On 28th April 2016, Archbishop Suheil attended the Armenian Maundy Thursday service at St James’ Cathedral. There is a long tradition (dating back to the days of the British Mandate) of the Anglican Archbishop reading the Gospel at this service, demonstrating the friendship between the two churches.
At the service, the singing was led by a choir from the Armenian seminary in Jerusalem. The Armenian Patriarch, His Beatitude Nourhan Manougian, led the service and washed the feet of Armenian bishops and priests. Once his Beatitude had washed the feet he anointed them with butter. The presence of butter has been explained as firstly as symbolising the anointment of Christ by Mary and secondly because in the harsh climate of historic Armenia olives did not grow, so butter was used for anointing. The butter once blessed and used for anointing, is given to the congregation who can use it for a variety of purposes, such as anointing the sick and elderly members of the family unable to attend the services.
