MESROP (MESROB, MASTOTZ), saint. — Doctor of the Armenian Church, born in the village of Hatsekats (province of Taron) around the middle of the 4th century, a pupil of Nerses the Great in the Greek, Syriac, and Persian languages. He first embraced military life and became the king’s secretary; later he devoted himself to the eremitical and ecclesiastical life. He preached in the province of Golthen, giving everywhere examples of holiness and doctrine.
During this period, prompted by the need to provide the Armenian people with the Holy Scriptures and the Ritual in their own language, he invented the Armenian characters, around 408, using for the most part ancient forms of Greek letters and creating others. Assisted by the katholikos St. Sahak and by King Vramshabuh, he opened schools, sent Armenian youth to the cultural centers of the time, and immediately began translating the Holy Scriptures from Syriac; this version was later revised by St. Sahak on the basis of 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 Jagiahhapatum. Tradition also attributes to him the hymns of the Lenten season. Although M. played a major role in the formation of the Armenian Ritual, the «Mashtots» Ritual is probably connected with a patriarch of the same name from the 9th century, who gave it its definitive form.
After the death of St. Sahak (7 Sept. 438), M. was patriarchal vicar for six months and died on 7 Feb. 439.