Author Anush Arakelyan

On September 29, the 2016 Teacher of the Year awards ceremony was held in the auditorium of Gevorkian Theological Seminary in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians; presided over the event, which was attended by Levon Mkrtchyan, the Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia. The competition was held on the following subjects: History of Armenia, History of the Armenian Church, Armenian Language and Literature, physics, chemistry, and biology.

To implement education reforms, Gevorkian Theological Seminary established ties with a number of foreign spiritual-academic institutions. Within the scope of student exchange program, Predrag Myanovic from Chernogoria St. Peter Cetinski Seminary, Michael Sabounjian and Alex Chalikian from St. Nerses Seminary of the USA are hosted in Armenia now 

Holy Mother of God Church of Tatev Monastic Complex is under renovation. The first stage of construction works is implemented in order to reopen the Northern entrance and restore the spring in its initial place. The construction works are performed within the scope of “Tatev Revival” program of IDeA Foundation.  

 

On October 11, St. Hovhannes Church of Norashen village, Aragatsotn Diocese, was re-consecrated. The ceremony was offered by the Primate of Aragatsotn Diocese Bishop Mkrtich Proshyan. 

This year, the festival Literary Arc 2016 took its start from Komitas Museum-Institute. The literary festivity which is implemented for the 8th time is going to bring together the representatives of literature arriving to Armenia from various countries of the world for ten straight days.  

Every year, in October the Harvest and Crafts Festival is celebrated in Perch Proshyan House-Museum of Ashtarak. 

 

The welcoming ceremony in Eurnekian Public School operating under the Mother See of Holy Echmiadzin started off with the Lord’s Prayer. The headmaster of the School Bishop Vardan Navasardyan congratulated the students, teachers and parents on the Day of Knowledge and passed the blessing of the Armenian Patriarch. 

It’s been seventh year since the miracle-working Gospel of Armenian village Sangibaran in Iran is taken out of Mashtots Matenadaran (Manuscript Library) and lead to Etchmiadzin St. Shogakat Church to offer a Divine Liturgy. The Gospel of Sangibaran was kept in St. Hovhannes Church of the village for 400 years and therefore it was called the Gospel of Hovhannes. 

 

To beseech the intercession of the Mother of God and to partake in the festive Divine Liturgy, every year hundreds of believers overcome the heights of Holy Mother of God Church in Nork Marash. There are many Syrian Armenian families in the Church which fled from Syria. They recollect the details of the Feast of Assumption and traditions of grapes blessing ceremonies in a once-Armenian populated Kessab.

 

On 21 August, in the Mother Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin a special Pontifical Prayer Service was offered on the occasion of the birthday of Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch.