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: info@ArmenianOrthodoxChurch.org
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
Armenian version: nian.htm
HIS HOLINESS ARAM I JOINS IN PRAYERS
IN THE SAINT FORTY MARTYRS CHURCH IN ALEPPO – SYRIA
IN RESPONSE TO INEXPLICABLE HAPPENINGS
Thousands of Armenians welcomed His Holiness Aram I on his unexpected visit
to the Saint Forty Martyrs Church in Aleppo on 2 April 2009.
According to eyewitnesses, both clergy and lay, the saints represented
through paintings in the church have been in motion. This new and strange
phenomenon has been drawing thousands of Armenians, as well as people from
other denominations and religions, to the church from all over Syria. They
are coming to the church to put their supplications before the saints.
The Prelate of Aleppo, Archbishop Shahan thanked His Holiness Aram I,
stating that his presence at this special moment will deepen the faith of
all the pilgrims.
In his message, Catholicos Aram I described the saints of the Church as
stars shining with the light they have received from Jesus — the Light of
the World. Resourced by the Bible, the saints have spread the light of Jesus
through their words, lives and God-pleasing deeds. Saints have always
protected the church and the faithful from evil. They are mediators; they
intercede with Jesus for the forgiveness of the sins of humanity, in the
same way that Jesus reconciled humanity with God. In the Armenian Church,
saints have accompanied the people in their history of martyrdom. Saints are
golden bridges taking humanity to God. Saints are not rituals, feasts and
historical memories only. They are integral to life in the church and are
interwoven with all aspects and manifestations of the church. Armenians name
their churches after their saints; they baptize their children by naming
them after their saints. They praise them through hymns and psalms and
intercede with them through holy pictures. Pictures of saints are visual
means of communicating with them. Armenians do not venerate pictures; they
pray with a deep understanding of the meaning and representation of the
person behind the picture.
After drawing a distinction between the image and its representation, His
Holiness Aram I referred to the relationship between faith and reason in the
church. Sometimes certain things happen in the church that cannot be
explained through reason alone. We can recognize these happenings, and enter
into communion with them only through faith. Christianity is the perfect
harmony between faith and reason".
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Watch the video summary here:
c/Videos/VTS_01_1.mp4
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Photos here:
c/Photos/Photos368.htm
http://www.ArmenianOrthodox Church.org/v04/doc/Photos/Photos369.htm
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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.