Magazine Spring 2009 CXXX: The Hundred-thirtieth

24 February 2009, 13:17
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CXXX: The Hundred-thirtieth

He dedicated himself to the Armenian people, whom he loved sincerely, and to the Armenian Church, which he served with devotion. He was a charming and modest man, and an appreciator of beauty. Known Levon Garabed Baljian in the secular world, yet better known and remembered under a different name – Vazgen I. Vazgen I was the 130th leader of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Head Patriarch and Catholicos of all Armenians.

“Light a candle instead of cursing the darkness…”
35-year-old Levon Garabed Baljian took his monastic vows on September 25, 1943, in the Sourb Karapet Church in Athens, Greece. Two days later, he had been ordained a monk and given the name Vazgen. At this turning point of his life the young monk’s feelings were burdened with his mother’s disapproval.
Siranoush Baljian had first encouraged her son’s fascination with the Church, its history and the details of worship and clerical rites. It was also appealing to her that Levon was appreciated and taken under the guidance of the Head of the Romanian Diocese Bishop Husik Zohrabian. The fact that this fascination would take her son to the service to God was something that she could not have foreseen. Her heart was in despair - like any mother, she dreamed of the day when her son would be married and she would be a grandmother. She had no doubt that a great future was waiting for her son in the secular world. In fact, his teachers shared this opinion. Levon was a graduate of the Trade School and the Department of Philosophy and Literature of Bucharest University. In spite of his academic achievements, her desires were thwarted by his strong determination to take vows of celibacy. She eventually lost her temper and asked the Holy Fathers to leave her son alone and stop him from becoming a monk. Their answer sounded like a verdict, “The homeland is in the need of service, and there is no one better than Levon Garabed to fulfill it. Furthermore, the decision is his alone to make.” The future Catholicos had no doubt about his decision. His mother’s tears and pleas could not hold him back. Siranoush Baljian had no choice but to concur: her beloved child Levon Karapet was no more and in his place stood the monk Vazgen.
According to friends and acquaintances of Levon Baljian, his life was wholly dedicated to the service of Lord and his people. During the Second World War, he was a member of the Armenian Commission on Prisoners of War, through which he saved countless lives.
“Light a candle instead of cursing the darkness, and set an example with your own behavior,” the Catolicos once said. Thou shall not kill is one of the Ten Commandments, and its logical extension, Save your brother and sister, is a deeply humane and human command, filled with love and compassion for all. It is this human commandment that Professor Baljian, Father Vazgen, Catholicos of All Armenians Vazgen I implemented throughout his life. His infinite benevolence and unconditional faith in the Lord did not go unnoticed for long. Only 6 years after his ordination Vazgen was elevated to the rank of archimandrite and within several months of his elevation he was appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Romania and Bulgaria.

“I have an honorary obligation to accept soviet citizenship”
According to the Church ordinance, the election of the Catholicos is done through secret ballot behind closed doors in the Echmiadzin Cathedral. The centuries-long history of the Armenian Church had never seen a Catholicos younger than 70, but Bishop Vazgen Baljian of Romania was only 47 at the time he became Catholicos. One can only imagine how popular he was among the Armenian believers, and what an extraordinary person he was to override the ancient traditions favoring long experience over youthful vigor. In the final count, Vazgen received 126 out of 140 votes.
The ordination of the new Head Patriarch took place in the Cathedral of the Holy Echmiadzin on the 2nd of October 1955. However, there were many obstacles on the path of the 130th Catholicos. These obstacles had to be taken care of immediately. On the 6th of October Vazgen I gave a banquet in observance of his ordination. Among the many speeches given that night, the most memorable was his highly sincere thanks to Divine Providence for the grace given to the Armenian people. He mentioned the weaknesses of human nature and the many challenges on the path that he was to take. He thanked the Soviet government for caring for its Armenian subjects and completed his speech by stating, “In regards to its close connection to the sanctity of the Armenian believers, I am obliged to accept the honor of Soviet citizenship.” His eminence was ever courteous to the Soviet authorities, but never obsequious. In the first year following his ordination he wrote two letters to Nikolai Boulganin, the Chairman of the Council of the Ministers of USSR. The content of these letters was quite radical, even for the relatively liberal “thaw” period of the Soviet Union, “Over a one million Armenians live in the territory of the neighboring Transcaucasian Republics – Georgia and Azerbaijan. About the same number of Armenians lives abroad. They were banished from their ancestral lands during WWI as a result of unprecedented purges and massacres by the Turkish government. Many people abroad have asked us whether the time has come for a just resolution of the question of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous region, Nakhichevan ASSR and Akhalkalaki region, which are mostly Armenian populated, yet are left beyond the borders of Soviet Armenia. Armenians from abroad are hopeful that the benevolent Soviet government would create the necessary territorial and economical conditions for their return to the homeland and reunification with their brethren.”

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