Armenian Apostolic Churches have entered the week of “Nor Giragi” (New Sunday), the first week after “Surp Zadig” (Resurrection Feast).
As the Mass could not be held on weekends due to the coronavirus restrictions, on Thursday, April 08, the Surp Badarak (Holy Mass) was held at the Galata Surp Krikor Lusavorich Church. The ritual was published on the Patriarchate’s Facebook page on Sunday, April 11th. After this broadcast, the Patriarch of the Armenians of Turkey, Sahak II, gave sermons about this week in Armenian and Turkish.
Spiritual trainees of the Patriarchate served the sacrament of the Holy Spirit, which was held by Father Şirvan Murzyan. The chants were sung by the members of the Patriarchal Armaş Choir.
Patriarch Sahak II, in his Armenian and Turkish sermons, explained the meaning of this day without moving on to the subject of the sermon.
He started his Turkish sermon with the words “Krisdos Haryav i Merelots, Orhniyal e Harutyunin Krisdosi” (Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, Holy is the resurrection of Jesus Christ). “The resurrection of Christ is the best message, the best news we can receive in our lives as Christians, so for 40 days we will greet each other with the cries of <Christ is risen, blessed be His resurrection>. Over the next 40 days, during the “Resurrection” weeks, we will examine the details of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” Then, he read and interpreted Matthew 28:1-20 and talked about the arguments that Jesus Christ did not rise, explaining how these theses could be nonsense and untrue.
Some titles from Patriarch Sahak II’s sermon are as follows;
“The resurrection of Jesus Christ is not just any event in the Bible. It is an event on which our faith rests.
It is the cornerstone of the Christian faith, the belief in the resurrection. And every Christian should grow and develop this faith without doubts in his heart.
Christ rose from the dead, transforming the decaying body into an incorruptible body of light. He did not rise again as a mortal.”
