His Holiness Catholicos Aram I welcomed the large number of the faithful and their families gathered at the Monastery of the Great House of Cilicia in Antelias, Lebanon, on occasion of Palm Sunday, on April 2. He especially expressed his joy over the big turnout of their children, who had come to receive his blessing on the feast that marks the triumphant entry of our Savior in Jerusalem.
“What an inspiring sight this is,” His Holiness said. “Despite the economic and social crisis in the country, the daughters and sons of our people today have come to the house of God, the house of our nation, driven by their faith, to greet the entry of Christ in Jerusalem.”
The Catholicos said that he was being “the interpreter of everybody’s prayers” when he said, “Lord, make the life of our nation bloom; make it bloom with heavenly blessings, graces, and gifts.” He prayed to God to “strengthen the love and unity of our nation everywhere, in Armenia, in Artsakh, and in every community of the Diaspora.” He invoked God’s power to plead for the breaking of the chains that surround Artsakh and to disperse those at Armenia’s borders who are trying to call into question the sovereignty and independence of our homeland.
“Lord, please fill the lives of our families and children with wisdom and health everywhere,” His Holiness added. “May all kinds of evil disappear from our life and may it be filled with divine blessings, forever and ever.”
After the Catholicos’ the faithful and the clergy joined voices in singing “Giligia” and the Patriarchal hymn, following which His Holiness received the children to give them his blessings.
