Feriköy Surp Vartanants Armenian Church, which has been under maintenance for a while and the necessary renovations have been made, on Tuesday, January 4, before the Feast of Nativity, It was anointed and re-consecrated by the Patriarch of the Armenians of Turkey Sahak II. and opened to worship.
On Tuesday evening, the Patriarch of the Armenians of Turkey, Sahak II, was greeted in the churchyard by the church’s clergyman, Father Şirvan Mürzyan, and the administrator, Vortik Papazyan. Afterwards, His Beatitude the Patriarch, greeted by the clergy in the courtyard, also greeted Şişli Mayor Muammer Keskin, city council member Selina Doğan, and Feriköy Church Foundation President Murat Ören. Then they went to the guest room together.
The ceremony first started with the hymn “patz mez der” (Open for us, Lord) sung by Senior Pedder Krikor Damadyan, the door was knocked three times by His Beatitude the Patriarch, and then the clergy who participated in the ceremony, affiliated with the patriarchate, entered the church, especially His Beatitude the Patriarch.
After the prayers said during the ceremony, Patriarch Sahak II anointed the church altars, baptismal pool, images of saints with “surp muron” (holy oil), accompanied by prayers and hymns sung by the priests.
At the end of the ceremony, Patriarch Sahak II, who gave a sermon in Armenian and Turkish, expressed his thanks, to the Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who provided the renovation of the Church, to the mayor’s advisor Cemalettin Özdemir, who attended the ceremony on his behalf, and to the architect İrem Bülbül, who attended the ceremony on behalf of the Chief of the Municipality Cultural Heritage Department, İBB belief desk coordinator Vedat Kara, Şişli Mayor Muammer Keskin, Şişli Municipality Councilor Selina Doğan and said, “You will get a share of the prayers made here.”
After the sermons, the ceremony ended with the final blessing of His Beatitude the Patriarch and the Lord’s prayer said together.
