And for this we are thankful.... - Armenian Reporter

The Armenian Reporter | November 22, 2008 13Communityevent for Indian-Armenian community Continued from page 12through this very same ceremonyat Etchmiadzin and became thefirst U.S.-native to be ordained atthe Mother See.“He had to renounce the hereticsthat the church had renouncedfrom the first century on forward,”said Fr. Devejian, “and in the end,the Vehapar laid his right hand onhim as part of the apostolic successionthat took the deacon down theroad to priesthood.”Reaction“The ceremony was a special event,”said Deacon Harutyun after the servicein Saidabad. “I prepared for itover the course of a long time. It’shard for me to describe the emotionsand thoughts, and perhaps it won’tbe that easy to explain, because youare offering your life to the churchand to God to serve wholly.”Deacon Harutyun – now Fr.Avedis – told the Armenian Reporterthat the path to priesthoodrequired a lot of preparation, andthat he had made his decision tobecome a priest far in advance ofcoming to serve as administrator ofthe Armenian College and PhilanthropicAcademy in India.“I come from a family of believers,”he said. “From a young age, I knewthat I wanted to study at the ArmenianCollege and serve the Church.Since then, these dreams have formulated,and after graduating andbecoming a deacon, I was convincedthat this was the path to take.”Deacon Harutyun said it was anhonor and that he was grateful toGod that the Catholicos himselfofficiated at the Service of Callingceremony and at the ordination.Among those attending theService of Calling ceremony wereHelena Cray and her family, theAivazians. Ms. Cray’s grandparentsMatevous and Mary Carapetianwere the caretakers of the Holy VirginMary Church for decades.“Hearing the choir in the churchwas like the angels were singingfor my grandparents” said Ms.Cray. “It was bringing up a lot ofmemories. Growing up here, I donot recall service being held here.It was only after my grandparentspassed away that they had an actualservice here, and we came andwe attended.”Ms. Cray said the Friday pilgrimagewill forever be added to theother memories that linger in thewalls of Saidabad.“It is nice to know where mygrandparents rest in peace, thechurch bells rings once again,” saidMs. Cray. “The echoes of peopletalking here today, and just knowingthat we are remembering thosewho rest in peace here is what I willremember always.”Ms. Cray’s mother, Lucy Aivazian,was born and raised at thegrounds of the church in Saidabad.When she had come to visit in1991, the Holy Virgin Mary Churchwas in absolute ruins. When shereturned in 2006, it had been renovatedand she was very surprised.“The first time when I came in2006, I didn’t know whether to cry,to laugh or to be happy or to be sad,”said Mrs. Aivazian. “I felt that I’vecome home.”Mrs. Aivazian said when she visitedin 2006 after the church andgrounds were renovated, she wasextremely overjoyed and surprisedat the sights.“The bishop from Australia camewith us two years ago,” said Mrs.Aivazian. “He saw the place, and hesaid this was a jewel in the jungle.He said he never, ever expected thisand that he was going to go backInside the Holy Virgin Mary Church in Saidabad.and tell everybody that they haveto visit this place and see what ajewel it is.”Mrs. Aivazian said she was veryhappy, because witnessing thechurch services in her birthplacewith her were her son, who had notseen the church grounds since 1991.Mrs. Aivasian had also brought herdaughter-in-law, also named Lucy,and her grandsons Dante and Michaelto Saidabad for the first time.“It was a great reunion, and I feellike I’m with my parents,” Mrs.Aivazian said. “My mom is buriedhere. What my husband Peter didwas he brought some earth frommy father’s grave in Tangra andput it on my mother’s grave, andhe said, ‘Now I have joined themtogether.’”In addition to earth from Mrs.Avazian’s father’s grave, PeterAivazian brought to India handmadecrosses and lecterns that hepersonally made.The former ironworker from Kolkatareceived special recognitionfrom Karekin II at the Saturdayevening banquet at the Taj BengalHotel, where community membersgathered for the culmination dinnerof the weeklong 300th anniversarycelebrations.Liz Chater from the UnitedKingdom, who helped organizedthe pilgrimages with Ms. Cray, saidat the banquet that she was verymoved by the events this week thatincluded pilgrimages to churches,chapels, and cemeteries in Saidabad,Chennai, Chinsura, Tangra,and Kolkata.“It was thought provoking,” saidMs. Chater, whose vocation and avocationare researching the Indiansof Armenia. “It was just everything,more than I could possible haveimagined. I’m very, very touchedand privileged beyond belief thatI’m actually here to share this300th anniversary. It’s really a very,very special occasion.”Saidabad – nearlyabandonedArmenian Community Councilwarden Susan Reuben said thatshe first was told about the churchin Saidabad when she was elected awarden in 1997.“When I went on to my secondyear, that was when the chairpersonof that time said that it was abeautiful place,” said Ms. Reuben.“But the chairperson told us thatsince Saidabad is so far, since therewas nobody out there to look afterthe place, and since it was just inruins, she had planned to give theproperty away.”The decision to abandon the Armenianhistory and legacy in Saidabadby Sonia John, the formerchairperson of the Armenian CommunityCouncil of India, didn’t sitwell with other members.“We were not very happy aboutit,” said Mrs. Reuben. “We didn’twant to give away our properties.So Queeny Sobpr and I decided tomake a trip up here to see what theplace looked like.”Ms. Reuben said the journey wasvery sentimental for Mrs. Sobpr,since her family, the Aivazians, hadbeen part of the history of Saidabad.“Even I felt the place really hadsomething really special,” said Ms.Reuben about her first visit. “It gotinto me, and we decided that no,somehow we have got to hold on tothis place.”Ms. Reuben said that upon theirreturn to Kolkata, the committeevoted to save this treasure of theArmenian Church.“Mrs. John didn’t like it, becausewe stood up against her,” she explained.“Then we made two orthree trips. We spoke a lot aboutthe place, but really nothing happenedbecause Queeny expired.Her son Sunil then came on thescene, and he took over where sheleft off. We started making tripsout here and getting people to seethe place, making estimates to seehow we could do it up. We finallygot to work, and it took us sometime but then you can see the resultsfor yourself.”Ms. Reuben said when she cameto Saidabad for the first time in1997, the property was encroachedupon; the land and lake were beingused by villagers. She said that thechurch was in ruins, had no roof,and there were snakes in the wallsof the structure.“When the villagers saw us comingout here, they didn’t knowwho we were, and they thoughtwe’ve come to take over theirplace,” she said. “So they werevery agitated, and they tried toattack us. But we had our peoplewith us also. There were talks,and there were fights. But eventually,we managed to get ourplace back. We managed to get alot, but there’s still a lot of landwe cannot get back.”Asked by the Armenian Reporterto elaborate on the “fights,” Ms.Reuben said there were physicalfights with armed villagers, whohad weapons and bombs.“You know villagers, how theyfight, and screaming and shoutingand creating chaos all over theplace, and trying to collect crowdsto push us away,” she said. “But wewere not afraid of anything, becausewe were doing somethinggood. So we kept on with it, andGod was with us.”“We were actually taken aback,”said committee member SunilSobpr. “We never expected anythingof the sort. It took a while tosort these things out.”Mr. Sobpr said he conducted asearch in the records of the Republicof India to determine how muchof the property around the HolyVirgin Mary Church belonged tothe Armenian community.“We salvaged most of the land,but there’s still a lot more,” said Mr.Sobpr. “We demolished some temporaryhuts and walls, but we cannotmake these people homeless.We got back the land which theyweren’t using. We at least managedto get that back, and let’s see whatwe can do in the future.”Catholicos’ commentsAt the banquet at the Taj Bengal onSaturday night, Catholicos KarekinII told those gathered that someonehad asked him why so much effortwas being exerted at such great expenseto preserve these Armenianproperties in India when the Indian-Armenian community was so smalland its churches were silent.“These churches are indeed living,”said the Catholicos. “They arebreathing houses of worship. Theyare not just simply stones. Theyare prayers, living prayers, becausethey are our history, and they arepart of our identity.”The Catholicos said that to allowthe Armenian treasures in Indiato disappear would be reconcilingwith the end of Armenia andArmenians’ national identity andbeing.“A nation is made up of the sumof its part,” said the Catholicos. “Tocare for these separate parts is tomake them meaningful within ourlives. These sacred relics are thesource and inspiration for our identity.The renovation, the reorientationof the Armenian College andour churches shall continue. Weshall continue to build and makethem stronger and make the Armeniancommunity in India stronger.”The pastor of the Indian-Armeniancommunity, Fr. Gulgulian quotedpoet Bedros Tourian’s poem “MyDeath” when asked about Saidabad.“Tourian wrote, ‘Whenever youremember me, at that time, I’malive. The minute that you forgetabout me, then I will die,’” said Fr.Gulgulian. “As long as we rememberour ancestors, our forefathers,they will be living with us. They willbe alive in us, even though they aresix feet under. They are living withus, because we are rememberingthem.”Fr. Gulgulian said that when thepilgrims come to Saidabad, thesouls of those buried there rejoice.The biggest challenge of the ArmenianChurch faces in India accordingto Fr. Gulgulian is the lack ofArmenians and the lack of peoplecoming to visit these holy shrines.“Very few Armenians are left, andwe have, with our exaggerated numbers,about 200 all over India, plusthe students at the Armenian College,”said Fr. Gulgulian. “Our hopeis that every decade, two or three ofthe students will stay and live hereand start a new life in India, wherewe can live to a new birth to theArmenian community, sort of newbeginnings that will be.”Fr. Gulgulian said that the communityhas the resources, and hopesthat Armenians from the embattledregions of Iraq will move to India,even if only for a few years.“If they don’t want to live the restof their life here, if they stay, let’ssay for five years, that will also begood,” said Fr. Gulgulian. “Becausethat will attract as much as possible,and will give longevity to the life ofthe community.”The pastor said the Church haslots of space and can take care ofthose who come to India.“We have facilities to build morehomes for our people, for themto come and live and work. We’llsponsor, and we’ll assist them inevery way,” he said.Abandoning Armenian churchesis the continuation of the genocide,said Fr. Gulgulian.“As long as we go and we take careof these places, we’ll rejuvenate,”he said. “Three years ago, this wasa devastated zone, and today, it’sa jewel. It’s up to us, everywherearound the world to do the same,to keep our education centers, ourcultural homes, our churches open,to teach our children.” connect:http://armenianchurch.in/Trustee contributions to the agmmFinancial contributions by former and current members of the Board ofTrustees of Armenian Genocide Museum and Memorial (agmm) for thebenefit of the agmm as of September 2006.