Fr. Abel OGHLUKIAN

The issue of bestowing the diaconate on women is not a novel phenomenon in our church. Since at least the eleventh century this office developed steadily in several fairly clear stages. Its focus in lively contemporary debate is rather connected with discussion of the principle of legal equality between men and women in our social and societal contexts. If women have achieved striking advances in political, economic, educational and cultural fields, the question arises as to what their proper place is in church, what premises can be found in tradition for extending their scope for service, facilitating and properly evaluating their work for the church. These are the subjects the present study addresses.
Fr. Vardan Hac'uni laid the foundation for a consideration of women's inestimable contribution to Armenian national and church life in his major monograph, The Armenian Woman Before History.1 Forty-one years after its publication Dr. Maria Christine Arat submitted the following dissertation to the Vienna State University, "The Deaconesses of the Armenian Church in Canonical Perspective".2 In this way the topic of ordination as deaconess was again brought indirectly to the attention of Armenian church hierarchy.
This present inquiry is based on Dr. Arat's above research, while critically elaborating it with new historical, literary and canonical data. To facilitate comprehension I have avoided the strict application of scholarly methodology whenever possible and have restricted literary citations to the necessary minimum.
The stimulus for producing this brief volume has been provided by the current national-religious, spiritual and cultural reawakening in Armenia and the urgent imperatives related to it. Its goal is to direct the attention of our religious authorities and churchloving community to a very ancient national-ecclesiastical tradition currently almost completely overlooked, i.e. the ordination of deaconesses by the Armenian church. I hope that readers will find in its proposals material for broadminded, unbiased consideration to assist Armenian women with a calling in committed diaconal service to Christ as established in the Armenian church.
In this regard I owe a special debt of gratitude to His Grace, Bishop Khajak and Bishop Hovnan for their sincere fraternal evaluation and support, to Fr. Augustinus Sekulian of the Mkhitarist Brotherhood of Vienna for providing me with literature and invaluable specialized assistance during the preparation of this work, to Fr. Abraham Mkrtchian and Mrs. Vartiter Nikoghosian for editing the study and Sarkis Hambartsumian for the photographs.
May the company of celibate women hermits and churchloving deaconesses mentioned in this work receive the recompense for their labor in the heights from the light of heaven, as they fervently intercede for all.

The Author