Mikhail Sabinin - St. Nina's Garden. Mikhail Sabinin - ascetic of the Georgian Church Ancient acts of the Georgian Church Sabinin
About the book
“The Complete Biography of the Saints of the Georgian Church” by M. P. Sabinin is one of the few books that allows the Russian-speaking reader to get acquainted with Georgian. The great advantage of Sabinin’s work is that it is based on primary sources.
Sabinin prefaces his work with the following words: “Iverskaya was repeatedly oppressed and suffered grave disasters. It was attacked both by the Greeks, with the goal of making Georgia their province to protect against attacks by the Persians, and by the selfish papacy from the west, which tried by all possible means to subordinate Saint Iveron to its throne. The purity of Orthodoxy in Iberia was defended by shepherds and teachers, adorned with Christian virtues, and before enemies of other faiths, Christians defended their rights, enduring all possible torment, suffering and, finally, death. The bloodthirsty despots of the East: Tamerlane, Genghis Khan and others, then the Mohammedan rulers, from the accursed Murvan the Deaf to Shah Abbas, and, finally, the Turks - mercilessly tormented Christ. But the good Providence of God preserved and preserves Saint Iberia from final destruction; her enemies failed to fulfill their criminal plans, which were crushed to dust before the steadfastness of her martyred heroes and heroines.
Information about the works and exploits of these holy people, who laid the foundation for Christianity in Georgia and contributed to the establishment and prosperity of the Georgian Church, we present here to the attention of our readers.”
The “Complete Biography...” consisted of the following lives:
The life and exploits of Saint Nina, Equal to the Apostles, enlightener of Georgia
The Life of St. John of Zedaznia, the Wonderworker, Chief of the Syrian Fathers
The Life of St. Shio Mgvima, the Wonderworker, Patron of the Georgian Kingdom
The Life of St. David of Gareji, the Wonderworker, Patron of the Georgian Kingdom
The suffering of the holy glorious martyr Queen Ranskaya Shushanika
The suffering and exploits of the holy glorious martyrs David and Constantine, princes of Argvet
The Life and Suffering of the Holy Glorious Martyr Abo of Tiflis
The Life and Suffering of the Holy Glorious Great Martyr Queen of Kakheti Ketevan
The Life and Suffering of the Holy Glorious Martyr, Right-Believing King of Kartalin Luarsab
The Suffering of the Holy Hieromartyr Aviv, Bishop of Nekres, one of the Thirteen Syrian Fathers
The suffering of the holy martyr Gobron-Mikhail and one hundred and thirty-three of his soldiers
The suffering of the holy glorious martyr Prince Bidzin Cholokashvili and the prince-martyrs Elizbar and Shalva, the Eristavis of Ksani
The Suffering of the Holy Martyr Eustathius of Mtskheta
The Life of Our Venerable Fathers John and Euthymius
The Life of Our Venerable and God-Bearing Father George the Svyatogorets
The suffering of six hundred venerable Fathers, beaten in the David-Gareji desert.
HTML code for inserting into a website or blog:
Mikhail (Gobron) Pavlovich Sabinin is one of the most famous church figures and educators of the 19th century. Born in 1845 (most likely in Tiflis). According to some sources, his father was a Tver priest who married a Georgian woman. One of Sabinin's unpublished letters allows us to establish the name of his mother - Ekaterina. Her last name is not known for certain. It is generally accepted that she was Mirzashvili; but the similar surname of her son-in-law (the husband of Sabinin’s own sister) allows us to question this position.
Around the 60s of the 19th century, Mikhail lost his father, and his mother remarried the Tiflis postal official G. Panov. It is also known that Mikhail had a brother and a sister.
In the early 60s, the boy was sent to the Tiflis classical gymnasium, where he studied until 1868. Already in his student years, Mikhail showed his extraordinary abilities and keen interest in the history of Georgia. He traveled a lot around the country, collecting church antiquities, recording ancient legends and tales, copying the paintings of ancient churches and monasteries.
The fund of the office of the exarch of the Georgian Exarchate (Central State Archives of Georgia) contains one extremely interesting document, from which it is clear that on October 20, 1867, while still a student at the gymnasium, Sabinin drew up a report addressed to the Exarch of Georgia Eusebius, where he petitioned for the improvement of the chapel of the holy martyr Abo Tbilisi near the Metekhi Church in Tbilisi, on the site of the saint’s martyrdom. Mikhail persistently demanded the creation of an appropriate atmosphere near the future chapel, namely, the abolition of grocery stores and “retirement” (latrines - V.K.) places. Sabinin also took an active part in the creation of a new icon of St. Abo. The archival file reveals a rather unfavorable reaction from Tiflis dean John (Baskharov), who was dissatisfied with both the petition itself and its support in the person of the chief priest of the military department, Stefan Gumilyovsky.
It seems rather strange that such an energetic and multi-talented student as Mikhail Sabinin could not pass the final exams at the gymnasium. Rather, the answer to this phenomenon lies not in insufficient knowledge, which is unlikely, but in the direct and unyielding character of Sabinin himself - in all likelihood, who criticized the leadership of the gymnasium.
Sabinin continued his studies at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy. However, he did not have the right to receive a diploma without documentation of completion of a gymnasium course. Bureaucratic laws did not give him the right to simultaneously take the final exams of both the gymnasium and the Academy. The issue was resolved in a favorable direction only after the direct intervention of Metropolitan Isidore (Nikolsky) of St. Petersburg, the former exarch of Georgia, who was closely acquainted with the talents of the young scientist and patronized him. Having the opportunity to pass all the exams, Sabinin submitted his work “History of the Georgian Church from Ancient Times to the 6th Century” for the degree of candidate of theological sciences and successfully defended it in 1874.
According to the assumptions of some biographers of Sabinin, in the last year of his studies he took monastic vows with the name Gobron - in honor of the great martyr of the 10th century Mikhail-Gobron, tortured by the Arabs.
While studying in St. Petersburg, Sabinin entered the circles of the Georgian St. Petersburg diaspora, becoming close friends with such famous Georgian figures as the representative of the royal family, Tsarevich John Bagrationi, lexicographer David Chubinashvili, etc. During the same period, he published his own translation into Russian of the lives of Georgian saints , published in 1871-73 in three volumes and to this day remains one of the most famous and popular works on Georgian saints in Russian.
The “St. Petersburg” period of his life also includes work on the translation of the polemical treatise of St. Arseny of Sapar (X-XI centuries) “On the break of Kartli with Armenia” (published in the magazine “Home Conversation” for 1874, No. 17), published in 1882 in the Georgian language of the major work “Paradise of the Georgian Church”, which has not yet lost its relevance, where hagiographies of fifty Georgian saints were presented. The book was brilliantly illustrated with lithographic images, the general layout and primary processing of which belong to the author.
However, some representatives of the Russian and Georgian clergy obstructed the “Paradise of the Georgian Church”. In a personal letter to his friend, historian Zakharia Chichinadze, Sabinin wrote with bitterness that “Georgians doubt his sincerity, and Russians consider him a traitor, although he did no harm to any of the nations.”
In 1883, in St. Petersburg, M. Sabinin and V. Machabeli organized a theatrical performance on historical topics for Georgian students, and the proceeds were distributed among poor students. Returning to his homeland, Sabinin considered it his duty to seriously engage in the improvement of the most revered holy places of Georgia. The donations he collected from all over Russia made it possible in 1888 to restore the Bodbe monastery, where the convent was restored, and a marble tombstone was erected over the tomb of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina. According to his order and sketch, an icon of St. Abo of Tbilisi was painted, installed in a chapel built in the rock of the same name near Metekhi. Also, through the efforts of Sabinin, the tomb of St. Shio Mgvime in the Shio-Mgvime monastery near Mtskheta was rebuilt, and the iconostasis of the Zedazeni monastery was updated. It is interesting to note that the bell for this monastery was sent at the request of Sabinin by St. John of Kronstadt.
But Michael showed special care for the David-Gareji Lavra, for which he ordered oak iconostases, marble meals, gold-woven bedspreads and vestments, bronze chandeliers, precious items of church utensils, etc. from Moscow and St. Petersburg. Means, according to his own admission in a letter to Bishop Alexander (Okropiridze), Sabinin collected from “prosperous people all over Russia” (for example, he cites the name of one of the patrons - the Moscow merchant of the 3rd guild Baikov), to whom he asked the bishop for the opportunity to send, as a sign of gratitude and distinction, an award to the Georgian Church a holy cross Nina. However, apparently, his request was never fulfilled.
A heavily damaged marble tombstone from the tomb of St. David of Gareji has survived to this day. The stone is kept in the Armaz branch of the State Historical Museum of Georgia and contains an inscription in Georgian in capital letters: “We envy you, worthy Father David, and pay tribute to (your) holy memory! Leader of the monks, who dwells with the angels, have mercy on Sabinin in exile! (1893)" (translation - V.K.). Twice, in 1890 and 1898, on the proposal of the Exarchs of Georgia Vladimir and Flavian, who considered him an “unreliable element,” Sabinin was expelled from Georgia. However, even in exile he did not abandon his studies.
Particularly noteworthy is the service of Mikhail Sabinin to the Georgian Church - the development of the plot and, apparently, the creation of a draft of the icon “Glory of the Georgian Orthodox Church”. The icon was printed in 1889 in Leipzig, in 1895 in Berlin, and quickly spread throughout the Russian Empire. The icon was created on the basis of an icon already existing in the Patriarchal Church of Svetitskhoveli in Mtskheta, but improved and supplemented with details. In the center of the composition is the Life-Giving Pillar, supported in the air by an Angel. Directly above the Pillar is the figure of Christ blessing, on the right side of Whom stand the Mother of God and St. Vmch. George the Victorious, and on the left - St. App. Andrew the First-Called and Matthias. On both sides of the Pillar are Georgian saints; under it, in the roots of a felled tree, lies Saint Sidonia with the Robe of the Lord. The famous modern spiritual writer Archimandrite Raphael (Karelin), who serves in the Russian Alexander Nevsky Church in Tbilisi, compares the meaning of this icon with such key events in the history of the Georgian Church and Georgia, such as the founding of the Patriarchal Cathedral of Svetitskhoveli in Mtskheta and the creation of a handwritten set of Georgian chronicles “Kartlis Tskhovreba” "(Life of Kartli).
In the 80s of the 19th century, Sabinin was elected trustee of the Georgian monastery of Iviron on Athos. In 1897, as newspapers of the time reported, Sabinin intended to publish “The History of the Georgian Church” in French, but it is not known whether this intention was realized.
But the life of this tireless worker for the benefit of the Georgian Church was overshadowed by endless persecution and slander. He was accused of money-grubbing, appropriation of Georgian church manuscripts and valuables, and so on. He was denounced both by individual church leaders (for example, Archpriest David Gambashidze, publisher of the church magazine “Pastor”), and by official representatives of the Exarchate. However, throughout his life, Sabinin enjoyed the endless trust and support of Bishop Kirion (Sadzaglishvili), the future Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia (canonized in 2002), and Archpriest (later bishop) Peter (Konchoshvili) - the most authoritative and honest Georgian church leaders.
In 1898, Sabinin was expelled from Georgia without the right of return. He was charged with "unreliability and disobedience to spiritual and civil authorities." He spent the last years of his life in St. Petersburg and Moscow. Deeply tormented and insulted, he expressed his tribulations in marginal inscriptions in Georgian manuscripts. In one such note in the margins of the Psalter of 1828 (now kept in the Manuscript Department of the Russian State Library), Sabinin complains that he is very ill, completely alone and exhausted by the machinations of his opponents.
Sabinin died in Moscow on May 10, 1900 from pneumonia and was buried in the St. Daniel Monastery. The last wish - to be buried in the land of the David Gareji Lavra - was never fulfilled. Nowadays the place of his grave is lost.
Preface
Iveria (Georgia or Sakartvelo), interesting for its geographical location, is no less interesting for its history. Closed in a circle, she lived completely separately among the peoples of the pre-Christian period. The Georgian people, historically sedentary, rarely encountered the peoples around them; if he clashed with neighbors, it was because of the latter who encroached on his independence.
The Gospel sermon, which announced and revived the entire pre-Christian world and gave it a new life, a new history and called all the peoples of the world to one common Christian life, opened a free and direct path to Georgia for historical peoples who became seriously acquainted with it and with its modern history, which has changed dramatically from the day she accepted Christianity. This fact, which has an educational effect on all Georgia in all respects of this word, is not without interest in the history of Christian peoples, therefore we will try to present here consistently the entire church history as all the documents of this country show us. Looking at it, first of all we see entire periods or centuries, which can be distinguished from each other without much difficulty. Thus, the history of Christian Georgia initially presents us with centuries of preparation of the Georgian people for the adoption of Christianity, then centuries of acceptance of Christianity and the struggle of the Georgian Church against paganism, heresies and Mohammedanism, then - centuries of prosperity and the final establishment of Christianity throughout the Caucasian Isthmus, and finally - centuries of perfection. the fall of its church life - under the rule of the Mohammedan kings, which also embraces our time. 1. Each of these centuries or periods, except the last ones, taken together with ours, is closely and inextricably linked with each other and has as its representatives a number of outstanding persons - acting completely independently and independently of the influence of any accidents, guided solely by the grace of the Holy Spirit, who placed the Iveron Church on that indestructible rock of Orthodoxy, which the enemies of the Cross of Christ, who rushed at it with harmful teachings, fire, sword and , finally, with all sorts of intrigues acting to the detriment of her confession and independence.
Getting to the history of the spread, prosperity and fall of Christianity in Georgia and its regions, we will begin the presentation as shown to us by true and undoubted documents and acts belonging only to this Church, and to confirm everything, we will refer in part to the works or acts of others Churches that had clashes with her due to some random circumstances.
1. This work was written in 1877. - Approx. ed.
Chapter I Preparation of Georgians for the adoption of Christianity. Event preceding this period
The first heralds of the God-man in Georgia, as the chronicle and undoubted documents of the Georgian Church 2 tell us, were Jews who were present at the terrible suffering of the Calvary Sacrifice. According to an ancient legend, sacredly passed down from generation to generation and still piously revered by everyone without exception, the first seeds of Christianity were sown in Georgia by Jews, descendants of the high priest Elijah (1137 BC).
Despite the fact that the Georgian Jews were separated from the center of the Jewish people by such a huge space, the promise of their fathers was much purer and more holy among this community, resettled by Nebuchadnezzar, after his capture of Jerusalem, to the western region of ancient Georgia, in 594 BC. 4 served as a place of exile for Syrian Chaldean criminals. This closed Jewish community, not belonging to any of the Jewish sects, firmly and sacredly held to the promise of their ancestors and looked forward to the coming of the Messiah from day to day. This expectation for the last time, as the ancient chronicle puts it, was so strong, and the time of the coming of the Messiah seemed so close to her that in the messages she received at that time from Jerusalem, she looked for the indispensable news about the promised Person. This hope was all the more powerful because the time of the coming of the Messiah, predicted by the prophet Daniel, was approaching. Despite the fact that this community was cut off from the center of Jewry, it had teachers from the family of the high priest Elijah, who successively took over one place after another and invariably kept the ancient vow of heaven.
This community, with its concepts and its composition, seemed to be one integral and grouped society, living by the ancient scripture, which was captured during the Babylonian captivity, and having teachers of the law and its own hierarchy and even a court. 5
Jerusalem with its temple, being a cherished shrine for all Jews, both Palestinian and those living in dispersion, united all Jews with the center of Judaism. Therefore, the Georgian Jews, despite the enormous distance separating them from the shrine, although not annually, but occasionally, under some particularly important circumstances, sent their elected members to the Jerusalem Temple with rich offerings and thereby formally maintained communication with the center of Judaism .
From the life of St. Nina, this precious monument of the 4th century, it is clearly seen that the high priests of the Jewish people had close communication with representatives of Georgian Jews and corresponded with them on various important occasions or events that arose in Judea. This was the new news about the birth of the Child, the King of the Jews, brought to Judea by the Persian wise men or wise men and alarming all of Jerusalem and its environs. According to the chronicle and the legend itself, its echo was immediately heard in distant Georgia 6. High Priest Anna, the 65th high priest of the Jews, who took the reins of government in 9 BC, sends an alarming message to the main teacher of the Georgian Jews Elioz and notifies him of his arrival in Jerusalem Eastern Magi. This news quickly spread to all Jews living in different regions of ancient Georgia. They, struck by such unexpected news, and assuming a new captivity of their homeland by the Persians, hastily gather their strength, both physical and material, preparing to come to the aid of their fatherland. But after some time another message arrives from the same high priest, which clearly and in detail described the behavior of the Persians, 7 which calmed them forever.
Miracles, the life and teaching of the Savior again shook Jerusalem, and He was finally sentenced to death for the entire human race. Again the same high priest Anna sends a message to Elioz with an invitation to certainly participate in the trial of the Messiah. 8 Elioz, fulfilling the will of the high priest, immediately began to gather at his call. Mother Elioz 9 Sarah, who came from the family of the high priest Elijah, was a very pious woman, strictly adhered to the teachings of her pious ancestors and knew the Holy Scriptures very well. Anticipating the coming of the Messiah, she, by the spirit of God, warned her son not to take part in the blood of the Righteous One. “For He,” she said, “is the hope of the tongues and the Light of Israel.” Her voice and instruction were, as it were, the common voice of the entire Jewish community, which saw, through the message of Anna, the fulfillment of the law and the prophets over the face of the God-man. Elioz with a large retinue goes to Jerusalem to summon the enemies of Christ and takes with him, among the Jews and some Georgian-Uzhiks, 10 ancestors of the current Ossetians, under the protection of Alongin of Karsni, famous at that time among the Georgian Jews. According to the tradition of the Georgian Church, the “History” of Tsarevich Teimuraz, Kartlis Tskhovreb, the ancient Synaxarion of the Mtskheta Cathedral and many other wonderful manuscripts, sister Eliosa, the pious maiden Sidonia, saying goodbye to her brother in Mtskheta, asked him to get and bring her something that belonged to that Person, who was being tried. Loving his sister, Elioz gave her his word to fulfill her request. And so the Georgian Jews, according to the foreknowledge of Providence, received the invaluable treasure of heaven - the holy tunic and, of necessity, remained in Jerusalem until Pentecost, living in this city without leaving for quite a long time, were obvious witnesses to all the miracles and signs of the Redeemer: His glorious resurrection from the dead, ascension and the most holy descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles and the miracles of St. apostles Georgian Jews, not being enemies of Christ, along with many other peoples, were privileged to hear the oral sermon of St. apostles and in the Georgian language, which further kindled in them faith and love for Christ, seeing in this latter, according to Holy Scripture 11, the most obvious and final sign of the coming of the Lord Jesus to earth.
The mentioned Jews, after performing the last miracle - the saving coming to earth of the Son of God, very soon left Jerusalem as a deicide city and immediately rushed home, carrying with them an invaluable gift - a tunic and the good news of the resurrection of the Son of God from the dead. Elioz with the same retinue, returning to Mtskheta, was met by his sister Sidonia, a girl who believed in the coming of Christ thanks to her mother. She joyfully threw herself into his arms and, in tears, announced to him the death of her mother on the Friday before Easter at six o'clock in the afternoon. Sarah, being completely healthy, around the mentioned day and hour, felt a strong blow in her heart and, amazed, fell dead with the words: “Farewell, kingdom of Israel, which put to death its Savior and Deliverer, which you will henceforth be guilty of the blood of your Creator and Lord; woe to me, who was not worthy of death earlier than this time, which could save me from this terrible blow, and would have been worthy to see the Light in the revelation of tongues and the Peace of Israel.”
Likewise, many people, both from the common people and from noble people, visited her. Everyone asked her to be an intercessor for them before the Lord Jesus Christ, everyone begged the martyr to allow the chains to be removed from her feet and asked her to take them as a blessing, as a keepsake. The saint answered them that she did not consider herself worthy of such an honor, but finally she agreed, and one of the priests fulfilled the wishes of those asking. St. Shushanika told her visitors: “May God enrich with all the blessings those who sympathize with me in my sorrows and sufferings. I go to eternity and hope that the Lord will give me joy for sorrow, for reproach and humiliation - glory and honor in heaven.”
Thus the people said goodbye to the queen. Meanwhile, the desired one for St. arrived in time. Shushaniki hour. She invited Bishop Photius to her place, received the Holy Mysteries, and thanked him. as a father and patron, she asked him to pray for her, a sinner, and commanded her bones to be buried in the church. Then she said: “Glory to Thee, O Lord our God, that He has granted me rest in Thee,” and she fell asleep in peace forever, commending my holy soul in the hand of God. Bishop John immediately washed her holy relics, wrapped them in a shroud, and then, with the help of other Christians, with singing and burning candles, and smoking incense, transferred them from prison to the church designated by the martyr. There the saint's body was honorably buried. The people who accompanied the holy relics of the martyr, Prg. The night is spent in vigil, chanting and praising the Trinitarian God, Who gives strength and strength to those who sincerely glorify His inscrutable greatness.
Death of St. The martyr of the blessed queen Shushanika followed on October 17. The king of Iveron, the pious Vakhtang Gurg-Aslan, moved with an army against the murderer of the Christ-loving Shushanika and, having fought with him, took him prisoner and hanged him. Thus, King Vasken, who hated Christ, died an evil death. The body of the martyr was transported by the king of Iveron with great triumph to Tsortag and interred in a temple specially built for her saint. relics. In 586, one hundred and twenty years after the death of the saint, the Armenians separated from the Orthodox Church, and the Tsortag temple passed into the hands of the Armenian bishop. At this time, Catholicos Simeon, or Kirion, out of fear that the Armenians would take possession of the treasure of the Iveron Church, transferred the relics of the martyr to the city of Tiflis and placed them in the chapel of the Metekhi Church, on the south side of the altar. Celebration of the memory of St. Shushaniki for an unknown reason was postponed from October 17 to August 28 (*3). Probably on this day her St. power. Glory to God the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit forever and ever.
See also another book by Jacob Tsultaveli - “The Martyrdom of the Holy Queen Shushanik”
PRAYER TO THE HOLY MARTYR QUEEN SHUSHANIKA
Oh, indestructible wall of the Iveron Church, invincible martyr of Christ, Shushaniko! Preserve us, your relics flowing to the holy race, asking us for deliverance from all ailments, mental and physical. We fall to you, O glorious royal passion-bearer, look upon us like a kind mother, be our strong protector on the day of trial, when we appear before the Judge of the living and the dead. And accept from our mortal lips, like a fragrant censer, this little praise: Rejoice, chosen royal maiden by Christ, rejoice, for you were protected from the enemy’s snares and deceit from above. Rejoice, wall of faith, strong and indestructible; Rejoice, you who have received the crown of martyrdom from the Lord Christ. Rejoice, cohabitant of the Angels; Rejoice, speedy child intercessor at the throne of God for the Church of Iveron. Rejoice, heavenly pearl, decorating the city of Tiflis; Rejoice, pleasant blossom of the heirloom city of Christ, fragrant with the grace of your children by the Holy Spirit; Rejoice, bright decoration of the courtyard of Christ; Rejoice, desperate consolation for my soul. Rejoice, Shushaniko, quick helper and great intercessor!
The Suffering and Labors of the Holy Glorious Martyrs David and Constantine, Princes of Argvet
After the death of the great king of Iveron Vakhtang Gorgaslan, in 610 after the Nativity of Christ, during the reign of the pious Greek king Heraclius, the Persian Shah Khozroi went to war against the Greek Empire. He conquered Syria and Palestine and captured the city of Jerusalem, in the main temple of which was the Tree of the Honest, Glorious and Life-Giving Cross. Along with other treasures of the ruined temple, the conqueror took the Divine Cross of Christ. The holy city was then completely devastated, most of its inhabitants died from the sword of the enemy. Priests, deacons and monks were tortured, the rest were subjected to humiliating captivity, including His Holiness Patriarch Zacharias. Upon returning to Persia, the Shah ordered the Life-Giving Tree to be placed in the royal treasury. Countless miracles and signs were performed from the Cross of Christ, and the Persians said about it that they had captured God, whom Christians revere. It was hard for the pious Greek emperor Heraclius to lose the Life-Giving Tree. Therefore, having gathered a huge army, he went to war against the Persians in 622, first entering Albania in 623, where he spent the winter with his army. Then, having concluded an alliance with Khan Kipchak, he asked him for help. The Khan gave him a huge army, with which the emperor fought against the Persians in 624 (*2). He took Khosroes captive and killed him, subjugated the entire Persian land to his power and returned the Life-Giving Tree back to Jerusalem in 629. Part of the Cross was taken to Constantinople. The patriarch himself was returned from captivity and elevated again to the patriarchal throne of Jerusalem. When the emperor was returning from Persia, Mohammed came out to meet him and presented him with many gifts, because at that time he was rich and already ruled the Arabians. He asked Heraclius for permission to roam within the boundaries of his kingdom, adjacent to the possessions of Mohammed, he was allowed to roam in Arabia, near Mount Sinai. The emperor returned to Constantinople, and there was complete silence in the kingdom; the enemies of the empire were pacified. After some time, when Heraclius was killed, heretics began to ascend to the imperial and patriarchal thrones, being unworthy of them. The iconoclasts tormented the Church of Christ, as Saint Maximus the Confessor says about this. Internal strife, which weakened the empire, contributed to the strengthening of Mohammed, who had already taken possession of all of Arabia and conquered Egypt and Palestine. Almost at the same time, Saint John the Merciful returned to his homeland, Cyprus, and reposed there. After the death of Mohammed, in 623, control of his possessions passed to his nephew, the lawless Murvan the Deaf (*3). Gathering a huge army, Murvan went as a warrior against Christians, became the scourge of God, and ravaged the regions of both the Greek and Armenian kingdoms. He reached the Black Sea, plundering and conquering all the states located on his way. Like a dark cloud, his army covered the Northern countries, that is, the Caucasian lands. Arriving in Samtskhe, he stopped in the Odzarhi country, where in ancient times there was a wonderful city, the name of which remained unknown. But not content with the conquest of Samtskhe, Murvan passed through the Sachkheidzo region, conquered it and attacked the Argvet region. Here at that time the affairs of the country were managed by two brothers David and Constantine, who will now be discussed. Saints David and Constantine, Georgians of the princely family, were the hereditary rulers of the Argvet country, the Enlightened Saints. By baptism, they strictly adhered to the Orthodox teachings of the Apostolic Church all their lives and, according to the custom of that pious time, from their youth they were diligent in studying the Holy Scriptures. The brothers, virgin in soul and body, were skilled and fearless military leaders on the battlefield. David was older than Constantine, courageous and handsome, he had brown hair and a rather thick beard. Konstantin also had a beautiful face and brown hair, but he did not yet have a beard, because he was young. Both brothers were filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit. Hearing that the lawless Murvan from Samtskhe had come to their possessions, the saints gathered their entire army and urged him to fearlessly meet the enemies of Christianity. They themselves spent entire nights in prayer, placing their trust in God’s help. Singing the psalms of David and prayerfully calling on the Lord Jesus, the Christians bravely met the advanced army of Murwan rushing at them with wild fury and defeated it. The ashamed Mohammedans returned to their master and reported to him that they had been defeated by the worshipers of the Life-Giving Tree. Murvan became very angry. From this hitherto unheard of news for him, he hit himself on the cheek, exclaiming: “What kind of people are these who dared to resist the will of the great Mohammed, my uncle, and dared to fight with me?!” Following this, with a furious cry, he gave orders to his soldiers to immediately again attack the country from which they had been expelled, and to conquer it at all costs. Fulfilling the order of the caliph, the army broke into the country of Argvet. Residents, who did not expect such a quick attack from the enemy, were forced to flee, but many did not have time to escape and were captured. Among the captives were Murvanu and the holy princes. Seeing the royal captives, the lawless man praised his uncle, the godless Mohammed, and, sitting on his throne, turned to them with a grin. and said: “Who are you, lovers of stone and wood? How dare you stand against me?! Didn't you know that I am the nephew of the great prophet Mohammed, whose law is followed by all of Arabia and Persia? With my own strength I have subjugated all the countries from the Western Sea to the East!” The holy martyrs meekly responded to this: “Your laughter at us and your pride seem vain and vain to us. Your life is temporary and your glory is fleeting, they will be scattered by the wind. Victories were not given to you because you were worthy of it, but because God wanted to punish us for our sins. For we have transgressed His commandments, and He has decreed that you should rule over us and we should be punished by your lawless and wicked hand. Your uncle, whom you boast of (your hopes for him are in vain!), as we know, was a liar and a deceiver, the destroyer of your entire tribe.” When the caliph heard this answer, he became extremely furious and ordered to hit the brothers in the face and mercilessly beat them with sticks. The soldiers, fulfilling the tyrant's orders, flogged the saints with sticks without any mercy. David and Constantine, enduring torment, called on the Lord for help and thanked Him for giving them the strength to endure terrible suffering. During the torture, the tyrant reproached them, saying: “Crazy ones! First you defeated my advanced army, and now you dare to blame the glorious and great Mohammed without shame; my uncle, before whom all Arabia and Persia bows!” After this, the idea came to him to convert them to Islam, and he began to persuade them to this with flattery: “I heard from my military leaders,” he told David, “that you are a reasonable ruler of this country and a skilled commander. Now listen to my advice: abandon your vain and senseless philosophizing and follow the law of Mohammed, my uncle. For this I will make you the head of Persia. “And to you, Konstantin,” he said, turning to his younger brother, “I will do you great honor; you will always be with me while I sit on the throne.” You will live in my palace, rejoice and enjoy numerous benefits along with my nobles.” When Murvan finished speaking, si. David, making the sign of the cross, answered: “This will not happen forever, evil tyrant, so that we leave the light of truth and follow your hellish and flattering advice! God called us to His light, He sent His co-essential Son to earth for our salvation. The Son, having taken on flesh and at the same time remaining unchanged in Divinity, fulfilled everything. what was predicted about Him from time immemorial, that is, He died on the Cross, was buried and on the third day rose again, ascended to sleep to His Father and will come again with great glory to judge the living and the dead. He sent His disciples throughout the universe to preach Divine teaching in order to save people from working for the enemy. Two of His closest disciples were sent to us, the great Andrew and the glorious Simon the Canaanite. They preached the coming of Christ in our fatherland, and everyone, having heeded their gospel, stopped worshiping idols and became faithful to Christ God. We, the enlightened St. By Baptism, we will always follow the law of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and not some newly invented law. We are ready to accept everything for His name: beatings, all kinds of torment, fire, water, sword, and, finally, death itself! This is our true Christian faith, which we profess and which we will not renounce forever.” To this the tyrant said to them: “Let the Persians and Arabians standing here hear how I gave you advice and taught you good, and you,” he said, turning to St. David, you dare answer me so rudely! For this you are worthy of execution, because your words are filled with madness and disobedience. In our Koran it is written that Iso, Who is Christ, was a prophet and the righteous son of a certain Mary, but called Himself the Son of God, which is why the Jews killed Him by crucifying Him on the Tree. You dare to utter blasphemous words against the great Mohammed, who is higher than Iso (Jesus), and blame him for your madness. With it he converted Persia and Arabia from the worship of fire and led them to monotheism.” To this St. David answered: “In your Koran, which you adhere to, it is said that when you turn aside, then you will be taught the Gospel of Christ, the book of Jesus, which He gave to His apostles. But Ali, a zealous disciple of Mohammed, wrote you something completely different, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. Although Mohammed turned you away from serving the fire, he did not lead you to true knowledge of God, and therefore could not give you salvation. He is like a ship that, although it did not sink in the middle of the sea, near the shore sank into the waves of the sea. What good is a ship that couldn't reach the shore? What happened to him happened to you too. You do not know and do not want to know the True Son of God, about whom the prophets foretold even before His coming, about whom the patriarchs received promises. You didn’t even know him. Mohammed has led both himself and all of you into a terrible, disastrous error.” The tyrant asked him: “Who taught you, unworthy of life, our books?” St. David answered him: “Your books are completely useless for us, but I said this. wanting to expose you!” Then Murvan turned to St. Constantine and told him: “What can you say about yourself, young man? Will you obey my order or not? St. Constantine put the tyrant to shame with his words; “It will never happen that I will fulfill your lawless command,” he said, “but as my elder brother David testified to you about everything, so I confess. For we have been taught one law and one faith - faith in the True God, Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and for her I am ready to die.” Then the angry Murvan, calling his evil executioners (“stick insects”), entrusted them with St. martyrs. He ordered for ten days not to give them anything to eat or drink and to torture them all this time without any mercy, so that, weakened by many sufferings, they would decide to accept the law of Mohammed. The executioners, fulfilling the command of the ruler, took the brothers to prison. There the saints, armed with prayer and patience, valiantly endured hunger, thirst and all kinds of torment. The hand of the Almighty strengthened those who suffered for His name. When the appointed time had passed, Murvan the Deaf summoned his lawyers, magicians and Persian sorcerers and sent them to the saints in order to convert David and Constantine to the Mohammedan faith with flattery and deceit. When the messengers came to the prison, they found St. the princes were exhausted from hunger and torment they suffered during their imprisonment. The messengers, pretending to have compassion for the prisoners, began to scold the torturers, saying: “Inhuman people! How dare you inflict such wounds on these innocent sufferers? Don't you know that these men are glorious, famous and brave military leaders? Don’t you know that the great Emperor Murvan wants to have mercy and reward them?” Then, turning to the saints, they slyly told them: “The owner of all Persia and Arabia, Murwan, sent us to you, and we think that you. According to your prudence, after such torment you will choose the better instead of the worse. And therefore now say the proper words and do not irritate the sovereign, do not ruin your blooming youth for the sake of one man condemned to severe torment and killed. Listen to our good advice, submit to the law of the great prophet Mohammed, and you will always enjoy happiness with us. We pity your youth and respect your valor. and therefore we advise you to fulfill the desire of the sovereign, who has given you enough time to think. Accept the princely clothes and precious gifts with which the king rewards us in the confidence that you will agree to accept the law of Mohammed.” With such flattery they tried to turn the holy brothers away from the Christian faith. After listening to them, the invincible martyrs said: “Foolish messengers of the evil Murvan! Your crazy words will not deceive us. Tell the cunning wicked that we remain in our true confession, that neither human glory, nor illness, nor torment, nor even bitter death can separate us from the love and faith of Christ. We are ready for anything. the glory and honor you promised are hateful and vile to us, our hope is the Lord Jesus Christ, for Him we will die.” Disgraced by the saints’ refusal, the envoys conveyed their words to Murwan, adding that there was no hope of turning these people away from Christianity, that they were not afraid of torture or death and were firm in their faith. Hearing this, the lawless Murvan was filled with great rage and ordered the executioners, hanging the brothers head down, mercilessly beat them with sticks and, after such terrible torture, hang large stones around the necks of the saints, tie their hands and feet and throw them into the river. All this was done exactly. They buried David and Constantine ashore, at the place where the temple of the holy martyrs Cosmas and Damian was located. They were stripped and hung upside down and beaten mercilessly with sticks. Then they took them off, tied their hands and feet, brought in huge stones and hung them around their necks. The martyrs asked the executioners to give them some time for prayer. However, due to the weight of the tied stones, they could not even raise their eyes to heaven. neither bowed their knees and only cried out to God with a contrite heart and a tender soul, saying; “Lord Jesus Christ, the Son and Word of God! Just as You previously listened to our prayers and deigned us to suffer for Your great and holy name, so now hear the prayers of Your servants. You know that we have kept our flesh pure and chaste. Keep our bodies incorruptible even after death, so that through them Your all-holy name may be glorified, so that they can heal from all diseases and infirmities. Grant, God. to those who will call upon us in their prayers, Thy mercy and remission of sins.” Then, having made the sign of the cross, they said: “Lord Jesus Christ our God, into Your hands we commend our souls. Amen". When the brothers finished speaking, a voice came from heaven, telling them that their requests would be fulfilled. Hearing this, the tormentors were horrified and, throwing the holy martyrs into the depths of the river, fled. Thus the invincible martyrs accepted death for the faith of Christ. On the night when David and Constantine were put to death, a great and glorious miracle occurred: three light pillars appeared over the river, illuminating the surrounding area. The tied hands and feet of the martyrs were released, and the stones tied to their necks fell away. Therefore, the bodies of the saints floated to the surface of the water and shone like the morning star. By the Providence of God, two of the people taken captive along with the princes managed to escape to prison. To avoid falling into the hands of the Mohammedans again, they dressed in Arabian clothes and hid in forests and mountain gorges. They knew about the suffering of the martyrs and their death. When they saw the sign of God over the river, that is, three pillars of light shining in the middle of the dark night, they immediately understood the reason for this miraculous phenomenon and rejoiced in spirit. Approaching the river, they saw the bodies of the martyrs floating on the surface of the water, and were very surprised at this. At the same time, two other princely servants, who were also hiding in the forests, noticed the light pillars and wanted to look at them up close. Approaching the river, they saw their compatriots in Hagaran clothing who had arrived earlier, and, thinking that they were really Arabians, they got scared and started to run. The imaginary Arabians shouted to them: “We are not enemies, but your fellow tribesmen! Come closer and look at our masters David and Constantine, who suffered for Christ God, and we will tell you about everything that happened.” Hearing native speech. those who fled returned and fearlessly approached the river. The compatriots recognized each other and kissed brotherly. Dressed in Hagaryan clothes, they told about everything that had happened to the martyrs. When all four began to consult among themselves about what to do with the bodies of the holy brothers, they heard a voice coming from the light pillars. This voice commanded them to lift the bodies of the saints, carry them to the eastern side, through the forest, and, where morning overtakes them, leave the relics there. While this voice sounded, the bodies, as if carried by someone, swam to the shore and finally found themselves very close to him. Seeing this, the martyrs glorified God, reverently approached the holy relics and, taking them out of the water, kissed them with tears and fear. Then they carried them in the direction indicated from above. When the morning dawn appeared, the carriers found themselves on the top of a mountain called Tskhal-Tsiteli, on which part of the city of Kutais, destroyed and burned by the accursed Murvan, was located. In this city, near one destroyed church, there was a catacomb (or burial cave) where no one had yet been buried. The holy relics were placed in this cave. There they remained undiscovered and not revealed to anyone until the great king Bagrat IV Bagration (1027–1072) (*4). This king, having found such a priceless treasure, restored the temple and built a monastery with it. When he put everything in order, then with great honor he transferred the relics of the holy martyrs to the new church and placed them in the reliquary made for them. The relics of Saints David and Constantine, as the brothers asked the Lord, remained incorrupt and provide healing to those who resort to them with faith and love. The suffering of these saints of God followed in the year from the creation of the world 6249, from the Nativity of Christ in 741, in the last year of the reign of the Greek emperor Leo the Isaurian, under the Iberian rulers John and Dzvanshera.
This is a digital copy of a book that was preserved for generations on library shelves before it was carefully scanned by Google as part of a project to make the world’s books discoverable online. It has survived long enough for the copyright to expire and the book to enter the public domain. A public domain book is one that was never subject to copyright or whose legal copyright term has expired. Whether a book is in the public domain may vary country to country. Public domain books are our gateways to the past, representing a wealth of history, culture and knowledge that’s often difficult to discover. Marks, notations and other marginalia present in the original volume will appear in this file - a reminder of this book’s long journey from the publisher to a library and finally to you. Usage guidelines Google is proud to partner with libraries to digitize public domain materials and make them widely accessible. Public domain books belong to the public and we are merely their custodians. Nevertheless, this work is expensive, so in order to keep providing this resource, we have taken steps to prevent abuse by commercial parties, including placing technical restrictions on automated querying. We also ask that you: + Make non-commercial use of the files We designed Google Book Search for use by individuals, and we request that you use these files for personal, non-commercial purposes. + Refrain from automated querying Do not send automated queries of any sort to Google’s system: If you are conducting research on machine translation, optical character recognition or other areas where access to a large amount of text is helpful, please contact us. We encourage the use of public domain materials for these purposes and may be able to help. + Maintain attribution The Google “watermark” you see on each file is essential for informing people about this project and helping them find additional materials through Google Book Search. Please do not remove it. + Keep it legal Whatever your use, remember that you are responsible for ensuring that what you are doing is legal. Do not assume that just because we believe a book is in the public domain for users in the United States, that the work is also in the public domain for users in other countries. Whether a book is still in copyright varies from country to country, and we can’t offer guidance on whether any specific use of any specific book is allowed. Please do not assume that a book’s appearance in Google Book Search means it can be used in any manner anywhere in the world. Copyright infringement liability can be quite severe. About Google Book Search Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web at http://books.google.com/
How to cook corn porridge in water according to a step-by-step recipe with photos
The most delicious recipes for kefir biscuits
How to cook the most delicious cabbage - secrets Ukrainian cabbage with sauerkraut
Fortune telling with playing cards will allow you to find out everything that was hidden
I dreamed that a bus overturned in a dream
Seeing large ripe pear fruits in a dream: meaning
Why do you dream about Cooking?