MASHTOTS. — This is the Armenian Ritual properly so called, containing the prayers and the practice for the administration of the Sacraments and Sacramentals. Its origin goes back to the 5th century, and the name is associated with the two homonymous holy fathers, M.-Mesrob of the 5th century and Patriarch M. II of Sevan (837–97), who collected, translated, and arranged the elements of which it is composed. It was subsequently enriched with ever new canons, translated or written by the Fathers.
In the development of the M. four periods may be distinguished: 1) the first, 2) the middle, 3) the Cilician, 4) the present. In the first, the form is generally concise and simple (5th–12th centuries); in the second, the number of canons increases and hymns multiply, with frequent sermons by non-classical authors (13th–16th centuries); in the third, one finds the Latin Ritual translated for their use into a vernacular of the decadent period by the Friar Preachers known as the Unitors (1317–1600), and subsequently infiltrated into the Armenian one, thus forming an unpleasant medley that caused many quarrels and disputes. The fourth, or present, period, besides an abundance of canons, has prayers, lengthy exhortations, hymns, and repetitions with such frequency as to make the rite laborious and difficult.
Many codices of the M. remain: the Mechitarist Library of Venice alone possesses 127 manuscripts. The oldest (no. 457), on parchment and written before 893, belongs to the first series and is mutilated at the beginning and end. No. 199 of the same Library, from 1216, belongs to the second. No. 1113, from 1345 and on parchment, belongs to the third. The first edition was produced at Constantinople in 1569.