On Sunday, August 16th, 2020, His Holiness Catholicos Aram I presided over a solemn Divine Liturgy, which was celebrated by Bishop Magar Ashkarian, on the occasion of the Feast of the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God, at St. Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral in Antelias.
At the end of the Liturgy, His Holiness Aram I conducted the blessing of the grapes ceremony.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the unstable security situation in Lebanon, the celebrations of the feast was limited to Sunday Divine Liturgy, while the traditional ceremonies, such as the sermons dedicated to the pilgrimage week in St. Mary Monastery in Bikfaya, the pilgrimage from Antelias to Bikfaya, preparation of the sacrifice (madagh) and Saturday Evening Divine Liturgy in front of open-air altar at St. Mary Monastery, did not take place.
Note that this year, His Holiness Aram I wished that all donations on the occasion of the feast transfer to charitable institutions.
