TRADITION: POWER OF CONTINUITY AND INNOVATION

We transcribe below the message of His Eminence Archbishop Anoushavan, Prelate, to the opening session of the National Representative Assembly, hosted by St. Stephen’s Church of Watertown, Massachusetts, on Thursday, May 29,

Dear spiritual brothers in Christ,

NRA delegates, and guests,

I would like to greet you all in Greater Boston, where we are gathered as a large family of the Eastern Prelacy, under the jurisdiction of the Holy See of the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia, to examine and evaluate the ministry and services which we have striven to extend to our beloved faithful over the past year, to explore new opportunities and venues in the coming year, and by implementing them, to strengthen our mission and energize our communities unto the Glory of Almighty God, and for the advancement of our nation.

I would like to thank the Almighty Lord for providing us with visible and invisible bounties, thus enabling us constantly to be renewed, to reorganize ourselves, to extend outreach, and to fulfill our service. I would like to express my filial respect to His Holiness Catholicos Aram I, whose leadership during this critical period of history of mankind is indeed praiseworthy. My heartfelt gratitude to all my colleagues: the Religious and Executive Councils, the Pastors, the NRA Delegates, the Boards of Trustees and parish Auxiliary Bodies, Sister Organizations and the Faithful at large, in fulfilling our collective vision full of Faith, Hope and Love.

I would like to offer special thanks to all our community leaders and congregations for warmly welcoming the Pontifical visit of His Holiness Catholicos Aram I over these two years.  Vehapar’s visits to all our communities, regardless of their magnitude and geographical location, brought freshness to our sense of belonging. Some suggestions and ideas have had immediate benefit, and others are designed for longer term accomplishments.  We are told in the New Testament that once a year, the Angel of the Lord descended and stirred the water of the pool of Bethesda bringing healing and hope; likewise, the patriarchal visits replete with angelic messages, collaborative conferences, constructive dialogue, and particular attention to the spiritual uplifting of our youth, together with meetings with various American religious and lay dignitaries, have inspired us to continue our collective service in pursuing higher goals which are authentic to our Armenian-Christian identity. Upon his return to Lebanon, Vehapar deeply praised the dynamic of our physical infrastructure as much as the spiritual elevating of the role and consistent good works of the Eastern Prelacy.

This year the entire Christendom is celebrating the 1700 anniversary of the first Ecumenical Council held in Nicaea, where our confession of Faith was composed, which we recite every Sunday during the Soorp Badarak. His Holiness has continued the tradition marking each year with a theme and has proclaimed 2025 as the year of revitalizing Tradition.  The Catholicos’ message was published and broadcasted at the new year. My intention today is to turn the essence of the message of revitalizing Tradition as the motive power of our activities throughout our Prelacy and across our communities. I would like to adopt a pragmatic approach in sharing my views here.

There is no doubt that for the AI generation the word “tradition” has no place as a remnant of antiquity. Yet, the true understanding and practices of sustaining tradition have an existential role in society in general, and in the life of our nation, in particular. Hence, I would like to quote a statement from the message of His Holiness, and make it the focus of my thoughts:

“We need to preserve tradition. Our traditions impacted by the environment in the course of history must be harmonized with the spirit and conditions of the present, as well as with our expectations and needs, without losing their essential elements and uniqueness. In other words, it is necessary to preserve the core and reform the shell.”

When we understand the true meaning of tradition, we may see that tradition is neither an ossified entity nor an anachronism, but rather we appreciate that tradition is the power of creativity, of continuity and constant innovation, of keeping the family, community and nation attached to their roots, and of mobilizing its present potentials for a better future. A single event of any character, no matter how successful, eventually fades away; but when it is continued collectively with clear vision, spreading its roots wider and deeper, it ultimately intermingles with the course of a community’s life . Hence, I would like to interpret this reality within the context of my experience serving the Prelacy since 1984, and I would like to highlight a few cases from our communities’ and Prelacy’s lives to make my point clear.

A) Communities and Tradition

1. For the past half century, the Armenian community in Philadelphia, which is composed of Prelacy, Diocesan, Catholic and Evangelical churches, has come together to celebrate the feasts of Sts. Vartanantz, and the Holy Translators, and to commemorate the Genocide.
2. A second example, authentic not only to a single community, but rather to all our Prelacy Diocesan, Catholic and Evangelical communities is the following. Since the centennial anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, a new understanding of cooperation has emerged to celebrate the Soorp Badarak and organize cultural programs together.

There are many other cases demonstrating the establishment of a tradition under the guidance of visionary leadership with the support of the faithful, initiating and continuing new patterns to come together, to pray together, to deepen their common roots and goals, and to stand as a united body in our pilgrimage from life to Life.

B) Prelacy and Tradition

When we review the service of the Prelacy and the ministry of five prelates, we can confirm an ongoing, invisible spirit of this understanding. 1) In 1960’s the Armenian National Education Council (ANEC) was created to provide the necessary tools and guidance to the Armenian language schools. Later the Council expanded its service by creating the Siamanto Academy for educating pre-college students with Armenian literature, history, etc., and most recently a new dimension was opened in its service by creating a special program for requalification of our Armenian daily schools’ teachers. 2) The Armenian Religious Education Council (AREC) was established in early 80’s to regulate our Sunday schools. In the mid-80’s, the Datev institute was created at first for deacons’ training and later it has been expanded to all of the youth who have a calling to serve God and the Armenian Church. Most recently the Religious Council expanded this noble operation of teachings by establishing “the Salt and Light” and College students’ missions. 3) The “Giligia” periodical started in the 1960s and continued in the 1980s as the “Outreach” monthly newsletter. At the turn of this century, it was gradually replaced by the Crossroads weekly English E-newsletter, which recently became bilingual. 4) The Prelacy “Feast of Light” annual traditional gathering has evolved into the Prelacy Thanksgiving celebration, inviting the community collectively to thank the Almighty Lord for providing us with visible and invisible bounties. 5) Last, but not the least, St. Nerses the Great the charitable organization, founded by Archbishop Mesrob Ashjian of blessed memory in 1993, reached out to the Earthquake victims in Armenia, later to Artsakh heroes’ orphans, as well as established other charity programs.  For the last two years, the charity has launched a new initiative with the Writers Union of Armenia), thus creating a new collaboration in cultural life.

Over the last seven decades, the traditional programs hosted by the Prelacy have not been stagnant.  Instead, the programs continue to evolve in order to meet new needs, to address timely concerns, and to implement the ever-changing applications of technology and communications.  At its core, every Prelacy program strives to reach out and to fulfill critical needs, and the success of each program is fundamentally based upon the charity emanating from the faithful hearts and the good works of all our dedicated faithful.

Surely, with the same understanding, if consciously we preserve our centuries-old religious, cultural and social traditions, always adjusting to our contemporary demands, the message of His Holiness becomes relevant by preserving and continuing our well-established traditions. Whenever we are innovative, we are able to galvanize our identity to face the challenges of our surroundings and transmit the torch of responsibility to future generations.

I am glad to say that this year the Religious Council, with the pastors’ assistance, is already pursuing the revitalization of tradition in our community life. With the cooperation of our congregations, I hope that our beautiful traditions of Blessing Home service following Christmas and Easter feasts and blessing of newly established stores and offices, the tradition of Veejag on Ascension Day, the sprinkling of water on the Feast of Transfiguration, along with the blessing of grapes on the Feast of Assumption and the blessing of basil on the Feast of Elevation of the Cross, and other religious and Armenians traditions will reclaim their place in our activities.

May the Spirit of preserving and cultivating our Traditions, emphasized to us through the Bible and exemplified through our ancestors, motivate us to reevaluate our way of life to be full of wisdom and Godliness.  By correlating inherited tradition with our contemporary experience, may it strengthen our communities at large unto the Glory of God and for the progress of our nation.