It was not really very easy for Mechitar to get to the island of S. Lazzaro in Venice. He arrived at the lagoon in March, 1715, with some of his disciples, as refugees from a colonial territory of the Venetian domain named Modon, in the Peloponnese, after an invasion by the Ottoman navy.

From the very beginning Mechitar petitioned the Doge, the Prince of Venice, to give him one of the islands of the lagoon, as a newly-arrived outsider who had built a monastery with a church in service of the Republic. But the conditions changed as the Senate decided to use the only remaining island of San Servolo as a hospital for the soldiers of the ongoing war. Another and more complicated difficulty was the recently-proclaimed law that prohibited the establishment of new religious orders in the city of Venice.

After two years of negotiations, finally, they allowed Mechitar and his disciples to sign a deed and lease the island of Saint Lazarus.

That is how Mechitar and his disciples signed the deed on the 2nd of September, 1717, and on the 8th of September, a Wednesday, they moved to the island of Saint Lazarus. This was the third important event of the Mechitarian Congregation that took place on the 8th of September, the day in which we commemorate the nativity of Our Lady, the Holy Virgin Mary.

Indeed, the foundation of the Mechitarian order was on the 8th of September, 1700, the dedication of the order to the Holy Virgin was on the same day of 1701, and the first steps on to the island was on the same day of 1717. (Fr. Mattew Yevtogiazi, The Cronicle of our Order, cap. 18, ՙ10). We also cannot forget the day the messenger brought the Decree of Napoleon: it was the 8th of September, 1810! The decree was allowing the monks of Saint Lazarus to continue their lifestyle as it was before.

And so on… This is why we have the certitude that the Holy Virgin Mary will always be a shelter for our order and a guarantee of our existence and service to the Church and our beloved nation.