Dear Sisters and Brothers,
Every ceremony contains a mystery and has something to say to each of us. When we are not aware of that, both the splendor of the jubilee ceremony as well as our enthusiasm will pass.
Beyond the words of satisfaction and gratitude, today we have come to the basic truth that without proper education and instruction, humanity resembles the crowd that will be far from its god-created and god-like image.
Besides, education and classroom management without spiritual life and without prayer, far from the Creator, will cause new divisions and disasters to humanity, as universal history testifies.
An educated, but ruthless and atheist person will go against his identity and belonging, striving only to rule and never to serve for the sake of the truth and for society’s wellbeing.
At this moment of the jubilee ceremony, reevaluating the legacy left by our ancestors in the school and the educational mission, we will without hesitation testify that the founders of the ‘Armenian Catholic Mesrobian High School’ have considered Armenian and Christian education together as the most fundamental for the spiritual, intellectual and human formation of the Armenian student in the deepest and most comprehensive sense of the word.
In the process of the correct formation of the students, the school is the necessary environment in which the young generations of our nation will grow up unhampered and safely. The school is the second home, like the family home, and both are sacred values for Christian Armenians.
The celebration of the 85th anniversary of our High School is an opportunity for all of us to approach with an inspection of conscience the mission that pleases God, is beneficial for our nation and which is carried out by Mesrobian College under the auspices of the Armenian Catholic Patriarchate.
The sacrament of the day also invites us to penetrate the depth of the stored knowledge of humanity, which will contribute to further correcting the way we have adopted in education and in teaching, always aiming at a stable present and a secure future for the student, when he will bring his rich contribution to his Nation, the Earth, the Church and the whole humanity in general.
Dear Teachers, I appeal to you as second parents, but primarily as responsible educators. Cherish your students and selflessly fulfill your duties, taking as an example our Divine Teacher, Jesus Christ, and teach them with apostolic love and your good example.
Dear Students, follow your teachers and your instructors and always be attentive, because their intention as well as ours, are only for your benefit and the welfare of our Nation.
Honorable and Beloved Ones, on the path of this sacred mission, remember this biblical advice: "The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord" (Prov. 1,7). Thus, a person who lives only and only with spiritual fear of God, but never with emotional fear, can love, educate and be a good teacher as well as a good student, beneficial to themselves and to others.
Honorable and Beloved Ones, always be awake and aware of your life. This straight way of life is also taught by the Holy Scriptures, saying: "The beginning of wisdom is the good worship of God" (Prov. 1,7).
Without this, both the acquired knowledge as well as the spiritual and material goods that you will treasure in your daily life are in vain.
With constant prayer and a grateful heart, we remember the blessed founder of our College, "God’s Servant", His Beatitude the Catholicos Patriarch Krikor Bedros XV Aghajanian, requesting his intercession for the steadiness and progress of this educational institution.
While we assure you of our prayers and willingness to support the Administration, the Teaching Staff, the Employees, the Students and the Parents, we wish you all good health and success in your noble work."
At last, we conclude our speech, sealing it by the verses of the hymn dedicated to the ‘Saint Translators’ holiday by Father Vartan Areveltsi, in gratitude to St. Mesrob Mashdots who spread the light of faith and knowledge in our nation, to the Catholicos St. Sahag Bartev and their apostolic disciples.
"You who, coming down from heaven, bestowed divine graces through the holy priest on the northern nations, have mercy on us, God, through his supplication.
You, who gave the Holy Bible containing the wisdom of the Spirit and the immaterial word in a vision of the holy priest to the children of Torkom, have mercy on us, God. Amen" (The Holy Canon of the Translators).
Bourj-Hammoud, May 9, 2024