St. Gregory the Illuminator of Armenia and his sons and grandsons

In the Armenian Church, the Illuminator is recognized on a different Feast Day, but in the Byzantine Church, the Illuminator is recognized with his sons and grandsons on September 30. Saint Gregory was a prince of the ruling Arsacid dynasty of Armenia. His father was Anak and his mother was Okohe. His father Anak had assassinated the King Khosrov I and the family of the murdered king responded by trying to murder Anak and his family. All of them were killed except for Gregory and one of his brothers. His brother was taken to Persia and he was cared for by his nurse, who was a Christian, in Caesarea. The saint would return to Armenia to preach the Gospel to the Pagan King Tiridates III whose father had been killed by Gregory's father. Tiridates hated both Christianity and the Holy Apostle to the Armenians. He was thrown into a pit filled with poisonous reptiles for thirteen years but was eventually able to convert the Pagan king to Christianity so thoroughly that Tiridates declared Christianity to be the official legal religion of Armenia. St. Gregory would return to Caesarea to be ordained a priest and then consecrated a bishop. He would continue his work in Armenia until he entered into eternity in 325 A.D.

Aristakes was the younger son of Saint Gregory the Illuminator. He was born in 270 A.D. and although initially devoting himself to ascetical disciplines, he was convinced by both his father and King Tiridates III to assist in converting Armenia to Christianity. He would be ordained a priest and consecrated a bishop in order to complete this task. Saint Aristakes also accompanied the king and his father on a visit to the Holy Emperor Constantine and also represented his country at the First Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. He succeeded his father as Catholicos of Armenia and was martyred by a government official whose immoral lifestyle he had strongly denounced.

Saint Vertanes was the elder son of St. Gregory the Illuminator, born in 262 A.D. He was a soldier early in life but would later become a priest and then consecrated a bishop. He was a missionary among his people and miraculously escaped a murder plot instigated by the Queen whose immoral lifestyle he had denounced. He succeeded his brother as Catholicos in 333 A.D. and reposed peacefully in 342 A.D.

Saint Housig was the son of Vertanes and grandson of the Illuminator. He was born in 304 A.D. succeeded his father as Catholicos in 342 A.D. He openly criticized King Tiran's scandalous life, forbidding the King to set foot in the church. For this, the King had the saint cruelly beaten to death.

Saint Grigoris was a son of Saint Vertanes and grandson of Saint Greogry the Illuminator. Grigoris was sent by his grandfather to Caucasian Albania (located just East of Armenia on the Caspian Sea, not to be confused with the modern state located in southeastern Europe). He was a tireless missionary who later became Catholicos of Armenia. But the rulers were not happy with the Christianization of Armenia and the saint received the crown of martyrdom in 338 A.D. Decades later, Vachagan the Pious, Christian King of Caucasian Albania, recovered the relics of the saint and had them entombed in Amaras monastery.

It is unknown whether Saint Nerses (spelled also Narses or Nersess) was a grandson of Saint Housig and thus a great-great-grandson of Saint Gregory, or if he was the son of Saint Vertanes. Accounts differ as to the genealogy of this saint. But he was a tremendous organizer of the Church of Armenia. Ascetically minded, he initially refused the role of Catholicos but later accepted at the insistence of the people. He insisted on the strict adherence to the Holy Canons, strove to remove residual traces of Paganism, and established schools for uplifting of the people and made Christian charity priority, opening hospitals, homes for the aged, shelters for the poor, and orphanages. However, he made enmity with the King when he insisted a man unjustly condemned to death be pardoned. When the King refused, Nerses excommunicated him and the saint was ejected from his Episcopal See. After the King's death, Nerses would be restored. But the new King who restored the Catholicos to his throne fell into evil ways too and Nerses excommunicated him. The King had the saint poisoned and Nerses entered into eternity in 373 A.D.

Saint Sahak was the son of Saint Nerses. He was deeply involved in clerical matters with Saint Mesrop the Translator. Educated in Constantinople, he would be elevated as Catholicos of Armenia. He would assist Saint Mesrop in the invention of the Armenian alphabet and the translation of the Holy Scriptures and Church service books into the Armenian tongue. He wrote many liturgical hymns, including those sung during Holy Week and Palm Sunday. He reposed in the year 439 A.D.

All of these saints are commemorated in the Byzantine calendar on September 30.

See also:

James Thornton, Pious Kings and Right-Believing Queens

Prologue of Ochrid, September 30