PRESS RELEASE
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Information Services
Address: Vagharshapat, Republic of Armenia
Contact: Rev. Fr. Ktrij Devejian
Tel: +374-10-517163
Fax: +374-10-517301
E-Mail: ktrij@etchmiadzin.am
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April 7, 2007
THE MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS KAREKIN II
SUPREME PATRIARCH AND CATHOLICOS OF ALL ARMENIANS
ON THE FEAST OF THE GLORIOUS RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, 08 April 2007
In the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.
CHRIST IS RISEN FROM THE DEAD!
HE DESTROYED DEATH WITH DEATH;
AND THROUGH HIS RESURRECTION, GRANTED US LIFE.
Our dear pious and faithful people,
We once again celebrate the Holy Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ with great joy. Songs of praise and blessing ascend to heaven today
from within our souls, a prayer of thanksgiving to our Lord, Who through His
triumphal resurrection granted us salvation and life. Today, we Christians
greet one another in delight with the infinitely desired tiding of `Christ
is Risen from the dead’.
The Glorious Resurrection of Christ is an event which occurred and was
witnessed. The oil-bearing women were the first, who on Sunday morning
found the tomb of their crucified Teacher empty, and as they stood in awe,
heard the news from the angel, `He is not here, but is Risen’ (Luke 24:6).
The testimonies of Christ’s Resurrection also are our faith, our churches
dispersed throughout the world filled with faithful praising the
Resurrection, and the witness to the Descent of the Risen Savior – this holy
sanctuary. Also testimony of Christ’s Resurrection is the miracle-working
strength of our people to walk from the `Golgothas’ toward life with that
same faith and hope of salvation.
Dear brothers and sisters, throughout the passing of centuries, much blood
of man has been spilled on our planet. However, not one drop of blood which
has flowed on the earth has affected human history, the human mind or
spiritual inner-world, as much as the Holy and Life-Giving Blood which
poured from Christ. The Son of God gave His life as ransom for the
salvation of the world, and Christ’s sacrifice became the greatest evidence
of Divine love for mankind. Through His sacrifice and resurrection, Christ
granted mankind liberty from the power of evil, from the bondage of sin and
death. Christ gave us freedom, which is beyond any comprehendible human
understanding; freedom which is the grace to walk toward reborn life – life
renewed with justice and peace – and the desired and sought after eternity
of life.
This soul-renewing mystery of Eastertide is dispersed throughout the world
today along with the tolls from the belfries of all Christian churches.
Pontiff, primate and pastor celebrate the Eucharist before the holy altars
of churches, offer prayers to heaven, and convey the tiding of `Christ is
Risen’ to all of Christendom and the message of love and peace to all
humanity. So that God’s creation be cared for and preserved unspoiled, so
that man be appreciated and valued in the same manner as God loved man. We
are called by God and bound by the imperatives of the times, to unify our
efforts for the sake of a free and happy life, for the sake of philanthropic
values which are the blessed gifts from God.
Alas, paths leading away from the light of Christ’s Resurrection fill the
world today with anxiety. In these days as well, Judas’ kisses and
materialism are spreading. In the example of Pilate, many wash their hands,
trampling justice underfoot for their own personal prosperity. Today as
well, men follow the example of denying the peace-bestowing Christ and
selecting the thief Barabbas, with their cheating, violence, assassinations
and in their frenzy for stepping on others for their personal gain. The
Mother of God grieving near the Cross today mourns with all lamenting
mothers who have lost their sons in wars, grieves for those who are
crucifying themselves through their evil acts, and for the many injustices,
pains, poverty and yearnings which fill the world with sorrow.
In this reality of the world, the hardships of our people continue as well.
We remain obligated to struggle for the God-granted right of the Armenians
of Artsakh to live in liberty and security; for the universal condemnation
of the Armenian Genocide; and for the preservation and salvation of Armenian
spiritual and cultural treasures – our holy shrines and monuments – in our
neighboring countries.
The policy of denying the Genocide is the cause for new physical, cultural
and psychological-moral genocides. Unpunished crimes unavoidably bear new
ones. The Genocide of the Armenians was followed by the Holocaust, as well
as Rwanda, Darfur and other genocides. The destruction of the giant Buddha
statues in Afghanistan was followed by the obliteration of thousands of
ancient Khatchkars (Stone-Crosses) in Nakhijevan by Azeri soldiers. Only
days ago, while the wound on the soul of our people from Hrant Dink’s
assassination has not yet closed, the Turkish authorities, having completed
the renovation work on the Church of the Holy Cross on Aghtamar Island,
converted the centuries-old Armenian holy shrine into a museum. From the
time of the Genocide, the church has been standing in silent prayer, yet
today prayer is prohibited in the renovated church. Truly, in this new
century, this approach cannot be the spirit of dialogue between religions
and cultures, nor the aspirations for peaceful coexistence among peoples.
Relying on God, we have great hope in the triumph of justice, freedom and
peace. Our faith is alive, through which we shall create the new victories
of our life, we shall erect new Khatchkars which whisper their prayers, new
sanctuaries of illuminated altars, new monuments shall rise with that
strength of the grace of the resurrection, which is granted to us by our
All-Provident Savior and Lord.
Dear faithful sons and daughters, we once again bring the life-giving tiding
to you: `Christ is Risen from the dead, He destroyed death with death; and
through His Resurrection, granted us life’. He Who was crucified by men has
Risen, the gravestone has been rolled away by divine power, and our hearts
are filled with the joy of God-granted salvation. Through the countless
graces of the Savior’s Resurrection, let our souls be strengthened by labors
established on the foundation of faith, to make prosperous and brilliant the
path of renaissance for our homeland, our people and our Church. Let us
carry out the coming parliamentary elections with this renewed faith, with
diligence, confidence and a sense of responsibility for the future. May our
homeland, the entire world, and nations and people live free of sorrow and
pain, with love, brotherhood and peace toward one another under the
innumerable mercies of the Risen Christ.
On this celebratory day, with fraternal love and the joyful good news of
Christ’s Resurrection, we extend our greetings to the incumbents of the
hierarchal sees of our Holy Apostolic Church: His Holiness Aram I,
Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia; His Beatitude Archbishop Torkom
Manoogian, Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem; His Beatitude Archbishop Mesrob
Mutafian, Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople; and the spiritual leaders of
our Sister Churches. We express our Pontifical love and blessings to all
vigilant servants of our Holy Church and to all our children dispersed
throughout the world.
With a joyful and hopeful spirit, we convey our blessings and greetings to
the President of the Republic of Armenia Robert Kocharian, President of the
Republic of Nagorno Karabagh Arkady Ghukasian, all state officials of the
Armenians, and the leaders and representatives of diplomatic missions
accredited to Armenia.
We extend our greetings in this soul-renewing and festive season of Easter
to the benefactors of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and the Armenian
General Benevolent Union; to the Central Committee and chapter
representatives of the AGBU, led by its President, who have all gathered in
the Motherland from throughout the world to celebrate the 100th Anniversary
of the AGBU.
On this grace-filled day, dear pious faithful, let us offer our unified
prayer to heaven, asking that the gift of the Lord’s salvation be made
greater and greater abundant, assisting men to progress toward the
beneficent Will of God, toward the bright future of mankind, now and always
and forever. Amen.
Christ is Risen from the dead.
Blessed is the Resurrection of Christ.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress