The “Saint Sahak-Mesrop Mashtots” monument was opened during a solemn ceremony held under the direction of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin on November 8. The monument is dedicated to the 140^th anniversary of the Gevorgyan Spiritual Lyceum and was placed thanks to a sincere donation from Russia-based benefactor Hrachya Poghosyan.

Overseer of the Religious and Educational Institutions of the Mother See, Superintendent of the Gevorgyan Spiritual Lyceum, Father, Bishop Gevorg Saroyan delivered a speech on the occasion of the opening of the monument. “Today is an unearthly and symbolic day. It is unearthly because we are visited by the leaders in Armenian scholastics, Saint Sahak and Saint Mashtots, who will be “looking over” the Gevorgyan Spiritual Lyceum. It is symbolic because we are celebrating historic dates that are not merely dates, but a turning point in the development of the Armenian people, the Armenian Church, Armenology and the Armenian culture. It is not by chance that 1,610 years after the creation of the Armenian alphabet, on the 140^th anniversary of the Lyceum, on this sunny morning of November, at the place where Sahak and Mashtots established the first Armenian school, we are placing a monument devoted to the holy founders of Armenian scholastics under the direction of His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians and with a donation from national benefactor, Mr. Hrachya Poghosyan. There are dates that every Armenian remembers, including 301, 404, 451, 551, 1441 and 1874…They are the dates of historic events during which we have pursued the goal to maintain, preserve, create and do everything possible to maintain the nation and the “Armenianness” at the high level,” His Holiness Gevorg mentioned.

The distinguished benefactor expressed his heartfelt words and congratulated the Catholicos of All Armenians on the 15^th anniversary of his enthronement.

Director of the Administrative and Economic Affairs Division of the Mother See, Father, Bishop Mushegh Babayan gave his blessing for the opening of the monument.

Among those attending the opening of the monument were the congregates of the Mother See, representatives of the Russian Church under the leadership of Vicar of the Prelacy of the Patriarch of Moscow and All of Russia, Bishop Sergi of Solnechnogorsk, the teachers and superintendents of the Gevorgyan Spiritual Lyceum, as well as the students and several pilgrims.