On June 22, our church celebrated the feast of the founding of the Cathoghike of Holy Etchmiadzin. The flow of people to the Mother See began early in the morning. Groups of pilgrims were arriving from different dioceses, as well as from the Diaspora. “The Armenian people love Etchmiadzin; if you scratch its skin, Etchmiadzin will come out. Where does this respect, this love that reaches worship, come from? From the fact that Holy Etchmiadzin has been not only a place of inspiration, but also a center of faith, an educational institution, a spiritual center, a spiritual and intellectual center for generations and even a place of salvation for souls.” The testimony to these famous words of Isahakyan is the unceasing flow of believers to the Mother Cathedral today. At the end of the festive liturgy, a ceremony of blessing Holy Etchmiadzin was held under the presiding authority of His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians. The believers and the clergy raised a prayer to God for the steadfastness and radiance of the Mother See. The Armenian Patriarch conveyed his fatherly blessing and message to all Armenians.
