HOLY RELICS TO BE USED DURING THE CANONIZATION SERVICE OF THE MARTYRS OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
15:24 * 23.04.15
By Pontifical Order of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and
Catholicos of All Armenians; the following 14 Holy Relics, out of the
numerous Holy relics of the Armenian Church, will be used during the
Service of Canonization of the Martyrs of the Armenian Genocide:
1. Holy Lance ‘Geghard’
The Holy Lance is the tip of the metal spear which was used by the
Roman soldier to pierce the side of our Lord Jesus Christ while he
hung on the cross. According to historical tradition, the Apostle St.
Thaddeus, one of the 12 disciples of Christ, brought this sacred relic
of the Lord to the Armenian world in the first century. For centuries
the Holy Christian relic has been kept at different monasteries in
Western (historical) Armenia, and in Ayrivank since the 13th century,
which later was renamed Geghardavanq (the Monastery of Holy Geghard)
after the Holy Lance. In the second half of the 18th century the Holy
Lance was brought to the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and is still
kept in the spiritual center of All Armenians. The Holy Lance is also
one of the three Holy Relics used to bless and consecrate the Holy
Chrism (Muron) of the Armenian Church.
2. The Right Hand of St. Gregory the Illuminator
The Right Hand of St. Gregory the Illuminator is the symbol of the
highest spiritual authority of the Armenian Church, the Supreme
Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians. The newer silver gilded
reliquary was made in 1657, on which is depicted the twelve sufferings
of the Illuminator. The Right Hand is also one of the three Holy
Relics used to bless and consecrate the Holy Chrism (Muron) of the
Armenian Church.
3. Relic of the True Cross
The Reliquary of the True Cross, made in 1651, contains a small piece
of the life-giving wooden cross of our Lord Jesus. The Cross relic
is one of the three Holy Relics used to bless and consecrate the Holy
Chrism (Muron) of the Armenian Church.
4. Reliquary of Skevra
One of the priceless gems of Armenian ecclesiastical art is the
reliquary of Skevra which was made in Cilician Armenia in 1293,
and is kept in the State Hermitage in St. Petersburg. The reliquary
contains the relics of 18 saints: the Apostles St. Paul, St. Peter, St.
Thaddeus and St. Bartholomew; St. Gregory the Illuminator, Patriarch
James of Nisibis, Saint John Chrysostom, St. Catherine, and others. In
2000, during a Pontifical visit of the Catholicos of All Armenians
to the Armenian Diocese of New Nakhichevan and Russia, the Hermitage
returned the relics of the 18 saints to the Armenian Church, and they
were placed in a duplicate reliquary that had been specially made.
5. The Right Hand of St. Stephen the Proto-Deacon and First Martyr
of the Church
The silver Right Hand reliquary, from the XVII-XVIII centuries,
contains the relic of St. Stephen the Proto-Deacon, the first
Christian martyr.
6. The Right Hand of the Virgin St. Hripsime
The silver gilded Right Hand reliquary contains the relic of the
virgin St. Hripsime. The relic dates back to the XVII-XVIII centuries.
7. The Right Hand of the Apostle Ananias
The Seventeenth century silver gilded Right Hand reliquary contains the
relics of the Apostle Anania, one of the 72 disciples of Jesus Christ.
8. The Right Hand of Catholicos St. Sahak I Parthev
The XVII-XVIII centuries Right Hand reliquary contains the relic of
the 10th Catholicos of All Armenians, St. Sahak I Parthev (387-428).
The Right Hand of Catholicos Sahak Parthev was brought to the
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin from Western Armenia, Anapat Armenian
Ãonastery, Lim Island, Lake Van , Turkey.
9. The Right Hand of St. Sarkis the Warrior
The Right Hand reliquary was commissioned in 2008 by His Holiness
Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians. The
silversmith is Mamikon Mkhitaryan. The reliquary contains the relics of
St. Sarkis the Warrior, which were discovered during excavations of the
St. Sarkis Monastery in Ushi, in the Aragatsotn Province of Armenia.
10. The Right Hand of St. Gevork the Warrior
The reliquary contains the relics of St. Gevork the Warrior. The
Right Hand reliquary was made in Kolkata, India in 1928, and is
silver gilded.
11. Cross-reliquary of St. Thaddeus and St. Virgin Sandukht
The eighteenth century made cross-reliquary contains the relics of
the Apostle St. Thaddeus, one of the Armenian first illuminators,
and the relic of the first Armenian Martyr St. Sandukht the Princess.
12. Cross-reliquary of St. John the Baptist
The cross-reliquary, created in Cilician Armenia in the fourteenth
century, contains the relics of St. John the Baptist.
13. St. Gregory of Narek and other Saints
Made in the nineteenth century, the octagon star-shaped reliquary
contains the relics of St. Gregory of Narek and the relics of other
Pan-Christian Saints. The relic was presented to the Catholicos of
All Armenian in 2012 and given to the Armenian Church.
14. Gospel of Zeytun
The Gospel of Zeytun was written in Hromkla in 1256 by Toros Roslin,
the most prominent Armenian manuscript illuminator in the High Middle
Ages. It is one of numerous treasures kept in the The Mesrop Mashtots
Institute of Ancient Manuscripts (Matenaderan). The manuscript was
commisioned and received by the 69th Catholicos of All Armenians,
Constantine I of Bartzrapert (1221-1267). The Holy Gospel was donated
to the Matenadaran by the Catholicos of All Armenians Vazgen I.