Lives of the Saints
1. SAINT GREGORY THE ENLIGHTENER, BISHOP OF ARMENIA
Born into a notable family that was related to the royal house of Persia (King Artaban) and of Armenia (King Kursar). When these two houses warred against each other, Gregory withdrew to Caesarea in Cappadocia, where he first came to know the faith of Christ, was baptized, and married. From that marriage he had two sons, Orthanes and Arostanes, and both he dedicated to the service of the Church. After the death of his wife, Gregory returned to Armenia and placed himself in the service of King Tiridates. And Gregory served his king faithfully, and the king loved Gregory. But when the king learned that Gregory was a Christian, he grew exceedingly angry and began to persuade him to renounce the faith of Christ and bow down to the idols. Not succeeding in this, Tiridates subjected Gregory to grievous torments, and after many tortures cast him into a deep pit filled with every kind of venomous creature, so as to kill him utterly. But God the All-Seeing preserved Saint Gregory alive in that pit for a full fourteen years. Tiridates then continued his persecution of Christians throughout his kingdom, and attacked a convent where there were thirty-seven sisters with their abbess Gaiana. When he had slain them all with dreadful tortures, Tiridates went mad and became like a wild boar. But to the king's sister there appeared in a dream a man of surpassing radiance who told her that her maddened brother would not recover until Gregory was taken out of the pit. When he was taken from the pit, Saint Gregory healed and baptized Tiridates. After that, Gregory, at the desire of Tiridates, became Bishop of Armenia, and with the help of the king, and first of all of God, he enlightened all of Armenia and the surrounding regions with the faith of Christ. And Saint Gregory ended his life of many labors in old age, around the year 335. In his place his son Arostanes was consecrated bishop, and he continued the work of his father, both physical and spiritual. Arostanes was one of the 318 Holy Fathers at the First Ecumenical Council.
2. HOLY MARTYRS GAIANA, RHIPSIMIA, AND THE OTHER THIRTY-FIVE NUNS, WHOM TIRIDATES SLEW FOR THE FAITH IN CHRIST
Holy Rhipsimia was of extraordinary beauty, on account of which the Emperor Diocletian wished to take her as his wife. From this began the suffering of all thirty-seven nuns. Rhipsimia refused to go to the emperor, for she had consecrated herself to Christ as her Bridegroom. Then Tiridates tried to overcome her and take her for himself, for the king was as though intoxicated by her beauty. But holy Rhipsimia resisted the godless king with all her strength. "And he who had vanquished the Gothic princes and defeated the Persians could not overcome one virgin of Christ." The enraged king delivered her to cruel torments (they cut out her tongue, ripped open her belly, and spilled out her entrails), in which Rhipsimia surrendered her soul to God. After this the remaining nuns were also seized and put to the sword. Over the relics of these holy martyrs the famous Monastery of Etchmiadzin was erected, near Yerevan, the chief spiritual center of Armenia through many centuries.
3. SAINT MICHAEL, FIRST METROPOLITAN OF KIEV
At the request of Grand Prince Vladimir, he was sent by the Patriarch of Constantinople to Russia to baptize the pagan people and to establish and organize the Church. Saint Michael baptized the people in Kiev, Novgorod, Rostov, and in many other cities and villages; he organized the Church, appointed bishops and presbyters, laid the foundation of the Monastery of Saint Michael in Kiev, and sent missionaries among the Bulgars and Tatars, winning many of them for Christ. All this and much more of benefit did this saint accomplish in only four years. He reposed peacefully in the year 992. His relics rest in the Lavra of the Caves.
“When he was taken from the pit, Saint Gregory healed and baptized Tiridates.”
Hymn of Praise
Gregory, a great luminary,
To his kin and to his nation,
Renounced glory and riches
For the poverty of Christ the Crucified,
For riches eternal in heaven;
He raised his mind to God in heaven
And thereby endured all bodily torments,
And all torments bore without complaint,
Strengthened by the power of divine grace,
Fed with bread sent from God,
Defended from evil by God's Providence.
From glory he descended into the depths,
From the depths he rose to the heights,
To the heights of unfading glory.
Gregory the great and holy
Enlightened Armenia with Jesus,
And he who is cruel from the fury of a wild boar,
Tiridates, He baptized with the Cross and turned into a lamb.
With glory does the land of Armenia glorify
Its wonderworker, Gregory.
“And he who is cruel from the fury of a wild boar, Tiridates, He baptized with the Cross and turned into a lamb.”
Reflection
Wondrous changes occur in the destinies of men daily, today as of old: those humbled for the sake of God's righteousness are raised to a great height, and blasphemers of God's faith are converted into servants of that very same faith. King Tiridates cast Saint Gregory into a deep pit. Fourteen years the saint spent in that pit, forgotten by the entire world, but not forgotten by God. Who could have thought, among men, that the greatest luminary of the Armenian people lay in the darkness of a pit? And how could the mighty and violent King Tiridates have thought that one day this same Gregory, whom he had condemned to death, would save his life and help him more than the whole world could have helped? After fourteen years God reveals Gregory alive. Gregory miraculously heals the maddened king. King Tiridates, the unbridled persecutor of Christ, is baptized and becomes the greatest zealot of the faith of Christ. One could say that by God's help both Gregory and Tiridates were pulled out of a dark pit: Gregory in body and Tiridates in soul. O the infinite wisdom of God in governing the destinies of men! The formerly wild and passionate Tiridates was so softened by repentance and ennobled by the faith of Christ that in character he more resembled Saint Gregory than himself before his baptism.
“Who could have thought, among men, that the greatest luminary of the Armenian people lay in the darkness of a pit?”
Contemplation
Contemplate the righteousness of King Jotham and the reward of God (II Chronicles 27), namely:
1. How Jotham did what was right before the Lord and cared for the Temple of the Lord;
2. How God helped him so that he was successful in war and in peace: in war he was victorious, and in peace he enriched and strengthened his people.
“How God helped him so that he was successful in war and in peace.”
Homily
on the Kingdom not of this world
He who has a great treasure also has a small one. Let no one, therefore, even think that Christ the Lord has no sovereign authority over this world simply because He said to Pilate: My Kingdom is not of this world. He who possesses the imperishable rules also over the perishable. The Lord speaks of His imperishable Kingdom, independent of time, independent of corruption, injustice, deceit, and death. It is as though someone were to say: my treasure is not in paper but in gold. But does not he who has gold also have paper? Does not gold rule over paper? The Lord does not say to Pilate that He is not a King; on the contrary, He means to say that He is a higher King than all kings, and that His Kingdom is greater and mightier and more enduring than all earthly kingdoms. He points to His chief Kingdom, upon which all kingdoms in time and space depend. My Kingdom is not of this world — these words do not mean that He has no power over the kingdom of this world; on the contrary, they confirm His awesome power over this world. Do not all His works on earth show His unattainable sovereign power over this world? Before what other king, tell me, has the wind grown still and the sea calmed? And have you forgotten His words in Gethsemane, that had He but willed it, twelve legions of angels would have rushed to His aid (Matt. 26:53)? And a single angel has power greater than the universe. The Lord of souls is the Lord of bodies also. The Lord of eternity is the Lord of time also. The Lord of the greatest goods is the Lord of lesser goods also. Nothing, brethren, can escape the power of the almighty Jesus Christ, our Lord, who suffered for us by His own will and rose from the grave by His own power. O Lord Jesus Christ, Almighty Savior, help us to seek Thy heavenly Kingdom and to be eternally with Thee where there is no sin nor death, but life and joy and peace. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“Nothing, brethren, can escape the power of the almighty Jesus Christ, our Lord, who suffered for us by His own will and rose from the grave by His own power.”