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ANN/GROONG -The Message of His Holiness KAREKIN II
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The Message of His Holiness KAREKIN II
Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians
On the Occasion of the New Year
(Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, January 1, 2002)
My Dear Armenian People,
We are at the threshold of the New Year. We have added one more page to our
history, the page on which is written the first year of the new millennium,
2001; whose golden seal and letters contain the miraculous mysteries of the
1700 Anniversary of the Great Conversion of the Armenians, as well as the
tenth anniversary of the independence of Armenia and Artsakh.
By the actions of the blessed Will of our Heavenly Father, we lived a good
year. Increased numbers of prayers were offered up to heaven from Armenian
souls. Increasingly, the words of God were heard by our people, and our
Armenian nation was blessed. The blessings of peace descended on our
motherland of Armenia and Artsakh. The grace of righteousness descended
into the life of the Armenians. The government of France, through the rule
of law, condemned the Genocide of the Armenians.
Glory to You, O God; in all things, Glory to You.
The proclamation of Christianity as the official religion of Armenia was
memorialized as an international Christian event. The Russian Orthodox
Patriarch, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, the Pope of Rome, and
the heads and high-ranking officials of sister churches all visited Armenia
and bestowed unto our people their heartfelt fatherly blessings.
In all countries, but most especially on the soil of the motherland, newly
repaired and rebuilt holy sites became witnesses for the faithful soul of
the Armenian. With the light of the Great Conversion of the Armenians,
thousands of young and old alike received the seal of our church's baptism,
and today they greet the New Year as Armenian Christians. Tens of newly
ordained clergy took up their pastoral staff to begin their service to the
nation, with the mystery of the year 301 A.D. as their guide. We lived
during the union of the homeland and the diaspora, becoming resolute in the
strength of our unity, whose rock-hewn manifestation became Yerevan's Saint
Gregory the Illuminator Mother Cathedral dedicated to the triumphal 1700
anniversary, and whose luminous mystery is the newly blessed millennial Holy
Chrism.
Glory to You, O God; in all things, Glory to You.
With these feelings of thanksgiving we wish farewell to the year 2001. We
believe that with the happiness and optimism granted by God, this past year
filled with faith, will become the starting point, encouragement and
potential for reformation in our lives.
My dear Armenian People in Armenia, Artsakh and the Diaspora,
On this deeply significant night of the New Year, every Armenian soul is
once again a prayer, kneaded together with the memories of last year, but
moreover with the hopes of a new year.
My dear ones, we are not co-crossbearers with Christ through the
crucifixion, but rather through His resurrection. The difficulties of life
in our motherland, the ongoing worries which weigh heavily on our hearts,
the longing in our souls for family in foreign lands, in addition to
suspicion, intolerance, and all kinds of evil, cannot diminish our optimism
towards life. Nor shall they shake our will for the building up of our
motherland. They cannot sound the retreat of the sacred journey of
realization of our national wishes. The followers of the brave are the
brave. Let us not spoil courage by mixing it with foulness. This is the
message of our fathers. Let us not be afraid nor weaken our resolve. Let
us have faith in ourselves. Let us stay the course of our faithful and
God-loving forebears, faithful to our Christian values and our Armenian
national sanctities. Let us keep alive the 1988 spirit of bravery,
unanimity and yearning for freedom. Let us maintain 2001's prayerful soul;
as well as the hopeful, faithful, love strengthened, creative and
industrious spirit. This is the character of the Armenians.
Today let us remember also, that we are journeying down a road of
pilgrimage. The pilgrim's path strengthens us to go forward without
trepidation nor retreat, to believe in the improbable, to make miracles out
of the impossible. Let us walk together with the trust of a pilgrim in this
New Year. The journey of the pilgrim is only a success with God at his
side. Let us believe that 2002 will become a year of triumphs and
achievements.
Happy New Year. March with God at your side. May this new year of 2002 be
one of friendship and peace among mankind.
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