Feast of Saint Gayane and Her Companions celebrated in the Armenian Church

On June 9, the Holy Armenian Apostolic Church commemorated the sacred feast dedicated to the memory of St. Gayane and her companion nuns. Under the singing of church hymns, an ecclesiastical procession, led by His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, walked to the Monastery of Saint Gayane. The procession of clergy and lay took with them the relic of the Holy Right Hand of Saint Gayane. The reliquary is housed in the Mother Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin.

Divine Liturgy was celebrated on the occasion of the feast in the Monastery of Saint Gayane, which was built on the location where the nun and her companions were martyred. The celebrant of the Divine Liturgy was Revered Father Vartan Navasardian, Director of the Christian Education Department of the Armenian Church and a member of the Brotherhood of Holy Etchmiadzin. During the Divine Liturgy Father Vartan spoke on the concept of sainthood within the life of Christians.

He stated in part, “Today, on the commemoration day of Saint Gayane and her companions, we stand before their sacred relics in this holy monastery and renew our vows, offering our prayers to God to remain faithful to the sacred mission of our lives. Therefore, let us seek out God’s wisdom and gifts so that He always leads us on His truthful paths. We must strive to live our lives worthy of sainthood, as Saint Gayane, her companions, and our ancestors lived. Their lives had meaning. The Church is always steadfast and unshaken, it is always alive and breathes with its present and past. Our saints continue to live, my dear faithful, because the nuns Hrispsime and Gayane were people like you – honest and noble women who sacrificed their lives”.

At the conclusion of Divine Liturgy, the Armenian Pontiff blessed the faithful with the sacred relic. The faithful also had the opportunity to kiss and be blessed by the Holy Right Hand before it was returned to the museum.

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