New York’s St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral will hold a special service on Sunday, September 17, to honor the major feast day known as Khatchveratz, or the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
The Divine Liturgy will begin at 10 a.m. in the cathedral sanctuary. It will be followed by the characteristic ceremony of the occasion: a Medz Antasdan (“Blessing of the World”) service, which will take place on the cathedral’s outdoor plaza.
Diocesan primate Fr. Mesrop Parsamyan will preside at the badarak and lead the blessing service, which invokes God’s blessings over the “four corners” of the earth.
As part of the observance of the Feast of the Exaltation, worshippers will have an opportunity to encounter a rarely-seen treasure of St. Vartan Cathedral: an actual relic of the True Cross of Jesus Christ, contained in a magnificent cross-shaped reliquary. The relic will be led in procession through the cathedral and onto the plaza, where worshippers will have a chance to approach and venerate it.
This year’s Khatchveratz services will start at 10 a.m. A fellowship hour will follow, to which all are welcome. St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral is located at 630 Second Avenue (at 34th Street), in New York City.
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