Message of Fr. Vazken Movsesian,
parish priest of St. Andrew Armenian Church, Cupertino,
from the Nakhagoch Newsletter.
Electronic version archived on:
SAIN-- St. Andrew Information Network
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c. 1995 Fr. Vazken Movsesian
Address comments to: dervaz@sain.org
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An event worth remembering
Early in September I was invited to attend the consecration of the St. 
George Coptic Orthodox Church in San Jose, California. His Holiness, 
Pope Shenouda III, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. 
Mark officiated.
I attended and sat in the chancel area with other guest clergy. During 
the consecration ceremony, the Pope began to entertain questions from 
the congregation. I thought something was strange when some of the 
questions were of a personal nature, i.e., "How do I get my husband to 
stop smoking cigarettes?" Then I knew something was wrong.
Suddenly, the priest of the church tapped me on the shoulder and 
asked me to step into the vestry. He explained that they didn't have any 
miuron and asked if I could get some. So with my verargoo on I got in 
my car and went to St. Andrew, picked some up and returned. When I 
got back to the church, they insisted that I take it directly to the Pope. I 
walked down the center isle toward him. He paused from his speaking 
and all I could understand were three words from his talk "abunna, 
ermeni, orthodox." So the people were happy that the service could 
continue. They had me participate in the service, by standing next to 
him and offering the miuron.
It was a memorable day of course and something must be said for the 
idea that a Coptic Orthodox Church has been consecrated with 
Armenian miuron.