InternationalA deacon becomes a priest in an historic event for Indian-Armenian community
Holy Armenian treasure in Saidabad was once abandoned
Published: Wednesday November 19, 2008
Michael Aivazian of Southern California, great grandson of the caretaker of the Holy Virgin Mary Church in Saidabad, places earth from his great grandfather's grave in Tangra on the grave of his great grandmother, Mary Carapetian at the church. Tamar Kevonian
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Saidabad, India - The Service of Calling ceremony for Deacon Harutyun Hambardzumyan, who was ordained by Catholicos Karekin II as Father Avedis on Saturday, November 15, took place a day before at the Holy Virgin Mary Church in Saidabad.
The Saidabad church sits on 12 acres of land in a remote suburb of the city of Hyderabad, where no Armenian lives. It was once abandoned and a former chairperson of the Armenian Community Council of India wanted to give it away until the Indian-Armenian community and the Armenian Church intervened.
"The Saidabad church is hours and hours away from Kolkata," said pastor of the Armenian Church in India, Very Rev. Fr. Oshagan Gulgulian. "But after you come here, you receive a spiritual fulfillment."
Fr. Gulgulian then quoted poet Vahan Tekeyan's, "the Armenian Church is the birthplace of my soul," to explain the spiritual renewal pilgrims experience when they reach the Holy Virgin Mary Church, its pristine grounds, chapel, and two lakes.
Karekin II, who officiated at the service, bishops and archbishops with a 26-member choir in tow, and more pilgrims from around the world journeyed to Saidabad on Friday, November 14, to participate in the Service of Calling ceremony.
"When you see an Armenian church, Armenian graves, you feel a sense of spirituality, a sense of belonging as an Armenian. You feel so proud," said Fr. Gulgulian.
The pastor also said that wherever Armenians go, they build a church and a school, and even though there are no Armenians in Saidabad, the Armenian church still stands.
"When you look at the dates, 1780, 1760, you realize that our ancestors came all the way to India and settled in Mushidabad," said Fr. Gulgulian. "They built a church that still stands. This tells you who we are as a nation, as a people."
Saidabad is some 150 miles north of Kolkata. Reaching it entails a seven-hour bus ride through a two-lane street. The congested, narrow roads are full of potholes and patches of dirt breaking up the asphalt. Random trucks are parked at random points in the middle of route. Cows and bullock carts share the road with stray dogs, bicycle rickshaws, and pedestrians.
"As the pastor of the Armenian Church in India, I try to do my best to come here once or twice a year to celebrate the Divine Liturgy and to have a service, requiem, and mass," said Fr. Gulgulian. "I love coming here. Deacon Harutyun and I come, and we spend time here, and sometimes hear our forefathers talking to us. We hear their voices, because they are also happy that we haven't abandoned them, and that we are praying for them, and are proud of them."
The Mogul emperor gave Armenians a parcel of land here in 1665, and a successful Armenian merchant built the Holy Virgin Mary Church when Armenians lived in the area when it was near the capital of Bengal .
Service of Calling
"Vehapar chose Saidabad for this service in commemoration of the 300th anniversary of the establishment of the Holy Nazareth Church of Kolkata," said Rev. Fr. Ktrij Devejian, official interpreter for the Catholicos and foreign press secretary at Etchmiadzin. "It was also chosen in recognition of the fact that Deacon Harutyun served here so selflessly and with such great energy and vigor."
Fr. Devejian said an ordination of an Armenian priest may not have taken place in India for more than a century, and the ordination services in Saidabad are now part of the continuation of the making of history for the Indian-Armenian community.
"His Holiness wanted to make it a special event in the life of the Indian-Armenian community as well as a special event in the life of Deacon Harutyun and his family," said Fr. Devejian. "So, the decision was made to select an Armenian church that was created on the land of India centuries ago to show that the continuity remained, that there is still life for Armenians in India and an ordination in this church."
As the Service of Calling ceremony took place inside the Holy Virgin Mary Church, the pontiff asked the bishops around him who was sponsoring Deacon Harutyun into the priesthood.
The Catholicos then asked whether the Deacon was joining the priesthood under duress or under obligation, and whether anyone had forced him to come.
Having determined that Deacon Harutyun was at the service out of his own free will, Karekin II asked the bishops and archbishops present whether the deacon had true faith.
The Catholicos asked Deacon Harutyun's sponsors whether the deacon had acquired the knowledge needed by a priest, knew the testaments, the writings of the Church Fathers, patristics - the study of early Christian writers - and theology.
"When the answers are in the affirmative," said Fr. Devejian, "then the question is asked, ‘Does he have the moral standing, does he have the moral character to be a priest?'"
Knowledge is important, Fr. Devejian told the Armenian Reporter, "but he also has to have the moral fortitude to withstand the rigors of service. The answer was again given in the affirmative."
Since Deacon Harutyun is married, the Catholicos asked his wife whether she was willing that he become a priest.
After hearing the affirmative answer, and after all in the church had attested to the deacon's abilities, his knowledge, and his moral standing, the Catholicos asked the deacon directly whether he had faith.
Once all the answers were given in the affirmative, Deacon Harutyun recited the Nicene Creed, the summarized doctrine of the church.
