Day of Saint Gregory, Illuminator of Armenia
Description:
His father was bribed by the Persians, killed the Armenian king Khosrov, and for this he was executed. The entire family of the killer had the same fate. Only the youngest was saved - named soon after Gregory was baptized. The Christian nurse managed to carry the boy to Caesarea of Cappadocia, where he was baptized and received a Christian upbringing.
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When Gregory grew up to make amends for the shame of his father, he entered the service of the son of the king he killed - Trdat. When Trdat found out that Gregory was a Christian, he ordered him to be cruelly tortured, and then thrown into the ditch to starve to death. However, one pious woman fed Gregory, and so he lived in the ditch for 13 years.
By this time, King Trdat was insanity. Gregory healed him. After this miracle, King Trdat was baptized himself and in 301 gave Christianity the status of the state religion. And St. Gregory became a bishop and firmly established Christianity in Armenia. In 331, shortly before his death, St. Gregory handed over the episcopal see to his son, and retired into solitude. Many generations of Armenian Catholicos came from the glorious family of St. Gregory the Illuminator. The Armenian Apostolic Church is still called Gregorian in honor of this saint.
According to an ancient legend, St. Gregory the Illuminator installed on the top of Aragats (Alagez) an eternal lamp, a source of light and hope. In the difficult moments of their history, the eyes of Armenians rush to Aragats and this gives them strength and hope.
