His Beatitude Patriarch Sahak II attended the Holy Mass at the Surp Asdvadzadzin Armenian Apostolic Church in Ortaköy on Sunday, February 16.
The Most Holy Sacrament was presented by the parish priest Rev. Zaven Bıçakçıyan.
The celebration was attended also my many church ministers such as sub deacons, deacons and chorists. The choir of the parish performed the hymns under Maestro Rober Doğanay. There was also a large participation of children and youth. The Patriarch expressed his pleasure in his sermon, appealing to the children, asking them questions, expressing his happiness with the answers he received, and the children accompanied the jokes that the Patriarch made.
His Beatitude the Sahak II preached in Armenian and Turkish. He asked the children: “There are some questions about topics we think we know, but we cannot answer when they are asked. Adults do not know. Do you know, children? If you came to see the newly elected patriarch, thank you, but I will not be in this church next week. Will you not come? We come to the church to fill a gap in us that we cannot fill anywhere else. We can fill this gap only in the church. Just as our stomach must be filled with food, our lungs with air, our hearts must be filled with love. Some people may not understand it, but we have an immortal soul, and our soul is also empty, and this space can be filled with God. The problem is, how and in what way does God fill our souls? Whenever we go to God and approach him, then God comes and fills our souls. Let’s give this as an example from the Bible verse of today: “Jesus Christ said: If someone is thirsty, he may come to me. As He says in the scripture: The river of water will flow in those who believe in me.” Jesus Christ sees that those who enter the temple, they leave it without filling their souls with God. Their souls enter and leave before they are full, and there is something wrong with this.”
Following the distribution of the Holy Communion, the ceremony ended with the blessing of His Beatitude the Patriarch.
After the ceremony, members of the board of directors chaired by İskender Şahingöz invited those who filled the entire church to the breakfast prepared in the hall.
