Armenian Apostolic Holy Church The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin

10.10.2021

On October 10, in the St. Gregory the Illuminator Mother Cathedral of Yerevan, with the Blessings of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians; 25 seminarians from the 6th level of the Gevorkian Theological Seminary, were ordained into the Diaconate by His Grace Bishop Moushegh Babayan, Grand Sacristan of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. On October 09, in the Chapel of the Holy Archangels in the Mother See, 16 students from 5th level and 25 students from 6th level of the Gevorkian Theological Seminary, were granted the rank of sub-deacon by His Grace Bishop Ararat Kaltakjian, Member of the Brotherhood of the Mother See. During the Divine Liturgy, at the conclusion of the sacrament of the ordination, His Grace Bishop Moushegh, speaking about the sacrament of the Diaconate, noted, that 25 young deacons, educated at Vaskenian Theolgical Academy and Gevorkian Theological Seminary, willingly sacrificed their lives to the service of the Church to meet the spiritual needs of the faithful. Then, His Grace Bishop Moushegh, addressing the deacons, stated, “The first Deacon, St. Stephan, paid his life to remain faithful to his calling. The Christian Church has had many cases of martyrdom throughout its centuries-old history. The recent sacrifice, that we have in our reality, as a testimony of the greatest sacrifice, is the martyrdom of our two deacons for the protection of the homeland. Their example is more than persuasive. You are called to a powerful mission; and as the life course of your two late brothers showed, indeed, the Diaconate is a sacrifice, even to be ready to give your life for the homeland and the faith…”. In the conclusion, the Grand Sacristan of the Mother See urged the faithful to pray constantly for the life of the ordained deacons, so that their God-given Graces would not diminish, and may their sacred mission and sacrifice would be acceptable to the Lord.