Re-consecration of Etchmiadzin Cathedral and Blessing of the Holy Myron

By Deacon Daron Halajian

On Saturday, September 28, 2024, a clerical procession led by His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, and His Beatitude Patriarch Sahag II Mashalyan of Constantinople, accompanied by bishops and vartabeds from the Holy See of Etchmiadzin, made its way from the Catholicos’ Residence, the Veharan, to the main doors of Etchmiadzin Cathedral for the re-consecration ceremony (veraodzum).

WATCH LIVE:

As the clergy approached the cathedral's main doors, two senior clergy members knelt and began to knock, singing the canticle Patz Mez Der (Open for us, Lord). This tradition is customary when a church has been closed for an extended period or has been reclaimed after falling into enemy hands. The canticle is also sung during the Trnpatzek (Opening of the Doors) ceremony following the Palm Sunday Divine Liturgy each year.

Since 2012, intensive renovations have taken place at Etchmiadzin Cathedral, necessitating Divine Liturgy services to be held at the nearby St. Gayané Monastery. The clergy beseeched God to open the doors of mercy once more, allowing them to enter His House with renewed faith and dedication. The re-consecration ceremony was exclusively conducted by clergy and not open to the public.

During the service, the left-side altar (tsakhagoghmyan) was reconsecrated with Holy Myron by His Holiness Karekin II, while the right-side altar (achagoghmyan) was consecrated by His Beatitude Patriarch Sahag II Mashalyan. Bishops from all four patriarchal sees of the Armenian Church—Etchmiadzin, Antelias, Jerusalem, and Constantinople—also reconsecrated the baptismal font and sixteen columns, symbolizing the unity of the Armenian Church. These columns represent the Twelve Apostles, the Four Evangelists (including Mark and Luke, who were not among the Twelve), the Apostle Paul, and St. Gregory the Illuminator.

The following day, the clerical procession proceeded to the Drtad III Open Altar on the Holy See grounds for the blessing of the Holy Myron. This event typically occurs every seven years, but the last blessing in Etchmiadzin was in 2015, delayed due to the pandemic, cathedral reconstruction, and the Artsakh War.

Leading the procession, His Holiness Karekin II and His Beatitude Sahag II walked under the ambhovani (canopy reserved for senior clergy), held by four clergymen. Priests from the Holy See, adorned in ornate regalia, carried holy relics, including fragments from the Holy Cross and St. Gregory the Illuminator's right hand, as well as relics of martyrs from the Armenian Genocide. They also brought Myron from the previous ceremony in 2015 and from Antelias, blessed in 2022. A balm made from over forty flowers and herbs accompanied them as they navigated through joyful crowds.

Since 2001, the blessing of the Holy Myron has been celebrated at the outdoor altar in Etchmiadzin, attended by dignitaries, politicians, and representatives from sister churches. Samvel Karapetyan served as the benefactor for this year’s ceremony. The Myron was blessed in a cauldron over a century old, which was first used by Catholicos Khrimian Hayrig on September 14, 1897.

During the service, the canticle Arakelo Aghavno (The Missive Dove) is sung as the Catholicos pours the Holy Myron from a dove-shaped reliquary. The dove symbolizes the Holy Spirit, which descended during Jesus’ baptism (Luke 3:22). Olive oil, a primary component of the Myron, recalls the biblical story of Noah’s Ark, where a dove brought an olive branch to signal safety. This connection highlights the symbolism of olive oil and the dove within the service. The canticle also recalls the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles (Acts 2) and the Second Coming of Christ, emphasizing the Myron's sanctification.

Surrounding the Catholicos during this ritual, twelve bishops, representing the apostles, donned full liturgical vestments. In addition to reciting psalms and gospel readings, the Myron was mixed with that from Antelias (2022) and the 2015 (Etchmiadzin) ceremony to symbolize both the unity of the Armenian Church and the unbroken lineage of Myron from St. Gregory the Illuminator.

Myron is utilized in baptisms, christenings (troshm), priestly ordinations, church consecrations, and anointing holy paintings (srpabadger). Thus, the Myron used in baptism establishes an unbreakable link between Armenians and their Christian ancestors.

Before the Myronorhnek ceremony, the cauldron is prayed over for forty days, a biblically significant period. The Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years (Joshua 5:6), and Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11). Great Lent, or Medz Bahk, also spans forty days.

In his address, His Holiness Karekin II stated, 

“We pray to our Heavenly Father that through the grace of the Holy Spirit, the works of faith, love, and goodness may flourish abundantly in the world, and the paths of peace and harmony may be strengthened. May our homeland be safe and steadfast through the constant outpouring of the Holy Spirit's gifts, our people's life adorned with virtue, and our Holy Apostolic Church remain bright and unshaken. May the life-giving light of the Holy Myron keep the Lantern of the Illuminator ever shining in the Armenian land, today, always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.”

At the service’s conclusion, His Holiness Karekin II blessed all present with the relic of St. Gregory the Illuminator's hand while reciting the Bahbanich prayer, marking the end of the Myronohrnek service in Etchmiadzin.