Despite the imposed restrictions on church numbers, the Feast of St Vartan was observed Thursday 11 February 2021, in the same tradition as in previous years with the Divine Liturgy celebrated by Archbishop Najarian accompanied by the church deacons in the presence of students from the two Armenian schools, Galstaun College and AGBU Alexander School.
Whilst the church would normally overflow with close to 300 students, this year some 60 students with their Principals and teacher took part in the morning service followed with a short presentation by the students after a lunch break.
In his closing address Archbishop Najarian stated “how pleased I am you were able to come today, because the presence of Vartanants is the presence of spirits. It is likely we would have celebrated the Divine Liturgy with the clergy and streamed the service however it would not have felt the same. I noticed in your presentations that each word, every historical piece was chosen in beautiful detail demonstrating your knowledge with all the names, incidences and accounts which even my sermon did not cover. What this shows is how thoroughly your school is preparing you in the spirit of Vartanants which you can take pride in.” The Archbishop thanked the students and teachers on the program encouraging them to remain steadfast in their faith and nation no matter what evil forces there are to face.
