Your Grace,
V. Rev. Fathers,
Rev. Fathers,
Honored guests and delegates,

I have the honored duty to give you the fatherly blessings of His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, and wish you complete success in your mission for the advancement of our church.

On the occasion of the opening of this august body, our hearts are filled with gratitude, and we greet you with our fatherly blessings, Christian faith, and with warmth and love.

It is our heartfelt prayer that during the coming days of this Assembly our sessions will be productive, helpful, and constructive, as we examine the work accomplished last year and make plans for the year ahead.

We have special and affectionate greetings on behalf of the Religious and Executive Councils, to the pastor of St. Sarkis Church in Dearborn, Michigan, Rev. Fr. Daron Stepanian, the Board of Trustees, and the affiliated and sister organizations, whose hospitality we enjoy and who create an atmosphere that assures the success of our meetings. We express our loving greetings also to the faithful of St. Sarkis Church, whose faithfulness and dedication toward our church set an exemplary and encouraging example.

Dear Faithful,

We gather every year during the month of May, because for many decades those dedicated individuals who have been concerned with the well-being of the life of our community have considered it their sacred duty to administer spiritual and national sustenance to the children of our nation, to turn our community life meaningful, purposeful for our church and nation and our motherland. In this way we give our children a sense of belonging, a firm identity and consciousness, because without these the flame that Haig, our nation’s patriarch, rooted, that emanated from the Illuminator, and intensified by Sahag-Mesrob for our nation throughout our history will be extinguished.

Zealousness is itself an internal flame. Zealousness itself feeds the fire. Zealousness keeps our intellectual and spiritual beings functioning, our will firm, and our faith persistent.

An incident that occurred on the day of Christ’s Resurrection is related in the New Testament. When two of Jesus’ disciples go from Jerusalem to Emmaus, on the road they are suddenly joined by the resurrected Christ, but they do not recognize Him. Jesus asks them what they were speaking about. Surprised, they ask, “Are you the only person in Jerusalem who does not know what happened these days?” And when Jesus pretends not to know, they begin to explain about the teachings of Jesus and his miraculous deeds. And they add that same Jesus, who was buried, was resurrected today.

The story continues this way, and when they reach Emmaus, the disciples invite the stranger to join them for dinner. Jesus barely breaks and blesses the bread when the disciples recognize Him, and Jesus takes leave of them.

And the disciples say to each other: “Had not our hearts been inflamed?”

Yes, the flame was within them, something troubled them, and their hearts were crushed, but they did not know why, until the miracle happened. That miracle is the flame which must burn in our leaders, to prod them in the performance of their duties with fastidiousness, appreciation, and protection of our values, but especially with faithfulness to our forefathers—a faithfulness that is not just words and feeling, but faithfulness with total dedication and sacrifice.

As our Prelacy and affiliated communities prepare to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Prelacy under the jurisdiction of the Holy See of Cilicia, our minds go in two directions with thoughts that spring from the zeal we have for our church, thoughts that kindle the flame within us.

A. The Armenian Church—the most noble gift given to our people—from its very beginning has had her historic mission. Built on the rock of Christ, spread by the apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew, illuminated and nationalized through the efforts of St. Gregory the Illuminator, it was adopted by our people and became like the “color of our skin.” The Armenian Church is that spiritual and intellectual terminal and treasure which next to our love of Christ gave us love toward our people. The noble goal of the Armenian Church—salvation—was affixed and formed in the minds and souls of our people. Her soul mixed and gave impetus to its creative imagination and with imperishable cultural values gave a unique character to the Armenians. The Armenians’ house of prayer turned into a place of congregation for all of us. Anointed with the sweet sounding songs of mysterious melodies, she became a place of inspiration. She became a loving and tender mother, a sacred road towards God. Even when the bells were crushed, they echoed and the hymns became victory. Any true Armenian and genius who understand the philosophy of our existence, would agree with Vahan Tekeyan, who recognized the sacredness of the Armenian Church and her motherly womb and devotion, because, “The Armenian Church is the birthplace of my soul.”

Our initial thoughts are about the house built by God, our mother church, which distributed the grace of salvation and became the distributor of God’s light, bringing intellectual illumination from the mind’s darkness, and we remained faithful to Christ, faithful to our saints, martyrs, and patriarchs.

Last February when on the occasion of the Feast of St. Ghevontiantz the clergy of the Eastern, Western and Canadian prelacies met, our focus was on the zeal of the Armenian clergymen in their mission—zeal towards God and the church. Zeal in the work of the clergy in our ministry for our beliefs and work. Zeal for the healthy protection of our people and family. We conferred, we spoke, and we expect that our mission will be realized, so that we can come before God with an “open forehead” [patz jagad] when asked for an accounting of our labor. Yes, in our service we are expected to reflect God. Are we worthy of this exceptional honor?

B. The Armenian Church, as a God-established entity, with a religious and educational mission, is not self-serving, nor an end in itself. The church does not continue to exist for itself, but is geared toward the faithful, which becomes a mission through the unity of their permanent presence, prayer and liturgy. This requires that we (1) remain faithful to her principles and (2) to reach out and bring in the new generation.

1. The Armenian Church in its flexible understanding of theology has never turned away from its basic principles. The church has looked to the basic theological, liturgical, and ecclesiastical mission with a spirit of traditional and conservative understanding, but at the same time making changes which do not contradict her essence or reality. Her spirituality has been expressed not only by the writing of the theologian patriarchs, but her spiritual life has been a precise image of its prayers, hymns and even ritual, ceremony, and through canon laws, actions and symbols. In other words, the Armenian Church has kept its unique image unchanged, while in secondary matters adapting to given circumstances and situations. Of course, it is necessary to strengthen the roots of a tree before its fruit can be strengthened. The healthy survival of those roots is essential. We have the obligation to keep the inner flame burning, zealously coming closer to our church’s canons. The inner walls of a building can be re-arranged, beautified, but we cannot, and we do not have the right, to change the foundation of the Armenian Church in order to satisfy new situations. We are the keepers of this holy institution, the supporters of her originality and the fulfillers of her obligations.

Therefore, it is necessary to recognize to strengthen and preserve this spiritual treasure to polish its uniqueness and to transfer it to our next generation by emphasizing the faithfulness to her principles and canons and by turning the church into a true church where God speaks to us and brings us closer to Him.

2. The mission of the church is a continuous stream, to preach the Gospel, to illuminate the souls of our children, to educate their minds, and to kindle in them the flame of our spiritual, national and cultural values, so that they recognize our sacred forefathers and strive to emulate them. The church cannot view its surroundings, the faithful, the deterioration of ethical values, and social corruption with indifference. The church is not a pleasure boat, but a rescue boat, a life-saving and salvific raft. She must labor constantly; she must remain awake and alert, in order not to lose a single person entrusted to her care. Of course, without doubt, we will encounter difficulties during our endeavors. Our social structures, far from our motherland, by necessity are reluctantly affected by the obligation of its surroundings. But we cannot sacrifice our faithfulness to our church’s spiritual values simply to please people. We should not confuse the western concept of freedom with anarchy. The “charm” of secularism must not blind the eye of our soul. Deceitful pleasures should not extinguish the flame that sizzles in us. On the contrary we must know how to separate the chaff from the wheat and in any event to toil tirelessly for its vital growth. I believe that with this zealousness we will move closer to our church. The best evidence of this is the fact that 110 years have passed since the formation of the Armenian Church in North America, fifty years have passed since our affiliation with the Great House of Cilicia and our church is better organized, more widespread and stronger. On the other hand we hear alarms. In our process of re-organization and development, indifference, the comfortable and pleasant lifestyle, hurt and pollute the pure souls and unshakeable dedication and sacrifice of our fathers. We are going to protect our family, her unity and inner strength—both our church family and also our greater immediate family. We must become more mindful of our children’s spiritual health and national education. This is not just the work of one group. It cannot be accomplished alone by educated and capable clergymen, but by collective and dedicated efforts. You are the dedicated representatives and workers—our delegates, members of our boards of trustees, teachers, educators and especially the Armenian family.

Our people wait for shepherds in their spiritual field. “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” Let us work toward attracting talented laborers and prepare them for positions as leaders, instructors, educators, and teachers for the glory of the Armenian Church and for the welfare of our beloved people.

It is time to work. Do not allow the flame that burns within you to be extinguished.

Archbishop Oshagan
Prelate
Armenian Apostolic Church of America
Eastern Prelacy

May 17, 2007