Los Angeles Times, CA

Armenian clergy worldwide embark on a quest to collect holy oil

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Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times

A PORTION FOR EACH: Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, right, of the Western
Diocese of the Armenian Church, based in Burbank, distributes vials of
muron Tuesday to priests from across Southern California. Photo

In an age-old tradition, priests visit the Cathedral of Etchmiadzin in
Armenia to pick up jars of muron, derived from the original mixture
blended at the time of the church’s founding.

By Louis Sahagun, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 11, 2008

Every seven years since AD 301, priests from around the world have
trekked to the ancient Cathedral of Etchmiadzin in Armenia to retrieve
jarfuls of freshly brewed muron — muron — a sweet-scented holy oil
stirred with what is said to be the tip of the lance driven through
Jesus’ side — and carry them back to their respective dioceses.

Prepared in a massive silver caldron, the mixture of herbs, flower
extracts, spices, wine and pure olive oil was derived from an original
batch mixed at the Armenian Church’s founding 1,707 years ago. It is
replenished every seven years by pouring old into new, continuing a
mysterious connection between distant generations.

The priests usually travel home with their portions cradled in their
arms because muron, according to tradition, can be handled only by
ordained clergy.

That all changed late last month when the ancient tradition met with a
21st century obstacle that has been put in place since the last trip
for the holy oil: As a liquid, muron cannot be taken aboard commercial
airliners, according to airport security rules.

"We were very worried — in the old days, we carried the muron in our
hands," recalled His Eminence Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, primate of
the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America, which is
based in Burbank. "I would never have given away that privilege, but
we had no option."

Derderian bundled up his six containers in layers of cloth, and then
packed them snugly into three suitcases. Airport baggage handlers took
it from there.

"I was confident that nothing would happen to it," he said. "You do
your best, and then trust in God."

Derderian’s containers arrived safely after a 20-hour flight.

A genial man with a black beard, Derderian declared mission
accomplished on Tuesday when priests from churches across Southern
California gathered around a massive oak table in his Burbank office.

Their 7-ounce portions of the amber-hued oil were presented on a
silver tray: 15 small glass jars with white screw-cap lids, each one
marked with a label written in English and Armenian: "Holy
Muron. September 28, 2008. Holy Etchmiadzin."

After prayers and solemn hymns, the clergy in black robes got up and
formed a line. Fist-sized silver crosses — some studded with precious
stones — dangled from silver chains around their necks. They
approached the table, in turn, with heads bowed and kissed the jars of
muron that Derderian placed in their hands.

A few minutes later, they were heading back to their churches, where
the oil would be transferred into dove-shaped sterling silver
containers symbolizing the Holy Spirit that visited Jesus.

Over the next seven years, the muron will be used — a few drops at a
time — primarily for christenings in Armenian churches here and the
world over.

"Armenians everywhere are bound by muron," said Zaven Arzoumanian, a
theologian with the Western Diocese. "It receives special powers from
relics used in its preparation. The gifts of the Holy Spirit come from
it in church ceremonies."

"That is why," he added with a smile, "our people have always said,
‘My child must be muronized.’ "

The origins of muron are as old as the Armenian Church, which was
established in the early 4th century by St. Gregory the Illuminator,
patron saint of Armenians. He also established the Cathedral of
Etchmiadzin, one of the oldest cathedrals in the world.

St. Gregory, according to tradition, blended the first sample of muron
there as a unifying religious symbol of forgiveness and peace, and as
a medicine for healing.

Over the centuries, church leaders say, muron helped sustain a people
decimated and dispersed by war, conquest and genocide.

This muron season, more than 70,000 people braved drenching rains to
watch His Holiness Karekin II, supreme patriarch and catholicos of
Armenians worldwide, lead a procession from the Cathedral of
Etchmiadzin to an outdoor altar where the mixture had been
steam-heated for 40 days and nights.

To outsiders, the incense-tinged gatherings of celibate Armenian
Church clergy with their pointed black hoods, towering miters and
golden staffs can look very strange. But for congregants and clergy,
they are essential ingredients of a critical religious event.

The ceremony culminates with a pitcher of fresh muron combined with
the old in a gigantic engraved silver caldron and stirred with an
assortment of religious relics: a cross believed to contain a fragment
of the wooden cross on which Jesus was crucified; a foot-long iron tip
of the lance believed to have pierced Jesus’ side, and a life-sized
gold-plated "Right Arm of St. Gregory the Illuminator" said to be
embedded with a fragment taken from St. Gregory’s grave.

When clergy bring back muron to their home churches, its arrival
process, as Arzoumanian described it, is "a beautiful tiding for our
communities."

The interplay between past and present continues Sunday when churches
throughout the Western Diocese’s 11-state region will hold special
ceremonies in which urns of water will be anointed with a small drop
of muron.

Congregants will be invited to scoop up samples to take home or to
drink then and there.

"It’s important to be a part of the muron process," Derderian
said. "It really takes you back in time."

louis.sahagun@latimes.com