Author Sona Khachatryan

The day of the Appearance of the Holy Cross is also the day of the consecration and pilgrimage of the Holy Cross Church of Aparan. Every year, on this day, the cross relic of the Lord is brought to the church and a festive liturgy is offered. Believers from Aparan and surrounding settlements visit the Holy Cross to get strength from the relic and renew their vows. The liturgy was served by Fr. Hovhannes Torgomyan.

The concert was dedicated to the memory of choreographer Paylak Sargsyan, with whom the ensemble's close cooperation began in 1997. Paylak Sargsyan's performances were presented at the concert. The ensemble always wins dance festivals held in Armenia and abroad and traditionally presents the premiere of new plays in the Diaspora.

After the forced deportation from Artsakh, the people of Artsakh settled in Armenia often turn to the priest in the post-Easter period to perform the Easter blessing in their homes and announce the good news of the Lord's resurrection. Usually they turn to Father Andreas Tavadyan with that question.

On the occasion of the day of remembrance of the holy martyrs of the Armenian Genocide, the Brotherhood of the Mother See, led by the Catholicos of All Armenians, participated in the Liturgy ceremony in the St. Gayane Monastery. On that occasion, the reliquary of the Armenian Genocide martyrs was brought out. At the end of the liturgy, the procession of the clergy moved to the khachkar-monument of the martyrs of the Armenian Genocide erected near the Mother Cathedral, where an intercessory order was performed in memory of the canonized martyrs under the solemn guidance of the Patriarch of All Armenians.

On the initiative of ARF Armenian youth and Nikol Aghbalyan student unions, on the evening of April 23, the participants of the procession with torches from Republic Square went to Tsitsernakaberd memorial complex. Under the leadership of the clergy, the participants of the march passed through the central streets of Yerevan and carried the Armenian flag to the memorial complex of the victims of the Armenian Genocide.

At midnight on April 23, Mozart's Requiem was performed in the Aram Khachatryan concert hall, commemorating the memory of 1.5 million Armenians who were victims of the genocide in Ottoman Turkey 109 years ago. The orchestra was led by guest conductor George Pehlivanyan. Requiem is a requiem service performed in the Catholic Church, which, having lost its ritual significance in the 18th century, is also performed in concert halls. According to musicologists, Mozart's Requiem is one of the most famous and most frequently played works in the world.

"Altitude 5165" charity organization is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year, and it has been cooperating with Bouches du Rhône since 2003. The dental clinic provides free therapeutic and surgical services to all the disabled, orphaned children of Etchmiadzin, socially disadvantaged families, forcibly displaced from Artsakh and all Artsakh Armenian families living in Etchmiadzin.

In the Saint Gayane Monastery, the Annunciation service was performed by Proto-Archimandrite Zakaria Baghumyan. Every year on April 7, the Holy Armenian Apostolic Church celebrates the Feast of the Annunciation of the Holy Virgin Mary. Under the direction of Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, the day was declared a day of blessing for mothers and women awaiting the joy of motherhood.

Faitbful participated in the Palm Sunday liturgy with wreaths woven from willow twigs. This feast symbolizes the triumphal entry of the Lord into Jerusalem, about which the evangelists testified. By the decision of the Patriarch of All Armenians, Palm Sunday was also declared a day of blessing for children. At the conclusion of the festive liturgy, the children were blessed. The Bible Society also gave gifts to around 200 Artsakh Armenian children.

On the International Day of People with Down Syndrome, the "Solar Bells" group performed parts of the liturgy by Nerses the Graceful, Mashtots, Komitas and in the Holy Mother of God Church in Yerevan. Under the patronage of the Patriarch of All Armenians, "Sun-Children" NGO is the only one that takes care of the health, educational and social problems of children with Down syndrome. About 200 beneficiaries are registered in the center.