On August 16, 2015, the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church celebrated the Feast of the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God. The Fourth Tabernacle Feast , the oldest feast dedicated to the Holy Mother of God was solemnly marked in all the churches of the Armenian Diocese in Georgia.

From the morning, the Tbilisi Saint Etchmiadzin Church and its courtyard were crowded. The church was traditionally decorated with different types of grape and other fruits provided by the church’s Godfather, Yuri Yeremyan.

After the morning service, the Andastan ceremony was conducted - the Blessing of the Four Corners of the World.Then the Primate of the Armenian Diocese in Georgia, His Grace Bishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan conducted the Divine Liturgy. The ceremony was attended by the RA Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Sergo Karapetyan, who brought the sweetest types of grapes from the motherland. The representatives of the intelligentsia, the diocese officials and many of the believers were also in attendance at the celebration

The congregation, as a sign of their devotion, continued to file into the church holding baskets full of fruits in order to participate to the service of the Blessing of Grapes.

During the Divine Liturgy, His Grace read a sermon on the sacrament of the day and the nature of the Holy Mother of God, and then delivered the service of the Blessing of Grapes.

The Divine Liturgies and the services of the Blessing of Grapes were also conducted in the churches of Samtskhe-Javakheti, Batumi, Kvemo Kartli, and and in other regions of Georgia.

This year, the Feast was celebrated in a special way in the Surb Grigor Lusavorich Church (Saint Gregory the Illuminator) in the city of Akhaltsikhe, where the Divine Liturgy and the Blessing of Grapes were offered by the Prelate of Samtskhe-Javakheti's General Prelacy, Archimandrite Ter Babgen Salbiyan. During the day, the priests of the Samtskhe-Javakheti’s General Prelacy also conducted services and blessing ceremonies in different communities.

Many guests from Armenia attended the Divine Liturgy dedicated to the Feast of the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God in Batumi at the Surb Prkich Church (Saint Savior). After the Blessing of Grapes, Rev. Fr. Ter Ararat Gumbalyan blessed the pots presented to the church by Andranik Karavardanyan and Khachik Gumbalyan for the “Blessing of Water” and the “Blessing of Grapes” ceremonies. Afterwards, the Matagh (Thanksgiving Animal Sacrifice) was offered by Karen Karapetyan and his family.

On Monday morning the churches of the Armenian Diocese will conduct the Divine Liturgies in remembrance of the dead.