PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
Armenian version: nian.htm
THE FEAST OF SAINT GREGORY THE ILLUMINATOR
A PILGRIMAGE FOR THE HOLY SEE OF CILICIA
On Sunday 29 March, the Church celebrated the Feast of the entrance of St.
Gregory into the pit (Khorvirab) on the Plain of Ararat. On this day the
Catholicosate of Cilicia and all Dioceses also remember when the Holy See of
Cilicia was uprooted from its historical home and settled in Antelias
(Lebanon).
His Holiness Aram I presided over the liturgy. The Shenorhali Choir of the
Catholicosate sung the liturgy and the special hymns of the day. In his
sermon, the celebrant, Archbishop Varoujan Hergelian, Catholicosal Vicar,
spoke of the life, vocation and mission of the great saint and reflected on
their meaning for the life of post-genocide generations. At the end of the
liturgy, His Holiness Aram I led the archbishops, bishops holding the relic
of Saint Gregory and those of other saints, priests, seminarians, and the
people in a procession outside the church. At the end of the procession they
all returned to the Church for the blessing of the water. The pilgrimage
ended with His Holiness’ prayers for the healing of the world, and a special
prayer of intercession, where the Catholicos prayed to Saint Gregory, asking
for God’s blessing on the nation and its people in Armenia and the Diaspora.
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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.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
