‘Kondak’ de consécration de NicolasTorosowicz. Source pour l’histoire de l’union du diocèse arménien en Pologneavec le Saint-Siège

Abstract

THE CONSECRATION KONDAK OF MIKOŁAJ TOROSOWICZ—A SOURCE FOR THE HISTORY OF THE UNION OF THE ARMENIAN DIOCESE IN POLAND WITH THE APOSTOLIC SEE

Nikolas Torosowicz, a young Armenian monk from Lwów (now: Lviv), was consecrated bishop of the Armenians in Poland by the Catholicos of Etchmiadzin, Melkisedek, during the night of 3–4 January 1627 (24–25 December 1626 according to the Julian calendar) in the Armenian monastery of Hajgadar (Holy Mother of God) on Krakowskie Przedmieście in Lwów. Those participating in the consecration were: Johannes, rabunapet of Constantinople; Mardiros, archbishop from Etchmiadzin; Awedis, the Catholicos’s nephew; Eghija, archbishop-vardapet; Barsam, bishop; and two monks, Khachadur and Boghos. The rite was performed with the omission of the procedures obligatory in Lwów—that is, without the election of the candidate by the local Armenian community, at a non-canonical age, and through bribery. The event provoked strong protests within the local community, so the Catholicos promised to take the new bishop with him to Armenia. However, having arrived in the nearby town of Jazłowiec (now: Yazlovets), he ordered Torosowicz to return to Lviv. In Yazlovets, dated 8 January 1627 (29 December 1626), Melkisedek issued the consecration kondak, written down by Father Simon. In this document he called upon the Armenian communities in Poland to obey the new bishop under threat of excommunication. The kondak has not previously been published in full. The basis of the present complete edition is a reading of the Armenian original (kept in the Mekhitarist Library in Venice) and a French translation made by Agnès Ouzounian. The Polish translation and commentary were prepared by Krzysztof Stopka.