The Historical Reason There Is No Fasting Allowed the First Week of the Triodion

In the Orthodox Church, there is no fasting allowed in the first week of the Triodion, that is, during the week following the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee, and this includes Wednesday and Friday. There is a historical reason why this week of no fasting came to exist.

Aṙaǰaworac' is a period of strict fasting practiced in the Armenian Apostolic Church, which according to legend was established by Saint Gregory the Illuminator. It is a fast that only exists in the Armenian Church. It happens three weeks before Great Lent, or ten weeks before Easter, coinciding with the first week of the Triodion in the Orthodox Church. In ancient times it was allowed to eat only salt and bread, though today it is not as strict. On those days it is not allowed to hold a Liturgy. It lasts from Monday to Friday.

Saint Gregory the Illuminator Resource Page

St. Gregory the Illuminator of Armenia (Feast Day - September 30)

Verses

Knowing the "be watchful" of God the Word,
You were seen to be watchful Father to the call of God.
On the thirtieth Gregory died in Great Armenia.

 

Saint Gregory the Illuminator of Armenia 

 

History of Saint Gregory the Illuminator and the Conversion of Armenia 

 

The Relics of Saint Gregory the Illuminator of Armenia

 

The Descendants of St. Gregory the Illuminator of Armenia 

 

Holy Martyrs Rhipsimia and Gaiana of Armenia together with their Companions

 

The Historical Reason There Is No Fasting Allowed the First Week of the Triodion

 

History of Saint Gregory the Illuminator and the Conversion of Armenia

History of Saint Gregory the Illuminator and the Conversion of Armenia

By Agathangelos

Prologue

The fervent wish of sailors, as their journey nears its end, is to reach port safely. So amidst surging billows and tempestuous winds they spur on their steeds made of wood and iron and held together by nails. They fly over the mounting waves until, finally escaping the troubled waters, they race to their homelands. They tell their loved ones how they braved the fearful tumult of the sea in order to come back home with the spoils of their perilous sea journey. With their profits they settle debts, free their families from servitude to kings and overlords, and make a name for themselves as being generous and rich.

Holy Martyrs Rhipsimia and Gaiana of Armenia together with their Companions

Sts. Rhipsimia, Gaiana and Those With Them (Feast Day - September 30)

Verses

To Rhipsimia

Rhipsimia by blows was no way pained,

Counting against them numberless crowns.

To Gaiana

Ascetic life crowned Gaiana once,

And now her contest through the sword crowns her.

To the Thirty-Two Virgins

You are honored Trinity by the thrice ten martyrs,

Along with two they died by the sword on your behalf.

To the Seventy Men*

Seventy men died by the sword,

Ready to die, if needed, many times.

To the Two Virgins

Two women contain the virtues,

Adorned as athletes in the end by their beheading.

The Descendants of St. Gregory the Illuminator of Armenia

By Hieromonk Makarios of Simonopetra

After the death of Saint Gregory the Illuminator in 328, the Church of Armenia was exposed in its tender years to the active hatred of the devotees of Mazdaism, and faced with the tenacious persistence of pagan customs. The successors of Saint Gregory at the head of the Church were also his descendants,* since for more than one hundred years after his time, celibacy was not required of any degree of the priesthood. Coming as they did from Caesarea in Cappadocia, the metropolis on which the Armenian Church depended, Gregory's successors did their utmost to achieve a harmonious conjunction of the native genius with the polished Hellenic (Romaic) Christian culture, so that the Armenian people might break free of Persian ascendancy. But their efforts to make Christian morals prevail in the realm came up against intemperance of all kinds that the kings and magnates were addicted to, and the scandal their debauchery gave to the people.

The Relics of Saint Gregory the Illuminator of Armenia

On July 9th, the Armenian Church (Monophysites and Uniates) commemorates one of the three feast days dedicated to St. Gregory the Illuminator: the discovery of his relics. His principle feast by all Christians is celebrated on September 30th.

St. Gregory is considered to be the “Apostle of Armenia.” After years of evangelizing, St. Gregory sought solitude and an ascetic life. He chose a cave on Mount Sebouh as his dwelling place. It was here that Gregory died alone around 328 AD, some say after seven years of solitude. Shepherds found his body and without realizing who he was buried him under a pile of stones. Later a hermit, Garnik of Basen, who had been a disciple of St. Gregory, saw a vision and went to Mount Sebouh where he found the site of Gregory’s burial. He took the remains to the village of Thortan for burial, where King Drtad was buried. The discovery by Garnik is placed in the reign of Emperor Zeno (474-491), though this is contested by some scholars.


Moses of Khoren writes of the discovery:

"[Saint Gregory's relics] were hidden for many years by divine providence you might say, like Moses of old [cf. Deut. 34:6], lest they become the object of a cult to the halfconverted barbarian nations. But when the faith had become firmly established in these regions, after a long time Saint Gregory's relics were revealed to a certain ascetic called Garnik, who took them and buried them in the village of T'ordan."


A monastery was built near St. Gregory's grave. His relics were afterwards taken to Constantinople, but apparently brought back again to Armenia. Part of these relics are said to have been taken to Naples during the Iconoclast persecution.


The greatest relic of the Armenian Church is the Right Hand of St. Gregory the Illuminator. The relic is housed in a gold artwork depicting the sufferings of the saint. Relics from the right hand of St. Gregory are at the Holy Mother See of Etchmiadzin and the Holy See of Cilicia. It is brought out once every seven years by the Catholicos for the Blessing of the Holy Chrism (Muronorhnek), the anointing oil that Armenian Churches around the world use for the rites of baptism and other consecrations. The Armenian Church remembers the discovery of the relics of St. Gregory on July 9th (the videos below are from this feast).

For more on the right hand of St. Gregory and his relics, read here.





Saint Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral in Yerevan is the symbol of the 1700th anniversary of the proclamation of Christianity as a State Religion in Armenia and house for relics of Saint Gregory the Illuminator (Surp Grigor). The Holy Remains of St. Gregory were brought from Naples, Italy. Shortly after the consecration of the Cathedral Pope John Paul II paid a visit to the Cathedral. The Skull of St. Gregory remains in Naples.

For more on this Cathedral, read here.

For a bibliography on the relics of St. Gregory the Illuminator, see footnote here.

Saint Gregory the Illuminator of Armenia

St. Gregory the Enlightener (Feast Day - September 30)

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

Life

Gregory was born of a prominent family which was related to the royal houses of Persia (King Arteban) and Armenia (King Khosrov). When these two houses made war against each other, Gregory withdrew to Caesarea in Cappadocia. It was there that he first learned of the Christian Faith, was baptized and married. He had two sons of this marriage, Bardanes and Aristakes, and dedicated them both 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. He faithfully served him, and Tiridates loved Gregory. But when the king learned that Gregory was a Christian, he became greatly enraged and pressured him to deny Christ and worship idols. Not succeeding in this, Tiridates subjected Gregory to many harsh tortures, then threw him into a deep pit full of poisonous reptiles to kill him. However, the All-Seeing God preserved St. Gregory's life in that pit for fourteen full years. After that, Tiridates set out to persecute all Christians in his kingdom, and attacked a convent where there were thirty-seven nuns, including the abbess, Gaiana. When he had killed all of them by terrible tortures, Tiridates went insane and was like a wild boar. His sister had a dream in which a man, dazzlingly bright, told her that Tiridates would only become well when Gregory was removed from the pit. Taken from the pit, Gregory healed and baptized Tiridates. Then, at the wish of Tiridates, Gregory became Bishop of Armenia. Through God's providence, Tiridates also helped him in enlightening all of Armenia and its surrounding regions with the Christian Faith. St. Gregory ended his earthly life of great labor in old age, in about the year 335. Meanwhile, his son Aristakes had been consecrated a bishop, and he continued the work of his father, both physically and spiritually. Aristakes was one of the 318 Holy Fathers at the First Ecumenical Council.


Reflection

Marvelous changes occur daily in the destiny of men - in the present, as in times past. Those humiliated for the sake of God's righteousness are raised to great heights, and the blasphemers of the Faith are converted to servants of the Faith. King Tiridates threw St. Gregory into a deep pit. The saint spent fourteen years in that pit, forgotten by the entire world, but not by God. Who among men could have thought that the greatest light of the Armenian people was to be found in the darkness of a pit? And who would have ever thought that the powerful and tyrannical King Tiridates would one day save the life of that same Gregory, whom he had condemned to death, and would help him more than the rest of the whole world could help him? After fourteen years, God revealed Gregory as still alive. Gregory then miraculously healed the insane king. King Tiridates, the unrestrained persecutor of Christ, was baptized and became the greatest zealot for the Christian Faith! It could be said that, with God's help, Gregory and Tiridates were both drawn out of the pit of darkness-Gregory a physical one, and Tiridates a spiritual one. Oh, the infinite wisdom of God in governing the destinies of men! The formerly wild and passionate Tiridates was softened and ennobled so much by repentance and the Christian Faith, that he came to resemble St. Gregory more than his old, unrepentant self.

See also: The Relics of Saint Gregory the Illuminator of Armenia

Hymn of Praise

Gregory was a great light

To his people and his nation.

He spurned glory and riches

For the poverty of Christ the Crucified,

Preferring eternal riches in heaven.

He raised his mind to heaven and thoughts of God,

And endured much physical torture,

As if it all were painless.

He was strong with the power of God's grace,

And nourished by God's heavenly food,

And armored against evil by God's providence.

He was lowered into the pit from his glory,

And from the pit he was elevated to the heights-

The heights of eternal glory.

Gregory, great and holy,

Enlightened Armenia with Jesus.

Even the wild boar, Tiridates,

Was baptized under the Cross and became a lamb.

With great glory, the land of Armenia glorifies

Its miracle-worker, St. Gregory.

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
As a sharer of the ways and a successor to the throne of the Apostles, O inspired of God, thou foundest discipline to be a means of ascent to divine vision. Wherefore, having rightly divided the word of truth, thou didst also contest for the Faith even unto blood, O Hieromartyr Gregory. Intercede with Christ our God that our souls be saved.

Kontakion in the Second Tone
Let us the faithful today all acclaim with divine songs and hymns the renowned hierarch Gregory as an athlete for truth's sake, as a shepherd and teacher, a universal luminary bright with splendour; for he intercedeth with Christ that we be saved.