Armenian Religious Communities of Diaspora

[MJ]

Atlanta Journal Constitution

 

Symbolic light from saint blesses Armenian church

GLOBAL ATLANTA: Every Monday, a look at our changing communities

Clint Williams - Staff

Monday, February 19, 2001

 

The blessings of St. Gregory were delivered to members of the Armenian

Church of Atlanta Sunday, nestled in the drink holder of a rental car for

the 550-mile journey.

 

The symbolic "Light of St. Gregory," was brought to a chapel in Roswell in

an effort akin to that which brought the Olympic flame to Atlanta in 1996.

St. Gregory, after spending 13 years in a dungeon at the fortress Khor

Virab, converted the king of Armenia to Christianity in 301 A.D. The king

proclaimed Christianity the state religion, making Armenia the first

Christian nation.

 

In celebration of the 1,700th anniversary of that event, the flame that now

burns in the pit where St. Gregory was imprisoned was used to light a torch

that was flown to America in January. That flame has been used to light

candles and lanterns at parishes across the country.

 

To get the light here, the Very Rev. Fr. Simeon Odabashian said he flew

from his New York office to Richmond, Va., the closest place to Atlanta

where a special flame was burning. With that flame he lit the wick of a

candle lantern and a large prayer candle. The lantern rested in a cardboard

box; the glass-encased prayer candle fit snugly in a cup holder of the

rental car Odabashian drove to a parish in Charlotte and on to Georgia.

 

While the anniversary is a jubilee, "a year of rejoicing unlike any other

year," Odabashian said, "it is not enough that it just be a celebration of

a historic event."

 

Speaking in Armenian, and then in English, Odabashian told the 80 or so

gathered at Epiphany Byzantine Catholic Church, "We must rededicate

ourselves so this light never goes out in our hearts."

 

After lighting a long, thin candle at the altar, many parishioners

struggled with how to transport the flame home.

 

Anita Karapetian of Marietta fashioned a paper cup as a wind guard on a

larger, commemorative candle and lit the wick. "We're going to bless our

home just by taking it (the flame) there," said Karapetian, who has lived

in the United States for 15 years.

 

About 1,100 Armenians live in metro Atlanta, said Albert Korikian, parish

chairman.

 

Odabashian holds services here once a month.