President attends festive event on Holy Commander Saint Sargis Day

President of the Republic of Armenia, Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Serzh Sargsyan joined today Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan and Yerevan Mayor Taron Margaryan to attend a festive event dedicated to the Holy Commander Saint Sargis Day, which was held at Saint Sargis Church in Yerevan, presided at by Ararat Diocese primate, Archbishop Navasard Khchoyan.

After the Holy Liturgy, attended by servicemen, members of their families, youth, invitees and faithful people, the church was crowned with the blessing of the deserving hand of the military personnel of the obligatory conscript on the border that contained the relics of St. Sargis, which was brought from Holy Etchmiadzin.

Then, a solemn ceremony of awarding twenty-two soldiers was held in the Prelacy Hall. Servicemen were awarded souvenir crosses from the Ararat diocese with the insignia of Holy Commander Sargis.

The President of the Republic of Armenia made a congratulatory speech on the occasion of the Day of Remembrance of Holy Commander Sargis.

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Serzh Sargsyan's congratulatory speech on the occasion of the Day of Remembrance of the Holy Leader Sargis

Your Eminence!
Dear soldiers,
Dear parents,

I congratulate us all on the feast of Holy Commander Sargis. According to a good tradition, this time we also gathered under the arches of the diocese to raise our prayer to the Lord, asking that God keep safe the Armenian army, the Armenian soldiers and officers so that the souls of our holy martyrs may rest in peace.

Saint Sargis was the patron of the young and the enamored, and being a patron means being an assistant in creating a family.

Homeland and family are protected by force, patience and endurance. Saint Sargis was a selfless leader, and many generations were brought up and protected our homeland with his help, with his assistance, and he always came to the aid of very, very many in difficult times.

Dear soldiers,

I want you to always realize that at this stretch of the eternal path of our people you have the happiness to protect our borders. Indeed, this is happiness, a great honor. And I am grateful to you, in your person - to thousands of Armenian soldiers who honorably fulfill their duty. Of course, I have got acquainted with your personal affairs, I know that you have served well, have letters of appreciation, incentives, and I can see your badges of a brave fighter.

I want to wish you a good service. I want you and thousands of Armenian soldiers to return home, set up families because you really deserve a better life and respect.

You see that our State not only needs your service, but it also stands next to you. Each of you after the army service will have the opportunity to get education, master a professional, and all the way through this long path, the State, the Ministry of Defense will stand by you.
Five years, ten years, fifteen, twenty years later, you will have to tell the then soldiers, the Armenian youth that their duty is to protect the homeland, it is the duty of all of us to support them. This is my advice to you.

Dear parents,

I want to express my gratitude to you for raising such brave sons. I understand very well the hardships you went trough in bringing up these guys, thousands of such guys who with pride and heartfelt excitement are being sent to the Armenian army. This used to be the historical mission of Armenian women, Armenian mothers, otherwise, we would have perished on the fatal crossroads of history just as many other peoples did.

And may you always be accompanied by the gratitude of our society. I beg you, do not listen to different gossip. Each of us must build his own line of behavior not at the behest of others, but according to his own understanding, according to his moral appearance.

I want to assure all of you that we are doing everything so that your brave sons have enough resources to defend the fatherland, our borders, our families and our honor. And be sure, there will come a time when again there will be need for a defender of the fatherland, but the situation will be completely different. At that time, the degree of pride of all of us will be such that it will make us feel happy.

And, as always, dear soldiers, you will receive a ten-day vacation to communicate with your parents, your relatives, why not, with your favorite girls. Gather new strength, energy to better fulfill your duties.

I wish you a good service. Remember always, the best soldier is the soldier who fulfills his duties and returns to civilian life.

Thank you all.