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The first
Christian State in the World.
One of the most crucial events in
Armenian history was the conversion
to Christianity. By adopting the new
religion, Armenia established a
distinct Christian character of its
own and, at times, became identified
with the Western world. King
Tiridates III (Trdat), having been
converted by Gregory the
Illuminator, proclaimed Christianity
as the religion of the state in 301
A.D. Thus, Armenia became the first
nation to embrace Christianity
officially. This was 12 years before
the Emperor Constantine's Edict of
Milan which declared tolerance of
Christians in the Roman Empire.
Gregory the Illuminator, later
canonized, was elected Catholicos of
the new Armenian national Church,
the first in a long line of such
clergy to he elected supreme head of
the Armenian Church. [St
Gregory at the Vatican - 1700
anniversary]. The creation of
the Armenian alphabet in 405 A.D.
solidified the unifying factor of
the Armenian language for the
divided nation. [see below] |
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St
Gregory The Illuminator
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| Mesrop
Mashtots, a scholar and clergyman,
shaped the thirty six letters (three
characters were added later) that
distinguished Armenia,
linguistically and liturgically,
from the powers surrounding it. The
alphabet representing the many
distinct consonants of Armenian has
remained unchanged for 1500 years. |
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Khachkar
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Khachkar
or Cross Stone is the unique manifestation
of Christian Armenian national art which in its
Christian form and type has no other equivalent
in the world. Khachkars constitute an integral
dimension of Armenian sculptural art; with their
high artistic standards and strong national
character, they also occupy their worthy
position in the treasury of international art.
Khachkars are also an expression of the
Christian faith and high esthetics taste of the
Armenian nation, nation that was first to
officially adopt the Christian faith in the year
301 of Our Lord Saviour. Recently in the deep
respect and commemoration of the Khachkar by the
International community, a Khachkar was placed
in the front entrance of the Main Hall of the
United Nations in New York. |
| Source:
http://www.mekhitar.org/eng/art.shtml |
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| Language |
| The
official language in the Republic of
Armenia is Armenian (Hayeren)..
Major languages, such as Spanish,
Italian, German, French, Russian and
especially English are included in
the public school curriculum, and
are extensively taught in most
colleges and universities. The
Armenian language is an independent,
one-language subgroup within the
Indo-European language family.
Mesrop
Mashtots
The Armenian
alphabet, which consists of 39
characters, was created in 405 AD by
a monk named Mesrop Mashtots
(the original alphabet had 36
letters, three characters were added
later). The first work of literature
with the new alphabet was the
translation of the Bible from Greek.
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The
Armenian Alphabet by
Saint Mesrop Mashtots |
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created
in 405 AD |
This
translation has been since regarded
as a masterpiece by many linguists.
During the centuries the dialect
into which the Bible was translated
became the standard language -
Krabar, or Classical Armenian.
Numerous literary works, both
original and translations, were
written in that period in Krabar.
Many works in Classical Greek, Latin
and other languages exist today only
in their Armenian translations. |
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| SOURCE:
http://www.mekhitar.org/eng/language.shtml |
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Blessed
Monsignor
IGNATIUS MALOYAN |
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Archbishop
and Martyr
1869-1915  |
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Catholicos
Nerses Tarmouni is the Nineteenth Catholicos to be
re-united with Soorp Bedros (St
Peter),
Patriarch of Rome. He is thus titled: Nerses-Bedros
XIX.
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| Historical Armenia |
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A r m e
n i a n G e n o c i d e
The atrocities
committed against
the Armenian people of
the Ottoman Empire
during WWI is defined as the
Armenian Genocide
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Eastern Church
Title:
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: |
Eastern
Catholics in Australia
None specified
Australian Catholic Bishops Conference
1 86420 112 6 |
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St Mesrop Mashtots
(creator of the Armenian Alphabet)
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LEGEND:
| Letter: |
Left:
CAPITAL characters
Right: lowercase characters |
| Name: |
sounds
like |
| EA: |
Eastern
Armenian |
| WA: |
Western
Armenian |
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