Armenian Apostolic Holy Church celebrates Palm Sunday

On April 13, the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church will celebrate Palm Sunday, Jesus Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem. His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians has also been declared Palm Sunday as a day for Blessing of Children.

All the churches will offer a Divine Liturgy and a blessing of the children service.

At 10:00, the service of the blessing of the four corners of the world (Andastsan) will be offered on the grounds of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, where the His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, will offer his paternal blessings and message to the children. At 11:00, Divine Liturgy will be offered.

At 5:30, in the evening, the Opening of the Doors service will be held.

Palm Sunday

The Armenian Apostolic Holy Church celebrates Palm Sunday a week before the feast of the Glorious Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Easter, and it symbolizes the triumphant entry of Jesus Christ to Jerusalem.

All four evangelists describe the entry of Jesus Christ to Jerusalem, stating how people welcomed the Lord’s arrival with praise and blessings. “Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road” (Matthew 21:9). The crowds was shouting and saying, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” (John, 12:13).

On Palm Sunday the Churches are decorated with willow branches, and in the morning a solemn ceremony is held, followed by the Andastan service. At the conclusion, the blessed branches are distributed to the faithful.

This evangelical portrayal reminds us of the arrival of Jesus Christ, urging us to live our lives so we are worthy of standing in front of Our Lord and exclaiming, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord”.