Anniversary of the enthronement of Karekin II, Catholicos of all Armenians (04/11)

Karekin II (Nersisyan) — 132nd, current Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, head of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

On October 27, 1999, after the death of Catholicos Karekin I, the National Church Council (the highest governing body) of the Armenian Apostolic Church elected Archbishop Karekin Nersesyan as the 132nd Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians. Garegin II Nersisyan was ordained and anointed on November 4.

After Gregory the Illuminator, the first Catholicos of Armenia, the Armenian Church became known as the Armenian-Gregorian Church. And the residence of the Catholics, that is, the Supreme Patriarchs of all Armenians, became the Mother See of Etchmiadzin.

The word «Echmiadzin» means — «the Only Begotten Son of God» has descended. This is the name given to the cathedral and the nearby monastery. Saint Gregory had a vision in which he saw the Only Begotten Son of God. He came down from heaven with a golden hammer in his hand and, hitting the Armenian land, indicated the location of the construction of the first cathedral. This altar was subsequently erected on the site where the golden hammer of the Son of God touched the ground. A fine cathedral was created around the altar.

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