ARTICLES
September 2005 ARTICLES
Contents © 2005
by Jim Holman.
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A Spirit of Reverence and Sense of the Sacred
Traditional Liturgy at the L.A. Cathedral
BY CHARLES A. COULOMBE
Having attended many functions at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, I consider myself something of a connoisseur of the rituals to diverse deities offered up there. But on 3 p.m., on Sunday, June 5, 2005, I was exposed to something entirely outside my experience of the cathedral -- a Eucharistic liturgy of one of the traditional rites of the Church, celebrated according to its own rubrics.
One reason, at least, for this derogation from the norm was that the celebrants of this liturgy were not in full communion with the Holy See. The leading cleric was His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All the Armenians and Archbishop of Etchmiadzin, as part of his tour visiting his flock in the Western Armenian Diocese (encompassing California, Nevada, and Arizona). During this tour the catholicos would lay the corner stone of the diocese's new cathedral.
His Holiness is spiritual leader of those Armenians (called variously Orthodox, Gregorian, or Apostolic) outside the Catholic Church. But lest anyone be scandalized by the fact that he offered a liturgy in a Catholic church, he should remember that under Paul VI and John Paul II (Benedict XVI has indicated his desire to continue in his immediate predecessors' footsteps on this point), the Holy See has made a concerted effort to draw closer to the Eastern Orthodox Churches (whose spiritual leader is the patriarch of Constantinople), the Assyrian Church of the East (formerly Nestorian), and the "non-Chalcedonian" Churches of the Near East: Coptic, Ethiopian, Syriac, Malabar, and, of course, Armenian. As Father Alexei Smith, pastor of St. Andrew's Russian Catholic Church and director of ecumenical and interreligious affairs for the archdiocese of Los Angeles, said before the catholicos' visit to the cathedral, "in light of Pope Benedict XVI's outreach to the orthodox community, the visit of the catholicos to our cathedral and the fact that he is serving his divine liturgy speaks highly of the level of ecumenical cooperation between our two churches."
In any case, having attended the almost-identical Armenian Catholic liturgy several times in the past, I was very curious to see how the Armenians would manage in the Los Angeles cathedral. The cathedral is not designed well for traditional Christian ceremonial; add to this the fact that in place of the iconostasis of the Byzantine rite, the Armenians -- both Catholic and Gregorian -- use a sort of curtain to veil the Mysteries.
Upon my arrival, I saw that the holy table looked as though it had been set up for the Tridentine Mass -- complete with six candles and missal. The reason for this is that the Armenian rite acquired a great deal of Latin influence during the Crusades; as a result, alone of the Eastern Churches, Catholic or otherwise, their bishops wear miters. The cathedral's most notable quality -- its size, came in handy. For as the Armenians poured in, every pew was filled, and some had to stand in the back. Although only a few of the older ladies were veiled, all wore stylish dresses, and the men were all suited. It was surely the best-dressed congregation I have seen in the place since the one sent by central casting for the "Easter in Lent" Mass two years ago.
The man they had come to see, Karekin II, Catholicos of Etchmiadzin, is the highest hierarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church. During the Soviet-era, when Armenia was under Communist control, Etchmiadzin had as rivals the Catholicos of Sis and the Armenian patriarchs of Jerusalem and Constantinople, whose adherents suspected KGB influence at work in the Mother Church. With the fall of the Soviets and the reestablishment of national independence, intra-church unity was regained, and the two catholicoi reconciled. Karekin II inherited this situation upon his election in 1999. Since then he has made great strides in repairing the damage done to church and society in Armenia itself by fostering unity among the heretofore divided Armenians around the world and ecumenical relations with both Catholics and Orthodox.
A wave of anticipation swept over the congregation as the United Armenian Central Choir of the Western Diocese began the processional. The music, like the spoken words of the liturgy or Badarak, were in classical Armenian, which bears roughly the same relationship to modern Armenian that Latin does to Italian. As there were no service books given out, most of the congregation made their responses from memory, and this odar (as non-Armenians are called) was a little lost, although the parts of the liturgy were somewhat recognizable from my Byzantine experiences. The music was at times reminiscent of Gregorian chant, at others of the "Europeanized" sound of Russian liturgical music, and at others of the "wailing" tones characteristic of the Melkite and Syriac rites. What was unmistakable was the congregation's spirit of reverence and sense of the sacred.
The procession was extraordinary. First came the honored guests: Father Smith escorted Auxiliary Bishop Oscar Solis, representing the cardinal; then followed representatives of the Armenian Catholic community, the Greek Orthodox, the Syrian Orthodox, the Coptic Orthodox, the Episcopal diocese, the Southern California Ecumenical Council, the United Methodist Church, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and the Board of Rabbis. Also present were Governor George Deukmejian, Supervisor Michael Antonovich, Glendale mayor Rafi Manoukian, and Gagik Kirakossian, consul general of Armenia.
After these worthies, Armenian acolytes (all male) and all of the Western diocese's clergy passed, bearing richly embroidered banners with icons of Our Lord and Our Lady on them. Then came the senior Armenian clergy, eight prelates -- primates, archbishops, and bishops -- all decked out in golden vestments, and crowns or miters depending on their rank.
At last, Karekin II made his way under the amphovani, the traditional umbrella of the catholicos. Processing to the altar, His Holiness blessed with a cross all of those on either side of the center aisle. With great fervor the faithful pushed forward to be blessed; I was fortunate enough to receive the blessing on my forehead. The catholicos moved slowly forward.
As with a solemn high Mass in the traditional Latin rite, Karekin was assisted by two clerics, Archbishops Hovnan Derderian and Khajag Barsamian. Four archpriests or vartapeds acted as deacons, while three other senior clerics were in attendance. After an initial prayer by Karekin, a deacon presented him the bread and wine, and he prayed over and censed them. (The Armenian Apostolic Church, uniquely in Christendom, does not add water to the wine -- although the Armenian Catholics do). This accomplished, the catholicos led the attending clergy in a small procession around the altar, into what would be a nave in a regular church, and back, censing the altar, icons, the priests, and people. After a hymn came another procession, in which the Gospel book was held aloft. Father Smith read the epistle (the sole bit of English in the liturgy), after which a deacon chanted the Gospel. Then followed the Creed, chanted in classical Armenian by the whole congregation. A litany followed and a prayer, the latter which my neighbor told me was for the unbaptized -- a relic of the time when catechumens were at this point asked to leave. Then the catholicos gave us a blessing, to which the congregation replied with a hearty "Amen" -- the equivalent of the "Great Amen" among the Latins. So ended the Liturgy of the Word.
The catholicos removed his miter and shoes in preparation for the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The deacon processed around the altar, holding up the bread and the wine. Then followed the kiss of peace. First the altar party exchanged it, bending toward each other, first to the right and then the left of each cheek, without an actual kiss being exchanged. The lesser clergy then gave the "peace" to a party of white-dressed teenage girls, who came up the aisle. Each priest gave this greeting to one person, who then did so to the next person, and so on until the peace reached everyone in the congregation. The hierarchical manner of doing this rite, the man next to me said, symbolizes that peace comes from God at the altar, rather than from ourselves.
Following the kiss of peace, the deacon uttered a long prayer, calling on the faithful to stand and be attentive. Everyone rose, and the eucharistic prayer (authorship of the Armenian version of which is attributed to St. Athanasius) began. After a long prayer, which corresponds to our preface, the choir sang the Sanctus, or as it is called in Armenian, the Soorp (likewise repeated three times, and meaning the same thing as our prayer). The words of institution followed, unaccompanied by any elevation (which was instituted in the West as a rebuke to denial of the Real Presence -- a heresy that now and then pops up among us, but never has among the Armenians). Then followed the Epiclesis (the prayer universal in the East invoking the Holy Spirit on the gifts) and a long prayer that included, my neighbor informed me, the usual intercessions for the Church, the clergy, civil rulers, and the faithful. A lengthy concluding prayer followed, after which the choir sang a litany and the congregation sang the Lord's Prayer. After another hymn, the catholicos, bearing the sacred species, turned toward the people (as in all traditional liturgies, the celebrant faces eastward, away from the congregation, so in the Armenian rite) and, I was told, proclaimed the Real Presence. Confession and absolution followed.
All of the clergy scattered to admin ister communion. In the Armenian rite, the Body of Our Lord has already been dipped into the Precious Blood before communion time. The priest places it directly into the communicant's mouth. Due to the large number of people present, the priests came to them. When all had received, and the priests had returned to the altar, the catholicos blessed us all by making the sign of the cross with the chalice. After more hymns, the catholicos read the Last Gospel (John chapter 1), which came into the Armenian Rite from the Latins during the Crusades. Then the lay folk closest to the altar went forward to kiss the Gospel book.
As these final rites were performed, Cardinal Mahony made his appearance. Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, primate of the Western Diocese, welcomed Karekin. He acknowledged the ecumenical guests, starting with the cardinal.
Karekin stood to give his sermon; delivered in mostly in Armenian, it was followed by an English synopsis. The catholicos thanked the cardinal for allowing the use of the cathedral for the liturgy and gave the faithful his blessings from the "Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin." Urging them to "renew and reawaken within them the Christian faith and the love towards the Armenian Apostolic Church," he pointed out that they were celebrating "together the 1600th anniversary of the creation of the Armenian alphabet." Furthermore, he said, "the ills and difficulties of Armenia and the Armenian Apostolic Church will disappear" when we are connected in Christ. He mentioned how proud he was "of their devotion and their love" and of the importance of his visiting the people in the Armenian diaspora. Karekin urged remembrance of the 1.5 million victims of Armenian genocide under the Ottoman Empire. After the synopsis, Karekin added in English, "this is the longest sermon ever I have done."
He gave Archbishop Derderian a banagia, the official symbol of the rank of archbishop. He presented, in gratitude for use of the cathedral, a bejeweled pectoral cross to Cardinal Mahony. When the recession formed, the cardinal strode alongside the catholicos, who bestowed blessings while leaving as he had done during the entrance procession. I was able to see the cardinal's new cross as he passed me by; it was much lovelier then his own plain one.
For a useful guide to the Armenian liturgy online, consult the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church's website: http://www.armenianchurch.org/worship