Introduction: Creation of the Armenian Alphabet (405)
The creation of the Armenian alphabet allowed for the Christian faith to be disseminated more widely among Armenians. Up until the fifth century, the Armenian people were exposed to the Gospel through the oral tradition, while liturgical services were conducted in Syriac and Greek. Therefore, Catholicos Sahak and the monk Mesrop Mashtots set out to create an alphabet to make Christian scripture more widely accessible. The creation of the alphabet helped to unite a people that had been split between two empires.
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Thank you for this well-prepared article about the Armenian biblical translation. I did not know that “Today, Armenian clerics receive their snake-headed staff signifying vartabed status in the monastery of Oshagan, where Mesrop Mashtots is buried.”
Two questions:
Is that true also for the Catholicosate of the Cilician See/Sis, in Antelias?
Do the two patriarchs have the authority to bestow Vartabed decree, or it’s only the Catholicos who is authorized to do so?
Hello, Vahe. Thank you for your questions. In the Cilician jurisdiction the ranks of the special or masnavor vartabed are bestowed in Antelias or by the prelate in one of our parishes. Patriarchs have the authority to bestow the ranks of masnavor/dzayrakuyn so long as they have also received those ranks themselves.