Bishop Mesrop Parsamyan, Primate of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America, was in Romania earlier this month, in the company of Mr. and Mrs. Hagop and Ica Kouyoumdjian.
Together with Bishop Datev Hagopian, Primate of the Diocese of Romania, they toured the country’s Armenian holy sites as pilgrims, including the historic Armenian monasteries of Zamca and Hagigadar.
At Bishop Datev’s invitation, on Sunday, August 3 Bishop Mesrop celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of the Holy Archangels Sts. Michael and Gabriel, in Bucharest. Assisting in the service was Fr. Vachagan Gyurjyan, who has recently joined the Romanian Diocese.
Following the Divine Liturgy, Siran Navruzian, curator of the city’s Hovsep and Victoria Dudian Armenian Cultural Center, led the guests on a tour of the diocesan complex, which includes the cultural center, a library, museum, and the bishop’s residence.
On the days that followed, Bishop Mesrop and the Kouyoumdjian’s were taken on a pilgrimage led by Bishop Hagopian, visiting Suceava, where they worshiped at the Armenian churches of St. Simeon and the Holy Cross; and the Armenian monasteries of Zamca and Hagigadar, along with the nearby Romanian Orthodox monasteries of Voroneț and Sucevița.
A highlight of the pilgrimage was to view the beautiful Hagigadar monastery, which was restored to its ancient splendor in 2012, through the generosity of benefactors Hagop and Ica Kouyoumdjian.
“Romania contains beautiful centers of Armenian spirituality,” reflected Bishop Mesrop, “and at a site like Hagigadar you can sense the power of faith and creativity that inspired our ancestors—and still inspires our brothers and sisters to this day. I fervently hope to see our faithful Armenians from America experiencing these places as pilgrims.”