Picha
takatifu ya Mt. Nino wa Georgia
Sainte Nino
Vénérée en
Géorgie (4ème s.)
Nina, Ninon, Christine ou Chrétienne.
Les Eglises d'Orient la fêtent aujourd'hui. L'Eglise en Occident en fait mémoire aujourd'hui également et la célèbre le 15 décembre. Nous connaissons sa vie par l'écrivain ecclésiastique Rufin qui donna quelques détails sur la conversion de l'Ibérie, région intérieure de l'actuelle Géorgie. Une jeune captive chrétienne, dont on ignore le pays d'origine, devenue esclave à la cour royale de Mzkhéta, non loin de Tbilissi, garde toute sa foi auprès du roi Mirian. Plus que sa grande beauté, c'est son inlassable charité qui la fait aimer et respecter. Ayant obtenu par ses prières la guérison d'un enfant, elle est appelée auprès de la reine Nana qui se meurt. Elle lui rend la santé. Quand le roi veut la récompenser, elle lui dit préférer sa conversion. Le roi en laisse d'abord le soin à sa femme. A quelque temps de là, il demandera à l'archevêque de Constantinople de lui envoyer un évêque pour évangéliser le royaume.
Sainte Nino se retire dans la région de Bobdé où, dès le IVe siècle, fut
construite une cathédrale.
A Mzekhéta un petit oratoire rappelle aujourd'hui encore ce baptême de la
Géorgie.
Au martyrologe romain au 14 janvier: Au pays des Ibères au delà du Pont Euxin,
au IVe siècle, sainte Ninon. Captive chrétienne, elle acquit, par la sainteté
de sa vie, un tel respect et admiration de tous qu’elle attira la reine
elle-même, dont le fils en bas âge avait retrouvé la santé grâce à ses prières,
le roi et tout le peuple, à la foi du Christ.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : https://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/260/Sainte-Nino.html
par Pascal
G. DELAGE
C’est donc cette esclave
anonyme, une captive (de guerre ?) ou une captiva Dei [« une
renonçante » pour Dieu], qui a amené la famille royale de Kartli (l’Ibérie
des Anciens, l’actuelle Géorgie orientale) à la foi chrétienne en provoquant
d’abord la conversion de la reine Nana qu’elle avait préalablement guérie d’une
maladie mortelle, par sa vie édifiante et humble. Cette première conversion fut
suivie de celle de son époux, le roi Mirian vers 331/337, selon une tradition
que Rufin [1] tient d’un prince des Ibères,
Bacarios, rencontré à Jérusalem alors qu’il était Dux Palestinae au
début des années 380. Bacarios était lui-même apparenté au couple royal décédé
une vingtaine d’années plus tôt.
Même si une tradition
fort suspecte (conservée dans le récit connu sous le nom de La conversion
du Kartli) la dit originaire de Jérusalem et nièce de l’évêque Juvénal (début Ve siècle !),
rien n’est assuré de l’identité de cette femme dont le nom de Nino peut
simplement signifier la « Nonne ». Le martyrologe romain la
nomme Christiana (« Chrétienne ») et la tradition
copto-arabe Théognoste (« Connue de Dieu »). La première
église de Kartli et le miracle la « Colonne vivante ») sont également
liés au cycle de la femme-apôtre : on commence à construire la première
église, une simple basilique avec des colonnes de bois, reposant sur des socles
en pierre. Quand on veut ériger la troisième colonne, ni hommes ni bœufs n’en
viennent à bout : elle demeure inexplicablement penchée sur sa base. Le
soir tombe. On se retire. Nino reste en prière toute la nuit et quand on
revient le lendemain matin, la colonne s’est redressée d’elle-même et demeure
suspendue en l’air à un pied du sol ; soudain, elle descend et se met
toute seule en place.
Alors même que F.
Thélamon [2]
reconnaît en partie au récit de Rufin la valeur d’une transposition - dans des
catégories romaines et chrétiennes – d’un mythe géorgien de fondation
religieuse [3],
l’historicité de l’apostolat de Nino est bien attestée. La présentation
rufinienne de la captiva Dei est la transposition d’une réalité
socio-religieuse du Caucase : Nino serait une kadag, une
femme-chamane passée au christianisme. Toutefois, le nom de Nino n’est donné
que par des sources plus récentes : Vie de Nino (VIIIe siècle)
et la Conversion de la Géorgie (K’artlis-mok’c’eva) qui dépendrait du
récit du diacre Grigol (VIIe siècle). Théodoret de Cyr [4] et l’historien Socrate [5] qui mentionnent également
l’apostolat de Nino, dépendent l’un et l’autre du récit de Rufin.
Reliée artificiellement
quoique anciennement au cycle de la martyre arménienne Hrip’simê, dont elle
aurait été une proche qui aurait échappé au massacre selon Moïse de
Khorène [6], Nino est encore parfois
présentée comme arrivant en Géorgie après un pèlerinage en Terre Sainte où elle
aurait rencontré l’impératrice Hélène. Arrivée en Kartli, Nino resta d’abord
trois ans dans un endroit désert à l’extérieur des murailles de Mcxéta, puis la
quatrième année, elle s’adressa à Sidonia et six autres femmes de la communauté
– importante - juive qui devinrent ses premières disciples. La sixième année
vit la conversion de la reine, puis l’année suivant celle du roi qui invoqua le
Dieu de Nino alors qu’il s’était placé dans un péril extrême. Nino prit alors
l’initiative d’envoyer un Géorgien, Jean (Ioané, 335-363 env.), recevoir
l’ordination épiscopale des mains d’Alexandre de Constantinople, tout en
refusant de paraître à la Cour, fidèle en cela à la pratique des kadag traditionnelles.
Par la suite, elle
accompagna le roi Mirian dans ses campagnes de destruction des idoles et des
temples, les populations païennes se retirant alors dans les vallées les moins
accessibles du grand Caucase. On conserve curieusement deux homélies attribuées
de cette apôtre mystérieuse, homélies à la théologie archaïsante, proche de la
théologie des Pères syriaques. Certes cette attribution pose bien des questions
mais elle pourrait donner une indication intéressante sur la possible origine
de Nino et sur la pénétration de l’Evangile en direction du Caucase au milieu
du IVe siècle. Puis Nino poursuivit seule ses tournées missionnaires en
direction des vallées du Caucase, au nord et à l’est de Mcxéta, mais non sans
être accompagnée par des troupes armées pendant une huitaine d’années et d’un
prêtre grec, Jacques.
Même si ce n’est pas elle
qui effectuait effectivement le geste sacramentel, la Vita indique à plusieurs
reprises que Nino « baptise » les peuples qu’elle convertit, parfois
après avoir fait « un peu » brandir l’épée par le capitaine qui
l’accompagne. Vers 349, elle tomba malade et se dirigea vers Mcxéta. Et
lorsqu’elle arriva en K’khoetie au village appelé Bodbé, elle ne put aller plus
loin. Alors Rev, le fils du roi, Salomé, son épouse, et sa fille vinrent de la
ville d’Udzharma et restèrent près d’elle comme gardes-malade. Le roi et sa
femme Nana lui envoyèrent de Mcxéta l’archevêque Jean pour lui rendre visite et
la ramener. Elle ne voulut pas mais elle recommanda le prêtre Jacques
« pour qu’il occupe le siège après toi ». Et elle lui remit la lettre
que la reine Hélène (la mère de l’empereur Constantin) lui avait écrite depuis
son royaume et où elle la qualifiait d’apôtre et d’évangéliste, et elle donna
le Bois de la Vie [de la Croix] à la reine Nana. L’évêque Jean offrit le
sacrifice et fit communier Nino au corps et au sang du Christ, elle les reçut
comme viatique de l’âme et elle remit son âme à Dieu, quinze ans après son
arrivée au Kartli, 338 ans depuis l’Ascension du Christ, en 5838 de la
Création. Et les deux villes de Mxcéta et d’Udzharma furent en émoi ainsi que
tout le Kartli à cause de sa mort, et l’on vint ensevelir son corps revêtu de
victoire à Bodé même, village de K’khoeti [7]
La Croix de la Grappe ou
Croix de sainte Nino est une croix dont les bras sont légèrement incurvés vers
le bas et qui est le symbole de l’Église orthodoxe apostolique de Géorgie.
Cette croix selon la tradition a été apportée à la Géorgie par sainte Nino lors
de la conversion du royaume au IVe siècle. Elle est faite en sarment de
vigne et nouée par les cheveux de la sainte elle-même. Nino en fit don,
lorsqu’elle arrive de Cappadoce à Mtskheta à la Cour d’Ibérie, pour la
conversion de la reine, puis du royaume. La légende raconte qu’elle aurait été
faite par la Vierge Marie.
SOURCE : http://religion-orthodoxe.eu/article-nino-l-apotre-55229372.html
Mosaïque, Samtavro Monastery, Mtskheta
Spiritualité – Sainte
Nino – Le Caucase évangélisé par une femme
30 SEPTEMBRE 2016
Le pape François se
rendra le 1er octobre à Mtzkheta, l’ancienne capitale de l’Ibérie, actuelle
Géorgie. Il vénèrera sainte Nino, l’évangélisatrice des Ibères, dans la
cathédrale Svéti Tskhovéli : « Colonne vivante ». Pourquoi ce nom ? Françoise
Thelamon qui a consacré une partie de sa thèse sur le sujet répond pour
Cyrano.net
La source écrite la plus
ancienne de la conversion des Ibères est le récit rédigé en latin, en 402, par
Rufin d’Aquilée (Histoire ecclésiastique, I, 10) qui tient l’information du
prince ibère chrétien Bacurius, général dans l’armée romaine. Rufin l’a connu à
Jérusalem.
Les récits grecs et
arménien des Ve–VIes. reprennent Rufin. Les sources écrites géorgiennes sont
toutes postérieures. Elles dépendent de la tradition orale qu’on ne saurait
sous-estimée et peut-être d’une source écrite perdue du VIIe s. Toutes ces
sources sont concordantes sur les points fondamentaux. Les traditions
géorgiennes les étoffent.
– Un cas unique
d’évangélisation par une femme
Rufin raconte qu’une
femme « captive », anonyme, étonnait les Ibères par son mode de vie : ermite,
ascète, elle priait jour et nuit, confessant qu’elle rendait ainsi un culte au
Christ-Dieu. Il faut voir en elle non une prisonnière de guerre mais une «
captive » de son dieu. Dans les structures sociales, religieuses et mentales
des Ibères, seule une femme pouvait introduire un dieu nouveau : une femme
kadag, une chamane, captive (daçerili) de son dieu ; elle s’efface quand le
culte est organisé et desservi par des prêtres.
On amène à la « captive »
un enfant malade ; elle affirme qu’elle n’a aucun pouvoir, mais que son dieu,
le Christ, peut, lui, donner le salut. L’enfant est guéri. La reine malade se
fait porter à la cabane de la captive ; elle est guérie. Alors la captive lui «
enseigne que le Christ qui l’a sauvée est Dieu, fils du Dieu Très-Haut, et la
presse d’honorer celui qu’elle sait être l’auteur de son salut et de sa vie ».
Quand le roi, réticent, fait appel au « dieu de la captive » lors d’une
dangereuse chasse en forêt, il est sauvé des ténèbres tant matérielles que
spirituelles qui l’environnaient et trouve son chemin, un chemin de conversion.
Plein de zèle, il devient « apôtre de son peuple » et ainsi « les hommes
croient par le roi, les femmes par la reine ».
Saint Nino miracle, Ani Tigran Honents church
Also
known as
Apostle of Georgia
Chrétienne
Christiana
Enlightener
Nano
Nina
Ninny
Nino
Nune
Nuneh
Nunia
27 January on
some calendars
Profile
Slave.
Not originally from Georgia,
she may have been brought there by her master when he emigrated,
she may have been the spoils of war, or she may have fled her own war-racked
homeland and become enslaved after
her move to more peaceful Georgia.
She cured a dying child by
placing her hair shirt on him, and praying over
him. News of this miracle reached
the Queen of Georgia,
who was suffering an unspecified but untreatable malady.
She sent for Nino who replied, “I am a slave.
My place is not in a palace.” The Queen went
to Nino, who cured her
by prayer.
The royal family offered
her any reward; she asked that they convert.
The recently healed queen was
willing, but King Mirian
was not. However, soon after, while on a hunt,
he found himself surrounded by wild animals.
He made one of those well-known deals with God, offering
to convert if
he survived. The animals left,
and in 325 the king asked Constantine for priests and bishops to
spread the faith throughout Georgia.
This good work begun,
Nino retired to live as a prayerful recluse on
a mountainside at Bodbe Monastery, Kakheti, Georgia.
Born
various sources place
this as Cappadocia (most
sources), Rome, Jerusalem,
or Gaul (modern France)
c.320 at
Bodbe Monastery, Kakheti, Georgia of
natural causes
buried in
the Cathedral of
Mtskheta, Georgia
Congregation
of the Sisters of Saint Christiana
–
Additional
Information
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Francis
Xavier Weninger
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
other
sites in english
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
Patron Saints and Their Feast Days, by the Australian Catholic
Truth Society
images
video
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
sites
en français
fonti
in italiano
websites
in nederlandse
nettsteder
i norsk
MLA
Citation
“Saint Nino of
Georgia“. CatholicSaints.Info. 30 September 2022. Web. 18 November 2024.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-nino-of-georgia/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-nino-of-georgia/
.jpg)
St. Nina
Feastday: January 15
Patron: of Georgia
Birth: 300
Death: 332
St. Nina (fl. III/IV
Century) was born in Cappadocia. Tradition says she was a relative of St. George who
travelled to Iberia (Georgia) to convert the people to Christianity. Scholars
believe she was a slave to whom the name Nino (the Georgian form of
Nina) was given; she has also been identified as Christiana. The quiet piety of
her life and
her preaching converted many people, and when she cured Queen Nana of a
seemingly incurable disease, Nina converted the queen. When King Mirian also
became a Christian, he sent to Constantinople for bishops and
priests. Nina continued to preach throughout Georgia until
her death at Bodke. A church dedicated to the memory of St. George was
built on the site of her grave.
SOURCE : https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=1026
.jpg)
Miracle
de sainte Nino, Mstkheta, Georgia
Weninger’s
Lives of the Saints – Saint Christiana, Servant
Article
The Roman Martyrology
writes of Saint Christiana as follows: “In Armenia, on the other side of the
Black Sea, the feast of the holy servant, Christiana, who, at the time of
Constantine, converted the people of that country to the Christian faith, by
the power of the miracles God wrought through her.” These few words contain
much that is great and wonderful. Jesus Christ, who, while on earth, chose
twelve Apostles to convert many cities, lands and kingdoms, chose, at the time
of Constantine the Great, an humble servant-girl, to convert an entire kingdom
to the true faith. This happened thus. The infidels, who dwelt in the interior
of Armenia, had made an inroad into the neighboring Christian states, and had
taken Christiana, otherwise called Nina, prisoner. They sold her in Armenia as
a slave, and to make her misfortune still greater, her masters at first treated
her most cruelly, gave her labor that was beyond her strength, and scarcely
allowed her a moment of rest. Notwithstanding these hard- ships, Christiana
submitted to the decrees of Providence, and in her misery and captivity, she
obeyed her savage masters, for the love of God, without complaint or murmur,
and bore all her sufferings patiently. In the very midst of paganism, she
remained constant in her faith and led the life of a true Christian. Although
ceaselessly at work, she never omitted her prayers, but performed them most
devoutly, not only mornings and nights, but also during the day, whenever it
was possible to do so. The days appointed by the Catholic Church for fasting
and abstinence she observed most carefully, adding to them many fasts of her
own free will. Although she had constantly to be in the midst of people full of
vice, her conduct was angelical in modesty and purity. The heathens soon
perceived that her life was different from theirs, and asked why it was so. Her
reply was: “I am a Christian, and as such, am bound to serve Christ, the true
God, in all I do.” Making use of this opportunity, she spoke to them of the
Saviour, of whom the barbarians had never heard.
The son of king Mirian,
who reigned over the entire land, became sick some time after; and, according
to the custom of the country, the child was taken from house to house, and
everyone was asked for a remedy to cure him. They came to the house where
Christiana served, and asked her if she knew any remedy that would restore the
prince to health. Her answer was that she did not know anything that would be
beneficial to him. Inspired, however, by the Almighty, she took the sick child
in her arms, and having laid him upon a penitential cloth of woven camel’s
hair, she prayed, with all the trust of a believing heart, to our Lord and
Redeemer for him. And behold, the prince immediately recovered, and was carried
back to his father’s palace with great rejoicing. The fame of this miracle
spread over the entire kingdom, and caused the Christian faith to be greatly
esteemed. Not long after this, the queen herself became very sick, and suffered
great pains. Immediately sending one of her servants to Christiana, she requested
the Saint to come and see her. The humble maid politely excused herself from
obeying the queen’s command. The latter, therefore, was carried to the hut of
Christiana, where she besought the holy, servant to restore her to health.
Christiana replied, that she had not power to do this, but would pray for her
to the true God. She did so with great faith, and the queen’s pain immediately
ceased and her health was restored. The queen gave thanks to the handmaid of
the Lord, and promised her a rich reward; but Christiana, improving the
opportunity, explained to her who Christ was, whose aid she had requested for
her and her son. When the queen had returned to the court in perfect health,
and had told the king how and by whom she had been cured, the latter sent a
large sum of money and other gifts to Christiana. She, however, returned all to
him, saying that she was, in Christ and through Christ, rich enough, and that
she expected still greater riches in heaven, adding that her greatest happiness
upon earth would be to see the king and queen converted to the God who had
restored both the queen and the young prince to health. The king seemed not
unwilling to become a Christian, and the queen spared no pains to persuade him;
but hearing that his conversion might cause a revolt among his people, he
remained in the blindness of idolatry until the Almighty saw fit to use other
means to open his eyes. He was one day hunting with his courtiers, when
suddenly a dense fog descended from the mountains, while, at the same time, the
sky was so covered with heavy, dark clouds, that day seemed to have been turned
into night. All were greatly frightened and fled away in all directions,
leaving the king entirely alone. He sought a way to escape, but found none, and
the fear of being attacked by wild beasts increased his terror. In this anxiety
he called loudly on his gods for aid, naming one after another; but all his
prayers were in vain. Seeing that his gods had forsaken him, he turned to the
God whom the pious Christiana had addressed, and promised to recognize and
confess Him, without farther hesitation, as the only true God, if -He would
save him from this danger. Hardly had the king made this promise, when the mist
and darkness fled as suddenly as they had appeared, leaving the sky brighter
and clearer than it had been before. The king returned to his palace, related
the event to his spouse, sent for the Christian servant, announced to her his
resolution and the promise he had made, and requested to be instructed in the
Christian faith. Christiana was inexpressibly happy, and began forthwith to
explain to him the mysteries of her faith, in which she was well instructed,
desiring, at the same time, that the king should build a church in honor of the
true God.
The king, who was greatly
delighted with the Christian faith, called first the nobility and then the
people together, and related to them what had happened to the prince, the queen
and himself, and said that, in consequence, he had determined to embrace
Christianity. All manifested great satisfaction at the king’s resolution, and
promised to follow his example. Hence, the building of a church was immediately
commenced and continued with great zeal. A new miracle which took place
strengthened all in their good resolutions. Already two high columns had been
raised to support the roof of the sacred edifice, but with the third they
encountered great difficulty, and notwithstanding all the pains they took, they
could not succeed in raising it. Meanwhile night came on, the laborers went
home, and only Christiana remained upon the spot, praying to God that He would
assist with His grace this work which was undertaken to honor His holy Name.
God heard the prayer of His handmaid. When day broke, the people saw with
amazement that the third column had been raised without having been touched by
a human hand. The rest of the work was accomplished without difficulty, which
caused great rejoicing, and increased the eagerness of the people to receive
holy baptism. Christiana had already advised the king to send a deputation to
Constantine the Great, to make an alliance with him, and request him to send
some teachers of the Christian faith to his dominions. The king followed this
advice, and Constantine sent several apostolic men, who instructed the king and
his people in the Christian religion, and received them into the Church of
Christ by holy baptism. In this manner the entire land was converted through
the means of one pious servant. How long Christiana lived after she had
accomplished this great deed is not known, but there is no doubt that she ended
her pious life by a holy death.
Practical Considerations
• Saint Christiana, in
all her hardships, willingly submitted to the decrees of the Almighty, and
profiting by her misery, captivity, work and suffering, neither complained nor
murmured against God or men. Oh! that all domestics would follow the example of
this holy virgin. Although neither in slavery nor captivity, yet they have to
suffer much hardship, especially if their masters are hard and merciless. Many
become impatient, discontented with their lot, and imagine that they are the
most unhappy of all men. Hence they complain, and murmur not only against men,
but also against the Almighty. They seek to rid themselves of their supposed
miseries by rash and imprudent marriages. And how many servants are guilty of
great sin before they attain this object! But are they happier by this change?
have they bettered themselves? Daily experience and repentance that comes too
late prove the contrary. I beg of you, dear reader, should God have placed you
among servants, to be content with the divine decree. Make a virtue of
necessity, and profit by your work with Christian patience. “Wast you called
being a bondman? care not for it,” says Saint Paul. (1 Corinthians 7) This
means, be not sorrowful, nor troubled, nor low-spirited; but believe that this
station was the one in which God foresaw that you could be most easily saved.
He did not place you there for your punishment, but for your good; and it is not
in the eyes of the Almighty what it is in the eyes of the world. Christ, the
Lord, Himself honored this station, and preferred it to all others; for
according to the words of the holy Apostle, He took the form of a servant, and
not of a great Lord; and He says, that He did not come to be ministered unto,
but to minister, (Matthew 20) You can, in this station, live as piously, and as
surely go to heaven as a religious in his convent, a hermit in his desert: but
you can much more easily live piously in it, and much more easily gain life
everlasting than the greatest Lords or Ladies in the world. What else can you
desire?
• Saint Christiana most
willingly obeyed her savage masters out of love to God. A voluntary obedience
must be the virtue of a Christian servant: but he must not only practise this
when his masters are kind and good, but also when they are unkind and violent.
“Servants,” exhorts Saint Paul, “be obedient to them that are your Lords
according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the simplicity of your
heart, as to Christ: not serving to the eye, as it were pleasing men, but as
the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.” (Ephesians 6)
Saint Peter says: “Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only
to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.” (1 Peter 2) In these words is
announced to servants the divine command. You must obey your masters, but you
must do this willingly. In order to obey willingly, obey for the love of God;
think that you serve the Lord; that God asks of you what your master commands,
if it is nothing wrong; and that God Himself will reward you, as Saint Paul
says in the following words: “Know that you wilt receive the reward of the
inheritance of the Lord. Serve Christ the Lord!” (Ephesians 6) Whoever
considers this rightly will willingly obey. Saint Christiana was obliged to
live among heathens, but did not allow herself to be disturbed in the exercise
of her religious duties, but practised them without fear. Should Catholic
servants be obliged by necessity to serve for a time in non-Catholic families,
they must omit nothing that the Catholic faith and the Catholic Church require
of them. In word and deed they must confess their faith and not allow
themselves to be misled either by the derision, laughter or persuasions of
those who are not of their own faith. They must not read the prayer-books or
hymns, the catechisms or bibles of their masters; nor dispute with them about
religion. To remain longer than is necessary in such a service can seldom be
done without committing sin and being in danger of losing one’s soul. Saint
Christiana lived among the most unchaste people, and yet remained innocent and
pure. If you cannot escape the society of such people, pray fervently to the
Lord, and earnestly do all in your power. God will, in that case, surely
protect you, and your conscience will remain pure from sin. Saint Christiana
worked miracles by her prayers, she received from God what she asked. And why?
Because she prayed with great trust in God, with due devotion and reverence.
This is the manner in which you have to perform your prayers, if you desire
anything of God. Pray with attention and deep reverence, with a clean heart and
great confidence. If you are in mortal sin, without repenting of it, or if you
offend the Lord daily, how can you expect that He will give you what you ask?
“How shall God hear us,” asks Origen, “if we do not hear Him? How can we hope
that He will do what we wish, if we do not His will?” In like manner speaks
Saint Salvian, saying: “We say that we honor God, and yet obey Satan, and
though we add evil to evil, we wish that God should do good to us. We desire
that God should grant our wishes, while we are not willing to do His will.”
“Dearly beloved, if our heart do not reprehend us, we have confidence towards
God. And whatever we shall ask we shall receive of him.” (1 John 3)
MLA
Citation
Father Francis Xavier
Weninger, DD, SJ. “Saint Christiana, Servant”. Lives
of the Saints, 1876. CatholicSaints.Info.
3 June 2018. Web. 18 November 2024.
<https://catholicsaints.info/weningers-lives-of-the-saints-saint-christiana-servant/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/weningers-lives-of-the-saints-saint-christiana-servant/
Icône
de Sainte Nino, cathédrale Svetitskhoveli, Mtskheta, Georgia
Saint Nino and the
Conversion of Georgia
Introduction
"Georgia is called Mother of the Saints, some of these have been inhabitants of this land, while others came among us from Time to time from foreign parts to testify to the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ."
(from - Passion of St. Abo).
Anyone who has glanced at
the old chronicles which tell the story of the Crusades will have met
references to the Georgians or Iberians, described as a Christian nation living
in the Caucasus between the Black Sea and the Caspian, close to the Saracens and
the Tartars, and near the land of Gog and Magog. About the year 1180, the Latin
Patriarch of Jerusalem, Jacques de Vitry, wrote:
"There is also in
the East another Christian people, who are very warlike and valiant in battle,
being strong in body and powerful in the countless numbers of their warriors.
They are much dreaded by the Saracens and have often by their invasions done
great damage to the Persians, Medes and Assyrians on whose borders they dwell,
being entirely surrounded by infidel nations. These men are called Georgians,
because they especially revere and worship St. George, whom they make their
patron and standard-bearer in their fight with the infidels, and they honor him
above all other saints. Whenever they come on pilgrimage to the Lord's Sepulchre,
they march into the Holy City with banners displayed, without paying tribute to
anyone, for the Saracens dare in no wise molest them. They wear their hair and
beards about a cubit long and have hats on their heads."
A similar tribute is paid
to the Georgians by the medieval Arab writer al-'Umari, who describes the army
of the Georgians as"the kernel of the religion of the Cross, "adding
that the Mameluke Sultans of Egypt used to address the Georgian king
as"the great monarch, the hero, the bold, just to his subjects, the
successor of the Greek kings, protector of the homeland of the knights,
supporter of the faith of Jesus, the anointed leader of Christian heroes, the
best of close companions, and the friend of kings and sultans."
This should surely be enough to fire our interest in this valiant people of the
Christian East, whose patron saint is our own St. George of England. The
Georgian Church traces its history through sixteen centuries to the time of
Constantine the Great. During all this time, it has been a bastion of
Christianity in the Orient. Indeed, the Church in Georgia was not only the
center of religious faith, but of national life itself. It was in the lives of
its saints that the aspirations of the Georgian nation found their earliest
literary expression.
The Georgian Church has many points of affinity with that of our own country.
It cleaves to the doctrine formulated at Nicaea and Chalcedon. The liturgy is
celebrated in the national tongue. Its spiritual and devotional ideals differ
little from our own. Even under the present Communist regime, Georgia retains
its own Catholicos-Patriarch as spiritual head, and enjoys autocephaly or
independent status within the Orthodox communion.
Our aim here is to give readers in the West an impression of the history and
ideals of the Georgian Church as revealed in the lives of its saints. The
wording of the original texts has been respected throughout, except that in
many cases a measure of condensation has been unavoidable to bring this volume
into the range of the present series.
Saint Nino and the
Conversion of Georgia
The story of St. Nino,
for all its fabulous embellishments, is built on a solid foundation of fact.
History, archaeology and national tradition are unanimous in affirming that
Iberia, as Eastern Georgia was then called, adopted Christianity as its state
religion about A.D.330, in the time of Constantine the Great.
At this period, the Roman
Empire exercised suzerainty over the neighbouring state of Armenia, where Christianity
had lately triumphed as a result of the mission of St. Gregory the Illuminator.
We Should also recall that by St. Nino's time Western Georgia, comprising the
provinces of Colchis, Abkhazia and Lazica, had already been evangelized by
missionaries active in the Greek colonies along the Black Sea coast. The
Council of Nicaea ill the year 325 was attended by bishops from Trebizond, the
principal sea-port of Lazica, an l from Bichvinta, the strategic port and
Metropolitan See situated on the borders of Colchis and Abkhazia. It thus
becomes clear that political conditions strongly favoured the Conversion of
Eastern Georgia to Christianity, the new official creed of the Romans.
The biography of St. Nino
as we have it today is made up of a number of elements of varying authenticity.
The basis of our knowledge of the saint's personality and mission is contained
in a chapter of the church history by Rufinus, Composed about the year A.D.
403. This chapter is based on oral information given to Rufinus by a Georgian
prince named Bakur whom he met in Palestine about the year 395. This Bakur was
a member of the royal house of Iberia, and was telling of events which had
occurred little more than half a century earlier, during the lifetime of his
own parents or at least his grandparents. When due allowance is made for the
pious raptures of Rufinus and his informant, there is no reason to challenge
the essential accuracy of their joint account.
This is more than can be
said for the other legends which gathered round the saint in the course of
ages. About the 8th-9th centuries, the Armenian writer known as the
pseudo-Moses of Khorene combined the story of St. Nino according to Rufinus (as
known to him through the Armenian version of the church history of Socrates of
Constantinople) with the story of the conversion of Armenia by Ripsime and
Gregory the Illuminator, as related by Agathangelos. This artificial fusion of
the stories of St. Nino and of Ripsime defies chronology and represents, to use
uncanonical language, a red herring trailed across the path of historical
analysis.
Once the process of
elaboration and embroidering had begun, there was no limit to the fantasy of
Nino’s later pious biographers. This saintly woman, originally described as a
simple slave girl, is now transformed into a niece of the Patriarch Juvenal of
Jerusalem (who lived a full century after Nino's time), or, in other variants,
into a Roman princess. Incidents belonging to the reign of Diocletian are
transposed into that of Constantine to permit of Nino being portrayed as one of
the virgins accompanying Ripsime to Armenia; there Nino is supposed to have
been miraculously preserved from the martyrdom which overtook her companions at
the hands of King Tiridates. Special interest attaches to the references to the
True Cross and to the Coat of our Savior, which was supposed to have been
rescued by the Jews of Georgia and preserved there after the Crucifixion. It is
possible that this legend has a basis in the ancient traditions of the Jewish
community in Georgia, and that the Christian faith had its adepts within this
colony even before Nino's mission.
In the pages which
follow, the passage from Rufinus which forms the nucleus of all later accounts
of St. Nino's mission is given first in its entirety. This is succeeded by
episodes from the later Georgian biographies of St. Nino, which assumed their
definitive shape in the 10th-11th centuries. For the complete cycle of lives of
St.Nino, reference should be made to the classic work,"The Life of Saint
Nino" by Marjory and Oliver Wardrop, which appeared in I900 as volume 5 of
the Clarendon Press series "Studia Biblica et Ecclesiastica".
Extract from the Historia Ecclesiastica of Tyrannius Rufinus
(Book I, chapter 10: on
the Conversion of the Iberian People, brought about by a captive woman)
At that time also the
Iberian nation, who live in the clime of Pontus, accepted the laws of God's
word and faith in the kingdom of heaven. This so excellent deed was brought
about by a certain captive woman who had fallen among them, and who led a life
of faith and complete sobriety and virtue, and throughout the days and nights
unceasingly offered up prayers to God. The very novelty of this thing began to amaze
the barbarians, and they diligently Inquired what it meant. She told them
simply the truth of the matter, namely that she was wont thus to worship Christ
her God. The strangeness of this name seemed to the barbarians the most
astonishing feature of the whole business. Xs often happens, however, her very
persistence aroused among the womenfolk a certain curiosity to see whether such
devotion might not win some reward.
It is said to be a custom
among them that if a child falls ill, it is carried round by its mother to each
individual household, so that if anyone knows of some trustworthy remedy, he
may administer it to the sufferer. Accordingly, when a certain Woman had
carried her ailing child to everyone, as the custom was, but without finding
any cure in all the homes she had visited, she came at last to the captive
Woman so that she too might declare anything she knew of. The captive woman
affirmed that she knew of no human remedy, but assured the mother that her God
Christ, whom she worshipped, could grant the child that deliverance of which
men had lost hope. Placing the infant on her hair cloak and furthermore
offering up a prayer to the Lord, the captive woman then gave back the child
cured to its mother.
The report of this spread
to many, and the renown of the marvellous deed reached the ears of the queen
who, being afflicted by some very grave bodily complaint, was in the greatest
desperation. She asked for the captive woman to be brought to her. The latter,
however, declined to go, lest she should seem to diverge from the retiring Way
of life fitting to her sex. Then the queen commanded them to carry her to the
captive's cell. After laying her likewise on her hair cloak and calling on
Christ's name, the captive woman raised her up immediately after the prayer in
good health and spirits. She taught the queen that Christ, Son of God Almighty,
was the Deity who had bestowed this cure on her, and that she should invoke
Him, whom she ought to acknowledge as the source of her life and health. For it
is He who distributes kingdoms to kings, and life to mortal men. And the queen,
returning joyfully homewards, in answer to her husband's enquiry revealed the
source of her sudden restoration to health. But when in his joy at his wife's
recovery, he ordered presents to be sent to the woman, the queen said, "O
King, the captive woman prizes none of these things. She rejects gold, despises
silver and nourishes herself by fasting as if by food. The only way in Which we
can reward her is by worshipping that God Christ who cured me according to her
prayer."
At that time, the king
paid no attention to this and put the matter off, although his wife often
recalled it to his mind. At Length one day while he was hunting in the forest
with his retainers, the light of day was clouded over with dense murk and
disappeared in the horror of pitch-black night, making it impossible to
proceed. His companions dispersed in various directions and lost their way, and
he remained alone enveloped in impenetrable gloom, without knowing what to do
or Where to turn. Suddenly his spirit, tormented by despair of being rescued,
was lit up by a thought: "If indeed that Christ whom the Captive had
preached to his Wife was God, then let Him now deliver him from this darkness,
that he too might forsake all other gods to worship Him." And forthwith,
as soon as he had made this vow in thought alone, and before he had time to
express it in words, the light of day was restored to the world, and led the
king unharmed to the city.
Revealing immediately to
the queen What had occurred, he summons the captive w Oman, bidding her
instruct him in the ritual of worship, and affirming that he would from now on
venerate no other god but Christ. Tile captive woman appears, and preaches
Christ the Lord, expounding the rites of prayer and the form of worship, in so
far as these could properly he known to a woman. In addition, she tells them to
build a church, and describes its shape.
The king accordingly
Summoned together all the folk of his nation, and related the events which had
happened to him and the queen From the very beginning. He instructed them in
the faith and, albeit himself not yet initiated into the sacraments, became the
apostle of his own nation. The men believed thanks to the king, the women thanks
to the queen, and with a single mind they set to work to build a church. The
surrounding walls were quickly erected, and the time came to set up the
columns. When the first and second pillars had been raised, and they proceeded
to lift the third, they employed all forms of machinery and the strength of
oxen and men, but when it had been elevated to a slanting angle, it proved
impossible by any manner of effort to raise it the rest of the way. The
redoubled and often repeated efforts of all the men failed to move it from its
position, and everyone was reduced to exhaustion. The whole people was seized
with astonishment, and the king's resolution began to fail him. Nobody knew
what was to be done.
But when at nightfall
everyone went away, and both the toilers and their toil fell into repose, the
captive woman remained alone on the spot and passed the whole night in prayer.
And behold, when the king and all his people arrived full of anxiety in the
morning, he saw the column, which so many machines and so many men could not
shift, standing upright and freely suspended above its pedestal - not set upon
itch but hanging in the air about a foot above. As soon as the whole people
witnessed this, they glorified God and began to declare this to he a proof of the
truth of the king's faith and the religion of the captive woman. And behold,
while they were all paralyzed with amazement, the pillar slowly descended on to
its base before their eyes without anyone touching it, and settled in perfect
balance. After this! the rest of the columns were erected with such ease that
the remainder were all set in place that same day.
After the church had been
built with due magnificence, the people were zealously yearning for God's
faith. So an embassy is sent on behalf of the entire nation to the Emperor
Constantine, in accordance with the captive woman's advice. The foregoing
events are related to him, and a petition submitted, requesting that priests be
sent to complete the work which God had begun. Sending them on their way amidst
rejoicing and ceremony, the Emperor was far more glad at this news than if he
had annexed to the Roman Empire peoples and realms unknown.
These happenings were
related to us by Bacurius, a most trustworthy man, himself king of that very
nation, and commander of the Guards in our court (who was most scrupulous about
religion and truth), at the time when he resided with us at Jerusalem on
cordial terms, being then in command of the frontiers of Palestine.
From the Georgian
"Life of Saint Nino"
The Conversion of King Mirian, and of all Georgia with him by our holy and blessed Mother, the Apostle Nino.
(Her festival is celebrated on January the 14th)
Let us relate the story
of our holy and blessed Mother, the enlightener of all Georgia, Nino the
apostle, as she herself told it on her death-bed to the believer Salome of
Ujarma, daughter-in-law of King Mirian.
At the time when St.
George of Cappadocia bore witness for Christ's sake, there lived in the same
city of Cappadocia a certain man who was the saint's friend and companion, a
true believer and a man of power and eminence, and his name was Zabulon. And this
Zabulon set out for Rome to serve King Maximian and win honour and renown.
In those same days, there
lived in Colastra a man who had two children, a son named Juvenal and a
daughter called Susanna. Then he and his wife died, leaving the brother and
sister as orphans. These children departed and settled in the holy city of
Jerusalem, having faith in the hope of all Christians, the holy Resurrection.
Susanna's brother Juvenal obtained the office of steward, while she served the
venerable Sarah of Bethlehem.
Meanwhile Zabulon the
Cappadocian, whom we have mentioned above, arrived in the presence of the
Emperor at the time when the Franks had rebelled against the Romans. Then God
gave power invincible to Zabulon, who event forth with countless hosts against
the ranks and put them to flight, capturing their king and all his chieftains.
After this, Zabulon
resolved to go to Jerusalem, and when he arrived there he shared his treasures
among the poor as God enjoins. He met Juvenal, who had become Patriarch, and
Zabuloll and the Patriarch became good friends. One day Sarah of Bethlehem said
to the Patriarch, "Since this Zabulon is a man full of Wisdom and constant
in God's service, give him your sister Susanna as his wife." And the
Patriarch followed Sarah’s advice and married his sister to Zabuloll, and they
had a daughter who was St. Nino, the enlightener of Georgia. She was their only
Chill, and her mother brought her up in the service of the poor, and she was
diligent in tile study of God's faith.
In those days a certain
noble lady came from the city of Ephesus to Worship at the holy places of
Jerusalem. When she had offered up prayers, she made ready to return into her
own County. But in the night the Holy Mother of God appeared to Nino in a
vision and said to her, "Depart into the land of the north and preach the
gospel of my Son, and I will guide and protect you." But she answered in
alarm, "Queen, how may I accomplish this ? For I am a worthless and
ignorant woman." Then the Holy Queen stretched out her hand upon a
vinebranch which grew close to Nino's bed and cut it off and fashioned it into
a cross and gave it to Nino, saying, "Let this be your protection. By it,
you may overcome all your foes and preach your message. I will be with you and
not abandon you."
After this vision, Nino
awoke and found the cross in her hands. When morning came, she went out and
told all this to the Patriarch and showed him the cross, and the Patriarch gave
thanks to God. Then Nino begged the Patriarch to send her with the noble lady
who was leaving for Ephesus. So she received the Patriarch's blessing, and set
off in company with the noble lady. And when they arrived in Ephesus, Chino
encountered there a certain royal princess, Ripsime by name, and her
foster-mother Gaiane. They were living in a nunnery and longing to confess
Christ.
At that time, the Emperor
Diocletian sent forth to find a fair and virtuous bride who would make him a
worthy consort. When his envoys came to the convent of virgins, they saw
Ripsime and learnt that she was of royal blood. They were much impressed by her
beauty, and drew a portrait of her on wood to send to the Emperor. When the
Emperor saw it, he was greatly charmed and made up his mind to wed her in a
ceremony of great magnificence.
When the blessed Ripsime
and Gaiane and the other nuns saw the temptation and beset them, they
remembered their vows of Chastity They inflicted on themselves severe penance,
and secretly fled from the country. Crossing the sea in their flight, Ripsime,
Gaiane, Nino and a member of other maidens with them reached the borders of
Armenia, the realm of Wing Tiridates. When Tiridates saw Ripsime, he was seized
faith passion, and resolved to take her as his wife. Since Ripsime refused, he
martyred her, together with Gaiane her foster-mother, and many other maidens
with them; and we know of the miracles which were performed at the time of
their Passion, which by God's providence resulted in the conversion of the
Armenians, including King Tiridates himself.
But some of these holy
women escaped, among whom was St. Nino, who hid in a wild-rose bush which had
not yet flowered. Afterwards Nino departed and came to the mountains of
Javakheti, where there was a great lake called Lake Paravani. When Nino reached
this place, and saw the mountains to the north covered in snow, and felt how
cold the air was, she trembled and exclaimed, "O God, receive my
spirit!" There she remained for two days, begging food from some fishermen
who were catching fish in the lake. There were also shepherds here. While they
looked after their flocks at night, they used to call for help upon their gods,
who were called Armazi and Zaden, and promise to offer up sacrifices to them if
their affairs prospered. So Nino spoke to one of the shepherds, and asked him
what region he came from. He replied, "We are from the great city of
Mtskheta, where these gods hold sway and the kings reign." St. Nino asked
them where the city of Mtskheta was situated, and they replied, "Mtskheta
lies on the river which flows out of this lake."
When St. Nino saw how
fearsome was the length of the road and how terrible were the mountains she was
afraid. So she lifted her eyes up to heaven and begged for the help of God on
high, who looks after us all. Then she set forth and reached the other side of
the river, where it flows towards the west. On the road she encountered many
troublesome obstacles, including terrifying wild beasts, until at last she
reached the spot where the river starts flowing towards the east. There she was
encouraged by meeting with some travelers, in whose company she arrived at the
outskirts of a town called Urbnisi. Here she saw strange gods being worshipped,
and a cult being paid to fire, stones and wood. This much distressed St. Nino.
She went into the quarter where the Jews lived, and talked to them in Hebrew,
which she knew well. she stayed there a month, and learnt the ways and habits
of that country.
One day a crowd of people
set out from the town to go shopping in the great city of Mtskheta and offer sacrifices
to their god Armazi. St. Nino Wont with them, and when they had got to the city
of Mtskheta they stopped by the Bridge of the Magi. When St. Nino observed the
sorcerers, fire-worshippers and seducers of the people, she wept over their sad
fate and grieved for their strange customs. On the next day there was a loud
noise of trumpets and a fearful uproar of shouting, and mobs of people as
countless as the flowers of the field, who were rushing and jostling as they
waited for the king and queen to come forth.
First came Queen Nana and
then King Mirian, terrible and in great splendour. Nino asked a certain Jewish
woman what all this meant. She answered that it was their custom to go up into
the presence of their supreme god, who was unlike any other idol. When St. Nino
heard this, she climbed up with the people to see the idol called Armazi, and
placed herself near it in a crevice in the rock. There was a great noise, and
the king and all the people quaked with fear before the image. Nino saw the standing
figure of a man made of copper. His body u as clothed in a golden coat of
armour, and he had a gold helmet on his head. His shoulder-pieces and eyes were
made from emeralds and beryl stones. In his hand he held a sword as bright as a
lightning flash, which turned round in his grasp, and nobody dared touch the
idol on pain of death.
They proclaimed, "If
there is anyone here who despises the glory of the great god Armazi, or sides
with those Hebrews who ignore the priests of sun-worship or worship a certain
strange deity who is the Son of the God of Heaven—if any of these evil persons
are arming us, let them be struck down by the sword of him who is feared by all
the world."
When they had spoken
these words, they all worshipped the idol in fear and trembling. On its right
there stood another image, made of gold, with the face of a man. Its name was
Gatsi, and to the left of it was a silver idol with a human face, the name of
which was Gaim. These were the gods of the Georgian people.
When the blessed Nino saw
this, she began to sigh towards God and shed tears because of the errors of
this northern land, for the light was hidden from its people and the reign of
darkness enclosed them. she lifted up her eyes to heaven and said, "O God,
by Thy great might throw down these enemies of Thine, and make this people wise
by Thy great mercy, so that the whole nation may worship the only God through
the power of Jesus Christ Thy Son, to whom belong praise and thanks for
evermore."
After St. Nino had
uttered this prayer, God immediately sent winds and hurricanes out of the west,
with clouds sinister and grim in appearance. The noisy roar of thunder was
heard, and at sunset a wind blew with a fetid and unpleasant smell. When the
crowd saw this, they ran away as fast as they could towards their homes in the
city. God granted them but little time, and when they were all safely home, His
anger burst fiercely out from the sinister cloud. Hail fell in lumps as big as
two fists on to the abode of the idols, and smashed them into little pieces.
The walls were destroyed by the terrible gale, and thrown down among the rocks.
But Nino remained unharmed, watching from the same spot where she had stood at
the beginning.
Three days later she got
up, crossed the River Kura, and found outside the walls of the city a bramble
bush growing in the shape of a small tent. she made a cross of vine-shoots and
stayed there to pray. While she was living there, St. Nino often visited the
Jewish quarter to converse in Hebrew, and to find out where the Lord’s Tunic
Was kept, because she had heard in Jerusalem how it had been carried away by
the Jews of Mtskheta, who would know where it was. she met there a certain
Jewish priest called Abiathar, and his daughter Sidonia, to whom she preached
the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. They accepted it and became her disciples,
as well as six other Jewish women whom Nino taught.
The following is the
account of this same priest Abiathar concerning the Tunic of our Lord Jesus
Christ:
"At the time when
Herod sled in Jerusalem, there was a rumour that the Persians had captured
Jerusalem. Because of this, there was sorrow and mourning among the Georgian
Jews living in Mtskheta, the priests of Bodbe, the scribes at Kodi Spring and
the interpreters of the law in Khoba. All of them wanted to go to the aid of
the Holy City. Put a few days later another messenger arrived with the cheering
news that the Persians had not come to capture Jerusalem. Instead of weapons
they were Carrying royal gold, myrrh which quickly heals wounds, and fragrant
incense. They were looking for a certain infant of the seed of David, horn of a
virgin. Then it transpired that they had found this child born of a virgin, who
had been delivered unexpectedly, in a place unsuitable, as sometimes happens to
people on a journey far from home. They came to the infant and worshipped him,
and offered him their gifts and went away in peace. The Georgian Jews were
delighted to hear this news.
"Thirty years had
passed by after this when Annas the high-priest wrote from Jerusalem as follows
to my ancestor Elioz—He to whom the kings of Persia came to bring gifts has
grown up to manhood He calls Himself the son of God. Come here to be present at
His execution, which will fulfill the law of God and Moses.
"So Elioz of
Mtskheta went with Longinos of Karsani to be present at Christ's Crucifixion.
And when they were nailing our Lord on the Cross at Jerusalem, and the
executioner was driving in the nails with an iron hammer, Elioz's mother in
Mtskheta heard the blows and suddenly cried out—Farewell, kingdom of the Jews,
for you have killed your Saviour and Liberator. Henceforth you will be deemed
the enemies and murderers of your Creator. Woe is me, because I am not already
buried before His death.—When she had spoken these words, she expired.
"Our Lord's Tunic
fell by lest to the Jews of Mtskheta, and Elioz took it to that city. His
sister greeted him with tears and threw her arms round his neck. she took the
garment of Jesus and presser it to her bosom, and immediately departed this
life. The cause of her death was threefold: hitter sorrow at the killing of
Christ, grief for her mother's death, and regret that her brother had been an
associate of those who denied our Saviour.
"This event caused a
great sensation in Mtskheta and reached the ears of King Aderc himself.
Everyone, including the princes and King Aderc, tried to take possession of the
garment. But the monarch was overcome with fright and alarm when he found that
he could not draw it from her arms. So firmly did she fold the garment to her
breast that her brother Elioz buried it with her.
"Many years later
the great-nephew of King Aderc, King Armazael, looked for the Tunic among the
Jews, but failed to discover it or to learn anything about it, except that it
was said to be buried near a cedar of Lebanon. But the family of Elioz knew
that it was to the east of the city, by the bridge of the Magi."
Meanwhile, St. Nino
prayed unceasingly in her retreat in the bramble bush. Her prayers and vigils
astonished the pagan folk, and they began to ask her questions. So she
explained to them the books of the Old and New Testaments, giving wisdom to the
foolish and imbuing their hearts with the love of Christ.
In the course of three
years' preaching she made many converts. Now there was a young boy belonging to
a noble family who was dangerously ill, and his mother took him from door to
door to see whether she could find anyone with the gift of healing to afford
help in her trouble. But no one could heal the lad, and the doctors told the
woman that her son could never be cured. This woman was a hardened pagan who
detested the Christian faith and prevented other people from going to consult
St. Nino. Now in her despair she came and fell down at Nino's feet, imploring
her to cure the child. St. Nino said, "I am ignorant of human arts of
healing. But the Lord Christ whom I serve can heal the child even if everyone
thinks his condition is hopeless." Then she placed the sick boy on the mat
upon which she always prayed, and began to intercede with Christ, and the lad
was restored to health. She handed back the amazed and happy boy to his mother,
who was filled with belief in Christ, declaring, "There is no god but
Christ, whom Nino preaches." And she became a disciple of Nino and went
away giving praise to God.
Then Queen Nana fell ill
of a severe and painful disease which nobody could heal. All the skilful
physicians tried every one of their medicines, but without success They told
Queen Nana how this Roman slave girl, who wits called Nino, had cured many sick
people by her prayers so she ordered her servants to bring Nino to her They
went and found her kneeling at prayer in the arbour under the bramble bush, and
it was six o'clock They told her the queen’s command, to which Nino answered,
"I have no authority to leave my humble tent Let the queen come here to my
dwelling, and she will surely be healed by Christ's power" The servants
reported Ninths words to the queen, and carried her forth on her couch,
accompanied by her son Rev and a crowd of people When they came to St. Nino's
abode, they set the queen upon her mat Nino prayed and besought God for a long
time, and then took her cross and touched the queen's head, feet and shoulders,
making the sign of the cross Immediately she recovered and got up in perfect
health And she confessed Christ saying, "There is no God besides Christ
whom this slave girl preaches " Henceforth she became Nino’s friend, and
came to know the True God.
When the king inquired
how it was that she had been cured so rapidly, she told slim everything, namely
how she had been healed without medicine, by the touch of a cross The crowds
who had seen it Confirmed the queen's story, so that King Mirian was filled
with amazement and began to look for the faith of Christ Now in the Book of
Nimrod, which King Mirian possessed, he read the story of the building of the
tower, when Nimrod heard a voice from heaven saying, "I am Michael,
appointed by God to be commander of the east In future times a King will come
from heaven to be a despised member of a despised race But the terror of His
name will put an end to worldly pleasures Kings will forsake their realms to
seek for poverty. He will heed you in your sorrow and deliver you" Then
Mirian saw that the evidence of the Old and New Testaments was confirmed by the
Book of Nimrod.
One summer day, being
Saturday, the 20th of July, the king went on a hunting trip towards Mukhran.
Then that invisible enemy the devil tempted him by reviving in his heart the
love of fire-worship and of idols so the king said to four of his advisers,
"We have behaved unworthily towards our gods by being idle in their
service and letting these Christian magicians preach their doctrine in this
Country, for their miracles are operated by sorcery I have now decided to
destroy all these believers in the cross unless they agree to serve the
victorious gods of Georgia I shall urge my wife Nana to repent and abandon her
faith in the cross If not, I shall forget my love for her, and she shall perish
with the others " His companions, who were strongly prejudiced on this
question, applauded his decision.
The king had now passed
the outskirts of Mukhran and arrived at tile lofty hill of Tkhoti, from which
he could see Caspi and Uplistsikhe. When he had reached the top and it was
mid-day, the sun was obscured and it became as black as perpetual night The
region was enveloped in darkness and the members of the party lost touch with
one another The monarch was left by himself, anxious and afraid tie wandered
about on the densely wooded hills until in his fear and anxiety he stood still
in one place, losing all hope of being rescued. Then he began to muse, and said
to himself, "After all, I have called on my own gods and found no comfort
Now I wonder whether the Crucified One whom Nino preaches could save me from my
plight ) Light up this darkness for me, O God of Nino, and I will confess Thy
name ! I will set up a Wooden Cross and worship it, and build a place to pray
in, allot obey Nino and accept the faith of the Romans'.
After he had uttered
these words it became light, and the sun shone down ill all its splendour. Then
the king got down from his horse and stretched out his arms to the east towards
heaven, saying, "Thou art God above all gods, Lord above all lords, O
Deity whom Nino proclaims. Now I know that Thou desirest my salvation, and I
rejoice, blessed Lord, to come near unto Thee. I will set up a cross upon this
spot, so that Thy name may be praised and this marvel commemorated for
ever." So he marked the place and departed, and Queen Nana and all the people
came out to welcome the king home.
At this time, Nino was in
her bramble bush occupied with her regular evening prayers, together with a
congregation of fifty people. When the king arrived there was a great stir in
the city, and the king cried with a loud voice "Where is this woman from a
far land, who is our mother, and whose God has saved us ?" When he heard
that she was praying in the thicket, he went with all his followers to see her,
and said to Nino, "I have now become worthy to invoke your God, who has
saved me." So St. Nino gave him instruction and told him to kneel down
facing the east and confess Christ, the Son of God. The people trembled and
wept for joy at the marvel which had taken place.
The next day, King Mirian
sent envoys to Greece to the Emperor Constantine, together with a letter from
Nino to Queen Helena, relating the miracles which had been done in Mtskheta and
begging them to send priests to baptize them. Meanwhile Nino and her disciples
preached day and night to the people, guiding them in the true path towards the
kingdom of heaven. Before the priests arrived, the king said to St. Nino,
"I would like to build a house of God without delay. Where shall we erect
it ?" Nino replied, "Wherever the king desires." The king
answered, "I feel a fondness for this bush of yours, and would prefer to
have it there. And I shall not spare the treasures of my royal garden, neither
the lofty cedars, the fruitful branches nor the fragrant flowers, lout I will
myself build a church to pray there, which may last for ever."
So they brought timber
and started building. They cut down the cedar tree and carved out a pillar from
it, and they laid the church's foundations upon the roots of the tree. And the
pillar was fearsome and marvelous to look at. Then the builders tried to erect
it into its place, but they could not shift it. The king arrived with a great
number of men, but powerful machines, great force and the efforts of all the
people made no impression on it. The king and everybody else were astounded and
exclaimed, "What can this mean ?" When night fell, the king went home
very crestfallen.
St. Nino and twelve women
from among her followers stayed by the pillar and wept. Then Nino arose and
stretched out her arms in prayer to God, and said, "May this project on
which the king is engaged not be brought to nothing." When dawn
approached, the women fell asleep, but Nino stood with upraised hands. Suddenly
there appeared by her a young man adorned with brilliant light and shrouded in
fire. He spoke three words to her, at which she fell down upon her face. Then
the youth touched the pillar with his hand and raised it, and it stood up. And
the pillar blazed like a column of fire and moved by itself to approach its
base. Then it stood twelve cubits above its pedestal, which had been carved for
it out of the stump of that same cedar tree from which this Living Pillar was
hewn out.
At dawn the king got up in a mood of depression and went to look at the garden and at the church which he had started to build with so much enthusiasm. Shooting up towards heaven from his garden he saw a light like a flash of lightning. He came running to the spot with all his followers and the townspeople who had also observed the marvel. Then the column, resplendent with light, descended on to its place as if from heaven, and stood firmly on its base without being touched by human hands. Joyful was the moment when this occurred The city of Mtskheta was filled with awe and happiness, and the citizens shed streams of teats, and blessed St. Nino for the great marvels which were done on that day.
Meanwhile, when King Mirian's envoys arrived in the presence of the Emperor
Constantine and told him what had happened, the sovereign and his mother, Queen
Helena, were overjoyed-firstly, because all Georgia was about to be baptized by
their agency at a time when the grace of God was shining into all parts of the
world, and secondly, because they imagined that King Mirian would destroy the
Persians. So they received the ambassadors with love, and praised and thanked
God, and sent the faithful priest, Bishop John, accompanied by two priests and
three deacons. The emperor wrote a letter full of prayers and blessings to
Mirian, and sent him a cross an icon of our Saviour, and many presents. Queen Helena
wrote Nino a letter of praise and encouragement. When the bishop, priests and
envoys arrived in Mtskheta, the king and all the people were filled with
happiness, for they were anxious to be baptized. Then Mirian promptly sent out
orders that all the dukes, generals and citizens of his realm should be
summoned to him, and they all came to the city without delay.. The king was
baptized by thehand of St. Nino and then the queen and their children by the
priests and deacons. They blessed the river Kura, and the bishop set apart a
spot near the gate of the Bridge of the Magi, near the house of Elioz the
priest, and the members of the arrstocracy were baptized there. So the place
was called "Mtavart Sanatlo," which means, "The place where the
princes received baptism." At two places lower down the same river, the
two priests and the deacons were baptizing the crowds of people, who were
struggling to be the first to receive baptism, for they had heard Nino declare,
"No one who is not baptized will find that light eternal." So they
all received baptism, except for the clansmen of the Caucasus mountains. As for
the latter although the light shone upon them, they remained for some time
obdurate in their darkness Then King Mirian sent Bishop John with some influential
citizens to the Emperor Constantine to beg for a piece of the Wood of Life
which at that time had been discovered by Queen Helena, the servant and lover
of Christ. He also asked that a number of priests might be sent to baptize the
people in all towns and districts, so that every soul in Georgia might receive
baptism, and furthermore that masons be sent to build churches. When they
arrived in the presence of Constantine, he gladly presented them with parts of
the Wood of Life, namely the beams to which our Lord's feet were nailed and the
nails which had pierced His hands. He also sent priests and many masons, and
gave rich treasures to Bishop John, commanding that he should build churches in
the first Georgian towns they reached on their return. So when they arrived at
the place which is called Erusheti, the carpenters stopped there to build a
church, in which they deposited the treasure and the nails by which our Lord's
hands were pierced. Afterwards they went on to Manglisi and started building a
church in which they placed the beams to which our Lord's feet were nailed Nova
King Mirian was angry that they did not come straight to his capital, but had
begun to build churches in other towns and places, and had left the relics
there. But Nino came and said to him, "Do not be offended, O king.
Wherever they go, they are spreading God's name. After all, is Christ's
glorious robe not preserved in this city ?" Then the king summoned
Abiathar and many of the other Jews and made enquiries about the Tunic, and they
told him all that is written above. Then King Mirian raised his hands,
exclaiming, "Blessed art Thou, Jesus, Son of the Living God, for Thou
didst from the beginning desire to save us from Satan and from hell. Therefore
Thy Holy Garment was brought from Thy Holy City of Jerusalem by these Hebrews
who deny Thy Godhead, and belong to a race alien to us." Now when the king
and queen severe baptized with their Children and all the people, there stood
on the crest of a remote crag a tree of wondrous beauty and sweet scent. It was
a miracle-working tree, for wild animals wounded by arrows used to come to it
and eat its leaves or its seeds which had fallen to the ground, after which
they acre healed, even if they had suffered fatal wounds. The common folk, who
had previously been pagan, considered this a great marvel, so they told Bishop
John about the tree. Anal the bishop said, "Behold, this tree has been
planted by God specially for this occasion. Now that the grace of God has shone
forth upon Georgia, from this tree shall be carved the holy cross which all the
multitudes of Georgia shall adore." Then Rev, the king's son, went with
the bishop and many of the people and cut down the tree, and a hundred men
carried it to the city with all its branches and leaves. The people collected
to see it, because of the fresh green leaves which it had at a time when all
other trees were bare. Its foliage had not fallen and it was sweet-smelling and
beautiful to look at. They stood the tree up on its base at the southern door
of the church, where the breezes wafted its fragrant scent about and unfolded
its leaves. There the tree stood for thirty-seven days, and its leaves did not
change colour. It looked as if it was standing immersed front root to topmost
twig in a stream, and remained thus until all the tress of the forest were
clothed in verdure, and the fruit trees were in blossom. Then on the first of
May they fashioned three Crosses from it, and on the seventh thus raised them
up in the king's presence amid popular rejoicing on the part of the crowds
gathered in the church. Soon afterwards, the people of the city saw a fiery
Cross Come down from heaven. Round about it was what appeared like a crown of
stars. The cross of fire rested on the church until claws. When daylight came,
two of the stars separated from the others—one going eastwards and the other
towards the west. The brighter of the two went gently towards a spot near a
stream on the far side of the river Aragvi, and Stood over the rocky hill out
of Which a rivulet had sprung from the tears of Nino. From there the star rose
up to heaven. They asked the blessed Nino, "What is the meaning of these
bright stars, one of which as gone eastwards towards the mountains of Kakheti,
and the other to the western outskirts of this city?" St. Nino answered,
"When you have found where the stars are Shining over those hills, there
let two crosses be raised to Christ." The king acted accordingly, and melt
went to inspect the highest mountains, one after another. Some went to the West,
where they climbed the hill called Cavern's Head. These men reported to the
king that one star had parted company from the others to take up a position
over Mount Tkhoti by the pass of Caspi, after which it was lost to their sight.
Similarly, those who had been sent to the hills of Kakheti returned to tell
hoes they had seen a star move in that direction and stand over the village of
Bodbe in the district of Kakheti.
Then St. Nino said to
them, "Take two of these crosses, and raise one in Tkhoti where God
revealed His power. Give one to Christ's handmaiden Salome to be erected in the
town of Ujarma. The village of Bodbe in Kakheti should not be given preference
over the royal city of Ujarma, where there arc great numbers of people, but
Bodbe also shall later witness God's grace." So they did as Nino directed.
In Mtskheta also they
raised the wonder-working holy cross, and they went dozen to the stream which
flows past the mound, and there they passed the night praying to God. Next day,
the countless multitude knelt and worshipped the cross, and confessed the
Crucified to be the True Son of the Living God, and they believed in God
Almighty, Three in One. And on Easter Sunday, King Mirian and all Mtskheta
offered up prayers and thanksgiving. On that day they instituted the service of
the Cross at Easter, which is observed throughout Georgia to this day. And many
pagans in distress Were healed by the cross, a number of whom were baptized and
gave cheerful praise to God. Diseases of various kinds were cured by its power,
even up to this day, to the glory of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
Then the king said to St. Nino and the bishop, "I will convert the
mountain clansmen at the edge of the sword and make my son-in-law Peroz (prince
of Persia) a servant of God and an adorer of the honourable cross." But
Nino replied, "God does not command us to raise the sword, but to show the
way of truth through the Gospel message and by the honourable cross which leads
to life eternal. May God's grace lighten their darkness." So the king took
With him one of the dukes, and they came to Tsoben and summoned the mountain
clans, men of wild and savage appearance, and they preached the Gospel of
Christian truth to them. But they refused to be baptized.
So the royal duke turned
the sword on them and cast down their idols by force. The king laid heavy taxes
on those who did not wish to receive baptism, who therefore banded together and
became nomads. Some of them were converted by St. Abibos of Nekresi, but others
have remained heathen until the present day.
Then St. Nino went into
Kakheti and converted the people. They received her teaching with joy and were
baptized by Jacob the Priest. Then she went to Bodbe, where she was joined by
the Queen of Kakheti with a great following of chiefs, warriors and
women-slaves. She told them of Christ's Holy Sacrament, and taught them the
true faith with words of good cheer. She related the marvels which had been
brought about by the living pillar, about which they had not yet heard. They
welcomed St.Nino's teaching with joy, and the queen was baptized with all her
chiefs and handmaidens.
When the blessed Nino had
completed her work and preaching, she knew that the time was drawing near for
her spirit to pass from her body. And she became weak, and could go no farther.
From the city of Ujarma, Rev, the king's son, came with Salome his wife to
watch over her. King Mirian and his consort Nana sent John the Bishop to see
her and bear her back, but she refused to set out. After begging that Jacob the
Priest should be named as John's successor, she gave him the letter written to
her by Queen Helena, in which Nino was addressed as queen, apostle and
evangelist. The Wood of Life she bestowed on Queen Nana. Then John imparted to
Nino the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ, and she partook of this
provision for her soul's journey. Committing her spirit into the hands of God,
she ascended to heaven in the fifteenth year from her arrival in Georgia, in
the year of our Lord three hundred and thirty-eight. Then the two cities of
Mtskheta and Ujarma and all the land of Georgia grieved because of her death.
They came and buried her body, resplendent with divine power, at Bodbe, a
village in Kakheti. And they built a church there, and appointed a bishop over
it, in honor of the holy, blessed enlightener of Georgia, the thrice divinely
blessed noble Nino. When the God-enlightened King Mirian had done this, he
confirmed all Georgia and Hereti in the faith of God the Three in One, who is
without beginning or end, and the Creator of all. Then they were thoroughly
strengthened in their belief. Anal the Emperor Constantine, who had been
holding Mirian's son Bakar as a hostage, sent him home with sumptuous gifts,
and wrote: "I, Constantine, king and autocrat, newly made a Servant of the
kingdom of heavens formerly a prisoner of the devil, but delivered by the
Creator, I write to you, King Mirian, enlightened by God, like me recently
planted in the Faith. Peace be upon you, and the joy of those who know the
Trinity, God the infinite, the divine Creator of all. I no longer need to
retain a hostage of yours, for it is enough for us to have as mediator between
us Christ, the Son of God, who exists from all eternity and who became man for
our salvation. I give you your son. Look on him and he glad, and may God's
angel of peace be with you. May God the Creator expel Satan the evil one from
your country for ever." When Prince Bakar and the Emperor Constantine's
envoy arrived in Mtskheta, King Mirian and Queen Nana were filled with
happiness, and gave thanks to God for all the gifts He had granted them. King
Mirian finished building the cathedral, and consecrated it with great pomp in
the twenty-fifth year after his conversion. Afterwards, Rev, his son, died. He
was the son-in-law of Tiridates, king of the Armenians, who had handed over the
kingship to him during his own lifetime. They buried Rev in the tomb Which he
himself had built. In the same year, King Mirian fell sick, and felt his death
drawing near. He said to his son Bakar, "My son, my darkness had been
turned into light, and death into life. To you I give the Cross n of my
kingdom. May God, who created heaven and earth strengthen you in perfect faith.
Obey all the commands of the Son of God, and rely entirely upon thorn and upon
Christ's name. Wherever you find those fire-worshippers with their idols, burn
the idols and make them swallow the cinders. Carry the honourable cross before
you to overcome your enemies, as the true believers do. Honour the divinely
raised column, and direct your hopes upon it. May you fall asleep at last in
the faith of the Holy Trinity." Then they caused St. Nino's cross to be
brought, the cross which she had at the beginning, and they hung the royal
crown upon it. They led forward Bakar, and made the sign of the cross upon his
head, and took the crown from the cross and placed it on his head. And King
Mirian died, and was buried in the Upper Church, by the southern corner of the
pillar in which is a piece of the divinely raised column. Next year, Queen Nana
died, and they buried her on the west side of the pillar close to King Mirian.
Mirian's son Bakar reigned. He was a believer like his father and converted
many of the Caucasian peoples whom his father had not succeeded in turning to
the true faith, until he too departed to join his ancestors, imbued With the
grace of God.
The book "LIVES AND LEGENDS OF THE GEORGIAN SAINTS" selected and translated from the original texts by DAVID MARSHALL LANG (M.A., Ph.D. Professor of Caucasian Studies University of London).
This Electronic material brought to you by BESIKI SISAURI - M.Div.
It may not be modified in any way, but can be transmitted on electronic
BBS systems for the edification of those wishing to know more about Georgian
history and religion.
SOURCE : http://www.georgianweb.com/religion/stnino.html
Sabinin.
Holy Virgin blesses St. Nino. 1882
საბინინი, გობრონ. საქართველოს სამოთხე: სრული აღწერაი ღუაწლთა და ვნებათა საქართუელოს წმიდათა. სანკტ-პეტერბურგი: პეტერბურგის სასულიერო აკადემია. 1882. Digitized by National Parliamentary
Library of Georgia.
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The Life of Saint Nina
Saint Nina, Enlightener
of Georgia and Equal to the Apostles was born around the year 280 in the city
of Kolastra in Cappadocia. Her father St Zabulon (May 20) was related to the
holy Great Martyr George (April 23). He came from an illustrious family, and
pious parents, and he was highly regarded by the emperor Maximian (284-305). St
Zabulon, a Christian, served as a general in the military under the emperor,
and he took part in the liberation of Christian captives from Gaul (modern
France). St Nina's mother, St Susanna (May 20), was a sister of the Patriarch
of Jerusalem.
When she was twelve years old, St Nina went to Jerusalem with her parents, who had
only this one daughter. By their mutual consent and with the blessing of the
Patriarch, St Zabulon devoted his life to the service of God at the Jordan, and
St Susanna was made a deaconess in the church of the Holy Resurrection. The
upbringing of St Nina was entrusted to the pious Eldress, Nianphora. St Nina
displayed diligence and obedience for two years. By the grace of God, she got
into the firm habit of fulfilling the rule of prayer, and reading the Holy
Scriptures daily.
Once, while tearfully reading the Gospel passages describing the Crucifixion of
Christ the Saviour, she wondered about the fate of the Chiton (Tunic) of the
Lord (John 19:23-24). When St Nina asked where the Lord's Chiton (Tunic) had
gone (October 1), the Eldress Nianphora declared that the Lord's incorrupt
Chiton had been carried off by the Rabbi Eleazar of Mtskhet and taken back with
him to a place named Iberia (Georgia), and called the appanage (i.e., the
"allotted portion") of the Mother of God. During her earthly life,
the All-Pure Virgin had received Georgia as her allotted portion when the Holy
Apostles cast lots to see who would go to what region in fulfillment of our
Lord’s command to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew
28:19). However, an angel of the Lord appeared to the Theotokos and foretold
that Georgia would become her earthly portion only after her Repose.
The Elderess Nianphora told St Nina that Georgia had not yet been enlightened
by the light of Christianity, St Nina entreated the Most Holy Theotokos to
grant that she would see Georgia converted to Christ, and might also enable her
to find the Tunic of the Lord.
The Theotokos heard the prayer of the young righteous one. Once, when St Nina
was resting after long prayer, the All-Pure Virgin appeared to her in a dream,
and entrusting her with a cross plaited from vines, she said, "Take this
cross, for it will be for you a shield and protection against all enemies both visible
and invisible. Go to the land of Iberia, proclaim there the Gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ and spread forth His grace, and I will be your Protectress."
Awakening, St Nina saw the cross (now preserved in a special reliquary in the
Tbilisi Zion cathedral church) in her hand. Rejoicing in spirit, she went to
her uncle, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and told him about her vision. The
Patriarch then blessed the young virgin in her deed of Apostolic service.
On the way to Georgia, St Nina escaped martyrdom, which however befell her
companions: the emperor's daughter Ripsimia, her guide Gaiania and thirty-five
virgins (September 30), who had fled to Armenia from Rome to escape persecution
under the emperor Diocletian (284-305). Bolstered in spirit by visions of an
angel of the Lord, who appeared the first time holding a censer, and a scroll
the second time, St Nina continued on her way and arrived in Georgia in the
year 319. News of her soon spread through the area of Mtskhet, where she lived
in asceticism. Numerous miracles accompanied her preaching. On the Feast of the
Transfiguration of the Lord, as pagan priests offered sacrifice in the presence
of the emperor Mirian and a multitude of the people, the idols Armaz, Gatsi,
and Gaim were toppled from a high mountain through the prayers of St Nina. This
was accompanied by a strong storm.
Entering Mtskhet, the ancient capital of Georgia, St Nina found shelter in the
household of a childless imperial official, whose wife Anastasia was delivered
from infertility through the prayers of St Nina, and she came to believe in
Christ.
St Nina healed the Georgian empress Nana from a grievous infirmity. After her
Baptism, she ceased to worship idols and became a zealous Christian instead
(October 1). In spite of the miraculous healing of his wife, the emperor Mirian
(265-342), in view of the complaints of the pagans, prepared to subject St Nina
to fierce tortures. "At that very moment, when they plotted to execute the
righteous one, the sun darkened and an impenetrable mist covered the place
where the emperor was."
The emperor suddenly fell blind, and seized by terror, his retainers began to
beg their pagan idols for the light to return. "But Armaz, Gaim and Gatsi
were deaf, and the darkness only intensified. Then with one voice they cried
out to the God of Nina. Instantly, the darkness was lifted, and the sun shone
in all its radiance." This event occurred on May 6, 319.
Emperor Mirian, healed from his blindness by St Nina, was subsequently baptized
by her with all his retainers. By 324, Christianity had established itself in
Georgia.
The Chronicles relate that through her prayers, the location of the Lord's
Chiton was revealed to St Nina. At this place the first Christian church was
built in Georgia (at first a wooden church, but then a stone cathedral, in
honour of the Twelve Holy Apostles, the "Svetitskhoveli").
At the request of the emperor Mirian, and with the cooperation of the Byzantine
emperor St Constantine (306-337), Bishop Eustathius of Antioch was sent to Georgia
with two priests and three deacons. Christianity took a definite hold upon the
land. The mountain regions of Georgia, however, remained without enlightenment.
St Nina traveled with the presbyter James and one of the deacons, to the upper
regions of the Aragva and Iori Rivers, where she preached the Gospel to the
people. Many of them came to believe in Christ and received holy Baptism. Then
St Nina proceeded to Kakhetia (Eastern Georgia) and settled in the village of
Bodbe, in a small tent beside a mountain. Here she led an ascetic life of
constant prayer, and converting the local inhabitants to Christ. Amidst all
these was the empress of Kakhetia, named Sodzha [Sophia], who accepted Baptism
with all her court and a multitude of the people.
Having completed her apostolic service in Georgia, St Nina had a revelation
from God of her impending repose. In a letter to the emperor Mirian, she
requested him to send Bishop John, so that he might prepare her for her final
journey. Not only did Bishop John come, but also the emperor with all the
clergy went to Bodbe, where many healings took place at the deathbed of St
Nina. For the edification of the people who had come, and at the request of her
disciples, St Nina told them of her life. This narration, written down by
Solomia of Udzharm, has served as the basis of the Life of St Nina.
Having received the Holy Mysteries, St Nina instructed that her body be buried
at Bodbe, and then she peacefully fell asleep in the Lord in the year 335 after
35 years of apostolic labour.
The emperor, the clergy and the people, grieving over the death of St Nina,
wished to transfer her relics to the Mtskhet cathedral church, but they were
not able to remove the coffin of the ascetic from her chosen place of rest. The
emperor Mirian laid the foundations of a church on this site in 342, and his
son the emperor Bakur (342-364) completed and dedicated the church in the name
of St Nina's relative, the holy Great Martyr George.
Later, a women's monastery dedicated to St Nina was founded at this place. The
relics of the saint, concealed beneath a crypt at her command, were glorified
by many miracles and healings. The Georgian Orthodox Church, with the consent
of the Patriarchate of Antioch, designated St Nina the Enlightener of Georgia as
Equal of the Apostles. She was numbered among the Saints, and her Feast was
established as January 14, the day of her blessed repose.
SOURCE : https://web.archive.org/web/20070320171042/http://www.stnina.ca/stnina_life.html
ქართული: „ახალი ზარზმა“
Akhali
Zarzma - Alexander Nevsky Church in Abastumani, Georgia.
Santa Nino (Nouné, Nina,
Cristiana) Apostola della Georgia
Cappadocia IV sec. - †
Georgia, IV secolo
Etimologia: Cristiana
= seguace di Cristo
Martirologio
Romano: In Georgia al di là del Mar Nero, santa Nino: da prigioniera cristiana,
per la santità della sua vita ottenne da parte di tutti rispetto e ammirazione
tali da attirare alla fede di Cristo la regina stessa, il cui figlio aveva
guarito con le sue preghiere, il re e tutta la sua gente.
Le notizie sono chiare,
quello che complica le cose, facendole travisare, è il fatto che santa Nino è
il nome russo di una schiava cristiana di cui diremo; mentre molti credono che
sia un nome maschile e riguarda un martire della Cappadocia, che si celebra il
15 dicembre.
Confesso che sono rimasto
interdetto, consultando vari testi, perché alcuni menzionano questo martire
maschile senza aggiungere altro, alcuni testi invece, citano sia san Nino che
santa Nino, ambedue al 15 dicembre e altri invece la sola Nino sia al 15
dicembre che al 14 gennaio.
Cominciamo con il dire
che per il Nino maschile, non essendoci notizie in merito, è da ipotizzare, che
faccia parte di un numeroso gruppo di martiri della Cappadocia (regione
dell’Asia Minore Centrale, provincia romana dal I secolo), i cui nomi nei
secoli siano stati dimenticati e ricordati invece solo con la dicitura di
“Martiri in Cappadocia”, periti sotto la persecuzione dell’imperatore
Massimiano nel 303, e celebrati dal “Martyrologium Romanum” ultima edizione
aggiornata, al 23 maggio (senza riportare i nomi).
Altra ipotesi plausibile,
che si tratta del diminutivo di altri nomi, come Antonino, Giovannino,
Saturnino, ecc., anzi un martire Saturnino si celebra proprio il 15 dicembre.
Per quanto riguarda la
Nino al femminile, che qualche elenco sbrigativo ha tradotto anche in Nina, il
“Martyrologium Romanum”, già sopra citato, la celebra il 14 gennaio e per noi
fa testo; anche se in precedenza, ella era ricordata anche il 15 dicembre.
Santa Nino è nominata in
una pagina, che lo storico Rufino aggiunse alla “Storia Ecclesiastica”, scritta
dal grande vescovo e storico Eusebio di Cesarea e che così si può riassumere;
nel IV secolo gli Iberi, (popolo dell’Iberia Caucasica, attuale Georgia), in
occasione di un’incursione da loro effettuata nelle varie Province orientali
dell’impero romano, portarono con loro dalla Cappadocia, una prigioniera
cristiana, che secondo altri documenti storici, bizantini, armeni, georgiani,
aveva il nome di Nouné e che ancora successivamente nella letteratura georgiana
e russa, si modificò in Nino.
Viveva da cristiana in
castità, umiltà e preghiera e quanti la frequentavano, pagani ed idolatri,
l’ammiravano senza comprendere; per spiegarsi le sue doti e virtù dicevano di
lei: “È una cristiana” e il nome le rimase, perciò è chiamata anche Santa
Cristiana.
Suo malgrado operò alcuni
prodigi, come il risuscitare un bambino morto, per cui la sua fama arrivò alla
corte della regina degli Iberi, la quale essendo malata, la chiamò e con la sua
intercessione riacquistò la salute; si convertì al Cristianesimo e vincendo le
resistenze del re suo sposo, lo convinse ad abbracciare la nuova fede.
Il re convertito, ricevé
a sua volta dei favori celesti e affidò alla schiava cristiana il progetto
della costruzione di una chiesa, utilizzando gli operai più abili; durante la
costruzione ancora una volta “l’apostola” operò dei prodigi, che la fecero
salire ancora di più nella stima del popolo, al quale predicava incessantemente
il cristianesimo.
Il re Bacour o Miriam,
non è chiaro, ormai avviata l’evangelizzazione della Georgia, inviò
all’imperatore Costantino il Grande (280-337) una delegazione per chiedergli di
mandare un vescovo e dei preti. Quando il vescovo giunse in Georgia, trovò
tutto un popolo già convertito, grazie alla ‘cristiana’ Nino, e poté passare
subito ad amministrare loro il Battesimo.
Uno dei tanti testi, la
considera martirizzata in Georgia nel IV secolo, ma questo non è accertato, per
quanto possibile. Il culto per la santa ‘apostola’ della Georgia, si diffuse in
tutto l’Oriente e le varie Chiese, Copta, Armena, Greca, Alessandrina,
Georgiana, la ricordavano nei loro menologi e sinassari, in date diverse; la
Georgiana al 14 gennaio.
In Occidente la santa è rimasta
sconosciuta nei martirologi medioevali. Il cardinale Cesare Baronio,
(1538-1607) compilatore nel XVI sec. del ‘Martirologio Romano’, introdusse la
sua memoria arbitrariamente al 15 dicembre, con la dizione di “S. Cristiana
ancella”.
Come detto all’inizio, la
nuova edizione riveduta del 2003, ha riportato la celebrazione all’antica data
orientale del 14 gennaio, con il nome giusto di santa Nino.
Autore: Antonio
Borrelli
bambina cristiana, amata da tutti per il suo dolce carattere, di nome Nino (viene chiamata anche Cristiana il cui significato è proprio “seguace di Cristoˮ). Purtroppo a quell’epoca c’erano tante guerre ed esisteva la schiavitù. Durante un’invasione degli Iberici, la bambina viene fatta prigioniera e trasferita in Georgia (sulle rive del Mar Nero), anticamente regno caucasico d’Iberia. La bella e buona bambina diventa una povera schiava. Nino conserva dentro di sé un cuore buono e umile. Ha tante virtù. È mite, paziente, gentile, ubbidisce sempre, ha una buona parola per tutti. Crede in Gesù e nel suo messaggio. Prega tanto e crescendo compie pure dei miracoli: guarisce dalle malattie in nome di Gesù. Una volta riporta in vita un bambino morto.
La regina della Georgia è malata e viene a sapere di una schiava che ha il potere di guarire dalle malattie. La chiama a corte e le chiede aiuto. Sembra strano, ma accade che una regina chieda aiuto a una schiava. Nino guarisce la regina che decide di abbracciare la religione cristiana. Convince, poi, suo marito, il re della Georgia, a convertirsi alla nuova religione e a diventare seguace di Gesù. Il re, dopo aver assistito a vari prodigi (un giorno, invocando il Gesù di Nino, il re ritrova la strada del ritorno completamente al buio, dopo essersi perso in un fitto bosco andando a caccia), fa subito costruire per la santa una chiesa. Nino conquista così i cuori del sovrano e del popolo che l’hanno resa schiava. Parla sempre a tutti di Gesù e dei suoi insegnamenti e riesce a convertire al Cristianesimo buona parte della popolazione della Georgia. Il re chiede allora all’imperatore Costantino il Grande di inviare un vescovo e dei preti. Quando questi arrivano trovano la Georgia quasi tutta evangelizzata, grazie alla schiava Nino, e la gente si mette in fila per poter ricevere il Battesimo.
Santa Nino muore nel IV secolo in Georgia. Le sue spoglie sono custodite presso il Monastero di Bodbe a Kakheti, nella Georgia orientale, dove ancora oggi è molto venerata.
Autore: Mariella Lentini
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/91921
Den hellige Nino av
Georgia ( -~330)
Minnedag: 14.
januar
Georgias apostel og
skytshelgen
Den hellige Nino (Nina,
Kristiana) ble født på 200-tallet i Colastri i Kappadokia, mens andre kilder
sier Georgia, Lilleasia, Roma, Jerusalem eller Gallia, og en variant gjør henne
til niese av patriark Juvenalis av Jerusalem. På en eller annen måte kom hun
som slave til Iberia (Georgia) i Kaukasus, mellom Svartehavet og Det kaspiske
hav. Til tross for at dermed tilhørte det laveste sosiale sjiktet, skulle hun
komme til å spille en avgjørende rolle for Georgia.
På keiser Konstantin den
Stores tid (d. 337) var Georgia fortsatt et hedensk og barbarisk land. Men
slavinnen Nino var kristen, og hun tilbrakte det meste av dagen og en stor del
av natten i bønn til sin Gud, og for øvrig levde hun et liv preget av «dyd og
edruelighet», renhet, ydmykhet og kjærlighet. Hennes måte å leve på vakte
nysgjerrighet hos alle som kom i kontakt med henne. De beundret henne, men
kunne ikke forstå hvordan noen kunne leve på det viset. Særlig blant kvinnene
var det mange som begynte å spørre henne ut om hennes tro, og da fortalte Nino
dem om Kristus. De kalte henne «Kristiana», kristen, og i dette navnet la de
alt de beundret hos henne.
Det var skikk blant de
gamle georgierne at når et barn ble sykt, bar moren det fra hus til hus for å
høre om noen hadde et legemiddel mot sykdommen. En fortvilet mor kom en gang
til Nino med sitt døende barn. Nino la barnet på sin kappe og ba inntrengende
for dets liv, og moren fikk det friskt tilbake. Nina forklarte dem at hun selv
ikke hadde noen makt over sykdommen – det var Gud som hadde helbredet barnet.
Men folket begynte å betrakte Nino som undergjører, og ryktene om dette
miraklet nådde omsider også dronning Nanas ører. Og da dronningen selv ble
dødssyk, sendte hun bud etter slavekvinnen.
Men av ren beskjedenhet
dro Nino ikke, for «hun ville ikke bryte med det tilbaketrukne liv som sømmet
seg hennes kjønn». Da ble dronningen i stedet båret til Ninos usle hytte og
lagt i hennes seng. Nino helbredet også henne ved sin bønn, og forkynte at det
var Kristus som hadde gitt henne helsen tilbake, «han som skjenker kongedømmer
til konger, og liv til dødelige mennesker». Kongen, som het Mirian, fikk straks
den innskytelse å gi Nino friheten og sende rike gaver til henne som takk for
hustruens helbredelse. Men dronningen sa: «Denne fangne kvinnen bryr seg ikke
om slikt. Hun tar ikke imot gull, forakter sølv, og lever av faste som om det
var føde». Nino sa da også til kongen: «Den eneste virkelige belønningen for
meg ville være om du og hele folket kom til tro på Jesus, som helbredet
dronningen».
Kongen tenkte
tilsynelatende ikke noe mer over dette, til tross for hustruens stadige
påminnelser, før han selv en gang gikk seg vill under en jakt og fant veien
tilbake først etter å ha påkalt Kristus. Straks etter innkalte han Nino og ba
henne gi ham en innføring i troen og gudstjenesten, for fra nå av ville han
ikke tilbe noen annen Gud enn Kristus. Han spurte henne hva han skulle gjøre
for å bli kristen. Men da kom hun i forlegenhet, for i hele landet fantes ennå
verken prester eller biskoper som kunne undervise og døpe kongen. Hun forklarte
ham «så mye som en kvinne kunne forutsettes å vite», og sa at han først måtte
bygge en kirke. Kongen engasjerte seg mer og mer i byggingen av kirken sin, og
den ble fullført under mirakuløse omstendigheter. Så forkynte kong Mirian den
kristne tro for sitt folk, i den ufullstendige form han ennå kjente den, og
«mennene trodde takket være kongen, kvinnene takket være dronningen».
Nino turde da å be kongen
om å sende sendebud til keiser Konstantin den Store og be om en biskop og flere
prester. Det ble sagt at keiseren ble gladere over å høre om georgiernes
omvendelse, enn over at nye land ble lagt til hans rike. Da biskopen ankom,
fant han at ikke bare kongehuset, men hele folket virkelig lengtet etter dåpen.
Folket ble døpt, og Georgia ble et kristent land. Dette skal ha skjedd i år
322, bare få år etter at keiser Konstantin hadde gjort kristendommen til
statsreligion i hele det romerske riket.
Etter at dette var
oppnådd, skal Nino ha blitt eneboerske ved foten av et fjell i Bodbe i Kakheti,
hvor hun døde rundt år 330 (340?) og ble gravlagt. Andre kilder sier at hun
levde fra rundt 325 til 361. Over graven ble det bygd en kirke viet til den
hellige Georg (en
versjon av legenden sier at Nino var en slektning av Georg). Det ble senere et
bispesete, og Nino er skrinlagt i katedralen i Mtskheta, ikke langt fra
Tbilisi.
Denne historien ble
fortalt av den romerske historikeren Rufinus, som i 395 var på besøk i
Palestina. Der møtte han en georgisk prins ved navn Bakur, som fortalte ham om
det som hadde skjedd i Georgia på hans egne besteforeldres tid. Rufinus skrev
den ned i sin kirkehistorie rundt år 403. Selv om den vakre historien i tidens
løp nok er blitt atskillig utbrodert med legender, regnes den i hovedtrekk som
autentisk, og den ble oversatt til mange orientalske språk, som gresk, syrisk,
koptisk, armensk, arabisk og etiopisk. Jentas navn oppgis ikke i den historien
Rufinus' skrev ned, men hun kalles Nino av georgierne og Kristiana (Christiana)
i den førkonsiliære utgaven av Martyrologium Romanum, som ikke kjente hennes
lokale navn.
Den armenske forfatteren
pseudo-Moses av Khorene knytter henne til legenden om de hellige Rhipsime og Gaiana,
den armenske kirkens protomartyrer. Legenden vil ha det til at Nino var den
eneste av Rhipsimes kommunitet i Valarshapat som unngikk å bli slaktet ned av
kong Tiridates soldater. I den georgiske kirke omtales hun fremdeles som «vår
hellige og velsignede mor, hele Georgias opplyser, apostelen Nino». I Egypt er
hun noen ganger kjent som Theognosta.
Nino ble satt inn i
Martyrologium Romanum da det ble revidert på slutten av 1500-tallet av den
ærverdige kardinal Cesare Baronius (1538-1607), lærd oratorianer og kirkehistoriker.
Han satte henne vilkårlig inn under 15. desember med navnet «S. Christiana
ancella». I Georgia feires hun den 14. januar, den greske kirken minnes henne
den 27. oktober og armenerne den 29. oktober. Ved den nye revisjonen av
Martyrologium Romanum (2001) er hennes minnedag flyttet til 14. januar, og der
står hun under sitt eget navn, den hellige Nino. Når noen kilder anakronistisk
gjør henne til skytshelgen for Cebu på Filippinene, skyldes dette en
sammenblanding med «El Niño», Jesusbarnet.
Kilder:
Attwater/John, Attwater/Cumming, Butler (XII), Benedictines, Delaney, Bunson,
Pollestad, Engelhart, Schauber/Schindler, CSO, Patron Saints SQPN, Infocatho,
Bautz, santiebeati.it - Kompilasjon og oversettelse: p. Per Einar Odden -
Opprettet: 1999-11-28 23:07 - Sist oppdatert: 2006-08-21 22:08
SOURCE : http://www.katolsk.no/biografier/historisk/nino
Christiana (ook Chrétienne
Captive, Nina, Nano, Nina, Nino en Nunia) van
Georgië, Berg Bobde, Georgië; geloofsverkondigster; † 337.
Feest 14 januari &
27 oktober (Griekse kerk); 29 oktober (Armeense kerk) & 15 december.
Wonend in Cappadocië (= midden-Turkije) werd ze opgevoed door een oude vrouw uit Grusië (= Georgië). Door haar verhalen droomde ze ervan in dat verre land de leer van Jezus te gaan verkondigen. Tijdens de christenvervolging van Diocletianus (284-305) aan het begin van de 4e eeuw, vluchtte ze erheen en kreeg onderdak bij een vrouw, die omschreven wordt als arbeidster in de wijngaard van de koning. Uit het vervolg blijkt, dat zij werkelijk in wijngaarden werkte, maar tegelijk is het een bijbels beeld voor een goed christengelovige.
Zij verzorgde er zieken en deed wat Jezus destijds in Palestina had gedaan. Zo veroverde ze de harten van de mensen. Als ze over Jezus vertelde, hield ze daarbij een kruis vast dat ze gemaakt had uit twee gekruiste wijntakken. Toen de koning ervan hoorde, bekeerde hij zich tot Christus; dat was in 322. Zo kwam het hele land tot geloof.
Er worden over haar een aantal wonderverhalen verteld. Zo zou ze de genezing hebben
bewerkstelligd van een ziek kind en van de koningin zelf. Ook zorgde zij ervoor
dat de in de mist verdwaalde koning veilig thuis kwam.
Of is dat verhaal een
beeld voor het feit, dat zij de koning, die zich vanuit christelijk oogpunt op
dwaalwegen bevond, op het juiste pad wist te brengen?
Zij is patrones van Georgië; alsmede van de Congregatie der Zusters van
St-Christiana.
[000»jrb; 122»Nino; 140; 141; 500; Dries van den Akker s.j./2010.02.25]
© A. van den Akker
s.j. / A.W. Gerritsen
SOURCE : https://heiligen-3s.nl/heiligen/01/14/01-14-0337-christiana.php
Sainte
Nino, Église de l'Assomption, Anaouri
http://paix-en-georgie.blogspot.ca/2008/09/la-croix-de-vigne-de-sainte-nino.html
http://www.stnina.org/st-nina/her-life/life-st-nina-equal-apostles
https://www.goarch.org/fr/chapel/saints?contentid=2463&type=saints
