Dickran H. BOYAJIAN
( 1895 - 19.. )

This is an account of a pilgrimage to the holy monastery of Etchmiadzin, describing the author's experiences with eloquence and care. It breathes the spirit of a great love, on the part of the writer, for the land of his forefathers, where Christianity found a strong foothold from its infancy.
The very name Etchmiadzin, requiring six English words to express it — "there descended the Only Begotten Son" — is amply sufficient to endear this book to us. It is a reminder of a symbolic vision of St. Gregory the Illuminator, pointing to a holy spot upon which, in A.D. 303, the cathedral of our people was erected, preceding the Vatican of Rome by two centuries.
That enduring monument was the first to be copped with a cross, this by the wish of the great Armenian King Trdat (Tiridates), a brilliantly endowed monarch and the first ruler in history to adopt Christianity and make it the chosen religion of his people. In this he preceded Constan-tine the Great of Rome, who claimed and perhaps believed that he saw a naming cross in the sky, with the words in hoc signo vinces (by this sign shalt thou conquer), which he thereupon proceeded to do.
Trdat and Constantine, zealous advocates of the new religion, attracted some royal disciples in the centuries that followed — among them, Clovis I of France, Ethelbert of England, Rollo of Normandy, Vladimir of Russia, and Olaf of Sweden. But the pages of history are spotted with many recusancies and many recessions. The trend, however, was always slowly upward. Christian preaching and practice, set over against aeons of idolatry, demonism, despotism, cruelty, and misery, began finding a foothold in the minds of the masses, revealing to them the superiority of the Christian ethic and way of life. From the fourth century onward the Western world gradually won release from the fetters of paganism.
Centuries ago, under Persian khans, the spiritual center of Armenia was the object of oppressive taxation and plunder. Further back, under Byzantine Emperors, the Catholicos was for a time even forbidden to tread Armenian soil. But through it all, Etchmiadzin stood like a rock. Even as ancient Armenians drew encouragement and inspiration from the Lamp of Loussavoritch (Illuminator) on cloud-capped Aragadz, so near to eternal Ararat, so we modern Armenians of the Homeland and the Diaspora, insofar as we are known for piety and integrity, owe a debt to Etchmiadzin that is beyond words to express.
The author of the present work, Dickran H. Boyajian, a respected member of the Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Federal bars, is well known as one of three translators into English and modern Armenian of the classical historian, Yeghisheh. Mr. Boyajian, a delegate to the National Church Assembly at Etchmiadzin in the fall of 1955, attracted attention with his fine series of articles on his trip that appeared in Baikar, an Armenian daily newspaper published in Boston, Massachusetts. With this volume in English he affords pleasure and profit to a wide circle of readers — Americans of Armenian origin.
Of the eleven chapters herein, five are devoted to his voyage to Armenia and back. The rest deal with the main items of his mission — the election of the Catholicos and consecrations — as well as illuminating facts and comments on Armenia in general: its geography, institutions, economy, education, industry, traditions, and legends, the beauty of its scenery and buildings. All this is set down with loving care and without any conscious attempt to extol or disparage the virtues and vices of the regime in control.
The author is much more than a reporter; he is an eloquent speaker, a scholar, and an analyst, and this book, his chef-d'oeuvre, does ample justice to the subject.

VAHAN M. KURKJIAN New York, May 16, 1957