This year, the students of the Armenian Catholic Mesrobian High School celebrated the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in an exceptional and unprecedented way. For the first time, fire which is the symbol of this feast, was lit in the school’s main courtyard, thus emphasizing the purely Armenian tradition associated with it, which has been passed down by our ancestors from generation to generation.

The celebration began when the student procession left the St. Savior Church and reached Mesrobian’s main courtyard, forming the ‘Antasdan’ circle. The ceremony was led by the school’s chaplain, Father Sahag Keshishian, who was accompanied by Father Raphael Jawharji and the deacon Boghos Emishian. The service was performed by the graduating class students.

On this occasion, Serly Terzian performed a spiritual reading, after which the fire was lit at the word “Light” of the Gospel reading, with the flame of a candle brought from the church altar. Father Sahag performed the ‘Antasdan’, distributing blessings to the four corners of the world. He also explained the feast of the Presentation of the Lord which symbolizes the offering of the forty-day-old Baby Jesus to the temple as the first male child of the family. Students, teachers and parents lit their candles from the fire and returned home at the end of this blessed ceremony.

See the pictures here: The Presentation of the Lord