A letter from the leader of the Holy Struggle, Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, from the Yerevan-Kentron correctional labor colony in the NSS building.
“After 30 years… Today marks 30 years since my priestly ordination… in one of the prisons of “free and independent” Armenia. Even in my worst nightmares I could not imagine that I would reach this mark. However, on the other hand, in the conditions of the current catastrophe, a catastrophe in all respects, I could not imagine myself anywhere else. Since 1988, when I was 17 years old, I have been struggling and fighting for my free, independent, sovereign, liberated Artsakh, great and powerful, majestically marching among the peoples of Armenia.
In 1995, being ordained before the Holy See of Holy Etchmiadzin in the name of Archbishop Bagrat Vardazaryan, who was martyred in the KGB prisons, I swore to serve for the glory of God and for the benefit of my beloved people, whom I loved more than my life. I humbled myself and swore to give glory to my Risen and victorious Lord in everything, in all circumstances and situations. I acted despite the mistakes, sins, falls and trials, and I considered all this mine and mine alone. And every little success I considered a gift from God and Him. Whether I succeeded or not, God and history are my judge.
Today, looking back, I live in the reality of a stolen biography and honor, broken dreams and distorted vision, my beloved homeland Artsakh lost, my world Armenia torn apart, with the humiliation of my brothers in hostile prisons, with the blood of thousands of tortured brothers and fathers hanging by a thread, with the uncertainty of my children’s return in obscurity, with my wounded friends without an answer, indifferent to the lost and deceived state of mind of a people burdened with a heavy burden.
The truth was trampled, justice robbed, love destroyed, faith wounded, hope shattered. Despite all this, our will, our unwavering faith did not die; they cannot kill our aspirations, desires and dreams to create and revive, to heal and revive the life and process of our Mother, Mother Armenia, and that from our lives “sin will melt away, demons will be cast out, crimes will be erased, shackles will be torn, chains will be broken, blows will be healed, corruption will disappear, sorrow will disappear, darkness will flee, fog will disperse, fog will be rejected, gloom will disperse, darkness will disappear, night will disperse, anxiety will disperse, evil will disappear, despair will be cast out… the almighty hand of God will reign.” O Lord, as I cried out 30 years ago, as a 24-year-old youth, completely naked, today, as an unworthy servant, led by Your most caring hand through many paths, at the age of 54, I repeat with the same conviction: “The Lord is my light and my life, of whom shall I fear? The Lord is the refuge of my life, from whom shall I tremble?” Glory to You, Lord, for all that I am at peace with my fathers, brothers and sisters, on the path of imprisonment and the cross, and to remain with You, and not have a portion with the outcasts. I have given my soul to You and have not repented, my God and my King, my Life and my Refuge, my Hope and my Confidence, Jesus Christ, Your God of all. Yes, I believe in You without compromise and hesitation and live in the Victory of Spiritual Armenia, the Temple and the Tricolor. And this Victory has no alternative…”