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The Desert Sun
Jan 7 2012
Making a `holy place': St. Garabed anointment
Written by Blake Herzog
Rancho Mirage - For more than a year, the small yet imposing stone
church on Monterey Avenue has been complete, but without a
congregation.
That's about to change.
St. Garabed Armenian Apostolic Church will be consecrated this
afternoon by Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, head of the Los
Angeles-based Western Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church of
North America.
Derderian will anoint the church's baptismal font with muron, a
special holy oil produced in Armenia once every seven years, parish
priest Krikor Zakaryan said.
`With the consecration the church becomes a holy place, different from
the outside world,' he said.
This clears the way for St. Garabed to host services and sacraments
that have been performed in the church's adjacent social hall for the
past six years.
Zakaryan said the sanctuary seats about 200, but video screens and
extra chairs will be set up outside to allow for an overflow crowd
coming for a once-in- a-lifetime experience.
`When you consecrate a church it's only done once,' Zakaryan said.
Seta George of La Quinta is a member who's sat in the new church once
for a memorial service, and said the contrast between the two settings
is real.
`Emotionally, it's different. A hall's a hall no matter how you ornate
it,' she said.
Parishioner Robert Minassian said the ceremony `means we have our own
sanctuary, you walk in and you feel so peaceful. The meaning of this,
at the end of the day you can't put it into words, it's a spiritual
thing.'
Zakaryan said the ceremony is a culmination of a 35-year odyssey for
the Coachella Valley's Armenian population, which includes about 80
active church members and many more who attend services.
Yet for his part, Zakaryan said, `I'm so tired I really can't feel the
emotional uplift yet. Maybe after a week I'll realize what happened. A
thousand things to do.'
Contractors were still putting finishing touches on the sanctuary's
interior Friday afternoon, adding a coat of paint to the wall behind
the altar and fastening a railing along the steps up to it.
The $2 million church is a replica of St. Hripsine, a seventh century
stone church in Etchmidzin, Armenia, set behind green lawns and date
palms.
The congregation eschewed drywall, opting for an all-stone edifice.
`It's an absolutely beautiful church, you don't see a church like this
that often,' board member Carolon Nigosian, co-chair of the church's
construction committee.
It took nearly 10 years to develop the site as lapses in funding led
to lapses in city permits.
Rancho Mirage then added new requirements for developing the site,
which upped the fundraising needs.
http://www.mydesert.com/article/20120107/NEWS01/201070312/Making-8216-holy-place-St-Garabed-anointment
Jan 7 2012
Making a `holy place': St. Garabed anointment
Written by Blake Herzog
Rancho Mirage - For more than a year, the small yet imposing stone
church on Monterey Avenue has been complete, but without a
congregation.
That's about to change.
St. Garabed Armenian Apostolic Church will be consecrated this
afternoon by Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, head of the Los
Angeles-based Western Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church of
North America.
Derderian will anoint the church's baptismal font with muron, a
special holy oil produced in Armenia once every seven years, parish
priest Krikor Zakaryan said.
`With the consecration the church becomes a holy place, different from
the outside world,' he said.
This clears the way for St. Garabed to host services and sacraments
that have been performed in the church's adjacent social hall for the
past six years.
Zakaryan said the sanctuary seats about 200, but video screens and
extra chairs will be set up outside to allow for an overflow crowd
coming for a once-in- a-lifetime experience.
`When you consecrate a church it's only done once,' Zakaryan said.
Seta George of La Quinta is a member who's sat in the new church once
for a memorial service, and said the contrast between the two settings
is real.
`Emotionally, it's different. A hall's a hall no matter how you ornate
it,' she said.
Parishioner Robert Minassian said the ceremony `means we have our own
sanctuary, you walk in and you feel so peaceful. The meaning of this,
at the end of the day you can't put it into words, it's a spiritual
thing.'
Zakaryan said the ceremony is a culmination of a 35-year odyssey for
the Coachella Valley's Armenian population, which includes about 80
active church members and many more who attend services.
Yet for his part, Zakaryan said, `I'm so tired I really can't feel the
emotional uplift yet. Maybe after a week I'll realize what happened. A
thousand things to do.'
Contractors were still putting finishing touches on the sanctuary's
interior Friday afternoon, adding a coat of paint to the wall behind
the altar and fastening a railing along the steps up to it.
The $2 million church is a replica of St. Hripsine, a seventh century
stone church in Etchmidzin, Armenia, set behind green lawns and date
palms.
The congregation eschewed drywall, opting for an all-stone edifice.
`It's an absolutely beautiful church, you don't see a church like this
that often,' board member Carolon Nigosian, co-chair of the church's
construction committee.
It took nearly 10 years to develop the site as lapses in funding led
to lapses in city permits.
Rancho Mirage then added new requirements for developing the site,
which upped the fundraising needs.
http://www.mydesert.com/article/20120107/NEWS01/201070312/Making-8216-holy-place-St-Garabed-anointment