Priests were ordained at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin on September 21. During the Divine and eternal Liturgy served at the Mother Temple, Prelate of the Armenian Diocese of Australia and New Zealand, patriarchal delegate of India and the Far East, Father, Bishop Haigazun Najarian ordained and anointed nine deacons of the Gevorgyan Spiritual Lyceum and four graduate deacons of the training sessions for priests, reports the news service of the Mother See to “Hayern Aysor”.

His Holiness expressed his gratitude to the Catholicos of All Armenians for providing him with the opportunity to ordain priests for the first time. His Holiness conveyed his message and congratulatory remarks to the newly ordained priests and touched upon the fact that they would be receiving new names. “You had mundane names that your parents gave you with pleasure, but today, as the Holy Spirit lies within you, you are becoming new human beings, and that’s why you will be given new names. No matter how long you study at lyceums, you now have the influence of the Holy Spirit, and your dedication to the Holy Altar of God and our Holy Church is becoming perfect and absolute. Thus, you are the addition and integrity of this structure called the Church,” His Holiness said.

His Holiness urged the thirteen newly ordained priests to be fully devoted to serving the faithful Armenians and instill kindness by focusing on the heroic past of the nation and following the best examples that have been set in history.

In the end, the congregates of the Mother See climbed to the Holy Altar and received the first “Greetings” from the newly ordained priests as they kissed their foreheads and hands smelling of Muron.

The newly ordained priests will spend forty days of training and prayers at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, after which they will be sent to different dioceses and structures of the Armenian Church by the Catholicos of All Armenians.