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Encyclical of HH Karekin II on the 1600th Anniv. of the Alphabet

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  • Encyclical of HH Karekin II on the 1600th Anniv. of the Alphabet

    PRESS RELEASE
    Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Information Services
    Address: Vagharshapat, Republic of Armenia
    Contact: Rev. Fr. Ktrij Devejian
    Tel: (374 10) 517 163
    Fax: (374 10) 517 301
    E-Mail: [email protected]
    October 8, 2005

    Encyclical of His Holiness Karekin II on 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.
    "²" and "ø" - beginning with "²ñ³ñÇã" (Creator) and ending with "øñÇëïáë"
    (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
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