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==[[Kontakion - ]] (Tone 2==)
Category
==Life==
Gregory was born about 257. His father Anak, a Parthian prince, was put to death for assassinating his kinsman King Khosrov while Gregory was still an infant. To escape execution, Gregory was taken by his nurse to [[Caesarea ]] in Cappadocia where he was raised as a Christian. He married and had two sons. One son, Orthanes, would later become a [[priest]] and the other, Aristaces became, first, an [[monk]], then later a [[bishop]] who attended the [[First Ecumenical Council|Council]] in [[Nicea]]. About 280, Gregory returned to Armenia and entered the service of King Tiridates III, the son of the assassinated Khosrov. However, Tiridates was intolerant of Christianity and demanded that Gregory renounce his Christian faith which he refused to do. Gregory was imprisoned and subjected to many tortures during his imprisonment of some thirteen years including enduring imprisonment in a pit with venomous snakes. In the meanwhile Tiridates continued to pursue his anti-Christian campaign. He executed St. Rhipsime, the [[abbess]] Gaiana, and 35 virgins of a [[monastery]] in Asia Minor. During these times, Tiridates developed a serious ailment and suffered disfiguration. However, his heart soften after he was cured through Gregory’s prayers.
In 297, Tiridates, in gratitude, released Gregory from his tortures, who then began to preach to the people, urging them to reject the worship of idols and to follow Christ. Soon, Tiridates, repenting his crimes and, with most of the people of Armenia, answered Gregory’s call and became converts to Christianity. Tiridates was [[baptism|baptized]] by Gregory in 301. In that year, Tiridates adopted Christianity as the religion of his country. With the conversion of Armenia, the temples to idols were destroyed and churches to God were built.
In 302, Gregory was [[consecration of a bishop|consecrated]] bishop of all the Armenians, to be their [[Catholicos]], by Leontius of Caesarea. In 303, Gregory built the [[Cathedral]] of Etchmiadzin near Mount Ararat which still is the [[see|seat]] of the Amenian Catholicos. In 318, Gregory named his son, Aristaces, as his successor and charged his grandson, Grigoris, to spread the [[Holy Gospel|Gospel]] of Christ throughout the Caucasus and Anatolia. Gregory then retired to a [[monastery]] near Mount Sebuh in the Daralia province of Upper Armenia where he reposed about 331.
==Hymns==[[Troparion - ]] (Tone 4==)
By sharing in the ways of the Apostles,
Hieromartyr Gregory entreat Christ God to save our souls.
Today, let us the faithful, praise with songs and hymns
==Sources==
*[[w: Gregory_the_Illuminator]]
*[http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsLife.asp?FSID=102818 Hieromartyr Gregory the Bishop of Greater Armenia]
*[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07023a.htm Gregory the Illuminator]
*[http://satucket.com/lectionary/Gregory_Illuminator.htm Gregory Gregory the Illuminator]
*[http://www.bookrags.com/research/gregory-the-illuminator-eorl-06/ Gregory the Illuminator]
[[Category: Armenian Saints]]
[[Category: Bishops]]
[[Category:4th-century bishops]]
[[Category:Catholicoses of All the Armenians]]
[[Category:Catholicoses of Echmiadzin]]
[[Category:Oriental Orthodox]]
[[Category: Saints]]
[[Category: BishopsByzantine Saints]][[Category:4th-century saints]]
