HOLY LANCE TRANSFERRED FROM HOLY ECHMIADZIN TO GEGHARD FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 200 YEARS

PanARMENIAN.Net
June 2, 2011 – 18:39 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Today, Armenian Apostolic Church is celebrating
the Ascension Day to be marked 50 days after the Holy Easter. For the
first time in 200 years, the Holy Lance that pierced Jesus’ side as
he hung on the cross was transferred from Holy Echmiadzin’s treasury
to Geghard Monastery.

Upon completion of liturgy at Geghard, the lance was set in the church,
with a free entrance to all faithful allowed. After the evening liturgy
the Lance was returned to Echmiadzin. Further, a sacrificial offering
was held in Geghard Monastery.

The Holy Lance (also known as the Spear of Destiny, Holy Spear, Lance
of Longinus, Spear of Longinus or Spear of Christ) is the name given
to the lance that pierced Jesus’s side as he hung on the cross in
John’s account of the Crucifixion.

Geghard, Armenian for a Holy Lance is now conserved in Echmiadzin,
the religious capital of Armenia. The first source that mentions
it is a text Holy Relics of Our Lord Jesus Christ, in a thirteenth
century Armenian manuscript. According to this text, the spear which
pierced Jesus was to have been brought to Armenia by the apostle
Thaddeus. The manuscript does not specify precisely where it is kept,
but the Holy Lance gives a description that exactly matches the lance,
the monastery gate, since the thirteenth century precisely, the name
of Geghardavank (Monastery of the Holy Lance).