Sainte Sousannik
Martyre en Géorgie (+ v.
475)
Chouchan, Chouchannick, Sciuscianik ou Suzanne.
Sa vie, rédigée en 480 par son confesseur Jacques de Tsurtav, est le plus ancien monument de la littérature géorgienne. Fille du général arménien saint Vartan qui fut tué lors de la bataille contre les Perses en 451 à Aravir, elle fut mariée au prince géorgien Varsken de la région de Khartlie. Son époux renia sa foi chrétienne et adhéra à la religion mazdéenne pour plaire au roi des Perses et obtenir plus d'influence. Sousannik se retira hors du palais. Lors d'un repas avec son mari, celui-ci la couvrit d'insultes, la jeta à terre et la frappa. Puis il l'enferma dans une cellule avec une lourde chaîne. Quelques mois plus tard, au lendemain de Pâques, il ordonna de la battre de trois cents coups de verges puis il l'enferma dans un cachot sans lumière où elle resta ainsi durant six années. Elle y mourut, malade et purulente, mais rendant grâces à Dieu d'avoir conservé toute sa foi.
En 578, les reliques de la sainte auraient été transférées à Tbilissi, elles sont vénérées dans l'église de Metekhi (მეტეხი) dédiée à l'Assomption de la Très Sainte Mère de Dieu' aux environs de Tbilissi. (en anglais)
"De nombreux martyrs ont versé leur sang pour l'Evangile, lorsque professer la foi chrétienne était un délit passible de la peine de mort: des neuf enfants martyrs de Kola à sainte Shushanik, à saint Eustache de Mtskheta, à Abo de Tbilissi, jusqu'à la reine Ketevan. En raison de son histoire et de sa culture chrétienne, la Géorgie mérite la reconnaissance de l'Eglise universelle."
(discours du Saint-Père au palais patriarcal de Tbilissi le 8 novembre 1999)
Le shah de Perse triomphait. Il fit venir le petit roi de Géorgie, Vasken, pour lui dire: "Ou vous épousez une de nos princesses en quittant votre femme et vous imposez notre religion à votre royaume, ou bien je le confisque." Pour ne pas perdre son trône, il accepta. Quand il revint, sa femme, la reine Chouchan, lui fit honte de son apostasie. Elle quitta le palais royal, s'établit près d'une église voisine pour y mener une vie toute simple. Mais les Géorgiens ne l'entendirent pas ainsi, car ils ne désiraient pas adorer le soleil du roi des Perses. Pour éviter une révolte, le roi Vasken voulut l'éloigner totalement, sainte Chouchan refusa. Lors de l'entrevue, le roi, fou de rage, se jeta sur elle et lui fracassa la tête à coups de bâton (458?). Sainte Chouchan était d'origine arménienne, fille de saint Vartan, qui était mort à la bataille d'Aravir en 451. C'est pourquoi elle est une sainte nationale en Arménie comme en Géorgie.
"Jacob Tsourtavéli (VIe siècle), auteur du Martyre de sainte Chouchanik est connu comme le chapelain de la reine en question, épouse du grand-duc Varsken. L’ouvrage de Jacob Tsourtavéli raconte le martyre de la sainte, jetée en prison pour avoir refusé d’abjurer sa foi chrétienne sous la pression de son époux, lui-même converti au mazdéisme." (source: le Petit Futé - Géorgie, enfants du pays)
"Fille du martyr Vardan Mamikonian, qui avait sauvé le Caucase d'une conversion forcée au zoroastrisme en 451, cette pieuse princesse ne supporta pas d'apprendre que son époux avait renié le Christ à la cour de Ctésiphon et promis d'instituer l'idolâtrie dans ses domaines. Furieux d'entendre des reproches, Varsken, qui ramenait de Perse une seconde femme, fille du Roi des rois, battit si brutalement Chouchanik qu'il la blessa et la fit enfermer dans une forteresse sans panser ses blessures. La sainte s'éteignit après six ans de souffrance en 476." (source: Chouchanik, une pieuse princesse - Eglise d'Arménie)
A lire: "Shushanik, épouse du gouverneur de Géorgie, nommé Varsken, refusa de suivre son mari qui s'était converti au mazdéisme pour des raisons d'opportunité politique. Varsken emprisonna sa femme qui mourut en 475. Varsken agissait par opportunité, pour éviter le scandale, non pour persécuter une chrétienne." (Shushanik's Georgian Vita- Biro M.)
L’Église d’Arménie la célèbre le jeudi qui suit le deuxième dimanche après la
fête de l’Exaltation de la Sainte Croix. (monastère
de Bose )
SOURCE : https://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/8044/Sainte-Sousannik.html
Sainte Suzanne
Sa vie, rédigée en 480
par son confesseur Jacques de Tsurtav, est le plus ancien monument de la
littérature géorgienne. Fille du général arménien saint Vardan qui fut tué lors
de la bataille contre les Perses en 451 à Aravir, elle fut mariée au prince
géorgien Varsken de la région de Khartlie. Son époux renia sa foi chrétienne et
adhéra à la religion mazdéenne pour plaire au roi des Perses et obtenir plus
d'influence. Sousannik (Suzanne) se retira hors du palais. Lors d'un repas avec
son mari, celui-ci la couvrit d'insultes, la jeta à terre et la frappa. Puis il
l'enferma dans une cellule avec une lourde chaîne. Quelques mois plus tard, au
lendemain de Pâques, il ordonna de la battre de trois cents coups de verges
puis il l'enferma dans un cachot sans lumière où elle resta ainsi durant six
années. Elle y mourut, malade et purulente, mais rendant grâces à Dieu d'avoir
conserver toute sa foi.
SOURCE : http://religion-orthodoxe.eu/article-sainte-suzanne-de-georgie-v-475-87548963.html
A martyted Princess :
The passion of SAINT SHUSHANIK
While the nine martyred
infants of Kola fell victims to their kinsfolk's rustic beliefs and superstitions,
St. Shushanik died as a result of her refusal to accept the Zoroastrian
religion professed by Georgia’s Iranian overlords. The life of Shushanik is the
oldest surviving work of Georgian literature. It was composed between the years
A.D. 476 and 483 by Jacob of Tsurtaveli, father-confessor to the princess, and
is remarkable for its directness of language. The background of the saint's
life is well known from other historical sources. Shushanik's father, Vardan
Manukonian, was the hero of the Armenian nation A rising of the year 45,
directed against the authority of the Zoroastrian king of Iran, Yezdegird.
Shushanik's husband, the Georgian prince Varsken, occupied a strategic position
as Pitiakhsh (from Iranian Bitakhsh, a viceroy) of the frontier region between
Armenia and Georgia. As we see from the life of Shushanik, King Peroz of Iran
sent Varsken to fight against the Huns who threatened to invade Persia from the
north via Derbent and the shores of the Caspian Sea. Varsken was also supposed
to exercise control over the king of Eastern Georgia (Iberia), whose capital at
Mtskheta was within easy reach of Varsken's castle in Tsurtav.
Shushanik's death was brought about by political as much as by religious considerations. Her refusal to abjure Christianity infuriated her husband, who had embraced Mazdeism to ingratiate himself with the Persian court. Shushanik’s obduracy placed Varsken in a difficult position vis-a’-vis his suzerain, ultimately provoking him to murder her in particularly atrocious circumstances. He did not long profit by his crime, for the Armenian chronicler Lazarus of Pharp tells us that in the year 484, the redoubtable Christian king of Georgia, Wakhtang Gorgaslan (Gorgasali), rose in revolt against the Iranians and took prisoner their renegade ally Varsken, who was put to a painful and ignominious death. In addition to these political sidelights, the life of Shushanik is also of interest to the social historian for the insight it gives into such questions as the relations between the sexes in early Christian society and the climatic and sanitary conditions of ancient Caucasia.
October 17th
Passion of the Holy Queen
SHUSHANIK
It was in the eighth year
of the reign of the king of Persia that Varsken the Pitiakhsh, son of Arshusha,
traveled to the royal court. Formerly lie too was a Christian, born of
Christian father and mother. And his wife was the daughter of Vardan,
generalissimo of the Armenians, bearing the name of Varden, or Rose, after her
father, and the pet-name of Shushanik, or Susanna; and she lived in the fear of
God from her childhood days. Because of the unrighteousness of her husband, she
prayed perpetually in her heart and besought all to pray God to convert him
from his deluded ways, so that he might become wise in Christ.
But who could describe
tile wickedness of that abandoned and thrice wretched Varsken? For when he
appeared before the king of the Persians, it was not to receive honour by
rendering service to the monarch, but to deliver himself up hotly and soul by
denying the True God. So he bowed down to the fire, utterly cutting himself off
from Christ. And this miserable man sought to win favour in the eyes of the
king of the Persians by asking him for a wife, adding, “The lawful wife and
children I already have, these I will likewise convert to your faith, just like
myself.” (In making this pledge, how-ever, he had reckoned without Shushanik.)
Then the king rejoiced, and gave him his own daughter to be his bride.
Soon after the Pitiakhsh
took leave of the king. And as lie was approaching the borders of Georgia, the
land of Hereti it occurred to him to have the noblemen and his sons and
retainers informed that they were to meet him, so that in their company he
might enter the country like a snake. He therefore dispatched one of his
servants on a post-horse. When the servant had arrived at the township which is
called Tsurtav, he came in and appeared before Shushanik our queen, and
enquired after her well-being. But the blessed Shushanik said with prophetic
insight, “If he is alive in soul, you are both alive, both he and thou. If you
are both dead in your spirit, that enquiry of thine needs to be addressed to
thyself.” But the man dared not answer her. St. Shushanik, however, insisted
and questioned him urgently, until the man told her the truth, saying, “Varsken
has renounced the True God.”
When the blessed
Shushanik heard this, she fell upon the ground and beat her head on the floor
and said with bitter tears, “Pitiable indeed has become the unfortunate
Varsken! He has forsaken the True God, and embraced the religion of fire and
united himself to the godless.” And she arose and left her palace and went into
the church, filled with the fear of the Lord. With her she took her three sons
and one daughter and brought them before the altar and prayed. And when the
evening service was over, she found a small cottage near the church, and went
into it, filled with grief, and leant against the wall in a corner and wept
bitterly.
Now the bishop attached to the Pitiakhsh's household, whose name was Aphots, was not at hand, having gone to the house of a certain holy man to consult him about some question. And I too, the confessor of Queen Shushanik, was with the bishop. Suddenly a deacon came to us from home and told us all that had occurred: the arrival of the Pitiakhsh and the conduct of the queen. We were filled with sorrow and wept abundantly, being weighed down by the consciousness of our sins.
But I got up early and went to the village where the blessed Shushanik was And
when I saw her afflicted with sorrow, I also wept with her.
While we were conversing,
a certain Persian arrived and came in before the blessed Shushanik, and said in
lachrymose tones, “How so? A peaceful household has become miserable, and joy
has turned to grief!” But he had actually come on a secret errand from Varsken,
and said this as a ruse to ensnare the blessed one. But the saint recognized
his cunning intention, and became all the more firm in her resolve.
Three days after, Varsken
the Pitiakhsh came. And the Persian spoke to him privately and said, “I gather
that your wife has left you. I would advise you, however, not to speak harsh
words to her. After all, women are always liable to be unreasonable.”
The next day, the Pitiakhsh
summoned us priests as soon as be had got up, and we went to him. He received
us agreeably and said to us, “Be at your ease and do not shrink away from me.”
In reply we said to him, “You have brought damnation on yourself and on us
also!” Then he began to speak, and said, “How could my wife allow herself to do
such a thing to me? Now go and tell her that she has degraded my person and
sprinkled ashes upon my bed and forsaken her rightful place and gone
elsewhere.”
To this St. Shushanik replied, “It is not I who either exalted your person or degraded it. Your father raised up sepulchers for the martyrs and built churches, and you have ruined the deeds of your father and destroyed his good works. Your father invited saints into his house, but you invite devils. He confessed and believed in the God of heaven and earth, but you have renounced the True God and bowed clown before the fire. Just as you have despised your Creator, so I pour contempt upon you. Even if you inflict many tortures on me, I will have no part in your doings.”
We reported all this to the Pitiakhsh, as a result of which he became angry and
bellowed with rage. Then the Pitiakhsh commissioned Jojik his brother and
Jojik's wife, his sister-in-law, and the bishop attached to his household, and
told them to speak to her in the following terms: “Get up and come to your
rightful place, and give up these notions of yours! If not, I shall drag you
back by force.”
So they came and entered
in before the queen and spoke many reassuring words to her. Then St. Shushanik
said to them, “O wise men! Do not think I was nothing but a wife to him. I had
imagined that I could convert him to my faith, so that he would acknowledge the
True God. And do you now try to force me to act thus? Let this never happen to
me! You, Jojik, are no longer my brother-in-law, nor am I your sister-in-law,
nor is your wife my sister, since you are on his side and take part in his
doings.”
And as they were pressing
and urging her excessively, the saintly and blessed Shushanik arose to go.
Taking her copy of the Gospels with her, she said with tears, “O Lord God, Thou
knowest that I am resolved in heart to meet my death.” When she had spoken
these words she went with them and carried her Gospel with her, as well as the
holy books of the Martyrs.
When she came into the palace she took up her residence not in her apartments,
but in a small chamber. And St. Shushanik raised her hands to heaven and said,
“O Lord God! Not one merciful man, neither priest nor layman, has been found
among this people, but they have all handed me over to die at the hands of
Varsken, that enemy of God.”
Two days later that wolf
came into the palace and said to his retainers, “Today, I and Jojik and his
wife are dining together. Do not allow anyone to come in to us.” And when it
was evening they called Jojik's wife and decided to bring the holy Shushanik to
dine with them too. When they had wearied her with their insistence, they
obliged her to accompany them to the palace, but she bad no appetite for anything.
Jojik's wife, however, offered her wine in a glass ,and tried to make her drink
a little of it. St. Shushanik said to her angrily, “Whenever has it been the
custom for men and women to dine together?” And stretching out her arm, she
flung the glass in her face, and the wine was spilt.
Then Varsken began to
utter foul-mouthed insults and kicked her with his foot. Picking up a poker, he
crashed it on her head and split it open and injured one of her eyes. And he
struck her face unmercifully with his fist and dragged her to and fro by hair,
bellowing like a wild beast and roaring like a madman.
Jojik his brother rose to
protect her, and came to grips with him and struck him. After her veil had been
torn from her head, Jojik dragged her from Varsken's hands, like a lamb from
the claws of a wolf. St. Shushanik lay like a corpse upon the ground, while
Vansken abused her kinsfolk and called her the defiler of his home. And he
commanded her to be bound and chains to be attached to her feet.
When he had calmed down a
little from his outburst of rage, the Persian came to him and urgently begged
him to free St. Shushanik from her chains. After insistent pleading, he ordered
tier to be unchained and taken to a cell and carefully guarded. She was to have
one servant, and nobody else would be allowed to visit her, neither man nor
woman.
When it was dawn, he
asked her servant, “How are her wounds?” He said to him, “They are past
healing.” Then he himself went in and looked at her, and was greatly astonished
at the size of her swelling. And he directed the servant not to let anyone come
and see her. He himself went out hunting.
But I got up and went and
said to the guard, “Just let me in by myself to have a look at her wounds.” But
he said to me, “What if he finds out and kills me?” I said to him, “Miserable
man, did she not bring you up and educate you? If he kills you for her sake,
what have you to regret?” Then he let me in secretly.
When I went in, I saw her
face all slashed and swollen, and I raised my voice and wept. But St. Shushanik
said to me, “Do not weep for me, since this night has been for me the beginning
of joy.” And I said to St. Shushanik, “Let me wash the blood from your face and
the dust which has fallen into your eyes, and apply ointment and medicine, so that
please God you may be cured.” But St. Shushanik said to me, “Do not say that,
Father, for this blood is for the cleansing of my sins.” But I gently forced
her to take some food, which had been sent by Bishop Samuel and John, who
secretly watched over her and saw to her welfare. St. Shushanik said to me,
“Father, I cannot taste anything, because my jaws and several of my teeth are
broken.” Then I brought a little wine and bread, and dipped it in, and she
tasted a little. And I made haste to go out. Then St. Shushanik said to me,
“Father, shall I send him back this jewellery of his? Even if he does not
require it, I shall have no more use for it in this life.” But I said, “Do not
hurry, let it remain in your keeping.
While we were discussing
this, a boy came in and said, “Is Jacob here?” And I said, “What do you want?”
He said, “The Patiakhsh is calling for you.” And I was surprised and wondered
why he called for me now, so hurried to go. He said to me, “Do you know,
Priest, that I am leaving to fight against the Huns? I have no intention of
leaving my jewellery with her, now that she is not my wife. Someone else will
have to be found to wear it. Go and bring whatever there is of it.”
So I went and told this
to St. Shushanik. She was very glad and thanked God and handed everything over
to me, and I delivered it all to the Pitiakhsh. He received it from me,
inspected it and found everything complete, and again said, “At some later
time, someone will be found to adorn herself with it.”
And when Lent was come,
the blessed Shushanik came and found a small cell near the church, and took up
her abode in it.
On Monday in Easter week,
the Pitiakhsh returned from fighting against the Huns. The Devil animated his
heart, and he arose and went to the church and said to Bishop Aphots, “Give me
my wife! Why are you keeping her away from me?” And he began to curse and utter
violent maledictions against God. But a priest said to him, “Lord, why are you
behaving like this and uttering such evil words and cursing the bishop and speaking
with anger against the saintly Shushanik?” But he struck the priest in the back
wit his staff, so that he dared not say anything more.
So St. Shushanik was
dragged out by force through the mud and over the thorns from the church to the
palace, just as if they were dragging a corps along. And lie ordered her to be
tied up and beaten, and reviled her saying “Now you see that your Church is no
help to you, nor those Christian supporters of yours, nor that God of theirs! “
Three hundred blows they struck her with a stick, without any moan or complaint
passing her lips. After this St. Shushanik said to the impious a Varsken,
“Unhappy man, you have had no pity on yourself, and cut yourself off from God,
so how can you have pity on me?”
When he saw the blood
flowing abundant from her tender flesh, he ordered a chain to be fastened round
her neck, and commanded a chamberlain to take St. Shushanik to the castle and
imprison her in a dark dungeon to die.
A certain deacon
belonging to the bishop's staff stood near St. Shushanik when she was being
taken from the palace, and tried to encourage her to stand fast, when the
Pitiakhsh cast his eye on him. He only managed to say, “Sta . . ,” and then was
silent and hastily took to his heels and ran away.
Then they took lieu out.
St. Shushanik was led barefoot, with her hair disordered, like some woman of
the common folk. Nor did anyone dare to cover her heads because the Pitiakhsh
followed on horseback behind her, cursing her with much foul language. With the
saint was a great mob of women and wen, countless in number, following behind
her, and they raised their voices and wept, and tore their cheeks and shed
tears of pity for St. Shushanik. But St. Shushanik looked upon the crowd and
said to them, “Weep not, my brothers, my sisters and my children, but remember
me in your prayers now that I am taking leave of you from this world. For you
will not see me leave the castle alive.”
When the Pitiakhsh saw
the mob and tire lamentation of men and women, old and young, he charged at
them on his horse and forced them all to run away. When they reached the castle
bridge, the Pitiakhsh said to St. Shushanik, “This is all the walking you will
ever do, for you will not come out alive, until the time comes for four bearers
to carry you out.” When they had entered the castles they found a small dark
hut to the north of it, and there they locked up the saint. They left her with
the chain still fastened round her neck, and this the impious Varsken stamped
with his seal. Then he left the castle.
On the third Sunday, he
summoned a gaoler and asked him, “Is that miserable woman still alive?” He
replied, “Lord! She appears nearer to death than to life. She is likely to die
from hunger alone, since she will eat nothing.” To which he answered, “Never
mind, leave her alone, let her die.”
Then the Pitiakhsh went off to Chor. Jojik his brother was not present when
these things were done to St. Shushanik. When Jojik arrived, he hastened after
the Pitiakhsh, caught up with him on the borders of Hereti, and implored him to
have her released from her fetters. After he had greatly importuned Varsken, he
ordered her to be unchained. When Jojik returned, he removed the chain from her
neck.
But St. Shushanik was not
released from her shackles until her death. For she remained six years in the
castle, and blossomed forth with her religious observances, ever fasting,
keeping vigil and watching, in unwearying adoration and assiduous reading of
holy books. The entire castle was made radiant and beautiful by the lyre of her
spirit.
From now on, her works
became renowned through-out all Georgia. Men and women used to come for the
fulfillment of their vows. Whatever they had need of was bestowed on them
through the holy prayer of the blessed Shushanik, namely a child to the
childless, healing to the sick, and to the blind, restoration of sight.
They told St. Shushanik,
“Your children have been converted to Mazdeism.” Then with many tears she began
to worship God and beat her head upon the ground and groaned, saying, “I give
thanks to Thee, O Lord God of mines for they were hot mine, but gifts from Thee
I As Thou wilts Thy will lie done, O Lord. Save me from the schemes of the Evil
One.”
Then the Pitiakhsh sent
messengers and said, “Either to my wilt and return to the palace, or if you
will not come home, I will send you under guard to Chor or to the Persian
court.
St. Shushanik, however, answered, “Wretched and stupid man If you send me to
Chor or to the Persian court, who knows if some good may not come to me and
this evil be averted?”
The Pitiakhsh pondered over these words which she had uttered, “Who knows if
some good may riot come to me ?” which lie took to mean, “Perhaps one of the
princes then” might take her to wife.” From then onwards, lie sent no one to
her.
Later, however, the
Pitiakhsh deputed her own foster-brother to bring her back to the palace. When
tie said to her, “Listen to me and come back to the palace, and do not leave
your home desolate,” then St. Shushanik replied, “Tell that godless man this
You have killed me, and volt declared that I should never come out of this
castle on my feet alive I And now, if you can raise the dead, first raise your
mother who is buried at Urdi. For if you cannot raise her up, neither can you
bring me out of here, unless you drag me by force.”
When she had passed six
years in this prison, excessive weariness from her feats of courage and
devotion brought sickness upon her. Furthermore that place was incredibly
infested with fleas and lice. In the summer time the heat of the sun burns like
fire, the winds are torrid and the waters infected. The inhabitants of this
region are themselves afflicted with various diseases, being swollen with
dropsy, yellow with jaundice, pock-marked, withered up, mangy, pimply, bloated
of face and brief of life, and nobody attains old age in that district.
When the seventh year had
begun, the holy and thrice blessed Shushanik was afflicted with an ulcer of the
flesh. As a result of her tireless acts of piety, her feet became swollen, and
pustules broke out on various parts of her body. The ulcers were very large and
infested with worms. One of these she held out in her hand and showed it to me,
and gave thanks to God, saying, “Father, do not let the sight of this upset
you. There (i.e. in Hell) the worm is greater, and never dies.” When I saw this
worm, I was afflicted with inexpressible distress, and wept greatly. But she
retorted sharply, “Father, why are you sorrowful? Rather than being eaten by
those immortal worms, it is better to be consumed here in this life by mortal
ones!”
When Jojik heard that the
blessed queen St. Shushanik was near to death, he went out and brought with him
his wife and children and his servants and retainers, and came to the castle to
see the saintly Shushanik the martyr. Then she blessed Jojik and his wife and
children and his servants and retainers and all the members of his household,
and bade them walk in the ways of God. And she took leave of them and sent them
away in peace.
After Jojik there came
Archbishop Samuel and his friend Bishop John, who had encouraged her and taken
part in her good works. Likewise there came the grandees and noble ladies, the
gentry and common folk of the land of Georgia. Their eyes were filled with tears
as they said farewell to her, and they offered lip praise to God for her
glorious works, and then They left the castle and departed.
Then came the day when
she was to be called away. And she summoned the bishop attached to her
household, Aphots, and thanked him for his kindness which equalled that of a
father and a foster-parent. She called for me, sinner and wretch that I am, and
committed to us the relics of her bones, commanding us to bury them in that
place from which she was first dragged forth. And she said, “Though I am but a
worker of the eleventh hour in the vineyard, if I have any merit, you shall all
be blessed for ever and ever.”
Then she gave thinks to
God, saying, “Blessed is our Lord God, for on Him I will lay myself down and
sleep in peace. And she entrusted her soul to the Lord, who receives all
mankind in His mercy.
The beginning of the
torments of St. Shushanik was in the month of January, on the eighth day, being
a Wednesday. Her second beating took place on Monday in Easter week. And her
death was in the month of October, on the seventeenth day, being the festival
of the blessed saints and martyrs Cosmas and Damian, and it was a Thursday.
This anniversary we set apart for the commemoration of St. Shushanik, and for
the praising of God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, to whom belong glory for
ever and ever, Amen.
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 is copyrighted by BESIKI SISAURI - MDiv. It may not
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Church.
SOURCE : https://www.angelfire.com/ga/Georgian/new.html
Martyr Susanna, Queen of
Georgia
Commemorated on August 28
Saint Shushanik (Susanna)
was the wife of the Georgian prince Varsken, the ruler of Hereti.1 Having
been raised in a pious Christian family, she was deeply penetrated with love
and the fear of God.
At that time Kartli was
under heavy political pressure from Persia, and Prince Varsken visited the
Persian king Peroz in hopes of encouraging more friendly relations between the
two countries. He willingly denied the true Faith, converted to the worship of
fire, and promised the king to convert his wife and children upon his return to
Hereti.
Having approached the
border of Hereti, Varsken sent messengers to Tsurtavi, the city in which he
ruled, to ensure that his subjects met him with due respect. The blessed
Shushanik, having learned of her husband’s betrayal, fell to the ground and
wept over him with bitter tears. Then she took her four children, deserted the
palace, and sought refuge in a nearby church.
That evening Shushanik
was visited by her spiritual father, the elder Jacob, who predicted, “Varsken’s
cruelty and mercilessness are unmistakable. Know that terrible trials await
you. Will you be firm and unbending in your position?”
“I would rather die than
unite with him and destroy my soul!” she answered.
Three days later the
prince arrived in Tsurtavi. As promised, he tried to persuade his wife to
convert, but Saint Shushanik firmly answered, “As you have renounced your
Creator, so I am renouncing you. I will no longer take part in your affairs, no
matter what suffering I must endure!”
The next time, Varsken
sent his younger brother Jojik and Bishop Apots to convince Shushanik to return
to the palace. Shushanik refused for some time, but in the end she yielded to
their persuasion. She set off for the palace with the Holy Gospel and the Lives
of the holy martyrs, and when she arrived she locked herself in a squalid cell.
Two days later Varsken returned to the palace and invited Shushanik, his
brother Jojik, and his sister-in-law for supper. The queen, however, could not
bring herself to share a meal with one who had betrayed Christ: she pushed away
the cup that Jojik’s wife had offered her, thus further angering her husband.
The furious Varsken beat
his wife mercilessly, fettered her in irons, locked her in prison, and forbade
the guards to let anyone in to see her.
Saint Shushanik spent six
years in captivity. While she was serving her sentence, she helped the poor
that came to her. Through her prayers the sick were healed and children were
born to the childless. Before her death, Holy Martyr Shushanik blessed those around
her and requested that she be buried at the place from which her unbelieving
husband had dragged her out of the palace.
This happened in the year
475. The clergy and people alike wept bitterly over Shushanik’s tragic fate.
Her holy relics were buried in accordance with her will.
In 578, with the blessing
of Catholicos Kirion I, Saint Shushanik’s holy relics were translated to
Tbilisi, where they remain today, in the Metekhi Church of the Most Holy
Theotokos.
Saint Susanna of Georgia
is also commemorated on October 17.
1 Hereti, a province
of southeastern Georgia, was under Persian control at that time. Prince Varsken
was essentially the viceroy for the Persians.
SOURCE : https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2009/08/28/102417-martyr-susanna-queen-of-georgia
Santa Susanna Martire
+458
Figlia di s. Verdan e
pronipote di s. Isacco katholicos, fu chiamata Vardeni (Rosa) dai genitori e
Susanik (Gigliola) in seguito. Ereditò una profonda pietà dai genitori, però
ebbe come marito Vasken, - governatore dela Georgia armena e figlio di Asusa -,
di carattere perverso. Infatti Vasken rinnegò la fede cristiana quando si recò
dal re persiano e prese in seconda moglie la madre della regina persiana,
impegnandosi a convertire alla religione persiana i figli e la moglie, cioè
Susanna.
Susanna seppe che il
marito aveva rinnegato la fede mentre egli stava rotornando in patria; allora
prese con sé i figli e andò in chiesa a piangere il marito e raccomandare sé e
i figli al Signore; poi, invece di ritornare a casa prese alloggio in una
casetta presso la chiesa. Quando arrivò Vasken, non trovando né la moglie
né i figli, chiamò il vescovo ed un sacerdote per mandarli presso sua moglie ed
invitarla a tornare a casa promettendole gloria e ricchezza più di prima.
Susanna, avuto il messaggio del vescovo, lo riprese severamente, ma quello
replicò dicendo: se non ritorni a casa l’ira del principe si riverserà sui
fedeli, mentre col tuo ritorno potresti calmarlo e risparmiarci la sua
collera. A questo ragionamento Susanna cedette e ritornò a casa, però non
partecipò al banchetto preparato per il ritorno di Vasken. Di fronte
all’ostinato rifiuto di lei il principe si adirò, la trasse per forza nella
sala e la picchiò tanto finché la credette morta. Però il giorno seguente seppe
che era ancora in vita ed ordinò di incarcerarla legandole con catene le mani,
i piedi ed il collo. In questa situazione Susanna rimase per sei anni. Intanto
seppe che i tre figli erano stati uccisi in una imboscata, ed ella rngraziò il
Signore per averli salvati dalle mani del marito rinnegato. Dopo sei anni di
carcere, trascorsi nelle mortificazioni e nella preghiera tra l’ammirazione dei
sacerdoti e monaci, anche lei morì. Erano presenti all’agonia il katholicos
della Georgia, Samuele, il vescovo della città, Jovhan con i suoi sacerdoti e
diaconi, molti magnati e dame della Georgia. La morte della santa avvenne il 17
Kaloc dell’a. 458 ca. La festa nell’odierno calendario armeno viene celebrata
nell’ottava settimana dopo la Pentecoste, mentre nel Sinassario di Ter Israel è
indicato al 25 o 29 dicembre.
Autore: Paolo
Ananian
