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Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Information Services
Address: Vagharshapat, Republic of Armenia
Contact: Rev. Fr. Ktrij Devejian
Tel: +374-10-517163
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September 28, 2008
THE MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS KAREKIN II
SUPREME PATRIARCH AND CATHOLICOS OF ALL ARMENIANS
ON THE OCCASION OF THE BLESSING OF THE HOLY MURON
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, 28 September 2008
In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
"YOU SHALL PREPARE OIL FOR HOLY ANNOINTING…
IT IS SACRED, AND THEREFORE SHOULD REMAIN SACRED FOR YOU."
(EXODUS 30:25-32)
Dear pious Armenian pilgrims,
>From the heights of heaven, holiness descends once more today and disperses
blessing, grace and exuberance over our homeland, within our souls, and
throughout the whole of Armenian life. In the Mother See of Holy
Etchmiadzin, with the prayerful participation of the sons and daughters of
our nation dispersed throughout the world, we bless the Holy Muron (Chrism)
according to the words granted from our Lord. Glory, unending praise and
thanks to our all-provident God.
It is through the beneficent Will of God, that on this festive day of the
Holy Cross of Varag, we have gathered together with joyful souls to bless
the Holy Muron. We are together in our holiest site where Christ Himself
descended, which was drawn with heavenly lights as the center of witness of
faith and the altar of oath for our people and for all time. For continuous
centuries, guided by the spirit of pilgrimage, our Armenian nation,
reinforced and renewed with faith, sees their illuminated path to eternity –
their path to salvation and God. "So that this illuminates us with faith
and we grow in the house of God; so that this renews us with the graces of
the Holy Spirit and fills us, makes us fruitful and bountiful with the
same." (Catholicos of All Armenians Simeon of Yerevan). The God-granted and
soul-sustaining mission of Holy Etchmiadzin, from the time of Saint Gregory
our Illuminator, is dispersed and distributed through the Holy Muron to our
churches, our hearths and Armenian life around the globe.
On this grace-renewing day of the Blessing of the Holy Muron, we mixed the
most noble, aromatic and healing liquids with the fruit of the olive tree –
the symbol of peace with our Creator. To this virtuous mixture, we combined
the previous Muron, through which, we transmit the oil blessed by our Lord
from generation to generation; and also mixed the newly made Muron of the
Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia. We blessed it with our sacred
and cherished relics – with the saving Cross of our Lord, the Holy Lance,
and the Holy Right Hand of our Illuminator Pontiff. With the warmest
prayers of our souls, we appealed for the intercession of our holy
forefathers, so that the newly blessed Muron, through the permeation of the
Holy Spirit, becomes "the seal of heavenly cleanliness". We prayed that the
seven virtues of heaven be distributed within our lives, and as God has
directed, the Muron be and always remain sacred for all of us. Today, this
Muron receives miraculous power with the heavenly graces of the Holy
Spirit. Today, this substance, through prayer and entreaty, becomes
conscious and alive, "I sanctify you, oil of the olive tree, in the name of
Almighty God… so that all influences and powers of satan be persecuted by
you, so that you become strengthened with blessing, to seal the Holy Spirit
on all those whom you anoint, in the name of the Almighty Father and the Son
– our Lord Jesus Christ." (Canon of the Blessing of the Muron).
Through the benevolent Will of God, the Holy Muron is holy and sanctifies.
With the luminous and sweet aromatic Muron, we consecrate our churches;
transforming them into the house of God. Through their ordination with
Muron, clergymen are called to service at the holy altar of our Lord.
Through the grace-bearing and grace-dispersing Muron, we are born from the
baptismal font as the worthy people of God – as the Holy Armenian Apostolic
Church. Through the seal of the Holy Muron, we recognize, live, feel and
protect our Armenian and Christian identity and our national wholeness.
Sealed with Holy Muron, we have triumphed over all wars of life and death;
over all campaigns for survival and endurance, for the sake of our faith and
our homeland. Through the power and light of the Muron, we unite our past,
present and the future of our children.
The Blessing of the Holy Muron, dear Armenian sons and daughters, is a call
and invitation to our nation, to remain under the graces of holiness, to
renounce evil and its works, and to keep the light of our Lord’s gospel
undimmed in our lives. The Blessing of the Muron is an exhortation to live
with Christ, to walk with Christ, since you were baptized in Christ and took
on the garment of Christ with the Holy Muron. (ref. Gal 3:27) Only with our
Lord and the love He bestows, shall goodness and justice reign in our
lives. Only thus shall the sacred faith our fathers remain unshaken and
immaculate in our hearts, and our paths shall become successful and full of
hope.
Today we, as Pontiff of All Armenians, are encouraged and optimistic, filled
with the hopes of the future, since in our native land of Armenia and
Artsakh, in our revitalized Church, in our independent state, but especially
in the healthy inner-life of our people, we feel and see the awakening and
maturing will and imperative to be cleansed, to be purified, and to create a
righteous society and just state. We see the will and the demand to heal
our national wounds, to overcome the difficulties in our ecclesiastical life
– the divisions and diverging opinions brought on by the times. So that in
Armenian life, we are one and united, always and forever – one nation, one
faith, one Church – with our united homeland, and to proceed to new
accomplishments with one will and one mind, to the realization of our
righteous aspirations and worthy goals, to the lasting refuge provided for
us by God.
We are optimistic and encouraged from all the goodness bequeathed to our
nation by God, from all good works that are fruitful in Armenian life in
dispersion, from plans turning into reality which serve the welfare of our
people, the prosperity of our homeland, and the vibrancy of our Holy
Church. Let us unite and strengthen our efforts so that our native land
blossoms and lives in God-granted peace and liberty, and gains strength with
our Lord’s true love, with the devotion, talent and creativity of its sons
and daughters. Let us take care and be attentive so that our Holy Church
dispersed throughout the world, always be vibrant through the traditions and
contributions of our ancestors, with its God-loving people who are faithful
to their Etchmiadzin-sealed souls. May the unity and mission of our Holy
Church and the solidarity of our people be fruitful through the miraculous
and nation-gathering graces of strength of the luminous Muron.
Dear pious faithful, on this sacred day of Blessing the Holy Muron, let us
gaze again to see the descent of our Lord with the ranks of angels, the
destruction of the demons of hell with the strike of the golden hammer, and
the flow of life-giving waters from the heavenly altar deluging all of
Armenian life, which is the Illuminator’s vision of our people’s baptism and
rebirth with the Holy Spirit. Let us see and be reinforced with faith, and
be filled with new hopes, with the awakening of reborn life.
O Armenian people, O people graced and triumphant, who through the life you
have lived from century to century through heroic testimonies, are faithful
to your oath with God established through Holy Etchmiadzin. Be renewed
daily with your faith, become luminous with the righteous and beneficial
results of church-building and nation-devoted works, so that under God’s
blessing, our Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin remains eternally unshaken, our
homeland forever crowned by Ararat always remains free and independent, and
that Armenians always look to the future with confidence.
It is with these emotions and wishes what we welcome the presence of the
president of the Republic of Armenia, Serzh Sargsian; president of the
Republic of Nagorno Karabagh, Bako Sahakian; and high-ranking state
authorities of the Armenians; wishing them success in the progress of
Armenia and Artsakh, and for the sake of the right of our people in Artsakh
to live free.
With our love in Christ, we extend our fraternal greetings to the incumbents
of our hierarchal sees, His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House
of Cilicia; His Beatitude Torkom Manoogian, Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem;
and His Beatitude Mesrob Mutafian, Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople;
asking for God’s blessing and assistance for their lives.
We are happy on this joyous day for our people, to welcome in Holy
Etchmiadzin our brother in Christ, Ecumenical Patriarch His All Holiness
Bartholomew I, asking for God’s protection for his pious flock.
Our love in Christ we also convey to the graceful representatives of our
sister Churches, the diplomats accredited in the Republic of Armenia, and
representatives of governmental and international organizations, wishing for
them God’s daily guidance in their mission of service.
We convey our pontifical blessings and greet the diocesan primates of our
Church, diocesan and parochial councils, our oath-bound ranks of clergy, you
– our sons and daughters who have come today as pilgrims, and all our pious
people in Armenia, Artsakh and the Diaspora.
Let us together pray that the Almighty grant reconciliation to the world,
keep our homeland in peace under His grace, and keep our people throughout
the world secure and tranquil.
May the newly blessed Muron, as God has directed, be sacred for us and all,
now and always. Amen.