On July 1, the Primate of the Armenian Diocese of France, His Eminence Bishop Grigor Khachatryan, celebrated the Holy and Immortal Divine Liturgy in the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos for the peace of the homeland, the freedom of captives and the consolation of the grieving. This was reported by the information system of the Mother See.
In his sermon, the Holy Father, recalling the biblical question “Where did you come from and where are you going?” (Genesis 16:8), emphasized that it is addressed to everyone and all of humanity. Bishop Grigor emphasized that in order to find the answer to this question, we must go to Jesus Christ, so that, having learned the divine truth, through repentance and contrition we can again find our true calling and mission.
The liturgical bishop noted that the issue raised is relevant today, especially in these turbulent days for our country.
“Every Armenian, if he is familiar with the history of his country and the Church, can say with confidence where he came from and where he is going. And the one who knows only fragments of this history has no future, because it is by knowing the past that you must build the future, it is by seeing the mistakes of the past that you must change the present and not make mistakes in the future. And where are we today? As a nation, we seem to be in a situation where we do not know where we came from, how we ended up on this blessed land and where we are going,” said the Primate of the Armenian Diocese of France, calling on those present to be guided by the path illuminated by the consciousness of national identity.
Then, during the singing of “Lord, have mercy” at the Divine Liturgy, the clergy and the believers present offered a private prayer for the release of the illegally imprisoned Archbishops Michael and Bagrat, the people’s benefactor Samvel Karapetyan, all the oppressed and captives, as well as for the peaceful and prosperous life of the Fatherland.