1600th Anniversary of the Creation of the Armenian Alphabet
Encyclical of His Holiness Karekin II on the Occasion of the 1600th Anniversary of the Creation of the Armenian Alphabet
On Saturday, October 8, 2005, the Armenian Church and Nation dispersed throughout the world celebrated the Feast of the Holy Translators. The Pontifical Encyclical of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians appears below:
Karekin II, Servant of Jesus Christ,
By the Mercy of God and the Will of the Nation,
Chief Bishop and Catholicos of All Armenians,
Supreme Patriarch of the Pan-National Pre-Eminent Araratian See,
the Apostolic Mother Church of Universal Holy Etchmiadzin
Christ-bequeathed greetings of love and Pontifical blessings
to the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia,
to the Armenian Patriarchates of Holy Jerusalem and Constantinople,
to the Archbishops, Bishops, Archimandrites, Priests and Deacons,
to the Diocesan Delegational Assemblies, Diocesan and Parochial Councils and Officers,
and to All Beloved Faithful Armenian People.
The Lord hath been mindful of us; he will bless us?
(Psalms 115:12)
Beloved devout Armenians,
The Grace of God and heavenly mercy visited our Nation and the Land of Armenia through the remarkable creation of the Armenian Alphabet, the 1600th Anniversary of which we celebrate today. Let us offer praises to heaven, because "The Lord has been mindful of us; he will bless us", granting us crowning individuals, "who decorated the wisdom of the Uncreate, establishing the living letters upon the earth."
The memories which are called to mind are brilliant and praiseworthy.
From a distance of sixteen centuries, that joyful day of Armenian history becomes clear before our soul, when the Learned Doctor Mashtots was returning to Vagharshapat, holding the newly discovered Armenian characters near his heart - to his heart aching for his nation, for Armenia. He was happily returning from the distant journey, for God had heard his unceasing prayers and had blessed his vigilant endeavors, and had blessed his mission. "І" and "ш" - beginning with "ІсісЗг" (Creator) and ending with "шсЗлпбл" (Christ), the alphabet of 36 characters was born, so that the Armenian people could read the Breath of God in their native tongue, "and the Christ-given salvation would reach all people", wisdom and instruction be recognized, and words of insight be understood.
Mashtots was passing through the stations of the road full of hope, because he knew that they were awaiting him in the homeland to receive the fruits of his efforts. Even Moses was not as happy, says Koriun - the disciple and biographer of Mashtots, because when Moses descended Mount Sinai holding the God-inspired tablets in his arms, the people were worshipping the gold-cast idol. In contrast, waiting impatiently for Mashtots were Catholicos Sahak Parthev, King Vramshapuh, the royal court, nobility and the compassionate clergy; and when they heard that he had neared the capital, they went to greet him with the multitude of people. Thus, the waters of the river Arax became witness to the joys of the encounter, the songs of blessing, and the prayers of praise and thanksgiving.
To make the timeless word of God be heard, the teaching of the Armenian language was embarked upon. Schools were opened in all provinces of the land of Armenia through the sponsorship of the king and the care of the pontiff. Children and the Army of free nobles were educated, and the people themselves were coming to the "opened source of divine knowledge". The letters of Mashtots became the stewards serving the Living Word, and "Moses the lawgiver and the ranks of prophets; Paul leading the regiment of the apostles, as well as the life-giving Gospel of Christ, began to speak in Armenian, to utter in our native tongue." And the endless stream of souls was opened; disciples became teachers, translators, commentators, hymn-writers, historians and philosophers. With the perceptible arch of light, the dissociated national life and detached lands of Armenia were united. In our homeland, the word of God adorned and ornamented souls; it brought to life the hope of salvation and the faith in the resurrection. God blessed His inheritance, which the holy apostles of the Lord and our apostolic father of faith, Saint Gregory the Illuminator, had secured with their witnessing lives. Truly, "the Lord has been mindful of us; he will bless us." In difficult times for Armenia, our loyal clergyman and lay authorities became the guardians and leaders of the nation, "who by the power of the Uncreate Being, the Wisdom of the Father, established the See of Saint Gregory, by translating the writings."
The blessed generation of the Sahak-Mesropian school molded Armenian history of the fifth century with the inspired and ingenious awakening of mind and soul, victorious in dedication and fidelity, and gloriously attired in martyrdom. Those educated by the spirit educated others. All succeeding centuries of our history were led by the generation of the golden harvest of the Armenian culture, the Christ-loving and homeland-devoted, kindhearted, enlightened and intellectual generation, who during times of trial did not hesitate to defend their faith and homeland with their very lives. Fathers and sons, recognizing the eternal within the temporal, journeyed the path from Avarayr to Nvarsak with the sanctified, blessed name of our Lord on their lips. "The Lord has been mindful of us; he will bless us", granting us a century of valor, a century of heroism, when among the few, many were found to be virtuous, "who called the glorious earthly grandeur 'darkness', relying on the hope of the immortal bridegroom, becoming worthy of the Ineffable Word". "The Lord has been mindful of us; he will bless us." The sun shone over the plain of Shavarshan and forever united the faith and the homeland of the Armenians. Regardless if the land of Armenia was protected or being trampled, if Armenian statehood was existing or overthrown, the Armenian spirit remained steadfast and secure with the 36 letters of life, because the characters of Mashtots aligned on parchment had written upon the souls of our people the purpose and mystery of their very existence.
Through the letters of Mashtots, the exquisite Armenian language has been immortalized and the fertile tree of Armenian culture has grown tall from the seed of a golden root, and thereby the Armenian nation dispersed throughout the world with its Christian identity and with its faithful, creative and progress-driven spiritual introspection is forever one and unified. In everything that our people have created throughout sixteen centuries, our great and blessed learned doctors Saint Sahak and Saint Mesrop - the first Armenian teachers - are present. As long as their luminous memory and the spiritual mystery of the Armenian letters are still alight, they will continue to live and work - preparing invincible minds and liberated souls by dispensing infinite treasures and divine light that overcomes the darkness.
Beloved Armenians, guard our native letters of Mashtots, holding them close to your heart, and our homeland and Holy Church will always remain hallowed. Love our mother tongue and the glories of our ancestors will be praised; grace, noble and pure visions, and lofty aspirations will flourish in the life of the homeland. Keep the Armenian school luminous and bright, and our future generations will converse about eternity with Free Ararat, Mother Arax and the Mother Cathedral, which always remember the bliss of those happy days when our venerable teachers turned the land of Armenia into a blessed, desirable and magnificent place through the words of God resounding in Armenian.
From the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, we exhort our hierarchal sees, our diocesan primates, our oath-bound clerical order and all our faithful people in Armenia and in the communities of the dispersion, to celebrate the glorious memories of the God-sanctified discovery of the Armenian Alphabet in the year 2005 with pan-national festivities and splendor. Let the exultant prayers of our souls reach heaven from the four corners of the world, because "The Lord has been mindful of us; he will bless us", granting us crowning individuals, "who decorated the wisdom of the Uncreate, establishing the living letters upon the earth."
May the peaceful and righteous gaze of God look upon Armenian life, in our free and renewing homeland and in all corners of the Armenian Diaspora.
Before the Holy Altar of Descent, we offer prayers to heaven, asking that God, through the intercession of our learned doctor-translators who dwell in lights, bestow abundant grace upon our faithful people, so that love and devotion to the homeland and to our Holy Church be everlasting and our faith be unshaken that, "Yea, the Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase". (Psalms 85:12).
May the grace, mercy and peace of God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, be with you in truth and in love. Amen.
KAREKIN II
CATHOLICOS OF ALL ARMENIANS
Encyclical given on the 29th of January
In the Year of our Lord 2005, and in the date of the Armenians 1454
At the Mother Monastery of Holy Etchmiadzin
Number 283
