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KAREKIN II'S ENCYCLICAL ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CENTENNIAL MADE PUBLIC
December 29, 2014 09:31
Photo: http://www.armenianchurchwd.com/
Yerevan/Mediamax/. On December 28, the encyclical on Armenian Genocide
Centennial of His Holiness Karekin II, the Supreme Patriarch and
Catholicos of All Armenians, was made public during the Divine Liturgy
at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and all apostolic churches
in Armenia.
We present the encyclical below:
The centennial of the Armenian Genocide is before us and our souls
resound with a powerful call for justice and truth that will not
be silenced.
Each day of 2015 is a day of remembrance and devotion for our people,
a spiritual journey to the memorials of our martyrs in the Homeland and
the Diaspora, before which we humbly kneel in prayer with offerings of
incense for the souls of our innocent victims, who abide in unmarked
graves, having accepted death rather than rejecting their faith and
nation. Indeed "the path of the righteous is as the dawning light
that shines brighter and brighter unto the perfect day."
In 1915, and for years following, Ottoman Turkey committed genocide
against our people. In Western Armenia - on our native soil - in the
Armenian homeland and in Armenian communities throughout Turkey, one
and one half million sons and daughters of our nation were subjected
to slaughter, famine and disease, as they were deported and forced
to march to their deaths. Centuries of honest accomplishments and
creativity were swiftly plundered. Thousands of monasteries and
churches were desecrated and destroyed. National institutions and
schools were razed and ruined. Our spiritual and cultural treasures
were uprooted and obliterated. Western Armenia, where for millennia
- from the time of Noah - our people lived, created and built their
history and culture, had been wrested from its native population.
A century ago - when the fragments of the Armenian nation, having
lost their patrimony, were scattered all over the world, and while
Eastern Armenia was waging a life-and-death struggle for survival
against Turkish invaders - it was hard to believe in the future of
the Armenian people. Nevertheless a new dawn came. By the grace of the
Lord, our people rose up from death. On a small, salvaged part of the
homeland, our people reestablished statehood, recreated a country out
of the ruins and vestiges, and built a "homeland of light and hope,"
of science, education and culture. The Armenians exiled throughout the
world built homes and hearths, and flourished in countries near and
far, carrying on their traditions and spiritual life. Wherever the
children of our nation lived, they achieved success, earned respect
and trust, and gained recognition for their conscientious work and
their contributions to science, the arts and the common welfare.
This is the history of our people for the last century - a history
of adversity and resurrection. Today, hardships notwithstanding, our
nation strengthens its independent statehood, creates its new life
of freedom, and looks hopefully to the future, embracing national
reawakening, optimism and faith.
Glory to you, O Lord, boundless glory, "Like a shield you protect us
with your good favor." (Psalms 5:12). By placing our hope in You,
O Lord, our people were enlightened and strengthened. Your light
kindled the ingenuity of our spirit. Your might propelled us to
our victories. We created though others destroyed our creations. We
continued to live though others wanted us dead. You, O Lord, willed
that our people - condemned to death by a genocidal plan - should live
and rise again, so that we might raise this just cause before the
conscience of humanity and the law of nations, to free the world of
the callous indifference of Pilate and the criminal denial of Turkey.
For the sake of justice - until the triumph of our cause, we will
continue our struggle without retreat - Church, Nation and State
together. The blood of our innocent martyrs and the suffering of our
people cry out for justice. Our destroyed shrines, the violation of
our national rights, the falsification and distortion of our history
all cry out for justice. Having survived genocide, our people believed
and continue to believe that the multitude of righteous countries,
national and civic organizations, and individuals who have recognized
and condemned the Armenian Genocide will be joined by others who
believe that the affirmation of truth and justice are the prerequisite
and guarantor of a peaceful world free of enmity and violence.
In memory of our one and a half million martyrs of the Genocide, we
express our gratitude to the nations, organizations and individuals
who have had the courage and conviction to recognize and condemn
the Armenian Genocide. We express gratitude to those countries and
kind peoples who accepted the children of our nation as brothers and
sisters. These examples of justice and humanitarianism are luminous
pages in the history of mankind. They shall always be remembered and
appreciated for generations, and benefit the peaceful, secure and
congenial life of the world.
As Pontiff of the Armenians, it is spiritually consoling to announce
to our people that on April 23, 2015, during the Divine Liturgy,
our Holy Church will offer a special service canonizing its sons
and daughters who accepted martyrdom as saints "for faith and for
Homeland", and will proclaim April 24 as the day of remembrance for
the Holy Martyrs of the Genocide.
O, Armenian people, graced from on high - a nation martyred; a nation
resurrected - live boldly, advance surely, with your gaze toward
Ark-bearing Ararat, and with an unwavering heart, keep your hope
great. The Lord's encouragement and message are addressed to you:
"Though you are not mighty, you were faithful to my word and you did
not betray my name... Hold fast what you have so that no one will take
away your crown of victory." (Revelations 3:8-11). Thus, let us stay
on course before God, righteous and true, on the steadfast paths of
faith, which like the morning light dispels the darkness and makes the
horizons of hope visible. Our way is with God; and the life of faith
is our victory. Let us make fruitful the centennial anniversary by
valuing our peoples' 100-year-long path of travails and rebirth, so
that our children, recognizing the heroic will of their grandparents
and parents to live and create, and their commissions undertaken
for the sake of nation and homeland, create the bright day of our
native land and our people dispersed throughout the world. Let us
transform the remembrance of our martyrs into energy and strength
in our spiritual and national life, and before God and all people,
illuminate the path by our righteous course to guide our way toward
the realization of justice and our sacred aspirations.
>From our nation's Christ-built and cherished spiritual center, before
the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin's Holy Altar of Descent of the Only
Begotten, let us pray to God for peace, safety and the welfare of our
Homeland, our beloved people throughout the world, and especially,
for everlasting light and peace for the innocent souls of the holy
martyrs of genocide. May love and brotherhood, justice and truth
reign over humankind, and may the ways of the righteous radiate,
guide and spread the light until the dawn of a new day brings peace
and happiness to all the world.
May the grace, love and peace of our Lord Jesus the Christ be with
you and with us all. Amen.
- See more at:
http://www.mediamax.am/en/news/society/12754#sthash.Z2apMFPO.dpuf
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
December 29, 2014 09:31
Photo: http://www.armenianchurchwd.com/
Yerevan/Mediamax/. On December 28, the encyclical on Armenian Genocide
Centennial of His Holiness Karekin II, the Supreme Patriarch and
Catholicos of All Armenians, was made public during the Divine Liturgy
at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and all apostolic churches
in Armenia.
We present the encyclical below:
The centennial of the Armenian Genocide is before us and our souls
resound with a powerful call for justice and truth that will not
be silenced.
Each day of 2015 is a day of remembrance and devotion for our people,
a spiritual journey to the memorials of our martyrs in the Homeland and
the Diaspora, before which we humbly kneel in prayer with offerings of
incense for the souls of our innocent victims, who abide in unmarked
graves, having accepted death rather than rejecting their faith and
nation. Indeed "the path of the righteous is as the dawning light
that shines brighter and brighter unto the perfect day."
In 1915, and for years following, Ottoman Turkey committed genocide
against our people. In Western Armenia - on our native soil - in the
Armenian homeland and in Armenian communities throughout Turkey, one
and one half million sons and daughters of our nation were subjected
to slaughter, famine and disease, as they were deported and forced
to march to their deaths. Centuries of honest accomplishments and
creativity were swiftly plundered. Thousands of monasteries and
churches were desecrated and destroyed. National institutions and
schools were razed and ruined. Our spiritual and cultural treasures
were uprooted and obliterated. Western Armenia, where for millennia
- from the time of Noah - our people lived, created and built their
history and culture, had been wrested from its native population.
A century ago - when the fragments of the Armenian nation, having
lost their patrimony, were scattered all over the world, and while
Eastern Armenia was waging a life-and-death struggle for survival
against Turkish invaders - it was hard to believe in the future of
the Armenian people. Nevertheless a new dawn came. By the grace of the
Lord, our people rose up from death. On a small, salvaged part of the
homeland, our people reestablished statehood, recreated a country out
of the ruins and vestiges, and built a "homeland of light and hope,"
of science, education and culture. The Armenians exiled throughout the
world built homes and hearths, and flourished in countries near and
far, carrying on their traditions and spiritual life. Wherever the
children of our nation lived, they achieved success, earned respect
and trust, and gained recognition for their conscientious work and
their contributions to science, the arts and the common welfare.
This is the history of our people for the last century - a history
of adversity and resurrection. Today, hardships notwithstanding, our
nation strengthens its independent statehood, creates its new life
of freedom, and looks hopefully to the future, embracing national
reawakening, optimism and faith.
Glory to you, O Lord, boundless glory, "Like a shield you protect us
with your good favor." (Psalms 5:12). By placing our hope in You,
O Lord, our people were enlightened and strengthened. Your light
kindled the ingenuity of our spirit. Your might propelled us to
our victories. We created though others destroyed our creations. We
continued to live though others wanted us dead. You, O Lord, willed
that our people - condemned to death by a genocidal plan - should live
and rise again, so that we might raise this just cause before the
conscience of humanity and the law of nations, to free the world of
the callous indifference of Pilate and the criminal denial of Turkey.
For the sake of justice - until the triumph of our cause, we will
continue our struggle without retreat - Church, Nation and State
together. The blood of our innocent martyrs and the suffering of our
people cry out for justice. Our destroyed shrines, the violation of
our national rights, the falsification and distortion of our history
all cry out for justice. Having survived genocide, our people believed
and continue to believe that the multitude of righteous countries,
national and civic organizations, and individuals who have recognized
and condemned the Armenian Genocide will be joined by others who
believe that the affirmation of truth and justice are the prerequisite
and guarantor of a peaceful world free of enmity and violence.
In memory of our one and a half million martyrs of the Genocide, we
express our gratitude to the nations, organizations and individuals
who have had the courage and conviction to recognize and condemn
the Armenian Genocide. We express gratitude to those countries and
kind peoples who accepted the children of our nation as brothers and
sisters. These examples of justice and humanitarianism are luminous
pages in the history of mankind. They shall always be remembered and
appreciated for generations, and benefit the peaceful, secure and
congenial life of the world.
As Pontiff of the Armenians, it is spiritually consoling to announce
to our people that on April 23, 2015, during the Divine Liturgy,
our Holy Church will offer a special service canonizing its sons
and daughters who accepted martyrdom as saints "for faith and for
Homeland", and will proclaim April 24 as the day of remembrance for
the Holy Martyrs of the Genocide.
O, Armenian people, graced from on high - a nation martyred; a nation
resurrected - live boldly, advance surely, with your gaze toward
Ark-bearing Ararat, and with an unwavering heart, keep your hope
great. The Lord's encouragement and message are addressed to you:
"Though you are not mighty, you were faithful to my word and you did
not betray my name... Hold fast what you have so that no one will take
away your crown of victory." (Revelations 3:8-11). Thus, let us stay
on course before God, righteous and true, on the steadfast paths of
faith, which like the morning light dispels the darkness and makes the
horizons of hope visible. Our way is with God; and the life of faith
is our victory. Let us make fruitful the centennial anniversary by
valuing our peoples' 100-year-long path of travails and rebirth, so
that our children, recognizing the heroic will of their grandparents
and parents to live and create, and their commissions undertaken
for the sake of nation and homeland, create the bright day of our
native land and our people dispersed throughout the world. Let us
transform the remembrance of our martyrs into energy and strength
in our spiritual and national life, and before God and all people,
illuminate the path by our righteous course to guide our way toward
the realization of justice and our sacred aspirations.
>From our nation's Christ-built and cherished spiritual center, before
the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin's Holy Altar of Descent of the Only
Begotten, let us pray to God for peace, safety and the welfare of our
Homeland, our beloved people throughout the world, and especially,
for everlasting light and peace for the innocent souls of the holy
martyrs of genocide. May love and brotherhood, justice and truth
reign over humankind, and may the ways of the righteous radiate,
guide and spread the light until the dawn of a new day brings peace
and happiness to all the world.
May the grace, love and peace of our Lord Jesus the Christ be with
you and with us all. Amen.
- See more at:
http://www.mediamax.am/en/news/society/12754#sthash.Z2apMFPO.dpuf
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress