MESROP (MESROB, MASTOTZ), St. — A learned man of the Armenian Church, born in the village of Hateskats (province of Taron) around the middle of the 4th century, a pupil of Nerses the Great in Greek, Syriac and Persian. He first embraced the military life and became secretary to the king, then turned to the eremitical and ecclesiastical life. He preached in the province of Golthen, everywhere giving examples of holiness and learning.
During this period, driven by the need to give the Armenian people the Holy Scriptures and the Ritual in their own language, he invented the Armenian alphabet around 408, largely using ancient types of Greek letters and creating others. Assisted by the katholikos St. Sahak and King Vramshabuh, he opened schools, sent young Armenians to the cultural centers of the time and immediately set about translating the Holy Scriptures from Syriac; this version was later revised by St. Sahak from an Alexandrian Greek codex.
According to tradition and various scholars such as K. Fendeklian and C. Fetter, M. is the author of theological and moral sermons called Fagiahkapatum. Tradition also attributes to him the hymns of the Lenten season. Although M. played a major part in the formation of the Armenian Ritual, the “Mashtots” Ritual is probably linked to a namesake patriarch of the 9th century who gave it its final form.
After the death of St. Sahak (7 Sept. 438), M. served as patriarchal vicar for six months and died on 7 Feb. 439.