In the year of our Lord, 1963, Philadelphia received a beautiful, 
unsolicited bounty.   They were three Armenian Sisters of the
 Immaculate Conception.   They were invited here by the late 
Monseigneur Stephan Stepanian from Philadelphia’s St. Mark’s 
Armenian Catholic Church for the purpose of starting a Montessori 
Armenian day school.

Before they could do this, however, they had to first master the
 English language.  And though they were well-educated in the field
of teaching, they also had to attend Cabrini College to get their
 American teaching degrees.   And in order to offset their tuition, 
they taught French and piano to the Cabrini students.   Furthermore, 
they also tailored clothes on the side, to offset their living 
expenses.  

On October 2, 1967, after four years of preparation, these three
 Sisters (Sister Valentine Jenenian, Sister Arousiag Sajonian, 
and Sister Hripsime Tcheftelian) with a part-time English teacher, 
opened a day school with twelve Armenian students of preschool and 
kindergarten age.   They started the school in two rooms graciously
 offered to them by the Blessed John Nuemann School in Bryn Mawr.

I will not belabor the reader further as to the miraculous 
accomplishments of these three nuns except to say that today
 we have three full-time, fully accredited, Armenian Sisters
 Academies in the United States, with each being supervised by 
Armenian nuns and each teaching school grades from preschool 
to eighth grade inclusive -- and even more important, each 
school teaching Armenian language and culture.

Another important fact that I would like to point out is that
 while the first Sisters Academy was trying to get a foothold in 
Philadelphia, our ersatz religiously one, Armenian Apostolic 
Philadelphia Churches did little or nothing to help them.  Their 
clerics kept cautioning their followers to beware of the Catholic 
Sisters.   This, of course, was baseless because all of the students 
that got their early education in the Armenian Sisters Academy and 
who have since gone on into adult life, have not crossed over from 
their preordained faiths to become Catholic.

My purpose for writing this commentary, therefore, is not only to 
give credit to these heroic Armenian Sisters, but also to point out 
the dedication and relentless passion with which they served their 
calling, never once betraying their promise to serve our 
multi-religious Armenian Christian community without stressing
 Catholicism.  And in this regard, I want to point to one special
 Sister for whom I have the utmost respect, love, gratitude, and
 admiration.

The April 27, 2003 issue of the Armenian Weekly, had a commentary
 entitled, Haven of Love, Hope and Respect, by Knarik O. Meneshian.  
It was about the, Our Lady of Armenia Boghosian Educational Center
 in Gumri.   This center is currently involved in educating and
 rehabilitating orphaned, abandoned, and abused Armenian children. 
  As Meneshian so aptly described their pupils  ...sadly Armenia’s 
throwaway children.   They are cared for by four nuns and eighteen 
staff members of whom twelve are teachers.

One of the nuns listed was Sister Arousiag Sajonian whom I had
 earlier described in this commentary as one being primarily 
involved in establishing the first Armenian Sister Academy in our
 Philadelphia area on October 2, 1967.   

After many years of struggle and after the Academy was well
 established and relocated in a modern built facility, Sister
 Arousiag was reassigned.  However, when Armenia suffered its
 catastrophic earthquake on December 7, 1988, killing more than
 25,000 and leaving 400,000 homeless, Sister Arousiag volunteered 
her services and went to Armenia to teach and to help in any way 
that she could.

According to the commentary I cited, she is now involved in an 
institution that primarily helps unwanted children, which Armenia 
has plenty of.  And knowing the inexhaustible dynamics of this 
wonderful woman, I am sure that she had a lot to do with making
 the Our Lady of Armenia Boghosian Educational Center in Gumri 
a reality.  According to the Armenian Weekly write-up, it is
 commonly referred to over there as Sister Arousiag’s orphanage.

I would like to commend Sister Arousiag for her undying devotion,
 love, and labor and for her heroic, untiring efforts toward 
helping her Armenian people.  As a person, she is small in
 stature but from all that I have witnessed, she is a giant
 overflowing with an abundance of spiritual, moral, and
 intellectual strength.   And in this regard, the love and 
dedication she nurtures far outweighs anything else.  All I 
can say is that when God made Sister Arousiag Sajonian, he
 threw away the mold.

Those wishing further information, may contact Sister Arousiag
 at the Our Lady of Armenia Boghosian Educational Center and
 Convent through the following e-mail address: 				Diramer@web.am.

Joseph Vosbikian