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The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity


from its origins to circa AD 700, across the entire Christian world


Name

Gregory the Illuminator, converter of Armenia

Saint ID

S00251

Number in BH

BHG 712-713, BHL 3664

Reported Death Not Before

320

Reported Death Not After

330

Gender
Male
Type of Saint
Miracle-workers in lifetime, Bishops , Hermits/recluses, Martyrs
Related Evidence Records
IDTitle
E00102Agathangelos' History of Armenia, also known as the History and Life of St Gregory, tells the story, set in the early 4th c., of *Gregory the Illuminator (converter of Armenia, S00251) establishing, with the help of relics, the commemoration in Armenia of *John the Baptist (S00020) and *Athenogenes (bishop and martyr of Pedachthoe, S00065), to replace the feasts of pagan deities. Written in Armenian in the middle of the 5th c.
E00105Łazar P'arpec'i's History of Armenia (3.76) recounts the martyrdom of *Yazd (Armenian nobleman and martyr, ob. 480s, S00665), from the province Siwnik', in Bagawan, at the chapel of *Gregory the Illuminator (converter of Armenia, S00251) and his burial in the chapel, all in 480s. Written in Armenian in around AD 500.
E00120Łazar P'arpec'i's History of Armenia describes invocation of *Gregory the Illuminator (converter of Armenia, S00251), the use of his relics, and a miracle performed through him, during campaigns by the Armenians against the Persians in the 450s. Written in Armenian in around AD 500.
E00121Movsēs Xorenac'i's History of Armenia (2.91) recounts the final days and death of *Gregory the Illuminator (converter of Armenia, S00251), the recovery of his relics, and their burial in the village of T'ordan. Written in Armenian and traditionally considered a 5th c. text, but probably of the early 8th c.
E00128The Armenian History (27), attributed to Sebeos, tells of the construction of the church of *Gregory the Illuminator (converter of Armenia, S00251) in the early 7th c. by Marzpan Smbat Bagratuni. Written in Armenian in the second half of the 7th c.
E00151The Epic Histories (3.11) traditionally attributed to P'awstos, recount the death in c. 340 of *Vrt'anēs (katholikos of Greater Armenia, ob. 341, S00297), and his burial and commemoration at T'ordan beside the body of *Gregory the Illuminator (converter of Armenia, S00251). Written in Armenian in the second half of the 5th c.
E00152The Epic Histories (12.3), traditionally attributed to P'awstos, recount the martyrdom of the Katholikos *Yusik (katholikos of Armenia, S00068) in c. 350, for rebuking king Tiran, and his burial next to his father *Gregory the Illuminator (converter of Armenia, S00251). Written in Armenian in the second half of the 5th c.
E00460The Armenian History (25), attributed to Sebeos, tells of the restoration of the church of *Hripsimē (Armenian virgin and martyr of Roman origin, S00071) by the Armenian Katholikos Komitas in the early 7th c. and the miracles that followed the accidental discovery of the relics of the saint. Written in Armenian in the second half of the 7th c.
E00497Agathangelos' History of Armenia, also known as the History and Life of St Gregory, tells the story, set in the early 4th c., of the martyrdom and death at Artašat on the orders of King Trdat of the virgins *Hripsimē (Armenian virgin and martyr of Roman origin, S00645), *Gayanē (Armenian martyr and companion of Hripsimē, S00260) and their companions. Written in Armenian in the middle of the 5th c.
E00500Agathangelos' History of Armenia, also known as the History and Life of St Gregory, tells the story, set in the early 4th c., of *Gregory the Illuminator (converter of Armenia, S00251) retrieving the bodies of the virgins *Hripsimē (Armenian virgin and martyr of Roman origin, S00071) and *Gayanē (Armenian martyr and companion of Hripsimē, S00260). Written in Armenian in the middle of the 5th c.
E00522Movsēs Xorenac'i's History of Armenia (2.74) recounts the conception of *Gregory the Illuminator (converter of Armenia, S00251) on the grave of the apostle *Addai/Thaddaeus (the Apostle, one of the seventy-two, S00255). Written in Armenian and traditionally considered a 5th c. text, but probably of the early 8th c.
E00613Movsēs Xorenac'i's History of Armenia (2.8) recounts the story, set in the early 4th c., of the conversion of Iberia (Georgia) through the work of *Nunē/Nino (enlightener of Georgia, S00072), here presented as a companion of the Armenian martyr *Hripsimē (Armenian virgin and martyr of Roman origin,S00071), aided by *Gregory the Illuminator (converter of Armenia, S00251). Written in Armenian and traditionally considered a 5th c. text, but probably of the early 8th c.
E00888The History of the Albanians (1.21) recounts the miraculous discovery of the relics of *Grigoris (katholikos and martyr in Caucasian Albania, ob. early 4th c., S00062), grandson of Gregory the Illuminator, by the Albanian King Vačagan III, involving an elaborate procession with the relics of saints *Zechariah (father of John the Baptist, S00597), *Pantaleon (martyr of Nicomedia, S00596), *Gregory the Illuminator (converter of Armenia, S00251) and *Hripsimē (Armenian virgin and martyr of Roman origin, S00071) and *Gayanē (Armenian martyr and companion of Hripsimē, S00026), an intervention by Grigoris himself, and a vision of the king. Written in Armenian, probably in Caucasian Albania, possibly in the 6th c. or 7th c.
E01131Agathangelos’ History of Armenia, also known as the History and Life of St Gregory, recounts the conversion of Armenia by *Gregory the Illuminator (converter of Armenia, S00251). Written in Armenian in the middle of the 5th c. Overview entry.
E01134Agathangelos’ History of Armenia, also known as the History and Life of St Gregory, recounts the vision of *Gregory the Illuminator (converter of Armenia, S00251), in which he sees pillars of the church set on the places of martyrdom of the virgin martyrs of Armenia, *Gayanē (Armenian martyr and companion of Hripsimē, S00260), *Hripsimē (Armenian virgin and martyr of Roman origin, S00071) and their companions. Written in Armenian in the middle of the 5th c.
E01329The Armenian History (45), attributed to Sebeos, tells of the construction in the 650s by the Armenian Katholikos Nersēs III of the church of the *Angels (Zuartnoc') (*S00723) at the site of the encounter of king Trdat and *Gregory the Illuminator (converter of Armenia, S00251). Written in Armenian in the second half of the 7th c.
E01351The Armenian History (8), attributed to Sebeos, recounts the punishment that befell Greeks and Persians for desecrating the church of *Gregory the Illuminator (converter of Armenia to Christianity, S00251) in 571/2. Written in Armenian in the second half of the 7th c.
E02212Fragmentary list in Greek of saints' days, evidently for the month of December, presumably from the area of Hermopolis (Middle Egypt), with entries for *Severos (bishop of Antioch, ob. 538, S00262), *Kopres (martyr of Egypt under Julian, S01190), *Peter (bishop and martyr of Alexandria, S00247), *Gregory the Illuminator (converter of Armenia, S00251), *Horouonchios (saint with cult at Aphrodito and Hermopolis, S01187), *Sarapion, (Egyptian martyr from Panephosi, §S02038), and *Drosis (virgin and martyr of Antioch, S01189), as well as various unnamed martyrs (S00060); datable to the 7th/8th century.
E03468The early seventh-century Georgian version of the Lectionary of Jerusalem commemorates on 21 December *Gregory the Illuminator (converter of Armenia, S00251).
E03891The Church Calendar of Ioane Zosime, compiled in Georgian in the 10th c., based however on 5th-7th c. prototypes from Palestine, commemorates on 10 October *Thekla (follower of the Apostle Paul, S00092), *Euphemia (martyr of Chalcedon, S00017), *Zenaida (martyr and follower of Apostle Paul, S01656), and possibly *Gregory the Illuminator (the converter of Armenia, S00251).
E03893The Church Calendar of Ioane Zosime, compiled in Georgian in the 10th c., based however on 5th-7th c. prototypes from Palestine, commemorates on 12 October *Gregory the Illuminator (the converter of Armenia, S00251), the *Archangels (S00191), *Thekla (follower of the Apostle Paul, S00092), *Euphemia (martyr of Chalcedon, S00017), and Karion and Apollo, monks from the Apophegmata Patrum.
E03965The Church Calendar of Ioane Zosime, compiled in Georgian in the 10th c., based however on 5th-7th c. prototypes from Palestine, commemorates on 21 December *Gregory the Illuminator (convertor of Armenia, S00251), *Ioulianos/Julian (martyr of Nicomedia under Maximian, S01840).