For Where Your Treasure Is, There Will Your Heart Be Also 
                                                                                         (Matthew 6:21)

We know from the pages of our history that among the many things the enemies targeted when they invaded an Armenian village were: the young men of the village, who were taken captives; and the churches and monasteries, which were destroyed and burned and their possessions looted and taken as spoils. According to an Armenian legend, a man whose village was destroyed by the enemies, and his own son taken captive, raised the necessary funds and went to the enemies paying the money as a ransom, first to redeem a precious manuscript of the Bible that was ransacked from his village’s church. He promises his son to come back to pay his ransom as well. As embellished and unrealistic as this story may sound to some, it emphasizes the importance that our fathers put on the Armenian manuscripts and what these manuscript contained. In fact, financing the copying of the entire Bible in Armenian was considered as benevolent and charitable among Armenians as building a new church. The manuscripts were precious because they contained the faith, history and culture of our people that defined our identity as a nation.

            Recently when I was examining a manuscript for my research at the Bibliotheque Nationale de France, I flipped the folios to read its colophons, i.e. the personal notes left by the copier at the end of the manuscript. It brought tears to my eyes when I read the apologies of the scribe for his handwriting. He was copying the manuscript at night in his cell, under the light of a lamp. He had heard that the Mongols had destroyed the neighboring town, burning its churches and killing its leaders. He begs the reader to pray for the souls of the deceased and for himself, and to ask God to save the Armenian people and Church. This colophon made me think about what our forefathers have gone through to make sure that our identity, through our faith, culture and history is preserved and perpetuated. We are the blessed recipients of centuries of inspiration, ingenuity and creativity that is a holy tradition defining who we are. It is our sacred duty, therefore, to maintain and perpetuate it for the future generations.

            Thank God no longer do we fear the destruction of our manuscripts by the enemies, nor do we depend on the light of a lamp to preserve and perpetuate their contents. However, we do need to make sure that we preserve and maintain the contents and teachings of these manuscripts, i.e. our faith, culture and history, for the future generations. There is a lot we can do to maintain and continue the efforts and objectives of our fathers and mothers who despite centuries of persecutions and foreign domination preserved this holy tradition. But, how can you and I do so? Allow me to suggest two immediate and practical ways.

            In a few days the three schools of our parish will open their doors: Sunday School, Saturday Language School and the Day School. Much effort and energy has been put to maintain these institutions that promote and teach our faith, culture and history to our children. Please make every effort to support them. If you have children, grandchildren, or godchildren of schooling age, consider registering them in any or all of the three schools. Remember, by doing so, you will be perpetuating the memory of our forefathers and the sacred values they created and preserved.

            Furthermore, in a few weeks our parish will be honored to welcome Dr. Arshak Banuchyan, the Assistant Director of the Matendaran in Yerevan, Armenia. The Matenadaran contains the largest depository of Armenian manuscripts. Please make every effort to join us on Saturday, September 16, 2006, at 7:30 PM as we enjoy an extraordinary program, including a video documentary and a powerpoint presentation, that will explore the history of our manuscript collection, discuss the challenges facing their preservation and suggest active ways of supporting their maintenance and preservation.

            Hopefully, no Armenian will ever be put in a situation again to choose between his son or daughter and the precious manuscripts of his faith. However, let us make sure that our faith, culture and history preserved in these manuscripts are available for our sons and daughters and for the future generations long after we have passed.

                    With love in Christ,
Fr. Vahan Hovhanessian

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