Repose of Souls Service in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin
On April 24, at 4:00 p.m., His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, presided over the Requiem Service for the repose of souls of the martyrs of the Armenian Genocide in 1915. The service was offered at the Memorial of the Armenian Genocide of 1915, the monument of Khatchkars (Stone-crosses) of Prayer and Oath on the grounds of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.
At the conclusion of the service the tiding of “Christ is Risen from the dead” was given, announcing the unsinkable power of Christ’s triumphant resurrection, testified by the history of our nation.
Present for the service were Members of the Brotherhood of the Mother See and many faithful.
The Monument of Khatchkars (Stone-crosses) is the first memorial dedicated to the memory of the Armenian martyrs in Armenia. It was built in 1965, thru the initiative of His Holiness Vasken I of blessed memory, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The memorial is also a symbolic tomb for the victims of the Armenian Genocide. In November of 1965, the remains of the martyrs from Der-Zor were brought to rest under the Cross stone Monument of Prayer and Oath.
On the morning of April 24, before the celebration of the Pontifical Divine Liturgy of the Glorious Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Pontiff of All Armenians visited the National Memorial to the Armenian Genocide, located on Tsitsernakaberd Hill in Yerevan, to pay tribute to the memory of one and one half million of victims of the Armenian Genocide.
