The manuscript was commissioned by was copied by Simeon vardapet in 1471 in Jerusalem. It was taken to Western Armenia and kept in St. Kevork church (St. George) in the village of Godarich in Charsanjak district.
The manuscript is enclosed in a double silver binding, depicting the crucifixion of Christ on the front cover and the four evangelists on the back. The church became a pilgrimage site for both Christian Armenians and Muslim Kurds who believed in its healing powers and performance of miracles.
During the Armenian Genocide of 1915 the Holy Book was saved from destruction by a faithful believer from Charsanjak, whose name is lost to history. He rescued the manuscript and journeyed for months by foot to Yerevan, Armenia, always protecting and shielding the manuscript from harm. The Dadaian family, led by matriarch Yeghsa and consisting of 15 women and children from the village of Lusadarich in Charsanjak, also migrated to Yerevan. Soon after, in 1918, the rescuer of the manuscript became terminally ill and was
hospitalized. Having learned that Yeghsa, whom he had known from Charsanjak, was working as a nurse in the hospital and could be trusted with the Holy Book, he gave it to her for safekeeping. Soon after, he passed away and Yeghsa became the custodian of the
scriptures. She revered and guarded the manuscript zealously for the rest of her life.
In 1922, the Dadaian family migrated to Marseille, France. Her son Hovhannes (John) had earlier left for the United States. Yeghsa, in 1933, still holding the manuscript close, joined John and his wife Araksi in Davenport, Iowa, in the United States.
After the death of both Yeghsa and John, Araksi, took the Gospel to California, joining her
children, Helen and Hriyr. The Gospel remained in Helen’s custody after Araksi’s passing in 1990. Over the years the Gospel had been rescued and protected from destruction of its home church, storms, earthquakes, and other natural disasters. In 2017, Helen Dadaian Parnagian and Hriyr Dadaian, decided to give the Holy Gospel its deserved and final resting
place, Yerevan’s Mashtots Matenadaran.
