Bishop Hovakim Visits Armenian Community in Cardiff

The Armenian community in Cardiff welcomed Bishop Hovakim Manukyan, Primate of the Armenian Diocese of the United Kingdom and Ireland, to St Garabed Armenian Church on Sunday, 23 August 2026, for the Divine Liturgy, Blessing of Grapes and a community gathering. Bishop Hovakim travelled from London accompanied by deacons to worship with the Armenian faithful in Wales.

During the Divine Liturgy, he delivered a sermon entitled “The Temple of the Living God,” taking as his central text the words of St Paul: “For we are the temple of the living God” (2 Corinthians 6:16).

The sermon explored the Christian understanding that God seeks not only to dwell in sacred buildings but also within the lives of His people.

Bishop Hovakim reflected particularly on the example of the Holy Mother of God, describing the Virgin Mary as the living temple who received Christ first through faith and obedience and then carried Him in her womb.

He told the congregation that Mary’s response to the Annunciation — “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” — represented the offering of an entire life to God.

“What kind of temple are we?”

Turning to the everyday Christian life, Bishop Hovakim asked the congregation to consider what God finds when He enters the human heart.

“Does He find faith or fear? Humility or pride? Forgiveness or resentment? Compassion or indifference?” he asked.

He said Christians should care for their spiritual lives with the same reverence with which they care for a consecrated church. Drawing on C. S. Lewis’s image of the human person as a house which God enters and rebuilds, the bishop said Christian transformation could sometimes be difficult because God seeks not simply to make people comfortable, but to make them holy.

“God loves us as we are, but He loves us too much to leave us as we are,” Bishop Hovakim said.

The sermon also reflected on the Gospel account of the Virgin Mary visiting Elizabeth. Bishop Hovakim said Mary brought joy into Elizabeth’s home because she carried Christ within her. He encouraged Christians to ask whether their own presence brings peace, encouragement and compassion to those around them.

“A Christian should be someone through whom others encounter something of the kindness, peace and mercy of Christ,” he said.

Blessing of Grapes

At the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, the traditional Blessing of Grapes, known in Armenian as Khaghoghorhnek, was conducted.

The ceremony is closely associated with the Feast of the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God and is one of the Armenian Apostolic Church’s traditional blessings of the first fruits of the harvest.

The Cardiff service took place on the second Sunday following the Feast of the Assumption, allowing the local community to continue its celebration of the feast and participate in the traditional blessing.

Following the church service, Bishop Hovakim, the visiting deacons and members of the congregation joined a community gathering and shared fellowship.

The visit formed part of the Diocese’s continuing pastoral ministry to Armenian communities across Great Britain and Ireland, including communities beyond the two principal Armenian churches in London.

Concluding his sermon, Bishop Hovakim prayed that Christians might become living temples of God:

“May our minds become dwelling places of truth, our hearts sanctuaries of love, our lips sources of blessing, and our hands instruments of mercy.”