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The
horror of Genocide brought solidarity to the Armenian people of
St. Catharines. For them the 1920s had been a period of co-operation,
culminating in the completion of the first Armenian church in Canada
in 1930. Using church records, autobiographies and personal recollections,
I will attempt to describe this period of our history in Ontario.
As
survivors of the Genocide were found and brought to Canada, the
nature of the St. Catharines community changed from a predominantly
male sojourner society to a family community. Men who had lost their
wives in the Genocide sent to the old country for prospective brides,
bought homes in St. Catharines and started new families. Like pioneers
establishing a new colony, they set to work diligently to build
their community. While they wanted their children to attend Canadian
schools, learn English and understand Canadian customs and behaviour,
they were even more anxious not to lose their ancient heritage.
Before
1925 each political party, the Armenian Social Democratic party,
or Hnchag party, and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, or Tashnag
party, operated its own after-four Armenian-language school. Setting
aside differences in political belief and in social and cultural
background, the community members came together in 1925 to organize
one school, at One Carlton Street, called the Raffi Varzharan. Raffi
was the pen-name of Hagop Melik-Hagopian who had been a popular
nineteenth-century patriotic writer. To the community, it seemed
appropriate to name its school after him. Approximately thirty-five
children attended the school three evenings a week for about two
hours each evening.
The
Raffi Varzharan school minutes, deposited with the Multicultural
History Society of Ontario, reveal that the school was a true community
effort. Men of all ages and of both political parties contributed
their time and talents. One man even offered the use of his coffee
house for the school rent free. For the first time too, women were
involved as teachers and administrators. To raise funds, the community
put on a play, and both men and women were dispatched to sell tickets
to nearby Armenian settlements. The play was a success and everyone
was enthusiastic.
The
Raffi Varzharan minutes end in 1926 and are followed by the minutes
of the Armenian Union of Canada, which assumed supervision of the
school. The Armenian Union of Canada was a non-political organization;
which had been founded in Toronto with the encouragement of Levon
Babayan, a well-to-do rug merchant originally from Constantinople.
Its objectives were to educate the new generation in the Armenian
language, to perpetuate the Armenian heritage and to help needy
Armenians such as the Georgetown Armenian orphans.
Under
the guidance of this organization the school continued to flourish.
Members of the two political organizations worked together as teachers,
as executive members of the school council and on various school
committees. Upon request, both political party headquarters in the
United States supplied textbooks and copies of plays. By 1929 the
community felt that a permanent building was needed for a school
and cultural centre. An elected committee purchased the site of
the present church at 49 Carlton Street. The plans were drawn up
and a local contractor, Davis and Dean, was hired. All the existing
organizations in the community agreed with this venture and participated
both morally and materially.
Upon
hearing that the St. Catharines community was planning to erect
a school and cultural centre, Levon Babayan, president of the executive
of the Armenian Union of Canada in Toronto, used his influence with
the St. Catharines community members to alter their original plans;
for he was convinced that a church would greatly benefit the community.
Accordingly, a public meeting was held in St. Catharines at Hagop
Mooradian's coffee house at 304 Ontario Street in 1929. Babayan,
his friend Professor Bagdassarian and Rev. Moses der Stepanian,
the circuit priest in southern Ontario, enumerated the advantages
of combining interests to build a church upstairs and a school and
community centre downstairs. Babayan was cheered when he announced
to those who had voted in favour of a church that he would take
a personal interest in the fund-raising and building campaign. From
that point on he spearheaded the project.
This
was not the first time that the St. Catharines community had considered
its religious heritage. In fact, efforts to maintain the Armenian
faith in Canada had begun some years earlier. The Armenian church
is an apostolic, independent, state church. That all Armenians belonged
to the one Armenian church and upheld one faith was never questioned
by the early settlers. Although they had no church building, the
St. Catharines Armenians elected a parish council towards the end
of the second decade of the twentieth century. Its main function
was to arrange for clerical visits from the Armenian diocesan headquarters
in New York City. Sometimes individual Armenians requested the parish
council to arrange a clerical visit from New York for a special
occasion such as a marriage, baptism tism, or funeral. Usually,
however, pastoral visits were made to St. Catharines as part of
an annual visit through southern Ontario by an itinerant clergyman
sent from New York.
The
parish council encouraged the formation of a church choir. The choir,
like the parish council, was nonpartisan since all members of the
community felt the strong need to maintain their faith as they had
known it in their homeland. The choir, composed of both women and
men, assisted the circuit priest in the traditional Armenian manner.
Most of the people attended the Badarak (Mass) and welcomed the
preacher into their homes for the traditional blessing.
Without
exception the services were held in an Anglican church, usually
St. Barnabas Anglican Church on Queenston Street, or St. Thomas
Anglican Church on Ontario Street. Not only did these Anglican churches
allow the Armenians to hold mass there, but they also permitted
them to use the parish hall for special events such as plays and
concerts. When the Armenians undertook to build their own church,
they received great encouragement from these Anglican parishes.
Now
that plans were made to build the church, the Armenians began working
feverishly. It was during the depression, and everyone was experiencing
economic hardship. Yet, from tight budgets they managed to set aside
nickels and dimes for their church. A campaign was begun to raise
funds by sending volunteers to approach non-Armenians in the city
and to travel as far away as Chicago and St. Louis to reach other
Armenian communities. They raised $8,989. A mortgage for $4,000
was carried by Babayan. Seven or eight years later he wrote off
the unpaid balance during a banquet held in the church hall when
he burned the mortgage papers and received a standing ovation.
The
consecration of the church took place on November 30, 1930 by his
Eminence, Archbishop Dirayer der Hovanesian, primate of the North
American Diocese of the Armenian Church. He was assisted by three
priests, Der Moses Kahana der Stepanian, Der Eskone Kahana Charkoogian
and Der Attic Kahana Jhotsigian. The St. Catharines choir, the Toronto
choir and the choirmaster from Detroit assisted in the service.
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The
honour of being godfather to the church was given to Levon Babayan
who named it St. Gregory the Illuminator after the saint responsible
for establishing Christianity as the state religion in Armenia.
The sister Armenian communities of Niagara Falls, Buffalo, Hamilton,
Brantford, Toronto, Galt and as far away as Detroit were represented
at this ceremony along with local civic and government leaders.
The church can seat approximately 150 with the same capacity downstairs
where the school and social functions are held. The building is
brick and situated on about three-quarters of an acre of land.
The
community at this time was composed of approximately ninety-five
families, or about four hundred people. It had close to eight organizations,
and with no exception, they all supported the church and school.
The church membership of sixty-eight in 1930 rose to 108 by 1934.
Church attendance varied from twenty or thirty to full capacity
on special occasions.
The
services conducted during the 1930-34 period were held in Armenian
only. (This custom has changed only slightly over a fifty year period.
Today the clergy still conduct the service in Armenian, but give
part of the sermon in English.) Traditional church customs of the
past were upheld. Proper dress was essential. Religious rituals
such as burning incense, lighting candles and the sacraments were
practised according to ancient tradition. In the old country the
pagan custom of burning a big bonfire in February had been combined
with the Christian commemoration of Christ's presentation to the
elders, known as Diaruntarach, or Derndess. In the early 1930s the
fire practice was discontinued in St. Catharines because of the
danger involved when some young people had jumped over the flames
to show off.
For
financial reasons during the early years, the congregation had difficulty
maintaining a permanent priest. The first priest was Rev. Moses
der Stepanian, followed by Rev. Eskon Charkoogian. Even though the
members were unable to support a permanent priest during the hard
times of the depression, the people, nevertheless, held matins every
Sunday with the assistance of the deacons.
The
church also met the educational needs of the community. The Armenian
school, called St. Gregory Night School, was held on Monday, Wednesday
and Friday evenings from seven to nine. A school committee, which
was composed of both men and women, was set up to supervise the
school and examine the students' progress. Reading, writing, grammar
and Armenian history were included in the curriculum; music was
also an important part of the program. The children were taught
folk-songs, patriotic songs, like "Lousin Chegar" ["There Was No
Moon"] and liturgical sharagans (chants).
At
first the teachers taught on a volunteer basis. As the number of
children increased to fifty and the work load became heavy, salaries
were negotiated with the parish council. On one occasion a teacher
was offered $15 a month by the council to teach; he requested $20.
They settled on $17.50. Other teachers included Mrs. Serpouhi Malkonian,
Mrs. Hayganoush Kortoian, Mr. Krikor der Krikorian, Mr. Mugerditch
Krikorian and Mr. Krikor Mooradian.
Not
only did the church try to educate the young, it also attempted
to meet the needs of the older generation. For this reason an Armenian
library was set up. A man could read the books in the church hall
free of charge, or he could take them home for 5¢ a week each. Armenian
newspapers and periodicals were also made available to the public
in the reading-room. The church basement was used by the entire
community for a variety of events. Three evenings a week it was
used for the school. At other times it was used for meetings by
church groups and by the men's and women's branches of the political
parties; for playing cards and backgammon, for staging plays and
holding socials. One of the major religious-social occasions was
January 6, the Armenian Christmas. In the evening after the church
service, a banquet was held in the church hall. The food served
was a traditional Keghi dish called bagharch. It was made of whole
wheat and white flour baked in the form of a circular five-inch
thick loaf of bread. The inside was dug out, flaked and poured back
into its baked shell. The whole thing was then covered with hot
butter and taun (thinned yoghurt). The bagharch banquet became a
local tradition and continues even to the present.
Theatrical
ventures were also important to the community. During the 1920s
and 1930s many plays were staged, both to raise funds and to provide
a popular source of entertainment for all Armenians throughout southern
Ontario.
In
addition to religious, educational, social and cultural functions,
the parish council, which was composed of wise and respected men,
had yet another time-honoured task. In order to minimize discord
in the community, to monitor the moral behaviour of both men and
women and to avoid shameful conduct in the presence of odars (non-Armenians),
the parish council acted as a court of appeal. Three examples of
its attempts to arbitrate disputes are cited below:
(a)
After a quarrel with her husband, who had become violent, a woman
took refuge in a neighbour's house. The woman's husband threatened
the neighbour with a lethal weapon, and the threatened party appealed
to the parish council. The two parties were brought together before
the council whose influence was so great that after receiving a
lecture, the offender apologized and the two parties shook hands.
The husband and wife were reunited and lived amicably from then
on.
(b)
The wife of a straying husband appealed to the council. Both the
man and his wife were asked to make compromises to solve their differences.
They were admonished to behave and not to violate their vows again.
The problem was thus solved without bitterness or divorce.
(c)
The council was not always immediately successful. On one occasion
a son wanted his father to send money to his mother in the old country.
The father refused. He was asked to appear before the council, but
even after lengthy discussions he remained adamant and would not
send his wife any money. The community considered his behaviour
"shameful" and did not welcome him in its midst. Eventually he brought
his wife out to Canada to join him.
The
parish council was the conscience of the tight little community
which had a clear-cut conception of what was acceptable behaviour
and what was not. This code of behaviour was based both on religious
teaching and on practical considerations. For centuries the Armenians
in the old country under the authority of the Armenian church had
settled their internal disputes. This practice of self-regulation
was transplanted to the New World. Those who were unprepared to
live by the community's moral and social code were either ostracized
or held up to ridicule.
During
the 1920s the St. Catharines people came together in a spirit of
harmony. Their efforts resulted in the erection of a church-school-community
centre. In its early years the St. Catharines parish solidified
the community and provided a common ground for maintaining Armenian
culture and preserving Armenian identity in Canada.
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