As the Church continues to celebrate the joy of Easter, our gaze remains fixed on the life in abundance that Christ has bestowed upon us through His crucifixion and resurrection. It is in this spirit that we invite you to commemorate the martyred saints of the Armenian Genocide, who, through their witness, have paved for our nation the path toward eternal life.

In the words attributed to the prominent writer Ilya Ehrenburg, within Armenian culture the boundary between the living and the departed is blurred, for we remember the dead in daily life. Thus, those who lived before us continue to live alongside us. This is why remembrance holds such importance in our culture and spiritual life: we pray for the reposed and ask their intercession, and they, in turn, pray for us, the living. This spiritual togetherness holds both joy and sorrow at once.

His Beatitude Torkom Manoogian, the late Patriarch of Jerusalem, rightfully described April 24 as սգատօն—a feast, a celebration of mourning—an oxymoron that holds together grief and hope in a way no other language can fully capture.

Indeed, April 24 is not only a day of remembrance, mourning, and grief, but also a proclamation of the empty tomb—of life revealed through resurrection—as symbolized in the Armenian cross adorned with blooming branches, the Tree of Life.

Indeed, the message of the Gospel is life, and the mission of the Church is life.

Therefore, as we remember, we do not remain in sorrow alone. We remember with faith, we bear witness with dignity, and we live in a way that honors the sacrifice of our martyrs—by choosing life, by building, by preserving, and by passing on the faith entrusted to us.

May we continue to honor the martyrdom of our saints through lives lived with purpose and meaning, through acts of kindness, and through deeds of mercy and righteousness.