[Page 49]
Accepting [this] with pleasure, he conveyed it to his magnates with praise. At that very time news reached him of the miracles that had been worked in Armenia for the king and the magnates, at which the blessed Nune marveled. From her he learned everything in detail and more precisely.
It happened in those days that Mihran went out to hunt. He went astray in the rugged terrain and though the air darkened, his vision was not obscured, according to the saying: He calls the mist with his voice [Jb 38:34] and again He darkens the day into night [Am 5:8]. By such darkness was Mihran enveloped, which became for him a cause of eternal light. In his fear he remembered what he had heard about Trdat: that as he wished to go out to hunt, blows from the Lord came upon him. He reckoned that something similar would also befall himself. Overcome with great fear he begged in prayer [51] that the air might become light and that he might return in peace and he promised to worship Nune's God. Having attained [his wish], he carried out his promise.
Now, blessed Nune sought out trustworthy men [and] sent them to Saint Grigor, [asking] what he might command her to do from then on, for the Georgians had willingly accepted the preaching of the Gospel.
She received instruction from him to destroy the idols, just as he had done himself, and to set up the honorable sign of the holy cross until the day a pastor was given to them as guide. She at once destroyed the image of Aramazd, god of thunder, which stood outside the city—with the powerful River [Kura] flowing in between. Everyone had been accustomed to worship this in the mornings from their roofs, for it was visible to them. But if anyone wished to offer sacrifice, he crossed the river and sacrificed in front of the temples. But when Nune destroyed the idols, the magnates of the city rose up against her and asked: "Whom then shall we worship instead of the idols?" And [52] they were instructed [to worship] the sign of Christ's cross. This they made and set up on a pretty hill to the east of the city, separated from it by a small river. And all the people worshipped it in the mornings from their roofs. But when they went out to the hill and saw a piece of hewn wood, no work of craftsmen, more than a few despised it and went away on the grounds that their forest was full of such objects.
But the benevolent God, looking down on their stumbling, sent from heaven a pillar of cloud, and the mountain was filled with a sweet odor, and there was heard the pleasant sound of a host singing psalms, and there shone out a light in the form of a cross, the same in shape and size as the wooden cross, and it stood over it with twelve stars. At this everyone believed and they worshipped it. Thereafter miracles of healing were performed by it.
But the blessed Nune then went out to proselytize the other districts of Georgia with her pure tongue, traveling around without pomp or excess, a stranger to the world and all in it—or [53] to speak more truly, crucified, making this world a practice for death, by her words a witness to the Word of God, and by her zeal crowned as if in blood. I dare to say that she became an apostle, preaching from Kgharjk to the Gates of the Alans, as far as the borders of the Massagetae, as Agathangelos informs you. But let us now return to the story of the Holy Cross.
We have learned the details until this point from the historian Agathangelos (7).
[This was the time of] Apots, the court bishop and the monk Andreas, a God-fearing man, who had baptized the margrave's three sons and only daughter and had adopted them as his foster-children. He was a monk from Ghazaru vank [Monastery of Lazarus] who had followed [54] the princess [Shushanik] from the realm of the Mamikoneans, the country of Taron. He wore sackcloth and walked barefooted, as he had received his education at the knee of Saint Sahak. But he had come there to escape the destructive turmoil in Armenia and to live in peace. For a great devastation had befallen the land of Armenia, as the Persians pillaged and plundered it and exposed it to starvation and captivity. The magnates of Armenia became exhausted and the Greeks refused to give asylum to the Armenian captives. The fortresses could not protect those in distress because God's wrath was severe. What else can I say about the many afflictions, the disasters and the anguish in the land of Armenia? But now let me pick up the thread of my story.
The blessed man Andreas tried to rescue the Holy Sign [the Cross] of Nune from the insults of the impious heathens. And the saintly princess Shushanik begged Andreas to immediately evacuate the Holy Sign of Nune and the many other relics of the saints—the ones that had come down to her from Saint Grigor—as well as [55] the vessels of the churches and the numerous crosses. He gathered all of these, and even removed the Cross of Nune from the hill. For the Magi had arrived [and] forced the [margrave's] court to set up a house of fire. But the margrave's brother Jojik helped out the princess and Andreas. He decorated the Holy Sign with dazzling white ornaments, and loading it on white mules and horses, sent it away to the west.
They came to a halt at the fortresses of Khaghtik. But Saint Andreas refused to remain amidst the multitude. He took Nune's Cross and dwelled in a cave on Mount Parkhar in the district of Sper. Here he lived for seven years, until word reached him of the death of Saint Shushanik. Thereafter he was torn with anguish as to what to do with the Holy Sign of Nune and the other relics of the saints.
Then he proceeded to inquire whether there was anyone still alive from the Mamikonean clan. He found none of the renowned magnates. Then he chanced upon a certain youth named Grigor—the son of Hmayeak, the brother of Vardan—who held in his possession the [56] fortresses of Mount Kaput, Eraskhadzor, the Lesser Basean, which is now called Vanand, and the small Karneneats fortress. When he discovered this, Andreas became very happy. Thereupon he sent one of his pupils to Grigor and made him aware of everything.
The blessed youth Grigor was extremely happy [at what he learned]. With trust in his force of three thousand horsemen [and] fearing not the Greek armies stationed in Theodosiopolis, he attacked like a lion the entrance to Tayots dzor, under the pretext of searching for the remains of his father Hmayeak; and proceeding to the fortresses of Parkhar, he encountered what he sought. The blessed old man exposed the divine treasure and bequeathed everything to Grigor, for he was at the point of death. Raising his arms he blessed Grigor and his realm and begged him to abide by the love of God and by the way of his ancestors. He himself gave glory to God and gave up his soul, for he was an elderly man, advanced in years, who had suffered much as a result of the destruction of the land of Armenia.
Thereupon Grigor sent envoys to Leo, the great emperor of the Romans, and informed him of the calamities in our land and of his own intrusion into his realm, for he had done much harm to the forces of the Greeks. The king [= the emperor] gave orders to General Theodoros to go to seek a cure from the Holy Sign of Christ. The general arrived with many gifts and humbly prostrated himself before the Holy Sign, begging with tearful moans for peace and a remedy for recovering [his sight]. Forthwith his blinded eyes were cured and he regained his sight. After he was cured, he returned to his land in peace and gave glory to the Lord of all.
A certain governor of the Forces of the South [the Arabs] named Subuk—an evil, impious and crafty man—came to the land of Armenia, [where] he took notice of the prosperous congregations of churches, the multitudinous ranks of the religious, the assemblage of monks and the celebration of the Lord's mystery. Envious of these, he roared like a wild beast; the Persian [= Arab] forces attacked like evil spirits, destroying many sanctuaries. He carried away to Babylon [= Baghdad] the vessels of the churches, along with a great multitude [of captives]. And as for the large cloister known as the Monastery of Baguan, which had much gold, valuable gems, silver vessels and priceless vestments, he completely plundered it. He also ransacked the holy cathedral in the city of Vagharshapat, which is called Shoghakat; the Saint Grigor [church]; the monastery of Eghivard; and Vahanavank. He also pillaged Shaphovank and many [other] sanctuaries, and carried [the booty] to Babylon [63] [Baghdad], bringing darkness upon the land of Armenia. He proceeded as far as where we were—which is called the Holy Cross Monastery—and sacked the vestments of the churches. The servants of the evil one laid their hands on the Holy Sign of the Lord but failed to take it away. At that time the impious Subuk, who was enraged like an evil beast, fell on the Holy Cross and struck the arm of the Holy Sign with his sword. But looking down at the wrong [done] to His Holy Cross, the beneficent God sent a very evil spirit which seized the impious Subuk. He fell to the ground; and badly struck by the demon he rolled on the ground and frothed. Forthwith the cleft on the Holy Sign blistered like flesh and healed over. Then the wrath of God rose against Subuk. He was arrested by the officers of the [caliph's] court who demanded from him the [unpaid] taxes and the duties. Seized by an impure wicked spirit, he was tormented and troubled day and night. Thereupon the officers of the court put ropes around his neck and hastily brought him to the royal court where they demanded from [64] him [an explanation for] the destruction of the country and the taxes. The impious man was finally subjected to excessive torture.
At that time the Holy Sign of the Lord sought vengeance by expelling the impious race from the south, and established in our land the Bagratid family. Peace prevailed in our country, and Ablabas Bagratuni ruled.
In the eighth year of Yazkert son of Vram, king of Persia, Vazgen the margrave of Georgia went to the royal court. He had formerly been a Christian, and was the son of a Christian father and mother. He had as a wife the daughter of Vardan, the commander-in-chief of Armenia, about whom I am writing with certainty. She was named Vardanu[h]i after her father and was renamed Shushanik out of fondness. She was a God-loving, pious and God-fearing woman.
But when the margrave arrived at the royal court and presented himself before the king of Persia, he neither acquired greater authority, nor suffered arrest; nor did any distress come [68] upon him. Yet, with a sound mind he willingly offered himself as a gift to the king by forsaking the true faith and accepting fire-worship. Furthermore, he formed an alliance with Satan and completely alienated himself from Christ's realm. And after receiving a Persian wife from the king, he [promised to] dedicate himself and the others—his original wife and his children—to worshipping fire as he had done. And the king thanked him and gave his own wife's mother to him in marriage.
And he vowed . . (8)