aints
Sahak and Mesrop are two pillars of the Armenian Church, who
conceived the idea of translating the Bible into Armenian
and created the Armenian alphabet in order to do so. St.
Sahak was born in 354, the last male descendant of St.
Gregory, the Illuminator. He was married and had a daughter,
who was the mother of St. Vartan Mamikonian.
t.
Sahak was one of the
longest reigning Catholicoi of Armenian Church. He was a
great scholar, fluent in the international languages of the
time, who established the Armenian Divine Liturgy and other
rites, translated theological works into Armenian and
presided over the formative period of the Armenian church.
t.
Mesrop was born in
the village of Hatzik in the Province of Taron in 360 or
362, part of the extended family of St. Vartan Mamikonian.
He is often referred to by his baptismal name, Mashtots,
while Mesrop was the name he took at ordination. Before his
ordination St. Mesrop was the chief secretary at the royal
court under Kings Khosrov and Vramshabouh (384-394). He was
one of Armenia's most erudite people at the time.
After
his ordination by Catholicos Sahak, St. Mesrop was a
missionary, preaching in the remotest parts of Armenia,
where Christianity had not yet reached. He found that the
lack of an Armenian language Bible hampered his work. At the
time, church services were also conducted in foreign
languages, such as Greek or Syriac. He reported to St. Sahak
about his missionary work and his desire to formulate an
Armenian alphabet. With the blessing and support of St.
Sahak and the King, St. Mesrop traveled far and wide in
search of ideas for an Armenian alphabet. After tireless
research and zealous efforts, a vision came to St. Mesrop in
404. In this vision, he saw the long-sought letters written
on a wall. St. Sahak, a linguist as well as an artist and
musician, gave some final touches to the Armenian alphabet.
After
the invention of the alphabet, a group of disciples were
trained under the guidance of St. Sahak and St. Mesrop. They
later together launched the translation of the Bible and the
important works of the Church fathers. This group of
scholars came to be known as the Holy Translators (Arm. Surb
Targmanichk). The translation of the Bible sometimes is
called the Queen of Translations because of its quality and
beauty. They were a talented group, which included the
theologian Yeznik of Koghb, the father of Armenian History
Moves Khorenatsi, the philosopher David the Invincible, the
historian Yeghishe, and St. Mesrop's student and biographer,
Koriun. The Armenian Church remembers them and other saints
and scholars of the Armenian language from later ages,
including Sts. Nerses Shnorhali and Grigor Narekatsi in
October during the feast of the Holy Translators.
Sts.
Sahak and Mesrop took the Armenian people, language and
church to a new level, forever changing the course of
Armenian national and religious development. The alphabet
was so well suited to the language that it is used to this
day, with the addition of two letters, added in the Middle
Ages to facilitate the writing of foreign words.
The
Armenian Church remembers St. Sahak and St. Mesrop once
together in July and then on the Feast of the Holy
Translators in October.
