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Mekhitarists
The Mechitarists, officially the Benedictine Congregation of the Mechitarists (Latin: Benedictina Congregatio Mechitarista), is an Armenian Catholic monastic order founded in 1701 by Mekhitar of Sebaste. Members use the postnominal abbreviation CAM.
The order is best known for their series of scholarly publications of ancient Armenian versions of otherwise lost ancient Greek texts and their research on classical and modern Armenian language. They follow the Rule of Saint Benedict.
The congregation was long divided into two branches, with the respective motherhouses being in Venice and Vienna. In July 2000 they united to form one institute.
Their eponymous founder, Mekhitar of Sebaste, was born in Sebastia in Armenia, then part of the Ottoman Empire, in 1676. He entered a monastery, but was concerned about the level of culture and education in Armenia under Turkish rule at that period, and sought to do something about it. Contacts with Western missionaries led him to become interested in translating material from the West into Armenian and setting up a religious order to facilitate education.
Mekhitar set out for Rome in 1695 to make his ecclesiastical studies there, but he was compelled by illness to abandon the journey and return to Armenia. In 1696 he was ordained a priest and for four years worked among his people.
In 1700 Mekhitar went to Constantinople and began to gather disciples around him. Mekhitar formally joined the Latin Church, and in 1701, with sixteen companions, he formed a religious order of which he became the superior. They encountered the opposition of other Armenians and were compelled to move to the Morea (Peloponnese), at that time Venetian territory, where they built a monastery in 1706. At its inception the order was seen as an attempted reform of Eastern monachism. Jesuit priest Filippo Bonanni wrote of the arrival of two Armenian monks, Elias Martyr and Joannes Simon, sent by Mekhitar to Pope Clement XI to offer the most humble subjection of himself and convent (Ut ei se cum suis religiosis humillime subjiceret). At that time, there was no mention of the Rule of Saint Benedict. Pope Clement XI gave his approval to the order in 1712. The monks began a foundation in Modon with Mekhitar as abbot.
On the outbreak of hostilities between the Turks and Venetians they migrated to Venice, and the island of San Lazzaro was given to them in 1717. This has remained the headquarters of the congregation to this date; Mekhitar died there in 1749, leaving his order firmly established.
The order became very wealthy from gifts. The behaviour of the Abbot Stepanos Melkonian caused a group of monks to leave in disgust and elect their own abbot, first at Trieste and then in 1810 at Vienna. They also established a printing press. The work of printing of Armenian books was by this time of great financial importance and the Venetian Republic made considerable efforts to encourage their return, but in vain.
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Mekhitarists
The Mechitarists, officially the Benedictine Congregation of the Mechitarists (Latin: Benedictina Congregatio Mechitarista), is an Armenian Catholic monastic order founded in 1701 by Mekhitar of Sebaste. Members use the postnominal abbreviation CAM.
The order is best known for their series of scholarly publications of ancient Armenian versions of otherwise lost ancient Greek texts and their research on classical and modern Armenian language. They follow the Rule of Saint Benedict.
The congregation was long divided into two branches, with the respective motherhouses being in Venice and Vienna. In July 2000 they united to form one institute.
Their eponymous founder, Mekhitar of Sebaste, was born in Sebastia in Armenia, then part of the Ottoman Empire, in 1676. He entered a monastery, but was concerned about the level of culture and education in Armenia under Turkish rule at that period, and sought to do something about it. Contacts with Western missionaries led him to become interested in translating material from the West into Armenian and setting up a religious order to facilitate education.
Mekhitar set out for Rome in 1695 to make his ecclesiastical studies there, but he was compelled by illness to abandon the journey and return to Armenia. In 1696 he was ordained a priest and for four years worked among his people.
In 1700 Mekhitar went to Constantinople and began to gather disciples around him. Mekhitar formally joined the Latin Church, and in 1701, with sixteen companions, he formed a religious order of which he became the superior. They encountered the opposition of other Armenians and were compelled to move to the Morea (Peloponnese), at that time Venetian territory, where they built a monastery in 1706. At its inception the order was seen as an attempted reform of Eastern monachism. Jesuit priest Filippo Bonanni wrote of the arrival of two Armenian monks, Elias Martyr and Joannes Simon, sent by Mekhitar to Pope Clement XI to offer the most humble subjection of himself and convent (Ut ei se cum suis religiosis humillime subjiceret). At that time, there was no mention of the Rule of Saint Benedict. Pope Clement XI gave his approval to the order in 1712. The monks began a foundation in Modon with Mekhitar as abbot.
On the outbreak of hostilities between the Turks and Venetians they migrated to Venice, and the island of San Lazzaro was given to them in 1717. This has remained the headquarters of the congregation to this date; Mekhitar died there in 1749, leaving his order firmly established.
The order became very wealthy from gifts. The behaviour of the Abbot Stepanos Melkonian caused a group of monks to leave in disgust and elect their own abbot, first at Trieste and then in 1810 at Vienna. They also established a printing press. The work of printing of Armenian books was by this time of great financial importance and the Venetian Republic made considerable efforts to encourage their return, but in vain.