Ninooba (Day of the Coming of the Baptist of Georgia)
Description:
In Georgia, this holiday is celebrated on June 1, and the next day, June 2, her parents Saints Zabulon and Sosanna are commemorated. In Georgia is also celebrated the day of the blessed death of St. Nino - January 27.
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Tradition says that St. Nina lived in the late third and early fourth centuries in Jerusalem. In a dream, the Most Holy Mother of God appeared to her, presented a cross of grape branches and blessed the pagans of Iberia for education. In 319 St. Nina arrived in Georgia, beginning a life of asceticism and carrying the word of God. In 327, Christianity was declared the state religion of Georgia.
In Tbilisi, in the Zion Cathedral of the Assumption of the Mother of God, a cross of grapevine entwined with the hair of St. Nino is still kept.
In all churches of the Diocese, prayers are offered on this day to the Saint, especially revered in Georgia by Orthodox Christians.
Traditionally, on Ninooba Day, a large group of children, adolescents and youth, under the patronage and accompanied by clergymen, begin a pilgrimage in the footsteps of the Equal-to-the-Apostles Enlightener of Georgia. This procession lasts almost a month and a half and fully corresponds to the route of St. Nino after her arrival in Georgia.