Feast Day of St. Gayane and her Companions

Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin

On June 1 the Holy Armenian Apostolic Church celebrated the feast day of St. Gayane and her Companions.

In the morning under the singing of hymns, an ecclesiastical procession made a pilgrimage to the Monastery of St. Gayane from the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. On the festive occasion of the feast, the reliquary of the Right Hand of the Holy Virgin Gayane was taken from the museum of the Mother See and carried to the monastery by His Grace Bishop Sahak Mashalian, Dean of the Gevorkian Theological Seminary.

The Holy Right Hand of St. Gayane was placed in the bema on a pedestal decorated with flowers, for the faithful to touch and receive the blessings of the Holy virgin.

Divine Liturgy was celebrated in the Monastery of St. Gayane by Rev. Fr. Makar Hakobian, the abbot of the Monastery of St. Gayane. Rev. Fr. Makar reflected on the mystery of the feast in his remarks to the faithful.

At the conclusion of Divine Liturgy, His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians blessed the faithful and the four corners of the world (the service of Andastan) with the Holy Right Hand of St. Gayane. Following the services, pupils from the Etchmiadzin Youth center put on a small performance in honor of the occasion.

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