Gregory the Illuminator

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Gregory the Illuminator
Gregory the Illuminator, Byzantine mosaic from the 14th century in the Pammakaristos Church in Istanbul

Gregory the Illuminator , also Gregory the Illuminator ( Armenian Գրիգոր Լուսաւորիչ translit. Grigor Lusavorich , ancient Greek Γρηγόριος Φωστήρ translit. Gregorios Phoster or ancient Greek Φωτιστής translit. Photistés ; * probably around 240 ; † around 331 ), is a saint (feast: September 30th, 331 ) ) and the Apostles of Armenia . He made Christianity the state religion of Armenia and was the first Catholicos , that is, head of the Armenian Apostolic Church . In Italy he is known as San Gregorio Armeno .

origin

According to Armenian tradition, Gregory the Illuminator was a son of the Parthian Anak Suren-Pahlav . The house of Suren-Pahlav was a distant sideline of the princely house of the Arsacids , whose main line from 247 BC. The Persian Empire ruled as great kings until 224 AD , and its branch line ruled Greater Armenia as kings from 54 AD to 428 AD . According to tradition, Anak should - on behalf of his master, the Sassanid king of kings Shapur I (240–270 / 72) of the Persian Empire, who wanted to expand his power to Armenia - his relatives, the king of Greater Armenia, Chosroes II Medz ( Tiridates II) from the house of the Arsacids around 252.

As punishment, Anak and his family were exterminated, although only two of his sons, including Gregor, were able to save themselves.

Life

Gregory was brought to Caesarea in Cappadocia , today's Kayseri in Turkey , by his tutors , and was brought up in Christianity there by a priest Phirmilianos (Euthalius).

According to the Armenian historian who appeared under the name of Agathangelos , Gregory was after Trdat III. , the son of King Chosrau II, in 286 AD (actually only 298 AD) at the head of a Roman army, had recaptured his fatherly kingdom of Armenia, martyred and condemned by this because he refused to be the Zoroastrian goddess To sacrifice Anahita because he remained faithful to the one God, the Christian God. Thereupon - according to tradition in the later monastery of Khor Virap in the Ararat plain - he was locked in a pit to await death. He received neither food nor drink. If Gregory trusted his God so much, so the king, then his God should keep him alive.

Years later the king fell ill. Legend has it that his sister dreamed that Gregor was healing her brother. However, at first the king did not give up on her dreams and doubted that Gregor was still alive. Finally he had a look over and brought Gregor, who had been saved from death, to him. Gregory healed the king who then accepted the Christian faith. Gregory baptized Trdat, his family, the Armenian princes and the dependent kings of Georgia . According to Armenian tradition, Armenia became the first Christian state in the world. In addition, according to the legend, with Trdat's conversion, which is dated to the year 301, the Armenian Apostolic Church was founded.

In 314 Gregory of Leontius of Caesarea was ordained bishop and installed by Petros of Sebasteia.

Gregory destroyed numerous pagan temples across the country, starting with Ashtishat , where he built the first Armenian church. After he had consolidated Christianity in Armenia, Gregory withdrew into solitude, most recently to a cave at the foot of Mount Sebuh in western Armenia (today Köhnem Dağı near Erzincan ), where he died around 331 AD. Later a community of hermits settled in the caves. The head of the Armenian Church was the son of Gregory, St. Aristakes , who was also involved in the Council of Nicea . Up to Sahak († 439 AD) the office of Catholicos of Armenia remained hereditary in his family.

The speeches and teachings ascribed to Gregory the Illuminator are not authentic.

Marriage and children

Gregor married a devout Christian woman named Mariam in his youth who deepened his Christian faith. Gregor and Mariam had at least two sons:

  • Vartanes I , Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church (333–341)
  • Aristakes I , Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church (325–333)

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Gregory the Illuminator  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ For the history of the House of Suren-Pahlav see Cyrille Toumanoff : Studies in Christian Caucasian History. Georgetown 1963
  2. ^ René Grousset : Histoire de l'Arménie. Payot, Paris 1973 pp. 114, 122; Catholic Encyclopedia: Gregory the Illuminator . The chronology of the Armenian kings of the 3rd century is controversial because the main source, the novel-like story of Agathangelos , has come down to us in several different reviews and in different languages ​​and as a result both names (e.g. Chosrau and Trdat) and dates have been mixed up, which means - depending on the source used - z. Sometimes there are significant deviations.
  3. ↑ Christian Settipani : Nos Ancêtres de l'Antiquité. Études des possibilités de liens généalogiques entre les familles de l'Antiquité et celles du haut Moyen-Age européen . Editions Christian, Paris 1991, ISBN 2-86496-050-6  ( formally incorrect ) , p. 54 (French).
  4. ^ Elisabeth Bauer: Armenia: Past and Present . Reich Verlag, Lucerne 1977, ISBN 3-7243-0146-4 .
  5. ↑ Yatschachapatum ; Johann Michael Schmid [translator]: Speeches and teachings of St. Gregorius the Enlightener . Manz, Regensburg 1872 ( online )
  6. ↑ Christian Settipani: Nos Ancêtres de l'Antiquité. Editions Christian, Paris 1991, p. 55.
predecessor Office successor
? Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church
301–325 		Aristakes I.
personal data
SURNAME Gregory the Illuminator
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gregor Illuminator; Գրիգոր Լուսաւորիչ; Grigor Lusavorich; Γρηγόριος Φωστήρ; Γρηγόριος Φωτιστής; Gregorios Phoster; Gregorios Photistes
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Founder of Christianity in Armenia
DATE OF BIRTH at 240
DATE OF DEATH at 332