There is a period of intense construction works in the Amaras monastic complex. But that does not stop the flow of believers. All church rites and ceremonies are performed in Amaras. Although the enemy’s battle positions are very close to the monastic complex, the people’s faith and unbreakable will do not change. We are in Artsakh, in Amaras, so we exist, we exist with faith and love.
Priest Sepuh Hakobyan entered the service of the Artsakh Diocese on January 12 of this year with the blessing of His Holiness. In a conversation with Aravot, the abbot said that he was called to the service with great joy because it is a great honor for him to be the abbot of Amaras, which has lived through the centuries.
“Amaras Monastery is a living soul. I realized that during my service. It lives like us and hurts like us, but it becomes brighter when faithful Armenians come to its arms. It is due to the fact that the monastery complex is a bit cut off from the settlements,” said Father Sepuh Hakobyan, adding that they start the day with worship in Amaras, asking for the Lord’s blessing, thanking him for the day, and asking for the intercession of St. Gregory.
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According to the abbot, they have pilgrims from different places, but mainly on Saturdays and Sundays Amaras is crowded. However, he hopes that the other days will gradually become similar to those two days. “We are all bearers of the light of God. When we become Christians again by being baptized, it is the light that gives us all to create life every morning, to glorify the Lord, as Nerses Shnorhali says.”
At the moment, he is only worried about how to do more, how to brighten the light and hope of the people of Artsakh, who have created in their native land for centuries. “Bringing my pastoral service to the monastic communities, I try to instill in everyone the gospel of the Resurrection Lord,” he said, then spoke of values. “Value is the result of the relationship between each of our lives. Value is an indicator of a person’s attitude, the most important part of which is Faith and Love. Faith gives birth to hope in a person to live and to create. And as the Apostle James says, “Faith without works is dead, works without faith are in vain” (James 2:17).” At the end of our conversation, Father Sepuh Hakobyan brought his blessing to everyone from the Amaras monastery complex. “May the Lord bless all of you, the world of Artsakh, keep you steadfast in your values and faith, now and always and forever from eternity, Amen.”
Vova Arzumanyan
