After a long break, the Patriarchate of the Armenians of Turkey broadcast the Sunday service live on Facebook. Armenian Churches celebrated the last Sunday of Resurrection Week on Sunday, May 9th.
The Holy Offering Mass (Surp Badarak) was held at the Patriarchate of Turkey Armenians, Kumkapı Central Church of the Virgin Mary (Surp Asdvadzazin) by the hand of Senior Father Dırtat Uzunyan. Due to the Covid-19 restrictions, the Holy Offering Mass, which has been performed on Thursdays on weekdays for a long time, was broadcast on the Patriarchate’s Facebook page. This week, the Holy Offering, which was performed on Sunday, was broadcast live with the permissions received.
Under the presidency of Patriarch Sahak II, the spiritual trainees of the Patriarchate also served the Lord’s Supper at Surp Badark, presented by Senior Father Dırtat Uzunyan. The hymns were sung by the members of the Patriarchate Armaş Choir, in the presence of Father Şirvan Mürzyan. At the end of the month, on the occasion of the 1st anniversary of his death, the deceased Harutyun Şanlı, the President of the Gedikpaşa Surp Hovannes Church Foundation, and for all those who are sleeping in the Lord, Ayin-i Ruhani (Hokehankist) prayers were read. After the ceremony, Patriarch Sahak II gave sermons in Armenian and Turkish. The subject of the Turkish sermon was about what man will encounter after death, what the soul will be, and he read and interpreted the parable “The Beggar and the Rich Man” (Luke 16:19-31).
“Conscience Is God’s Fire Within Us”
Some titles from the Turkish sermon of Patriarch Sahak II are as follows;
“Do you notice? There is the name of the poor in this parable; Lazarus What about the rich’s name? The rich have no name. In this world the rich have a name, Lazarus has no name. But in God’s book Lazarus has a name, the rich have no name. Things get very complicated when we die, my dear brothers. When we die, we will encounter strange things that we do not expect. In short, when the soul leaves the body, it sinks into its own memories like a cocoon, but is no longer alone, but together with its conscience. Conscience is the fire of God in us. It enlightens us with the good, the beautiful, the truth. It is like the light in our room, it illuminates and shows us. It asks us to do the right thing and warns us when we do it wrong. Everyone brings their own hell out of this world. Everyone accumulates their heaven or hell inside them… Selfishness, me, this is hell. Success alone, that’s hell. Happiness, which is not shared with others, this is hell. Just seeking your own salvation, that is hell. Heaven; It is the beauty that emerges when shared, it is love. What is ours has been given to us. We will be aware of this and we will share it. When we do this, we carry our heaven with us. Because God has entrusted us to each other. We must take care of each other and glorify each other. We must live for each other, love and be loved. This is the will of God… God’s mercy is endless. That’s why we pray for the dead because their final judgment has not come true. God has tightly covered the stage of life. You may have faith in other sides and very limited knowledge. We can go all the way to the gates of death, enter a little and come back. The essential thing is to listen to the words of the engineer who created life and death. God created. He gave us enough information about this world, the next world, and the other world in this world, he said; There is, your soul will not perish, you will live, there is an account and you will be happy or unhappy according to that account, and you choose it with your choices in this world, so be careful. God wants you to be saved, but of your own free will you will choose where you need to be. This is what God has told us. This is his suggestion to us. Have faith and be good people. What he wants is not so much…”
