St. Mary Armenian Apostolic Church, Toronto
| St. Mary Armenian Apostolic Church | |
|---|---|
|
St. Mary Armenian Apostolic Church | |
| 43°46′15″N 79°19′23″W / 43.77097°N 79.323022°W | |
| Location | North York, Toronto |
| Country | Canada |
| Denomination | Armenian Apostolic Church |
| Website |
stmarytoronto |
| History | |
| Founded | February 28, 1990 |
| Clergy | |
| Pastor(s) |
Very Rev. Fr. Keghart Kosbakian Archpriest. Fr. Gomidas Panossian |
Established in 1983, St. Mary Armenian Apostolic Church is at 45 Hallcrown Place, Toronto, Ontario, Canada in the municipality of North York. It belongs to the Holy See of Cilicia.[1]
History
Toronto's Armenian Community Centre and A.R.S. Day School were opened in 1979. The Holy See of the Catholicosate of Cilicia had no Armenian Church; after a petition in 1983 approval to found a new church was given by the Prelacy of Canada and Eastern United States.
Archimandrite Khajag Hagopian became the church's first pastor when it was established in 1983. Services were conducted at St. Augustine Anglican Church located on Bayview Ave. in Toronto until a new church was built.
The foundation was laid for the new church building in 1997; on May 27, 1990 the new building was consecrated and its first Holy Mass was celebrated. The Church was officially named St. Mary Armenian Apostolic Church.
In the spring of 2012 the church was renovated under the auspices of the Prelate of Canada, Archbishop Khajag Hagopian.
Pastors
His Eminence Archbishop Khajag Hagopian
(April 10, 1983- December 9, 1994)
Archbishop Hagopian was born in Syria on June 20, 1946. At a young age, he and his family relocated to Lebanon, where he received his education at Torkomian School and in 1961 entered the Seminary at the Catholicosate of the Holy See of Cilicia in Antelias. In 1965 he is ordained a deacon by then Bishop Karekin Sarkisian, who later became the Catholicos of the Holy See of Cilicia and the Catholicos of All Armenians. In 1968, Deacon Hagopian was ordained a celibate priest and later in 1971 he received the title of Very Reverend -Vartabed.
Very Rev. Fr. Khajag Hagopian was elected the Locum Tenens of Jezireh, Northern Syria Prelacy. After serving in that capacity for eight years, he returned to Lebanon where he resumed his academic studies at the Middle East Theological institute. In 1981, at the invitation of Arch. Mesrob Ashjian, then the Prelate of Eastern US and Canada, Very Rev. Fr. Hagopian relocated to New York where he served as special assistant to the Prelate.
In 1983, he became the first parish priest of the newly established St. Mary Church in Toronto. In 1985 he was ordained a Right Reverend by Arch. Ashjian. In 1994, Bishop Hagopian served as the parish priest of the Holy Martyrs Armenian Church in Encino only to return to New York in 1995, where he led the congregation at the St. Gregory the Illuminator Church.
In June 1997, His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Holy See of Cilicia ordained him Bishop, and in 2002 the Catholicos appointed Bishop Hagopian as the Locum Tenens of the Canadian Prelacy.
On May 28, 2003 he was elevated to Archbishop by an Encyclical from His Holiness Aram in February 2004 he became the Prelate of the Armenian Prelacy of Canada.
On May 11, 2006 he was reelected as Prelate of Canada for another term, during the Canadian Armenian National Assembly Representatives meeting in St. Catherines.
On May 8, 2010, Archbishop Hagopian was reelected for the third time as Prelate of Canada at the Canadian Armenian National Assembly Representatives meeting in Toronto.
On May 10, 2014, Archbishop Khajag Hagopian retired from the prelacy.
His Grace Bishop Shahe Panossian
(December 9, 1994 - December 19, 2002)
Kevork Panossian was born May 6, 1958 in Kessab, Syria. He was ordained a celibate priest on February 17, 1980, and given the name Shahe. After being pastor of the Armenian All Saints Apostolic Church in Glenview, Illinois, US from 1989, he became pastor of the Armenian Saint Mary Apostolic Church from 1994 to 2002. He then moved to Lebanon, ultimately becoming Primate there.
His Grace Bishop Meghrig Parikian
(December 19, 2002 - May 10, 2014)
His Grace, Bishop Meghrig Parikian was born with the given name Garabed in Beirut, Lebanon on January 3, 1968. He received his primary education at the “Aksor Kasardjian” and “Mihran Karageozian” elementary schools and in 1982 he entered the Zarehian Seminary of the Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia. He was ordained a Deacon by His Eminence Archbishop Datev Sarkissian on May 6, 1985 and after completing his education at the seminary, he was ordained as a celibate priest by His Grace Bishop Zareh Aznavourian on May 28, 1988. Between 1988-1995 he served the Seminary as a monitor and choir master, while directing the Catholicosate’s “Shenorhali” choir. In July 1994, he was given the title of Very Reverend – Vartabed, by His Eminence Archbishop Ardag Manougian, after presenting his thesis on the Letters of His Holiness, Catholicos Nerses of all Armenians. The following year, in 1995, Father Parikian was appointed Sacristan at the Catholicosate. His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Armenian Catholicosate, bestowed Parikian with the right to wear a pectoral cross in January 1996. Throughout the next couple of years, he attended the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, where he followed the “Overcome Violence” educational program. As a Deacon, Parikian had begun studying the piano under the direction of Setrag Setragian, and continued his piano studies during his service in Lebanon. In 1997, he moved to New York to attend Mannes College, The New School for Music and was instructed by Peter Bellino until his departure in 1999. Upon his return to Lebanon, he took on the duty of director of the Birds Nest Armenian Orphanage in Jbeil until 2002. In May of that year, he is given the title of Right Reverend by His Grace Bishop Zareh Aznavourian and on the same day, His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Armenian Catholicosate, bestows upon him the right to wear the official purple cassock of the Armenian Catholicosate. Later that year, he is appointed as the parish priest for the St. Mary Armenian Apostolic Church in Toronto and served the local Armenian community for 12 years. In 2010, under the Auspices of His Eminence Archbishop Khajag Hagopian, the former Prelate of the Armenian Prelacy of Canada, then Very Reverend Parikian was named as the Rector of the province of Ontario. His Eminence, Archbishop Khajag Hagopian, appointed Very Reverend Parikian as Vicar General on December 17, 2013. On April 27, 2014, His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Holy See of Cilicia ordained Father Parikian as a Bishop of the Armenian Apostolic Church. His Grace was then elected as Prelate of Canada by the Canadian Armenian National Assembly Representatives on May 10, 2014. During his years of service, Bishop Parikian also authored: 11 religious tomes 2 musical volumes 10 editorial collections 15 musical DVDs and CDs Hundreds of articles, musical pieces and compositions 5 symphonies and 1 Oratorio Cantata
Very Rev. Fr. Stepanos Pashayan
(November 3, 2014 – January 7, 2016)
Kevork Pashayan was born in Beirut, Lebanon on April 13, 1981. In 1993, he was admitted to the Great House of Cilicia Seminary. In 1998, Archbishop Yeprem Tabakian ordained Kevork a Sub-Deacon. He was ordained a Deacon in 2000, a celibate priest with name Father Stepanos in 2004 and a "Doctor of the Church" - Vartabed in 2009. On November 3, 2014, Pashayan began serving as the parish priest at St. Mary’s Armenian Apostolic Church in Toronto, in the Armenian Prelacy of Canada, until appointed to serve as Dean of St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Apostolic Church in Caracas, Venezuela on January 7, 2016.
Archpriest Rev. Fr. Gomidas Panossian
(From August 2012)
Movses Vahan Panossian, was born on August 5, 1951 Mousa Ler Anjar, Lebanon, where he received his elementary education. In the early 1960s, Movses was accepted in the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia. Following his graduation from the seminary, he became Principal of the Harach National School in Anjar and at the local St. Boghos Church, where he taught and directed both institutions.
In 1975, pursuant to the Iran–Indian Diocesan Council and the incumbent Prelate, Archbishop Mesrob Ashdjian's invitation, he left for New Julfa in Iran on Oct. 5, 1975. Movses was appointed responsibility for the Diocesan Library. He also taught Armenian History and Religious Studies at the Kananian High School. Movses was responsible for the curriculum of the schools of under the auspices of the Churches.
In the same year, he established Amenaprgich (All Saviour) Monastery Choir, later known as Gomidas, raising the number of members to 115.
After seven years of residency in New-Julfa, he married Seta Kusbekian, who gave birth to their daughter Tsoler and their son Shahan. In August 1982 he returned to his Anjar, Lebanon where he assumed different roles being the Principal again at Harach National School, the Principal at Balekjian School of Zaleh, and the conductor of Barouyr Sevag's Gomidas choir.
In 1993 he was ordained and consecrated as a married priest, being renamed Gomidas. Following his ordination, Gomidas Panossian assumed position at St. Mary's Armenian Apostolic Cathedral on November 21, 1993.
Father Gomidas, at the behest of the Head Prelate, organized the Artzakh choir, the inter-collegial central committee, and taught in the National Cilician and Abkarian schools. He has been a member of the three district religious educational committees, in one district as the committee chairman, and a long-time member of the Religious Education Committee.
As of 2013 he was a member of the religious Assembly and Lebanon's Committee for the 1700th anniversary of the Armenian church.
When Varant Bedrossian of St. Nishan Armenian Apostolic church died in 2002 the Board of Trustees of the church appointed Panossian to take his place. On September 17, 2002 Panossian, his wife Seta, and their son Shahan, moved to Cambridge, Ontario and Panossian took pastoral responsibilities over St. Nishan Armenian Apostolic Church. He was also the principal of the Armenian Relief Society's Saturday Cultural Language School.
In August 2012 Gomidas Panossian was appointed to St. Mary's Armenian Apostolic Church as a pastoral assistant.
References
- ↑ Parikian, Father Meghrig (2007). 25th Anniversary of St. Mary's Church (PDF). Toronto, ON. p. 100.