Azaria, Aristaces
Azaria, Aristaces
A Catholic Armenian abbot and archbishop, b. at Constantinople, 18 July, 1782; d. at Vienna, 6 May, 1854. He was sent at the age of fifteen to the College of the Propaganda in Rome, but his studies were interrupted (1798) by the French invasion. Having taken refuge among the Mechitarists of Triest, he entered their order in 1801, and in the same year was ordained priest. The authorities of the ephemeral Kingdom of Illyria confiscated (1810) the property of his convent, and, after vain attempts to obtain restitution, the monks settled in Vienna, where they lived by the instruction of Armenian youth and the revenue of a printing-press. Azaria was henceforth active as a missionary among his compatriots and a servant of the Holy See. In 1826 he was made general abbot of the community, and in 1827 was raised to the (titular) dignity of Archbishop of Caesarea. Under him the Mechitarist community in Vienna prospered, its library was increased, a bookstore added to the printing-press, and an abundant religious literature created, in Armenian and in German. He opened houses of his community in Rome, Triest, and Stamboul, founded the Armenian journal “Europa”, established an academy for the literary and political improvement of his people, and obtained form the Porte (1830) the creation of an independent Catholic Armenian patriarchate. He wrote several (mostly anonymous) works, among them “De Vitâ Communi Perfecta Religiosorum Utriusque Sexus”, in which he criticizes the condition of many Austrian religious houses, and “Die Erziehung im Geiste des Christenthumes” (Vienna, 1839). After a visit to Rome (1850) in the interest of monastic reform, he returned to Vienna (1852) where he died after the celebration of his golden jubilee.
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Hergenrother in Kirchenlex., I, 1768.
THOMAS J. SHAHAN Transcribed by Susan Birkenseer
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IICopyright © 1907 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightImprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Azaria, Aristaces
an Armenian Catholic generalabbot and archbishop, was born at Constantinople, July 18, 1782. At the age of fifteen he went to Rome to be educated there at the College of thePropaganda. When the French entered Rome, in 1798, he had to leave the city. At Venice and Trieste he was kindly received by the Mechitarists, whom he joined March 25,1801, exchanging his name Joseph for Aristaces. In 1802 he made his vows, and in 1803 he received holy orders. The peace of Presburg connected Trieste with the kingdom of Illyria, and the new government persecuted the Mechitarists as Austrian subjects and confiscated their property. At last, in 1810, the congregation was permitted to settle in Vienna with the injunction to take care entirely of itself. In 1816 Azaria was made vartabed, i.e. doctor, by the general-abbot Adeodat. He then went to Rome, and from thence to Constantinople, where he labored in behalf of his Church. In 1821 he returned home again. In 1822 he went again to Rome, was appointed assistant to Adeodat, and succeeded him after his death, in 1825, as general-vicar and superior, and in 1826 as general-abbot. In 1827 Leo XII appointed him archbishop of Cesarea. Under his guidance his congregation was soon in a flourishing state. He founded schools and propagated Armenian literature, to which he also contributed. He died at Vienna, May 6, 1854. See Hurter, Aus dem Leben des hochw. Herrn Aristaces Azaria (Vienna, 1855); Brunner, Wiener Kirchenzeitung, 1855, No. 91; Hergenroether, in Wetzer u. Welte’s Kirchenlexikon, s.v. (B.P.)