Late Archbishop Ardavazt Terterian’s body is laid to rest

On Saturday 20 July 2013, His Holiness Aram I performed the final burial rites for the late Archbishop by anointing and blessing him with the relic of St. Gregory the Illuminator.

 

The funeral service began with the Holy Liturgy at the St. Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral in Antelias, celebrated by Bishop Norayr Ashekian. A large number of community leaders and believers had come to pay their last tribute to the greatly respected eldest member of the brotherhood.

 

Before laying the body to rest at the Zarehian Mausoleum for clergy, Catholicos Aram I delivered the last eulogy. He spoke of the late Archbishop’s seventy years of commitment and loyalty to the centuries-old See of Cilicia and talked about his courage during the most difficult period in the history of the Catholicosate. The Catholicos described Archbishop Ardavazt as “not only a deeply spiritual person committed to serving the Church, but also a fine theologian, an accomplished intellectual and an expert on the Armenian language.”

 

The people then went to the Main Hall of the Catholicosate to present their condolences to His Holiness Aram I and the members of the Brotherhood.