Armenian Apostolic Holy Church The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin

On August 16, the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church celebrated the Feast of the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God. On this joyful occasion, a Divine Liturgy was celebrated at the St. Trdat Open Air Altar of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. The Celebrant was His Grace Bishop Mushegh Babayan, Director of Operations Department of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.

The Divine Liturgy was attended by Mr. Hambardzum Matevosyan, Governor of Armavir Region; and Ms. Diana Gasparyan, Mayor of Echmiadzin.

His Grace Bishop Mushegh, presenting the meaning of the Day, emphasized, that Virgin Mary obeyed the exhortation of the Lord, and as the time came, She became the Holy Mother of God, gave birth to the Savior of mankind; Our Lord Jesus Christ, and bearing all the difficulties, and She lived with the conciousness of the mission of Her Son to be crucified for our salvation.

“Human life becomes more beautiful and gets its meaning through memories: reminders of good,dignified life and activities. God-gifted life is not only the enjoyment of the goods of Earth, but the ability and will to create those and use exclusively for good. We are all equal before God, but our mission is different: to teach, to preach, to create, to fight, to heal, to lead, which we must not deviate from, being tempted by fame, pride and the love of silver. Let us keep our hearts and prayers pure, let us not try to “ponder” that we have a little chance of advantage when directing our requests to Him. Let us bow our eyes down, directing the eyes of the mind to God. Let us obey our will with the firm conviction to do  the kind, the usefull, the true and become a good one”,_stated in part His Grace Bishop Mushegh, affirming that the powerful Lord, the Creator of all living and non-living things, will give life to the desires of peaceful heart and make all prayers and requests come true.

Father Mushesh also spoke about the significance of the Service of the Blessing of Grapes celebrating in the Armenian Church, stating in part: “We Christians chose grapes as a symbol of the harvest of the year to bless because our Lord Jesus Christ honored the grape vine, announcing: “I am the true vine” (John 15:1). It was the juice of the fruit of that grape vine – the grapes that Jesus blessed as His blood of a “New Covenant”(Matthew 26:28), by which we were redeemed from the sins and the power of death, and got a new life”.

At the conclusion, His Grace Bishop Mushegh, urged everyone to continue to believe with hope, to love the Fatherland and each other asking for the intercession of the Holy Mother of God: “Glorified and always blessed Holy Virgin Mary, Mother of Christ, convey our prayers to Your Son and Our God”.

Following the Divine Liturgy, under the Presidency of His Holiness Karekin II, the Pontiff of All Armenians; a Service of Blessing of the Grapes was offered at the St. Trdat Open Air Altar of the Mother See.