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Primate performs last anointing on Bishop Bagdasian

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  • Primate performs last anointing on Bishop Bagdasian

    PRESS OFFICE
    Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
    630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
    Contact: Jake Goshert, Coordinator of Information Services
    Tel: (212) 686-0710 Ext. 60; Fax: (212) 779-3558
    E-mail: [email protected]
    Website: www.armenianchurch.org

    August 3, 2004
    ___________________

    CLERGY, PARISHIONERS GATHER TO HONOR LATE BISHOP

    Funeral services were held for the late Bishop Houssig Bagdasian on
    Monday, August 2, 2004, at the St. Mary Church of Livingston, NJ. The
    church, where Bishop Bagdasian served as pastor for many years, was
    filled with clergymen, family of the bishop, and parishioners.

    Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian
    Church of America (Eastern), presided over the service, during which
    Bishop Vicken Aykazian celebrated the Divine Liturgy.

    The Primate read a message from His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme
    Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, in which he expressed his
    condolences for the loss and prayed for the eternal rest of Bishop
    Bagdasian, the first Armenian-born bishop of the Armenian Church.

    Following the badarak, the mourners attended a hokejash, served by the
    parish's Women's Guild chapter.

    Bishop Bagdasian was buried in his hometown of Providence, RI, on
    Tuesday, August 3, 2004.

    What follows is the eulogy delivered by the Primate during the funeral
    service.

    * * *

    Truly, truly, I say to you,
    unless a grain of wheat
    falls into the earth and dies,
    it remains alone; but if it
    dies, it bears much fruit.
    John 12:24

    These words of our Lord are not only true in a literal sense, but also
    when they are applied to all circumstances. Human life itself bears
    testimony to this. It began with God breathing life into the nostrils
    of the first man that He formed out of dust, and gave man the mystical
    gift of regenerating the human race with the seed of his loins.
    Similarly, behind every great and positive accomplishment in life there
    is a grain of wheat, that sparkles in the human mind in the form of an
    idea or a dream. If the grain is sown in fertile soil, in time it buds,
    blossoms and bears much fruit.

    Bishop Houssig's example, from his childhood to his demise, reminds us
    of our Lord's parable on the grain of wheat. His entire life was
    devoted to serving our church and our people. As a pastor, his flock
    always held a special place in his heart. He left his mark by planting
    the seeds of leadership in people who lead our church today, and in
    others who will lead it in coming years.

    Born on American soil in the city of Providence, Rhode Island, this
    grain of wheat budded in the Sts. Sahag and Mesrob Church of the same
    city. He attended the parish schools and began serving in the church as
    a choir member and altar boy. This tells us something about the wisdom
    and importance of exposing our young boys and girls to our liturgy,
    traditions and parish life from the very beginning. Some will hear the
    calling from above, while others, who are not given that gift, will
    spend their lives in the spiritual sphere of the church, practicing
    their faith.

    Bishop Houssig was one of those youth who received the calling from
    above and hearkened to the Divine voice that led him to Jerusalem, the
    center of the Christian faith. There for four years he tolerated the
    rigors of seminary life, which were very different than the life he knew
    in his parents' home in Providence. Finally, the grain of wheat that
    had budded in Providence and had been transferred to the fertile soil of
    the St. James Monastery bloomed, as he was ordained a celibate priest
    and accepted into the brotherhood of St. James.

    Instead of returning to the United States after his ordination, Bishop
    Houssig stayed in Jerusalem and held several responsible positions in
    the monastery. As a member of the St. James Brotherhood, he was deeply
    involved in guarding the rights of the Armenian Church at the Dominical
    sites. This was a great service to our church, since our holdings in
    the Holy Land and our custodianship over the central sites of
    Christianity make our church and people visible in the international
    world. Bishop Houssig was at various times responsible for the
    properties of the Armenian Patriarchate. In 1960 he was appointed
    Patriarchal Vicar of Israel, and was responsible for the Armenian
    community in Israel as well as for the properties of the Armenian
    Patriarchate on the Israeli side of the border. During his 11 years of
    service in the Holy Land, Bishop Bagdasian helped renovate several
    Armenian churches, including St. Nicholas in Jaffa, St. Elijah in Haifa,
    and St. Krikor Loosavorich in Jerusalem. In accordance with the words
    of the Prophet Isaiah, "[Blessed] is he that has a child in Sion and
    household friends in Jerusalem [Isaiah 31:9]", our entire Diocese and
    Bishop Houssig's family were blessed that an American-born Armenian
    priest played such an important role in the Holy Land.

    Returning to the United States in 1971, Bishop Houssig was assigned to
    the St. Mary Church, then in Irvington, NJ. He led the church in its
    move to Livingston in 1974. After the church was destroyed by fire in
    1980, Bishop Bagdasian's leadership was key in helping the parish
    faithful pull together to rebuild the church, which was consecrated in
    March 1982.

    His service to the Diocese was not limited to the St. Mary parish. He
    was appointed Vicar General of the Diocese, headed the Diocesan Finance
    Committee, and served on several other committees. He had also been a
    member of the Diocesan Council. For a short while he was the chancellor
    of the Diocesan Center. And he was dedicated to the Armenian homeland,
    leading a group of 26 ACYOA members to the region devastated by the 1988
    earthquake to help with reconstruction.

    In 1991 the General Assembly of the Brotherhood of St. James elected
    Bishop Houssig as a member of the Executive Council of the Patriarchate.
    He accepted, and returned to Jerusalem. At the request of the Patriarch
    and the Brotherhood, he was consecrated a bishop in 1992 by the hand of
    Catholicos Vasken I. Through his consecration he became the first
    American-born bishop of the Armenian Church. For over five years, the
    bishop was in charge of all the properties of the Patriarchate.

    Bishop Houssig was a great leader, a dedicated pastor, and above all
    else, a kind friend to so many. His dedication to the faith he was
    called to serve was strong, as was his love for his flock. He will
    surely be missed in Livingston, throughout the Diocese, and in the
    worldwide Armenian Church family.

    Tomorrow he will be buried in the bosom of the land where he was born.
    I pray that his remains, which we consecrated earlier, will be a source
    of blessing and inspiration to us all and particularly to the young
    generation. May the Lord sow many grains of wheat in the fertile soil
    of His church, and may those grains bud and blossom, so that we have
    others who will follow Bishop Houssig's footsteps.

    -- 8/3/04
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