A call of the Primate of Artsakh Diocese for youth

Dear youth,

We pray and bring you our warm congratulations on the occasion of the feast of St. Sarkis, glorified as the protector of youth and love, which gives meaning to the lives of young people. The sacrament of this holiday is significant and extremely important, especially in these days, when our country is going through difficult trials. Serviceman, youth and family: these three important concepts arise in our minds when we think about the image of St. Sarkis and the church holiday dedicated to him. The holiday, established centuries ago, seems to provide the keys and formulas for the salvation of the nation today. And this is natural, because this is the holiday of Love, and Love never disappears (1 Cor. 13:8) and is always modern.

There is no need to elegantly and eloquently explain who is a soldier and a warrior for the Armenian people because, after the last war, our wounds have not yet healed, the memories of the exploits of our martyrs are still fresh, most of whom were as young as you.

Dear youth, you are the driving force behind the existence of our country, because from your ranks the defenders of the country are born and new families are formed. What our tomorrow will be depends to a large extent on your behavior today and your values. If we look back to the recent past, we will see that the basis of the Artsakh movement was the youth of the university, your fathers and mothers, who brought this movement to the end with their struggle and martyrdom.

The next value in our national life is the Armenian Family. In order to understand the value and role of the family more deeply, we consider it appropriate to quote the words of Muratsan, which are spoken by Gevorg Marzpetuni. “The strength of peoples lies in families ... A strong nation is a nation that has strong families, families that live in love, unity, virtuous and faithful coexistence ... Just as a plant whose roots have withered or rotted cannot live, neither can a people whose families are corrupted and where love, unity, virtue, and especially the fear of God, are far from them. Unfortunately, today in our country there is no shortage of fragile families, adultery and separation. Today, the Armenian family system is under threat, and the idea of ​​the traditional family and the sacred Armenian hearth is being distorted in various ways.

Dear ones, marriage is more than youthful emotions and emotional outbursts, and it involves a conscious and voluntary commitment, mutual respect and understanding. When falling in love passes, which is inevitable in most cases, the problem of maintaining the union arises. You should seriously approach the sacrament of marriage, choose a life partner not only with feelings, but also with the mind given to you. If you have promised before God to look after each other and be each other's protector until death, then do everything so that nothing violates your union, if you do not want to sacrifice your family, sometimes sacrifice your interests. Try to turn falling in love into lasting love.

What prevents us today from acting with the same zeal? Today, when Mother Armenia and Artsakh, like parent and child, are artificially separated from each other, when children are far from their parents, relatives have not an opportunity to enjoy the presence of each other - dear youth, our hope and faith are again on you that you will not lose your dignity and be the masters of our sacred land.

Unfortunately, love has decreased in our families, and love has decreased in our large family - in our Motherland, and therefore it managed to divide our family by external forces. Therefore, dear ones, having united around the sacrament of the feast of St. Sarkis and realizing well that the salvation of our family mainly depends on us, let's be filled with love, patience, and determination to resist adversity, and we will see that God will again bless our unity and grant us a peaceful and prosperous life.