For Armenians, patriarch stirs a renaissance of faith

MICHELE MARR

St. Mary Armenian Apostolic Church will take a place in history

tonight when it greets His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and

Catholicos of All Armenians, on his first stop during a 20-day visit

to the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America and

Orange County.

For Armenians, of which there are several hundred in Huntington

Beach -- including 200 members of St. Mary, this is equivalent to a

local Roman Catholic parish entertaining a visit by the Roman

pontiff. The difference, teased Archpriest Fr. Moushegh Tashjian when

I met with him recently, is that “the president comes to greet the

pope.”

President or not, the event holds great significance for Fr.

Tashjian’s congregation.

“There is big excitement. Big excitement,” said Rose

Kaskavalciyan, a founding member of the church and chairwoman of its

Ladies Society.

At the church, a full-color, glossy poster -- nearly as tall as me

(some of you know, I’m five feet) -- graced both a front window and a

large bulletin board in Fesjian Hall, announcing the patriarch’s

visit and boldly pinpointing the numerous stops he would make on a

map of the West. St. Mary is the first visit on his tour.

Kaskavalciyan has met His Holiness Karekin II before. Last year

when she and her husband John visited Ejmiatsin, Armenia -- the

center of authority for the worldwide Armenian Apostolic Church and

the residence of its supreme patriarch -- she was able to thank him

personally for the St. Nerses Shnorhali (Armenian for “grace-filled”)

Medal, which he had awarded her for many years of leadership and

service in the church.

“Because I was so moved by my experience [in Ejmiatsin], I’m happy

for our people who have never been there to experience the joy of

seeing the head of our church and to be with him,” she said.

“Especially, I’m very happy this will be a great experience, a

memorable experience for the children.”

The children will be involved in all aspects of the patriarch’s

visit at St. Mary, welcoming him outside the church, singing in the

church and participating in the service. At the reception afterward

in the church’s social hall, they will entertain members and guests

with traditional Armenian music and dance.

“It offers them a sense of pride, a feeling of belonging

somewhere, getting his blessing. We need those blessings, especially

these days,” Kaskavalciyan said.

For her, Karekin II’s visit is an enormous privilege for her

church community, but also for all of the tens of thousands of

Armenians in Orange County and beyond. She pointed out that some of

those at the service tonight will have come from outside the county,

from places as far as San Diego.

“It’s a great honor [for] everyone who comes to participate,”

Kaskavalciyan said.

Aram and Terez Bassenian, longtime members of St. Mary, will

receive the St. Gregory the Illuminator Medal -- the highest honor of

the Armenian Church -- from His Holiness Karekin II for their

dedication and philanthropy to many charities and institutions in the

Armenian community.

Costa Mesa Mayor Allan R. Mansoor will be there to honor His

Holiness Karekin II with a proclamation, and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher

will present him with a resolution.

Every organization in the church has helped to plan the event,

which is expected to draw a massive crowd. City police will help with

the traffic, which is likely to press the capacity of St. Mary’s

large parking lot. Hagop and Salpi’s La Fogata Catering in Sherman

Oaks is providing European and traditional finger foods for what is

predicted to be a standing-room-only crowd.

There will be one table for Karekin II and other clergy. Rose

hopes things will go as planned and each person there will be able to

approach the patriarch, kiss his hand and receive his blessing.

This pontifical visit is the second to North America for Karekin

II, who first visited in 2001, three years after he was elected the

Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos in 1999. It will take the uncommonly

young 53-year-old chief shepherd of seven million Armenian Apostolic

Christians from Costa Mesa to as far as Sacramento and Arizona. The

Western Diocese consists of 47 parishes in California, Nevada,

Washington, Utah, Oregon, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Hawaii and

Mexico.

The visit has been dubbed “The Renaissance of Faith,”

acknowledging it as a source of inspiration, spiritual reawakening

and a renewal of Christian belief for the Armenian community.

It will include a meeting with Cardinal Roger Mahony and a

Pontifical Solemn (meaning “sung”) Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of

Our Lady of Angels and, most notably for the Western Diocese, the

laying and blessing of the foundations of the Mother Cathedral of the

Western Diocese in Burbank.

The service tonight at St. Mary Armenian Apostolic Church begins

at 7 p.m. The church is located at 148 East 22nd St. in Costa Mesa.

For more information call (949) 650-8367. A full itinerary of

Karekin II’s visit is available on the Western Diocese website at

https://www.armen ianchurchwd.com.

* MICHELE MARR is a freelance writer from Huntington Beach. She

can be reached at [email protected].