Relics of St. John the Baptist Taken to the Holy Shoghakat Monastery

Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin – May 2016

On 26 May, the Armenian Apostolic Church commemorated the sacred feast of St. John the Baptist and St. Atanagine the Bishop, which coincides with the pilgrimage day of the Holy Shoghakat Monastery.

In the morning, an ecclesiastical procession, accompanied by numerous pilgrims, carried the cross-reliquary of St. John the Baptist. The cross-reliquary was carried by His Grace Bishop Gevorg Saroyan, Dean of the spiritual and higher education institutions of Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.

The procession was met in front of the Holy Shoghakat Monastery by the clergy and His Grace Bishop Artak Tigranyan, Dean of the Monasteries of the Mother See.

On the occasion of the feast, a Divine Liturgy was celebrated by Rev. Fr. Khachatur Kniazyan, Abbot of the Monastery of St. Shoghakat.

Father Khachatur delivered a sermon about the significance and mystery of the feast: “God, as the source of mercy and unconditional love, sent His only begotten Son, Who throughout His life, and during His mission of salvation, showed man how to be merciful. Being merciful means seeing God in a person; being merciful means having respect, compassion, and kindness towards humanity”.

At the conclusion of Divine Liturgy, the faithful were blessed with the sacred cross-reliquary of St. John the Baptist.

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