Mkhitar Sebastatsi

Mkhitar Sebastatsi
Born 1676
Sebastia, Ottoman Empire
(present-day Sivas, Turkey)
Died 1749
San Lazzaro degli Armeni, Republic of Venice
(present-day Venice, Italy)
Nationality Armenian

Mkhitar Sebastatsi (Armenian: Մխիթար Սեբաստացի, also known as Mekhitar or Mechitar of Sebaste; 1676 – 1749) was an Armenian Catholic monk and a prominent scholar and theologian who founded the Mekhitarist Order. Stepanos Nazarian described him as the "second Mesrop Mashtots".[1]

Biography

Born Petros Manuk (Peter of Manug) in Sivas (Sebaste) in Anatolia on 7 February 1676, he entered the Surp Nshan (Holy Cross) monastery, taking the name Mekhitar ("The Consoler"). In 1696 he was ordained a priest.

Inspired by the idea of creating an order of preachers dedicated to raising the educational and spiritual level of the Armenian people, Mekhitar founded in 1701 in Constantinople what would become known after his death as the Mekhitarist Order.

Two years later, escaping persecution by the Ottoman authorities, the order moved to Modon in the Peloponnese, then known as the Morea, which was a Venetian possession. In 1715, the order moved to the Island of San Lazzaro degli Armeni at the invitation of the Venetian Republic. Mekhitar built up the monastery on the island and the order which sent out priests to serve Armenian communities in the Middle East.

Mekhitar died at the monastery on 27 April 1749 and is buried in the monastery church.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Pashayan, Asatur (2006). "Մխիթարյան միաբանությունը Ստեփանոս Նազարյանի գնահատմամբ [Mkhitarist Congregation in Stepanos Nazaryan's Estimation]". Patma-Banasirakan Handes (in Armenian) (Yerevan: Armenian Academy of Sciences) (2): 88. Նա Մխիթար Սեբաստացուն` որպես այդ միաբանության հիմնադրի, առաջին անգամ համարել է երկրորդ Մեսրոպ Մաշտոց

Bibliography