“Great Thursday” ceremonies were held in Armenian Apostolic Churches on Thursday, April 14, before the Holy Resurrection. On Thursday morning, the Patriarch of the Armenians of Turkey, Sahak II, presided over the Holy Mass (Surp Badarak) and preached the Holy Sermon at the Üsküdar Surp Haç Church during the “Intriyats Badarak” (Last Supper) ceremony.
While the Church’s clergyman, Father Husig Hergelyan, presented the Holy Sermon, deacons and readers of the Church sang the hymns.
In the evening, Patriarch Sahak II performed the “Vodınlıva” (Foot Washing) ceremony at the Patriarchate central Surp Asdvadzadzin Cathedral. The ceremony started with the Lord’s prayer, which His Beatitude the Patriarch and 12 children in Horan, representing the 12 disciples of Jesus Christ, said together. After the reading of the Bible, prayers and hymns, His Beatitude the Patriarch knelt down, washed the feet of the 12 children and blessed them. He then preached in Armenian and Turkish.
At the ceremony of “Latsi Kisher” (Night of Grief – The betrayal and arrest of Jesus Christ by Judas in the garden of Gethsemane), Patriarch Sahak II presided over the service and preached at the Kumkapı Patriarchate Central Surp Asdvadzadzin Church. After the Bible passages, prayers and hymns were read, all the lights of the church were turned off and “der vogormya” (Mercy God) was sung 40 times together, after which, in the dark, His Beatitude the Patriarch preached in Armenian and Turkish. In his sermons, he begged God for mercy.
