The Diocese of Kotayk organizes a Christmas celebration for children every year


The social department of the Kotayk diocese implements various programs. Through their daily work, the clergy personally know people in need, including families displaced from Artsakh and resettled in various communities of Kotayk in recent years. Various support programs are implemented for them.

The Armenian Apostolic Church celebrates the naming and baptism of Jesus Christ


On the Feast of Naming of Our Lord Jesus Christ, a Divine Liturgy is celebrated in all Armenian churches, and the day before, at the end of the evening service, a pre-Christmas ceremony is held. On this feast, the second chapter of the Gospel of Luke is read in all Armenian churches. Just as the day of the birth of the Son of God, January 6, is unchanging, so is the day of His naming and baptism.

Christmas Candlelight Liturgy celebrated at the Mother Cathedral


The liturgy of the Nativity of Christ was celebrated in the Mother Cathedral under the presiding authority of His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians. The pre-Christmas service was celebrated with the singing of Christmas hymns and the reading of the Gospel prophecies announcing the birth of the Son of God. Lighting lanterns and candles, the faithful took the blessed good news to their homes and passed on the joyful news of Christmas to each other.

The gala concert marking the 30th anniversary of the Youth Center was held at the Sundukyan National Academic Theater


The students of the Armenian Youth Houses of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and the Armenian General Benevolent Union presented all branches of performing arts at the National Academic Theater: song, dance, classical and national instruments, theater and circus. About 500 young people of different ages from eight Armenian Youth Houses operating in the communities of Armenia performed a common concert program. It was planned to be organized a year ago, in September. The anniversary concert was postponed due to the forced displacement in Artsakh.

The Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II received the priests of the training course


The December gathering of the priests’ training program has concluded at the Mother See. On that occasion, His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, received the priests from the dioceses of Armenia and the Diaspora participating in the course. For almost two years, dozens of priests have been undergoing a three-week period of prayer, reflection, and knowledge renewal at Holy Etchmiadzin.

The ceremony of opening the doors and consecration of the nave was held at the Holy Savior Cathedral of Gyumri, which was consecrated 36 years ago


A solemn procession of high-ranking clergy and religious fathers, led by the Primate of the Shirak Diocese, Archbishop Mikayel Ajapahyan, went from Vardanants Square in Gyumri to the Holy Savior Cathedral. The clergy, singing psalms and praying, led the faithful to the newly built cathedral. The Primate of the Diocese anointed the nave of the cathedral with holy myron, and the bishops anointed the columns and the baptismal font.

The Catholicos of All Armenians receives clergymen ordained as priests


His Holiness blessed the priests with a protective prayer, wishing them a fruitful spiritual mission. The newly ordained priests' fast will end before Christmas, after which, with the blessing of the Catholicos of All Armenians, they will celebrate their first liturgies and be called to serve in the dioceses and structures of the Mother See, replenishing the ranks of clergy serving in the church.

 

The students of Mkhitar Sebastasi Research School went on a pilgrimage to Jordan


Travel training with the author's program of the educational complex is a mandatory component of the curriculum in the Sebastsia educational complex. This program includes climbing, training and military sports camps, and educational exchanges. In that context, the head of the research school Martha Asatryan and deacon Hovhannes Martirosyan initiated an educational pilgrimage to Jordan.
 

A copied manuscript of Amirdovlat Amasiatsi’s “Benefits of Medicine” donated to Matenadaran


Through the efforts of Yerevan State Medical University named after Mkhitar Heratsi, an 18th-century copied manuscript of the 15th-century Armenian physician Amirdovlat Amasiatsi’s “Benefits of Medicine” was acquired and donated to Matenadaran. The manuscript was acquired through an auction from a private collection. They were also keen for the manuscript to find a place in Matenadaran and become a study material for medical scholars.
 

The Armenian Apostolic Church celebrated the 25th anniversary of the consecration and enthronement of the Catholicos of All Armenians


In the Mother Cathedral, the Primate of the Diocese of Argentina and Chile, His Grace Bishop Aren Shahenyan offered a Divine Liturgy of the covenant. On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the consecration and enthronement of the Patriarch of All Armenians, a Republican Prayer was fulfilled after the liturgy. The sacred ceremony was presided over by the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople His Eminence Archbishop Sahak Mashalyan.

 

5 graduates of Gevorgyan Theological Seminary defended their master's degrees


Five graduates of the Chair of Historical Theology defended their master's degrees in the Auditorium of the Gevorgyan Theological Seminary. The examining committee was chaired by Archbishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan, director of the Office for Developing Social Teaching of the Mother See. The material of the deacons' scientific study was the important and turning points of the Armenian Church in the 16th-19th centuries.

At the school of St. Mesrop Mashtots Church in Oshakan, the "Kantegh" award ceremony took place.


This year's awardees are Henrik Bakhchinyan for translation of French literature, Sergey Mkrtchyan for works from French and English, and Anushavan Mesropyan for translations from Ukrainian to Armenian and from Armenian to Ukrainian. The annual "Kantegh" translation award ceremony jointly held by the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and the Armenian Orthodox Church is held every year, on the day of the Holy Translator's Day, at the school of St. Mesrop Mashtots Church in Oshakan.