ST. ILLUMINATOR CATHEDRAL AT THRESHOLD OF A CENTURY
By Hourig Papazian Sahagian
Armenian Weekly
Mon, Jul 18 2011
If only the walls could talk to us, these walls of St. Illuminator’s,
they might echo the tune “Kele Lao” (Let’s go home)! But there was
no home, no village for our parents and grandparents who were left
behind in the mist of blood and anguish.
In the years following the genocide, St. Illuminator’s Armenian
Apostolic Cathedral beckoned like a bright beacon of hope for a
generation of survivors. After they landed on Ellis Island they
quickly found their way to this modest church on a bustling street
in the shadow of the “EL” where they searched for family members,
village neighbors, and the anchor for a new life.
If only the walls could talk of that tiny reception hall with posts
as awkward and unsophisticated as the refugees who gathered there,
those posts-and people-that bravely supported the weight of the church
above them. Yet despite her limitations, St. Illuminator’s plunged
in, determined to fulfill her mission as a nurturing homeland of
the spirit. The survivors saw in her a kindred image of the Statue
of Liberty, which had welcomed them with loving generosity. Here
was offered the Armenian haven of ancient light and succor: the
Holy Badarak.
Those posts could tell many stories of joyous times, of families
reunited, of young people finding love, of weddings, Christenings,
and of the great classic celebration, the Hantess Khunjouyk! Later,
inevitably, as the “pioneer generation” aged, they bid their last
farewell before St. Illuminator’s altar.
In 1914, St. Illuminator’s members began to collect funds to purchase
the church and its furnishings from the Methodists; six years later
it came into Armenian ownership. In April 1921, St. Illuminator’s,
at 221 East 27th Street, was consecrated as a cathedral. It, and the
building next door, were ours. A new “homeland” at last!
Slowly, gradually, St. Illuminator’s parish took root. For our new
Americans, there were triumphs great and small-of factory work, of
learning English. Grocers, tailors, seamstresses, and shoemakers
opened modest shops. Coffee shops, the “Armen Garo” Club, and a
variety of Armenian specialty stores popped up along Third Avenue,
some of which are still flourishing on that upscale street.
All the while, St. Illuminator’s parishioners, though they were living
hard-scrabble lives, sacrificed time, money, and effort for their
church. There were constant fundraisers by the trustees, the Ladies’
Guild, and other groups for the benefit of the genocide survivors,
the orphans, the Calamity Fund, the Garmir Khatch (later the Armenian
Relief Society), and the Gamavor Legion. However, unfailingly money
was saved and sent back home to bring relatives “over.” Hearts trembled
for news of loved ones. A letter from home was cause for celebration!
As family finances showed some improvement, naturally the urgent
priority was to establish the Armenian school. Classes were held three
days per week; absentees were rare. Then followed charitable, cultural,
and political organizations. Evening events crowded the calendar
with meetings of women’s groups, men’s political associations, youth
activists and sports clubs, regional and village fraternal societies,
and an outstanding choir and mixed chorus directed by the renowned
Krikor Suny.
It was during the years 1917-20 when a call to arms went out to the
newly minted Armenian American men. News had spread like wildfire
that their “old country” neighbors were falling prey once again to
the Turkish sword-another genocide! The gamavor was formed as an
army of volunteers to train as a wing of the French Foreign Legion. A
number of United States divisions were created with a single mission:
“Return to Historic Armenia to rescue survivors and orphans.”
Old anxieties were revived in the hearts of St. Illuminator’s
parishioners as they bid farewell to the gamavor legions in the church
hall. These courageous men had barely found a foothold in their new
country when they turned around and went back into the Turkish killing
fields. They marched off to the strains of “Harach Nahadag,” a song
composed expressly for the gamavor by the great Parsegh Ganachian.
When tragedy struck the adopted homeland in 1929, wiping out businesses
and savings throughout America, Armenians endured with the resilience
acquired through millennia of troubled times. For Armenians too
proud to accept the charity of relief (welfare) from any source,
St. Illuminator’s stretched out her arms, serving as an employment
clearinghouse for her flock during those long dark years.
In the same decade, there was a political upheaval in the Armenian
Apostolic Churches of the United States. Months of negotiations took
place in the hall of St. Illuminator’s, which resounded with the
voices of church and community representatives at endless meetings
in search of reconciliation.
Despite turbulent times, this period ushered in decades of a Golden
Age of culture in U.S. Armenian communities, particularly in St.
Illuminator’s environment in the heart of New York City. This flowering
of Armenian artistic life developed well before the arrival of new
waves of immigrants from the Middle East, Armenia, and Persia.
Music, dance, and dramatic productions featuring renowned artists
appeared on the stages of Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Opera,
and Town Hall. Celebrations and genocide commemorations were held in
elegant venues such as Park Palace, Pythian Temple (later the City
Center), and the Paramount Mansion, site of the New York debut of
Alan Hovhannes. Week-long April 24th commemorations were also held
in hotels in Atlantic City.
Upon General Antranig’s U.S. visit a fundraising campaign-reception
was held in St. Illuminator’s Hall to benefit the Armenian Army. His
comrade-in-arms and a heroic military leader, General Sebouh, became
a familiar figure at St. Illuminator’s as he lived in the Washington
Heights section of Manhattan. But it was the visit to New York of
Franz Werfel, the author of The Forty Days of Musa Dagh, that topped
all the events of the 1930’s. A gala black-tie reception held in
his honor at the Waldorf Astoria just blocks from St. Illuminator’s
created unparalleled excitement in the parish.
Meanwhile, as Europe teetered on the brink of World War II, American
Armenians observed all the diplomatic and political machinations,
chilled by the old fear of a coming conflagration. Painful scars of
the first World War were still fresh in Armenian minds when Pearl
Harbor struck, and the entire U.S. Armenian community met the demands
of war with patriotic determination. Countless men from St.
Illuminator’s parish and thousands from the metropolitan area rallied
to the defense of their country. They served, fought, and died with
honor on every front.
After “the War,” the Communist juggernaut overwhelmed the Armenian
homeland in a familiar historical pattern of tyranny and slavery.
Armenians fled by the thousands to any country that would accept them.
A great number were interred in refugee camps in Germany as “stateless
persons,” many of whom were able to emigrate thanks to the Nansen
Passport, issued in honor of Fridtjof Nansen, the great Norwegian
humanitarian who had aided Survivors after World War I.
The U.S. Armenian community hastily rallied to the cause of bringing
the refugees to our shores; the Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic
Church, the Armenian Relief Society, and the National Council of
Churches joined forces, and thus was born the Armenian National
Committee to Aid Homeless Armenians, the ANCHA.
St. Illuminator’s and St. Sarkis parishioners of all ages rose as
one to meet the challenges of resettling wave after wave of newcomers.
Once again the Hall of Pillars of St. Illuminator’s rang out with
the voices of workers in the colossal community effort that bridged
two decades.
Cadres of volunteers stood ready at the New York docks where ships
arrived from Europe to escort refugees to the St. Illuminator’s Hall.
There, another cadre welcomed them with a reception followed
by briefing sessions. The new ANCHA “Hairengits” were fed-often
clothed-by the army of volunteers who stood ready to leap into action
at a moment’s notice. Traditional chicken-pilaf meals were prepared
in the kitchen of the church hall by a legion of skilled ladies of
the two parishes.
Newcomers were then processed through a labyrinth of interviews,
often lasting days, with the committee. Many remained to take up
residence in the tri-state area while large numbers were relocated
to California. All were escorted to bus, train, or airport and, upon
arrival, were greeted by their sponsoring families in destinations
throughout the U.S. Parish youth of the Saturday and Sunday Schools
provided the escort service, running errands, making phone calls,
and delivering messages. One 16-year-old Scout, for his Eagle Scout
project, prepared a brochure for the refugees, outlining the laws,
duties, and privileges of U.S. citizenship.
Over the next 20 years, Armenians in academic life increased
exponentially as leading universities on both costs established
departments of Armenia area studies. Simultaneously, Armenian Day
Schools emerged throughout the United States. In the late 1970’s, St.
Illuminator’s Day School was founded at the Armenian Center in
Woodside, Queens.
For some time the Prelacy and the Armenian Relief Society had
functioned as supervisory bodies for a network of single-day and
day schools. They soon recognized the imperative of reaching an
adolescent generation by sponsoring the Siamanto Academy for High
School students for whom weekly lectures were offered by well-known
Armenian educators. A three-year course of advanced studies earned
them college credit-a major breakthrough in U.S.-Armenian education.
Over the years classes had been held in St. Illuminator’s Hall
where, while closet bookshelves were being rearranged, an astounding
discovery was made. An old Altar Curtain was found that, though it is
beginning to yellow with age, is an outstanding artistic example of the
crocheting art. The date “1920” of the cathedral’s acquisition had been
worked into its heavy ancient threads. It was thought to have taken
at least five years to complete this labor of love, and the ladies
of the parish immediately assumed the responsibility of restoring
the historic artifact for their beloved St. Illuminator’s Cathedral.
The earthquake of Dec. 7, 1988 struck Armenia like lightning striking
twice. They were still reeling from a pogrom perpetrated by the
Azerbaijan army in February 1988. Ten months later the earth opened
up in Sumgait killing over 25,000 more.
Diaspora Armenians leaped into action as first responders. St.
Illuminator’s and the Woodside Armenian Center became the hub of a
campaign for emergency aid and supplies. Physicians and specialists
of the parish boarded the first “mercy” flights to Yerevan to begin
the healing work which, sadly, continues to this day.
A short 36 months after the earthquake, Mother Armenia felt her power
returning as she declared her second Independence, on Sept. 21, 2001,
even as the Battle for Artsakh raged on.
In the interim, on April 24, 2000, a chapel was consecrated at St.
Illuminator’s Cathedral in memory of the martyrs of the genocide. The
recovered bones of the Survivors of the Der Zor desert were encased
in this contemporary reliquary as a final salute to their holy remains.
The 1920 Altar Curtain was accompanied by a brave companion during St.
Illuminator’s journey of a century: the building itself. Five
generations had prayed, worked, and played in that blessed place. But
the passage of decades began to weigh heavily on the walls, posts,
and foundations of the cathedral.
Architects, construction, and metallurgy specialists were called upon
to plan, design, rebuild, and renew the venerable space.
The balcony was replaced with lofty rafters that reflect the sparkle
of several brilliant chandeliers. The walls then were raised to even
greater heights. Now, as we pass through the Adyan, Tas, and Pem to
the Khoran, the renewed cathedral continues to direct our path toward
the light of a new day.
The tired old walls and posts might have taken away with them the
imprint of memories and legends of our ancient homeland even as
Turkey’s genocide denial today attempts to eradicate them. St.
Illuminator’s people meet that challenge with a national spirit that
burns more fiercely than ever. Building on our historic legacy, we
are inspired to create new memories and legends within the resurrected
walls and posts of St. Illuminator’s Cathedral.