In a message to clergy and lay leaders of the Eastern Diocese, Bishop Mesrop Parsamyan calls on the faithful to unite in prayer on Sunday’s Feast of Holy Etchmiadzin.
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A Message from Bishop Mesrop Parsamyan, Primate
My blessings and warm wishes to our Diocesan leadership.
This coming Sunday, June 22, will mark a uniquely beloved feast day in the yearly liturgical life of the worldwide Armenian Church: The Feast of Holy Etchmiadzin. The name of our Mother See means “the Place Where the Only Begotten Came Down,” and it is a reminder to us that the Son of God touched the soil of our homeland in the mystical vision of St. Gregory the Illuminator, who in turn built the Altar of Light upon the spot Christ indicated.
In the seventeen centuries since that time, Holy Etchmiadzin has stood as the center of our faith and the cornerstone of our national identity, governing herself in accordance with Apostolic tradition, and guided by the divine authority entrusted to her by Jesus Christ, and passed down through generations of Catholicoi and saints.
As many of you know, recent days have been a time of trial for our Mother See. Our homeland finds itself in an extraordinary and troubling situation, in which officers of the state have threatened to interfere with the independence of Holy Etchmiadzin, and have disparaged the Catholicos of All Armenians, His Holiness Karekin II.
In a statement on behalf of our Diocese last week, we unequivocally affirmed our support for the spiritual leadership of our Catholicos, and for the sovereignty of the Armenian Church. Above all, we have urged a spirit of peace and unity in all the affairs of the Armenian Church and nation.
This Sunday, our local churches across the Eastern Diocese—indeed, every Armenian Church in the world—will joyfully offer the special ceremony called the “Prayer for the Catholicos and the Feast of Holy Etchmiadzin.” It is an occasion for all our faithful to join together in prayerfully expressing solidarity with our Mother See and Catholicos, and expressing our hope for tranquility in Armenia’s public life.
My friends, the past weeks have been a time of urgency in the surrounding world, too, with the threat of war returning to the Middle East, mounting fears of an escalating conflict and loss of life, and public disorder erupting here at home.
Our prayers for a renewed spirit of peace and calm in all these matters are more important than ever before, and I ask our parishes and faithful to join their voices to our beneficent God this coming Sunday. May our Lord hear our prayers, and help us to realize the noble and uplifting words of the Pontifical Hymn of the Armenian Church, Orhnerk Hayrabedagan:
Hear the voice that pours from every Armenian’s heart, O God:
Give long life to our Patriarch, long days to the Father of Armenians.
Lord, keep unshaken the Mother See, which you yourself have established.
Prayerfully,
Bishop Mesrop Parsamyan
Primate
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June 24, 2025 at 3:15 pm
Mother See Marks the Feast of Holy Etchmiadzin - The Armenian Church