A Blessed Event : Congregation to Celebrate Consecration of New Armenian Apostolic Church in Costa Mesa

Antranik Zorayan shakes his head when he speaks of the troubled history of his Armenian people, a race that has endured the loss of their native land, World War I atrocities and, more recently, natural disasters and violent civil strife.

“Through it all, without our own government or rulers, we stuck to the church,” the Irvine resident said. “That is the No. 1 factor, the reason we survive while the conquerors don’t. That’s why this day is so important.”

Today Zorayan and many of Orange County’s other 1,500 Armenian residents will celebrate the consecration of St. Mary’s, a new Armenian Apostolic church in Costa Mesa. The ceremony will be attended by Archbishop Vatche Hovsepian of the North American Armenian Church’s Western Diocese and will be followed by a banquet at the Neighborhood Community Center.

Hovsepian began the church’s opening ceremonies Saturday evening when he marched to the building’s door accompanied by local clergy and a men’s choir. He knelt to perform a traditional consecration rite, knocking loudly three times and singing in Armenian, “Open unto us Lord, open unto us. . . .” Dressed in traditional garments and black headdress, Hovsepian was followed into the building by more than 150 worshipers who watched as he blessed various objects, including a painting he climbed a ladder to reach. The building itself will be blessed Sunday.

St. Mary’s, at 148 E. 22nd St., will be the second church serving the county’s growing Armenian population, joining Forty Martyrs in western Santa Ana. It’s an addition that has been a long time coming, said Zorayan, chairman of the committee organizing the consecration celebrations.

“Six or seven years ago, we were having services at an Episcopal church, St. James in Corona Del Mar, and they were very kind to take us in, but we wanted our own church,” Zorayan said. “There are a lot of Armenian families moving here, and some of them had to drive an hour to go to services in Montebello. Now, we will have a new church.”

Four years ago, church leaders raised $1.2 million to buy the Costa Mesa building, which was under lease to the Joy Fellowship Church until June, 1991, said Edward Bilezikjian, the church’s renovation architect.

The Armenian Apostolic congregation began holding services in the building last year, but without a church name or official status. Since the building changed hands, congregation members have spent $200,000 transforming it to reflect Armenian Apostolic traditions, with high arches and Armenian script, Bilezikjian said.

“The Armenian churches have a very distinctive look and to convert this church we had to do quite a bit, but now when any Armenian from any part of the world walks into it, they will recognize immediately that it is an Armenian Apostolic church,” congregation member Bilezikjian said. “It . . . unites us as one people.”

Staying one people has been a challenge to the Armenians, who lost 1.5 million of their number to an Ottoman Empire campaign that began in 1915. Soviet Armenians suffered again when their nation was devastated by a December, 1988, earthquake. More recently, Armenians have drawn world attention because of the violent conflicts with Turkish-speaking Muslims in Azerbaijan.

“We have had many troubles, and our people are spread around the world, but our church--and this new church--keep us together, (as) a close-knit people,” said the Rev. Moushegh Tashjian, pastor of St. Mary’s. “The church serves a dual purpose in the lives of our people, both religious and cultural.”

The centerpiece of the new church is a huge $90,000 altar of pink and white marble designed by Bilezikjian and handcrafted over four months by a team of Armenian artisans. Eight feet across and 14 feet high, the ornate altar has an Italian mural on granite depicting the Last Supper, and a painting of the Virgin Mary and the Christ child.

“The altar for me is a dream come true,” Bilezikjian said. “It’s always been a dream of mine for God to let me do something like this.”