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In Memoriam: Fr. Ghevont Samoorian, 78, a well-loved priest

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  • In Memoriam: Fr. Ghevont Samoorian, 78, a well-loved priest

    In Memoriam: Fr. Ghevont Samoorian, 78, a well-loved priest

    http://www.reporter.am/go/article/2013-01-27-in-memoriam-fr--ghevont-samoorian-78-a-well-loved-priest
    Published: Sunday January 27, 2013


    Fr. Ghevont Samoorian.

    Father Ghevont Samoorian, a well-known and well-spoken priest of the
    Armenian Church and member of the Brotherhood of Jerusalem, passed
    away on January 20.

    A man of extraordinary talents...a man of extraordinary intellect...a
    man of extraordinary passions and understanding has left us to join
    the growing procession of gifted minds that have been almost Messianic
    in their ability to nourish and enlighten new generations.

    Father Ghevont Samoorian, Billerica, Massachusetts, has left us
    unwillingly, defeated by the most insidious of infections. And, he
    leaves to us the seeds of a burning passion with which to seek out and
    discover the deep mystery of our Armenian existence. To those whom he
    mentored, he has left a monumental responsibility....that, of
    intensifying the truths and realities which he communicated to us
    through the living fire in his heart and the unquenchable love of all
    things Armenian in his soul.

    To those of us whom he touched deeply...to those of us who shared his
    love and his passions....to those of us who learned how to bear the
    burden of pain that has befallen our race...mourning is inadequate.
    Mourning does not articulate the tragedy of his death sufficiently to
    console the soul.

    Because...Hayr Soorp was not simply a man, but a phenomenon that
    procreated and enabled minds to transcend superficiality and reach
    into the deepest abyss of human understanding. Hayr Soorp loved life.
    Life was the precipice upon which he stood and played his
    philosophical lyre to a world that understood...to a world that did
    not understand...to a world that is yet to be born.

    His pen articulated well, the genius of his talent and his mind. His
    heart was his shield of strength. I grieve not for Father
    Ghevont....but for myself.

    Biography of Fr. Ghevont Dz. Vartabed Samoorian (1934-2013)

    Born in historic Cambridge, MA, on April 17, 1934, to Melkon and Mary
    Samoorian, V. Rev. Fr. Ghevont Samoorian was baptized Diran. He later
    became known as Richard or "Dick". He attended public school in
    Arlington and graduated from Lexington High School not too far from
    the battle of Lexington and Concord. Richard or Dick led an active
    youth, participated in Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Episcopalian Church
    activities. He participated in sports, staring on the high school
    football team [using leather helmets] and excelled at art, and music.
    At Lexington High School, Dick was also known as a ladies man and was
    one of the most popular kids in the school. He was also a member of
    the Lexington DeMolay. Even though he grew up very much an American,
    his Armenian ethos was breathed into his soul by his late grandmother
    who sang Armenian hymns to him while he was lad. The most notable
    being "Der Voghormia" or "Lord Have Mercy". As a lad, he received
    numerous art awards; won a scholarship in 1951 to study mural painting
    in Verona, Italy; and attended the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts
    where he was acclaimed as bright young artist. When he turned 16, an
    awareness of his Armenian heritage emerged, and he began attending the
    Holy Trinity and then the St. James Churches in Boston and Watertown,
    MA. Because of his musical interests he joined the several choirs,
    including the Komitas Chorale; and then became a charter member of the
    newly formed ACYOA Juniors in Watertown.

    Fr. Ghevont majored in history and government at Boston University.
    >From 1954 to 1956 he served in the U.S. Army's military intelligence
    operation where he a special assistant to a two star general. He
    traveled Europe and the Middle East during his time in the armed
    forces. He received an honorable discharge in 1956. He returned to
    Boston University after having served his nation, where he studied
    marketing, advertising, and graphic arts. During these years at BU, he
    lived in a basement apartment next to Landsdown Street near Fenway
    Park.

    While he resumed his studies, Richard also became further acquainted
    with Armenian organizations again and he rejoined the ACYOA and the
    AYF. Richard also started an Armenian band, dubbed the "Orientales"
    where he was a featured singer and keyboard player. Armenians came
    >From far abound to listen to Richard's beautiful voice and hear him
    even sing Turkish numbers. He was also known as a vibrant dancer and
    as a hell raiser during these days. During these years, Richard was
    known to have driven a car that affectionately became known as
    Aghavni. People would also love to hear him sing in the choir at St.
    James Church in Watertown where he and Gary Garbedian were the only
    two tenors.

    It was in the late 1950s that Richard began expressing an interest in
    the priesthood of the Armenian Church. He began working with Fr.
    Papken Maksoudian at Holy Trinity Church in Boston [later Cambridge]
    and even did some writing, editing and design work for the Church. Fr.
    Papken asked Richard to paint a painting for the side altars of the
    newly consecrated church [1960] and to this day, the painting of Sts
    Sahag and Mesrob hangs in the sanctuary. In 1961, because of his
    passion for the Armenian race, Richard decided to become a priest. The
    Knights of Vartan became his sponsor and he left for the Holy City of
    Jerusalem in 1962 to begin his studies.

    In 1962 Fr. Ghevont entered the Seminary of the Armenian Patriarchate
    of Jerusalem. Being a workaholic by nature with an insatiable desire
    to learn, Richard quickly immersed himself in the liturgical splendor
    of the Holy City and Sts. James Armenian Orthodox Monastery. The late
    Patriarch Elishe quickly utilized his vast talents by commissioning
    Richard to restore the priceless artwork of and treasures of the
    monastery. He was also called upon to design the mosaic of the
    Crucifixion of Jesus Christ, which hangs in the Tomb of the Holy
    Selpuchre. It was here that Richard was discovered by the
    world-renowned Armenian architect and artist Edouard Utujian and he
    was asked by him to become a fellow at the highly acclaimed art school
    at the Sorbornne in Paris, France. Because Richard was passionately in
    love with the monastery and his desire to become a monastic of the
    Armenian Church, he declined. Also, while in Jerusalem, Richard was
    asked by the United States Government to become a member of the
    Central Intelligence Agency [CIA]. He declined and because he loved
    the Armenian Monastery of Jerusalem with such passion, he continued
    his studies at the monastery under the great Armenologist Archbishop
    Norayr Bogharian and the Armenian teacher par excellence on Armenian
    literature, Manual Keuseyan. It was under Manual's tutelage that
    Richard became a master of the Armenian language and idiom. Soon
    thereafter in 1964, Richard was ordained a deacon by Patriarch Elishe
    and now known as Diratsou Diran. He continued restoring artwork and
    began writing articles for Sion, the chronicle of the Armenian
    Patriarchate and other publications like the Armenian Observer for the
    ACYOA. He was ordained a celibate priest [apegha] in 1965 by the late
    Armenian Patriarch Elishe II in the tomb of the Holy Sepulchre on the
    burial place of Jesus Christ and he was renamed Ghevont [Leontius].
    His ordination was planned to coincide with a pilgrimage of Armenian
    pilgrims from the diaspora. After his ordination, 40 days of seclusion
    in the Tomb of the Holy Selpuchre and celebration of his first
    liturgy, he was immediately named Dean of the Gulbenkian Library of
    the Armenian Patriarchate and worked on graphics for the Patriarchate
    periodical "Sion" and other publications.

    During the Six-Day War in 1967, Fr. Ghevont was personally responsible
    for the negotiated release of 12 young boys from various Israeli
    prisons and concentration camps in the West Bank, occupied Palestine.
    He was threatened by Israeli officials but never wavered to help his
    Armenian brethren.

    Fr. Ghevont returned to America in 1968 and attended St. Vladimir's
    Orthodox Seminary in Scarsdale, NY It was at St. Vladimir's, studying
    under the tutelage of world renowned Orthodox Theologians, Alexander
    Schmemann and John Meyendorff, that Fr. Ghevont began to immerse
    himself into theological perspectives of the Church and develop a
    deeper understanding of Holy Scripture and ecclesiology. During this
    time, the former primate of the Eastern Diocese, Archbishop Torkom
    Manoogian quickly put Fr. Ghevont's talents to work. First to assist
    in the organization for the consecration of St. Vartan Armenian
    Cathedral in New York City and then as a fundraiser for the Diocese
    and editor for its Diocesan Chronicle, BEMA. During these early years,
    Fr. Ghevont was asked to visit several parishes. Each parish he
    visited was mesmerized by his dynamic oratory skills and his beautiful
    voice. In fact, each parish that he visited demanded that he become
    their pastor. St. John's in Detroit even threatened the diocese that
    it would not pay its diocesan dues if Fr. Ghevont was not assigned as
    its pastor. Mr. Kavookjian in Bridgeport, Conn., pledged to donate the
    entire amount necessary to build a church in the area if Fr. Ghevont
    was assigned there. Because Fr. Ghevont was a faithful priest and
    loyal to his primate, he himself refused all of these trappings and
    chose instead to be obedient and be assigned by His Eminence Torkom
    Mangoogian to the most abysmal and backward parish in North America,
    Lowell, Massachusetts. This was a parish that had a history of trouble
    and many priests did not last more than 3 years as pastor. Fr. Ghevont
    would change that abysmal record and turn a last place team into a
    contender virtually overnight. During his tenure at Sts. Vartanantz,
    Fr. Ghevont was instrumental in acquiring 16 acres in nearby
    Chelmsford, MA in order to build a new church. He was elevated to rank
    of Vartabed [Doctor of Theology] of the Armenian Church by Archbishop
    Manoogian in 1973. As its new pastor, Fr. Ghevont worked tirelessly
    day and night, combing through baptismal records of families, visiting
    them, drawing the youth to the church and building its liturgical and
    spiritual life. By 1976, he had built the most vibrant ACYOA in the
    diocese and laid host to its ACYOA Sports Weekend and Convention. This
    was something that just 5 years prior would have been unthinkable.
    When Fr. Ghevont arrived in 1969, the parish had few members, mostly
    elderly and was on the verge of closing its doors. Its edifice in
    Lowell, MA, a converted building, was also in a very poor
    neighborhood. Finally, in 1978, his dreams were realized when the new
    church was consecrated. A beautiful edifice in traditional Armenian
    architectural style. For its beauty and resemblance to the great
    churches in Anatolia, it was branded with the name "Little Ani" after
    the great cathedral in Ani. Fr. Ghevont had done the impossible
    against all odds. He turned the ashes into paradise. He was elevated
    to the title of supreme doctor [Dzarakouyn Vartabed] of the Armenian
    Church by Patriarch Elishe of Jerusalem in 1978. In the years
    following the consecration, Fr. Ghevont continued to beautify the
    church complex and in 1986, he completed muralizing the entire
    sanctuary with Armenian iconography in the tradition of M'ren and
    other Armenian churches in Anatolia. He also renovated the remainder
    of the complex, equipping it with a beautiful banquet style pavilion,
    lecture halls, museum, and classrooms. During his tenure, he also
    prepared liturgical texts on all of the services and holy feasts so
    that he could communicate the full breath of Armenian Orthodoxy to the
    faithful. He served as Sts. Vartanantz's pastor from 1969 to 1994.

    During the 1970s and early 1980s, Fr. Ghevont raised millions of
    dollars for the diocese of the Armenian Church and was told by Alex
    Manoogian and all of the old heavyweight donors that they would only
    give to the Armenian Church for Fr. Ghevont. He transformed the
    diocesan monthly newsletter into a dynamic chronicle filled with
    relevant articles that made the Armenian Church intelligible to the
    layperson. He led a trip of ACYOA members to Armenia in 1978 in what
    was said by many to be the most memorable trip of all time.

    In 1992, Fr. Ghevont was appointed as the Vicar General of the New
    England Regional Jurisdiction by Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate
    of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church. In the late 1980s, Fr.
    Ghevont had been the architect for laying the groundwork to expand the
    diocesan structure into a more localized system like the Greek
    Orthodox or Roman Catholic Churches and establish a set of
    sub-dioceses in New England, the Midwest, and the South under the
    jurisdiction of the Eastern Diocese. During his tenure as Vicar, he
    began organizing ministries and developing programs designed to
    propagate the faith. He is most noted for organizing the New England
    Synod of the Diaconate, organizing seminars and monthly worship
    services for them. The deacons began to be enlightened and taught
    about the true meaning of the diaconate. Unfortunately, the diocese
    asked Fr. Ghevont to stop this effort. Nothing like it has ever
    happened again.

    In 1994, Fr. Ghevont was asked by His Eminence Archbishop Khajag
    Barsamian, Primate of the Eastern Diocese to assume the pastorship of
    Ss. Sahag and Mesrob Armenian Church in Providence, RI. Fr. Ghevont
    was asked to assist the parish in meeting its goal of completing its
    renovation projects. Fr. Ghevont quickly developed key relationships
    with the Egavian Family - the family instrumental in building the
    church's first cultural pavilion in the 1960s. Utilizing his
    architectural background that won him a scholarship to the Sorbonne in
    Paris, Fr. Ghevont drew up and designed the initial plans for a new
    cathedral style church, which would be made of white marble and
    complement the majestic Providence, RI State House across the highway.
    Unfortunately, church leaders were not as visionary and decided to
    maintain an aged and non-Armenian architectural style building rather
    than build a spectacular new edifice. Fr. Ghevont was successful in
    cleaning the revamping the Sunday School hall.

    During his tenure in Providence, RI, people would come from near and
    far to listen to his magnificent homilies and expositions of Holy
    Scripture and celebrate in his spell-binding Jerusalem styled
    liturgies. On Easter Sunday 1995, the sanctuary of Ss. Sahag and
    Mesrob Armenian Church in Providence could not contain the throngs of
    worshippers who came to participate in the liturgy. Many worshipers
    lined the stairway and vestibules listening. For the first time in
    over 60 years, the parish council chairman of the Prelacy Armenian
    Church in Providence, Ss. Vartanantz, attended Easter Sunday Divine
    Liturgy at Ss. Sahag and Mesrob, to see Fr. Ghevont. Unfortunately,
    Hayr Soorp's visions and dreams for Providence were never realized and
    he decided to resign in November of 1997.

    For the next ten years, Fr. Ghevont visited many parishes and
    mesmerized thousands of the faithful with his golden tongue and
    masterful sermons. Many remember Fr. Ghevont sitting in a throne in
    the chancel, providing precise commentary on Holy Scripture and the
    meaning the Gospel. In 2000, with a cadre of young savants, he founded
    the Armenian Orthodox Theological Research Institute, a theological
    consortium created to research and communicate the magnificence of the
    Armenian Orthodox Tradition. It was this vehicle that Fr. Ghevont
    believed would breath "espirit de corps" back into the Armenian
    Church. This institute published two books - the DOMAR - the
    liturgical calendar of the Armenian Orthodox Church, and the Burial
    Rites According to the Armenian Orthodox Church [forthcoming]. In
    addition, he crafted many masterful theological and Armenological
    articles, short stories and vignettes that will soon be published by a
    new Institute in his memory.

    While visiting parishes in 2009, Fr. Ghevont suffered a terrible car
    accident and injured his back. He ended up in a wheel chair and fought
    sickness for the next two years. He fell asleep in the Lord on January
    20, 2013. Fr. Ghevont was one of the most learned and talented
    Armenian priests of his generation and the last living priest ordained
    on the tomb of Christ. The Armenian Church never realized his genius.
    He will be missed by many.

    May God enlighten his soul.

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