PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: cathcil@cathcil.org
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Mid-Lent ceremony at Sourp Neshan
Mother church in Beirut, Lebanon

Antelias, Lebanon – On the occasion of mid-Lent (Michink), His Holiness
Aram I, invited by the primate of the Armenian Diocese of Lebanon Bishop
Kegham Khacherian, presided over a Sunrise ceremony (Arevakal) in Sourp
Neshan Mother church in Beirut, Lebanon, 17 March 2004, with the presence of
Seminary students, who performed Armenian Church hymns.

Mid-Lent coincides with the 20th day of Lent, a 40-day period of penitence
and fasting observed from Ash Wednesday to Easter by many churches.

Present for the Sunrise service were members of the Cilician Brotherhood,
prelates of the Canadian, Eastern, and Western Prelacies, and also
representatives of their Lay Councils, and faithful.

Following the church service and the welcoming remarks of the Primate of
Lebanon, His Holiness delivered a speech. His Holiness said: “The Light of
our Christian faith must be reflected in the life of every Armenian
faithful”, taking his theme from one of the hymns of the Sunrise service
which praises Christ, the source of Light with the words “Let your rational
Light dawn within us”. His Holiness went on to say, that “this rational
Light must shine forth within the Armenian Church, within the Armenian
family and within our Armenian fatherland”.

Following the church service, the Board of Trustees and the Ladies’
Auxiliary hosted a traditional luncheon in honor of His Holiness Aram I.

##

View printable pictures here:

***********
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the history and
the mission of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician Catholicosate, the
administrative center of the church is located in Antelias, Lebanon.