“They had not worshipped
the beast or his image and had or received his mark on their foreheads or their
hands” (Rev. 20:4)
The verse we just read is
quoted for the Book of Revelations.
Apostle John has written down his vision of the Judgment Day. He describes people who have suffered and
have lost their lives for the witness of their Lord Jesus Christ, those who
have refused to worship the beast or his image, those who have not compromised
their faith. This has cost them their
lives and they have been given the glorious crown.
Today, 1555 years later,
we celebrate the memory of Vartan and his friends. Even though thousands fell on that day in the
Battle of Avarayr, yet this is a feast and not
mourning. It is a feast because what
happened in the Battle of Avarayr was not an end as
the Persians thought it would be. It was
a beginning, a continuation of what Thaddeus, Bartholomew, and St. Krikor Lousavorich had sowed
into the hearts of the Armenian people.
There are 150 years
between 301 and 451 AD i.e. between Armenians accepting Christianity and being ready
to die for their faith. They
were not willing to bow to the “beast” and accept its “mark.” Christianity had become vital in their
lives. Martyrdom is a life of
testimony. Armenians had learnt and
were educated in their faith specially when, by the invention of the Armenian
Alphabet in 405 AD, they were able to worship and read the Bible in their
mother tongue. The Armenians had learnt
that Christ would set them free from sin.
This new life had changed them.
They wanted to live free to worship the God they loved.
What do we learn today
from these martyrs?
1. Vartan and his friends bore marks: Vartan’s says
something about the marks that they bore on their bodies.
“Each of us carries numerous injuries and
scars on our bodies …”
Whose mark do we bear
today? Whose impact shows in our
lives? As children, we were probably baptized. We received the seal of the Holy Spirit and
vowed to live a life pleasing to Christ.
Do we continue living according to our baptism? We often meet people who have tattoos on
their bodies. It is a sign or a
remembrance of something special for them. Some wear crosses as signs of their
faith. However, Vartan says that “…
those courageous acts I count useless because all of them will vanish.”