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Armenia's nuns: A rare breed

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  • Armenia's nuns: A rare breed

    Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR)
    Sept 23 2004

    ARMENIA'S NUNS: A RARE BREED

    In devout Orthodox Christian Armenia, only four women have become
    nuns - but they don't regret it.

    By Karine Ter-Saakian in Echmiadzin

    When the Armenian Apostolic Church celebrated its recent great Feast
    of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross at Echmiadzin, the seat of the
    church's Catholicos or spritual leader, there were four particularly
    unusual members of the congregation: nuns.

    For all the popularity and influence of the Armenian Apostolic
    Church, to which the overwhelming majority of Armenians belong, nuns
    and convents are extremely rare. In fact the four attending the
    liturgy in Echmiadzin's Saint Hripsime Church in September were the
    only nuns in Armenia.

    Convents all but disappeared from Armenia after the fourth century,
    when King Pap ordered their closure, saying that women should marry,
    not dedicate their lives to God in the closed institutions.

    The seventh century Saint Hripsime church stands on the traditional
    site of a massacre of Hripsime and 32 other women in the fourth
    century - all because Hripsime reputedly refused to marry the king at
    that time, Trdat.

    At the Saint Hripsime convent, another unusual aspect is that there
    is no mother superior. A man is in charge. "We are all God's children
    without sex or age differences," the prior, Archimandrite Martiros
    Pogosian, told IWPR.

    Father Martiros, whose name means "martyr", is a "black monk" and
    cannot marry. He said the women might have also chosen a rare way of
    life, but had done so freely, "Leaving the world is an entirely
    voluntary matter, and no one forced these women."

    Becoming a nun, he said, is a simple process, but it is a step only
    for those who are totally dedicated.

    "The convent is not a place to solve your social problems, we can't
    give people jobs or means for existence," he said. "We don't even
    have a monastic hierarchy, unlike the Russian Orthodox Church, or
    acts of penance, or a ceremony of taking of monastic vows. We believe
    that if a person came to God, he or she has consciously taken that
    decision.

    "I am also a human being and I understand that their coming to the
    convent is a sort of escape from the abnormal life, problems and
    maybe even from oneself."

    Of the four nuns, the youngest one is 42-years-old and the oldest is
    56.

    They rarely socialise with lay people, but this is not prohibited.
    They can visit their relatives or go to town. However, one of the
    nuns, Elizaveta, told IWPR there was not much need to go to Yerevan.
    "We live quietly, don't need anything, they even pay us salaries: 40
    US dollars a month by the order of Catholicos of All Armenians
    Garegin II," she said.

    The nuns' living quarters are small and are surrounded by a small
    orchard and kitchen garden. Vegetables and fruit grown here are quite
    enough for the sisters, father superior and deacon of the church.
    They also keep chickens; in other words, it is quite a big farm
    considering that just four women - none of them especially youthful -
    look after it.

    "We always take part in all services and help the father any way we
    can," Sister Aida said.

    "You know, a regulated life has its advantages. A day that is
    precisely scheduled doesn't leave any time for idle thoughts. There
    is always work here: prayers in the morning, then dining, doing
    household work, praying again, and then off to bed. We also have a
    television set so you can't call us hermits. Incidentally, there is
    no 'religious censorship' as to what we watch."

    While talking to the prior in the yard of the convent, a delicious
    smell of freshly baked bread came from the kitchen. "Yes, we make
    everything ourselves," he said.

    The nuns are governed by the statute of the church, which is
    constitutionally separated from the state. They are not entitled to
    state benefits, but do not have to pay for anything. "They are freed
    from worldly troubles and they are not threatened by a miserable
    pension," Father Martiros said.

    There are mixed feelings among ordinary Armenians about the role of
    these few nuns.

    Astkhik Pogosian, told IWPR she was sceptical, "Maybe these women
    just didn't have a choice but to become nuns, they didn't have enough
    strength to face up to social problems. But on the other hand, it is
    simply running away from reality. Somehow I don't believe in their
    desire to serve God."

    Garegin, the manager of a computer firm, agreed, "One must be really
    tired of life voluntarily to renounce all its worldly joys. ... I
    wouldn't wish such a lot for my loved ones." He blamed the state for
    failing to provide the women with an alternative.

    Even a guard at the church was critical. "Women are preordained to
    get married, give birth to children, in other words - create
    families," he said. "King Pap did the right thing 16 centuries ago
    when he shut down all nunneries."

    However, there are many who admire and even envy the nuns' vocation.
    "I would be glad to become a nun, not because life is hard, but
    because of lack of spirituality. Although I am often told that it is
    all a figment of my imagination, I think I am right," Onarik
    Asatrian, a mother of two, said.

    Gayane Minasian, a student, said there should be more nuns, "What do
    we see in life: emptiness and pursuits of material well-being, and
    there is no time to think about the soul. Well done for these women.
    If there were more of them it would have been better for all of us."

    Sister Aida said it was for individuals to decide. "We don't thrust
    our choice on anyone. If somebody wants they can come to the convent,
    and if he, I mean she, comes to us consciously, we will only be
    happy. If not, then we will have to say goodbye. No one keeps grudges
    here against other people, we don't force people to take vows, and
    maybe we are freer than other citizens of Armenia."

    Karine Ter-Saakian is a freelance journalist and frequent IWPR
    contributor in Armenia.
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