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Mid-October has been a significant date for me since my early teenage years because it marked the beginning of a new academic year for seminarians. The start of a new season of a formative year was attached to the Feast of the Holy Translators (Armenian: Սուրբ Թարգմանչաց տօն, Sourp Tarkmanchadz don). This feast is dedicated to a group of saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church, who founded the Armenian alphabet, translated the Bible, and started a movement of writing and translating important works into Armenian.  

At the start of a new school year, we would celebrate the Divine Liturgy, honoring our Holy Translators and drawing inspiration from their monumental work. We would vow to keep their spirit alive and active in our church, which has played a unique and crucial role in preserving our Armenian culture and identity. Sounds incredibly inspiring, doesn't it? Absolutely, but let's remember it's also highly idealistic.

How can anyone imitate or even come close to the monumental task of Mesrob Mashdots, who invented the alphabet? St. Gregory of Nareg, who delved deep into spiritual mysticism, and St. Nerses Shenorhali (the Gracious), who adorned our liturgy with prayers, hymns, and theologically profound services, yet with tunes and music that will always stay with you. The Holy Translators, whom the Church commemorates this weekend, were people of unmatched wisdom and talent, and their contributions cannot be replicated.

But who said that our goal is to replicate them? 

When we study the hagiography of St. Mesrob Mashdots, we understand that he did not embark on a journey to invent or discover the Armenian Alphabet and thereby become the founder of Armenian Literature. Mesrob Mashdots did not think like President John F. Kennedy, who challenged the nation to claim a leadership role in space and land a man on the Moon first. Mashdots had a real crisis to deal with. He realized the Christian faith was not resonating with Armenians because it was not preached in Armenia. He saw our nation fragmented between East and West, between Eastern and Western influences and devised a powerful and unifying solution. This solution would give us a sense of identity and unity and be practical enough to become accessible to all.

Mashdots's ingenuity lies in his deep thinking, his ability to study and understand the core of the issue, his unwavering pursuit of achieving the goals that he set, and his practicality and humbleness in learning from others and sending students to renowned educational institutions of that time to broaden their horizons. It is no coincidence that the first words written in the Armenian language were from the Book of Proverbs: “To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding” (Proverbs 1:2). 

Mashdots is considered a national hero. When we examine the nature of his work, we see an eloquent pastoral spirit met with infinite wisdom. We cannot and should not try to replicate the monumental role of St. Mesrob Mashdots and his companions in our history. Yet, nothing stops us from learning from their pastoral vision and innovative spirit. Our church today faces similar challenges; the faithful do not understand and, therefore, do not engage in the rich spiritual life, and divisions and lack of clear direction of where we are heading as Armenian people are apparent more than ever.

In the Gospel of Matthew, we read about the following event:
“And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9:35-38).

Jesus paints a grim picture of the situation. However, when we continue reading the next chapter, we see Jesus's solution for the "flock without a shepherd" problem. Jesus appoints his Twelve Apostles and commissions them to proclaim the Kingdom of God. The Apostles of Jesus become the new shepherds.

On the feast of the Holy Translators this weekend, I pray that God will renew in the hearts of all the shepherds of the Armenian Apostolic Church the spirit of wisdom and discernment, the zeal for pastoral identity, and a spirit of practicality and humbleness to learn and grow. 

I pray to God to give us a tiny portion of the spirit He gave to St. Mesrob Mashdots and the Holy Translators. 

Prayerfully,