New York’s St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral will hold a special service on Sunday, September 15, 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 celebrated by Cathedral Vicar Fr. Davit Karamyan. A fellowship hour will follow, to which all are welcome.
On the evening of September 15, at 6 p.m., the characteristic ceremony of the occasion, a Medz Antasdan (“Blessing of the World”) service, will take place on the cathedral plaza. Diocesan Primate Bishop Mesrop Parsamyan will 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 outdoor plaza, where worshippers will have a chance to approach and venerate it.
St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral is located at 630 Second Avenue (at 34th Street), in New York City.