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:
August 3, 2004
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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