Dear Your Eminences, Your Graces and Reverend Fathers,
State and public figures,
Representatives of Diplomatic missions,
Sisters and brothers,
On behalf of the hospitable Armenian Diocese in Georgia and the Ecumenical Religious Council of Georgia we warmly welcome all of you and express our joy and gratitude for participating in this evening. The title of today’s spiritual music evening is «Love one another» (John 13:34). It is a call to struggle against violence and hatred. Intolerance, hatred and absence of love were the reasons of Genocide which was committed against Armenian people, which were living in their motherland and became a victim of xenophobia in the Ottoman Turkey. For the same reasons Genocide was committed against Jewish people during the Second World War, then it reached our days, to Rwanda and other places. The protest of the Armenian nation and our Christian community against Genocide and the appeal for the recognition and condemnation of the crime of Genocide has one aim: to prevent such crimes in the every corner of the world… For women and children not be killed, for becoming of our world more beautiful.
The purpose of our today's spiritual singing is to inspire kindness, love, forgiveness and patience in the people, everything that preaches all religions of the world, in particular, the Christian faith, which we profess. In today's concert of spiritual music participates “Makar Yekmalyan” choir of the Cathedral of Saint Gevorg in Tbilisi and choir of the Saint Etchmiadzin church of the Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Holy Church; the choir of the “Holy Mother of God” Cathedral of Georgia’s Catholic church in Tbilisi, “Gloria” choir of the Evangelical – Lutheran Church of Reconciliation in Tbilisi and “Korali” choir of the Evangelical – Baptist Church in Georgia.
The tradition of holding of spiritual music evenings with the participation of choirs has been established several years ago in Georgia and now it has an aim to be continued. Every year, in January, in sequence, Ecumenical Prayer Service is held in the above-mentioned churches and this church becomes the chairman of the Ecumenical Religious Council of Georgia during that year. At the January meeting of the same council, a decision was made to hold a spiritual music evening each year, after the Feast of the Glorious Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The variety of spiritual songs, performances in different languages made more beautiful and original the melodies, songs, hymns and psalms which sound during various feasts and ceremonies in our churches. It moves us into the depths of centuries, when these creations were made and sounded on different occasions in ancient temples, royal palaces and simple rural churches. This singing is like a variety of colors and aromas of different flowers in nature, which grows in spring and beautifies our environment.
The Armenian Apostolic Church in all periods of history has lived and functioned with inter-religious and interfaith dialogue not only with Christians, but also with followers of Muslim, Jewish and other religions. In the 12th century, Nerses the Gracious, Catholicos of All Armenians made some changes in the Armenian Church’s faith, bringing it closer to the Orthodox and the Catholic Churches, the aim of which was to promote the dialogue and unity of Christian churches. Today the Armenian Church is part of the ecumenical movement and with its worldwide spread Dioceses and Hierarchical Sees continues interfaith communication as well as the dialogue with other religious communities. The evidence of all this is our today's united prayer, the sound of united spiritual songs in the Mother Cathedral of the Armenian Diocese in Georgia.
May the centuthries - old melodies and psalms of today’s evening to reach heaven as a prayer and may our Lord Jesus Christ give peace to the souls of all of us, bring love and warmth into our hearts and minds. And continue to love and cherish each other because God himself dwells inside each of us.