On Sunday, August, 17, 2014, the Feast of the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God was celebrated in all Western Prelacy parishes with Divine Liturgy and the blessing of grapes. H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate, celebrated Divine Liturgy and conducted the blessing of grapes and madagh at St. Mary’s Church in Glendale, which observes its name day on this feast. Rev. Fr. Vazken Atmajian and Rev. Fr. Ardak Demirjian assisted at the altar.
The core of the Prelate’s sermon was a special hymn dedicated to the Holy Mother of God, exalting the many characteristics and virtues of St. Mary. His Eminence told of the account of the Assumption, how the Virgin Mary spent her 15 years following the Resurrection of Christ cared for by the Apostles until she entered into dormition. The Apostle Bartholomew, unable to attend her funeral as he was preaching in Armenia, wished to see her one final time. What the Apostles found however, was an empty tomb. It was then that they recalled the words of our Lord promising to take up His mother next to Him upon her passing, and realized that His promise had been fulfilled. Assumed from earth to heaven as the exalted and blessed Holy Virgin, the Prelate noted that the Mother of God has become a greatly venerated figure for Christian faithful who request her intercession for our Lord Jesus Christ and her Son to keep us from harm and misfortune. Thus, His Eminence prayed for the intercession of St. Mary, for an end to war and conflict in the world and the dawn of love and peace among nations and peoples, particularly in Iraq, Syria, Gaza, and Lebanon.
Reflecting on the virtues and holy mission of the Virgin Mary, the Prelate stated that the Holy Mother of God was blessed for her obedient and virtuous nature. From the time of the Annunciation by Archangel Gabriel, the Virgin Mary remained God’s faithful and dutiful servant. She was a doting mother and nurturer to the Son of God, lived her life with humility and prayer, and thus became worthy of God’s grace and blessings. She brought absolution to womankind who had been condemned by Eve’s transgression. For all this, said the Prelate, she was blessed among women, became the ideal of motherhood and of submission, modesty, patience, service, forgiveness, and especially love. And just as the Mother of God remained faithfully by her Son’s side from His Birth until His Resurrection, Armenian mothers, the pillars of our families, must take inspiration from her example by leading their children to God, cultivating in them our national spirit, and raising them with the right values and principles.
At the conclusion of Divine Liturgy the Prelate conducted the blessing of grapes and madagh.
