HOLY TRANSLATORS SAINTS SAHAG AND MESROB

The feasts dedicated to the Holy Translators, Sts. Sahag Bartev and Mesrob Mashtots, are among the most popular and beloved celebrations for the Armenians. Their lives and accomplishments are commemorated two times during the liturgical year, on the Thursday following the fourth Sunday after Pentecost, and on the second Saturday in October.

Sahag Bartev was the son of St. Nerses the Great. He received his primary and higher education in Caesarea and Byzantium. He married and had one daughter, Sahaganoush,

who married into the Mamigonian family and was the mother of Vartan, Hmayak and Hasmazasb. Sahag became Catholicos in 387, during a period of turmoil because in 390 Armenia was divided between Persia and Byzantium.

Mesrob Mashtots was born in the village of Hatsegats in the province of Daron. He learned both Greek and Persian at an early age and served in the Armenian Royal Court. He decided to enter the ranks of the clergy and was preaching in the province of Koghtn in 395. He realized the great need of an alphabet for the Armenian people, so he petitioned Catholicos Sahag and together they requested the blessings and help of King Vramshabouh. According to tradition, while meditating in a cave near the town of Palu, Mesrob had a vision and “the hand of God wrote the alphabet in letters of fire.”