

Until late in the evening, believers stayed in the Monastery, renewing and strengthening their faith on this occasion. They returned home with the modest spirits of pilgrims and the kind feeling of benevolence. A number of pilgrims had attended the Vespers Service the night before and spent the night in the Monastery in preparation for the next day.

 

Holy Mass was also held in the Saint Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral on Sunday marking the Feast of St. Mary. Archbishop Gomidas Ohanian officiated the Mass and performed the blessing of the grapes.

 

The following day, Monday August 18, was Remembrance Day for the dead. Holy Mass was also held on this occasion in the Asdvadzadzine Chapel in Bikfayya, where the nation’s dead were remembered alongside the benefactors of the Chapel Mr. and Mrs. Yervant and Alice Demirdjian. Prayers were recited and incense was burnt in their memory.

 

At noon, the Cilician Brotherhood members, the members of the women’s committee of Antelias and Seminary student joined His Holiness in the Seminary’s lunch hall over the now traditional table of love.

 

 

“WE ARE INTER-CONNECTED, WE NEED EACH OTHER”

HIS HOLINESS ARAM I

 

       The following excerpts are taken from Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network, Quarterly Newsletter, Jan.-March 2008, pp. 14-15.

 

 

Getting to Antelias, the Seat of His Holiness Catholicos Aram I of the Armenian Orthodox Church Catholicosate of Cilicia was like getting to a fortress, there is a wall around it and only when one gets through the gates into the complex does one marvel at the architecture of the buildings in the compound. The most striking was the museum to commemorate the genocide in Armenia.

 

The group was immediately ushered into the headquarters, Catholicos Aram I started the meeting by welcoming the group to Lebanon and to his church and urged them to carry the flag of Justice, Peace and Reconciliation wherever they went.

 

The Executive Secretary briefed Catholicos Aram I on EDAN since the 9th WCC Assembly in Porto Alegre while the Coordinators briefed him on what has been happening in the Middle East and the relocation of the WCC ME Desk. They also shared with him material on EDAN.

 

Catholicos Aram I informed the delegation that EDAN is close to his heart from the time when he was the WCC Moderator which spanned 14 years up to 2006. He reiterated that he considers persons with disabilities as integral and inseparable part of the church.

 

He delved into the use of the term “Differently Abled” instead of the current use of “persons with disabilities” since he said, it signifies the fact that all of us have different gifts and physical disability could be compensated by a different gift and therefore, non is disabled. All of us have gifts and these gifts have responsibilities to them. However the group informed him that thay would rather feel comfortable with an internationally recognized term of persons with disabilities unlike Differently Abled Persons which was only used in churches.

 

Catholicos Aram I also talked against “categories” that have been introduced by the WCC because this goes against the oneness of the church and the diversity of God’s creation. Inclusiveness should be existential relationship in the society. Persons with disabilities have a role to play in the society and not as a special category but as part of the church, they shouldn’t remain in the periphery of the church life as this is the core of Biblical theology. Persons with disabilities remind us always of our vulnerability which is important in the divine sense since in our greatness and successes, we forget about our vulnerableness and that is what God reminds us through our interactions with persons with disabilities.

 

The Coordinators informed Catholicos Aram I of the plans to have the WCC ME office move back to Geneva and their desire to keep the office as a coordinating office for EDAN in the Middle East. They also informed him of their desire to have closer working relations with MECC.

 

The Catholicos on behalf of the Armenian Church promised EDAN their partnership and prayers and concluded that in a Pan Christian Movement meeting that will be discussing issues of Christian unity. EDAN should be invited to participate. The Coordinators promised to follow on that.

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