Chapter IV: Saint Nina (1)

A TALE

The fourteenth of January is a day of great solemnity throughout Georgia. This is the fete of Saint Nina, who converted us to Christianity. Nina's father, Zavonlon, was, according to tradition, a relation of the great and holy martyr, George, who married Sossanna, the sister of Yovenalii, patriarch of Jerusalem, whose family came from Koloss. He and his sister became orphans in early childhood and went to Jerusalem, where Yovenalii accepted an appointment as secretary, while Sossanna entered the service of Sarah, a woman of Vifleem. In the meantime Zavonlon travelled from Kappadokia to Rome to be presented to the Emperor, and reached there just at the time when the Brandjis, who had revolted, appeared in the valley of Patalania. Zavonlon did not let them reach Rome, but turned them to flight, captured the Tsar and leaders, and handed them over to the Emperor. When, however, the monarch condemned them to death, they began to cry and implore Zavonlon to convert them to Christianity.

"Lead us to the temple of thy God," they said, "before having us killed. Thou didst capture us and having sacrificed us to God thou wilt not be responsible for our death, magnanimous hero!"

Then Zavonlon went to the patriarch and informed him of all that had taken place. Without saying a word to the Emperor, the patriarch, with the help of Zavonlon, baptized them, let them partake of the Holy Communion, and taught them the Christian faith. At sunrise on the following day the Brandjis rose, attired themselves in funeral robes and started for the place of execution. They prayed, thanked God, who had saved them by baptism, and said:

"We are immortal even after death, because the Lord hath glorified us by giving us permission to partake of the Holy Communion. Yes, let His name now be glorified! now, henceforth, and evermore! Woe to our fathers, who died in ignorance and remained in the dark, we shall not taste the sorrowful, but the joyful fruit. Approach, executioner, and cut off our heads!"

At these words they willingly stretched their necks under the sword. But Zavonlon, who could no longer stand this spectacle, rushed to the Emperor in order to implore his pardon for them.

"I give them to thee; do with them whatever thou wilt!" said the sovereign. Zavonlon lost no time in returning to the spot of execution and succeeded in saving those sentenced.

Thereupon they began to beg him to lead them home to their native land in order to preach there about the Faith of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and convert those desirous of leaving paganism. Zavonlon went to the patriarch, got some priests, and with the Emperor's permission departed, accompanied by the Brandjis. When they had but one more day of travelling before them, a rumor spread in their country that the Tsar was alive and meant to return with his courtiers. The sections of Kkhozamo, Kkhosa, Goakchladja or Gardadja, Kkhonebag, Kkhjirag or Kindtjag, Zadja, Zaza, Zarda, Zamra and Tkmoka hurried to meet them, and were reached on the banks of a great and deep river; the water was blessed and they entered it and came out at one special spot where a priest laid his hand on them.

Zavonlon stayed with them till they were baptized and converted, put everything in perfect order, left the priests and went away, overwhelmed with gorgeous presents.

"I shall take these treasures for the decoration of the tomb of the Lord," thought Zavonlon, and started for Jerusalem, where he gave everything to the poor. At that time Yovenalii (in monkhood he had taken the name of Zadass) was patriarch of Jerusalem, and made friends with Zavonlon, while Sarah of Vavilon recognized him and learned to cherish his capacities. Besides, she said to the patriarch: "Zavonlon is the father of the Brandjis (original inhabitants of Barcelona) whom he converted, and to whom he gave the Holy Baptism; he carried out the commands of God, and thinking the matter over, I counsel thee to let him marry thy sister Sossanna" (probably Susanna). Sarah's counsel was carried out and the young couple left for Colossus, Zavonlon's fatherland.

Soon the bride gave birth to a daughter, Nina. When she was twelve years old her parents sold their whole property and settled in Jerusalem. Here Zavonlon was made a monk by the Patriarch German (because Sossanna's brother had already died), and became divorced from his wife. Pressing his daughter to his breast and covering her face with tears, he said:

"My dear and only child, I leave thee an orphan, and recommend thee to our Heavenly Father, God, who nourishes all live beings, because He is the father of orphans and the Judge of widows. Fear nothing, my daughter, but try to imitate Mary Magdalen and the sisters of Lazarus in their love to God. If thou lovest Him as much as they did, He will also refuse nothing to thee." Having embraced her once more, he crossed the Jordan and started to preach the teachings of God among wild nations, where the only God, creator of all beings, knew that the time was ripe. Sossanna, on the other hand, by order of the patriarch, looked after the poor women, but was put in the service of Niapkhora, an Armenian woman from Doroim.

She stayed two years at her house, learning the laws of God, because at that time there was nobody in all Jerusalem so well acquainted with the Old and New Confession and who had such a broad and enlightened mind. Niapkhora was honorable and truthful and imitated Abraham in hospitality. Her house was always open to all pilgrims coming to pray at the Tomb of the Lord. More than once she happened to receive Christians who had been Jews and had inhabited Georgia. From them Nina heard a story how, at the time of the Babylonian captivity, some Jews had settled down at Mtzkhet and how they yearly sent some of their people to the Easter celebrations at Jerusalem. They also told her that in the second year of Aderka's reign in Georgia, they found out about the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ through these very messengers. Within thirty years at Mtzkhet delegates arrived from the preosviashtchennik (clerical title) Anna with the following news:

"He to whom the wise men brought presents is now grown up and teaches us a new faith; thereupon we are sending word to the Jews in order to find among them teachers of the law and to tell them: 'Come ye all, who uphold the law of Moses and clear up our perplexity! Let all those acquainted with law immediately leave the foreign lands and hasten with all possible speed to the fatherland, in order to confirm and guard the faith of our forefathers, carry out the laws of Moses, save the common folk from being dazzled by the new teaching, and furthermore, put the guilty one to death.' Elios, a man who was no longer young, of the tribe of the Levites, decided to go to Jerusalem, leaving his mother, a descendant of the high priest Ilia, to the care of his sister Sidonia, because the old woman herself said:

"'Go, my beloved son, whither the Lord and his holy law call thee, but mind my remarks: thou as a man well instructed in law shouldst not allow them to have a godless intention. I beg thee--do not have a hand in spilling the blood of this man. Thou knowest that this is the carrying out of the ancient prophecies, believe this one with all thy heart as I believe in him!'"

Together with Elios went a young Hebrew, Longinos, a warrior from Karssan, and they reached Jerusalem just at the time of the crucifixion of our Lord, as they arrived on a Friday.

When they drew lots, a Greek tunic fell to the share of Elios, but Longinos received the garment of the Lord, which he carried back to Kontais (this garment used to hang in the centre of the church in a crystal vessel up to the time of Shah Abass, who sent it away to Russia). When they began to crucify our Lord, by chance the sound of the hammer and nails came to the mother of Elios, and she exclaimed:

"Good-bye, kingdom of Israel! Unhappy ones--you are lost forevermore! By your craziness you kill your Vladyka and the Saviour of the world, and thus you become the wilful murderers of your Creator! Woe ye unhappy ones! There is no lamentation equal to your distress! Woe to me, because my ears have heard these mournful sounds!" and with these words she gave up her soul to God. When, however, Elios returned to Mtzkhet bringing the robe, Sidonia came out to meet him, and crying and weeping threw herself in his arms to tell him of her mother's death; and lo! she came to glance at the robe. She recognized it as having belonged to the Lord Jesus Christ, and the thought that her brother had helped along his death filled her heart with indescribable sorrow. Having placed on her breast the invaluable holy relic, she died.

The news of her death spread all over Mtzkhet and reached the Tsar, who wished to see the dead woman. Coming to her body he was struck by the beauty of the robe, giving out a heavenly glow, and he wanted to put it on, but no power under the sun could tear the relic out of the arms of the deceased. Elios buried his sister together with the robe, and thus saved it from further attempts of the unbelieving.

These tales made a strong impression on Nina's soul, she often and long reflected how she might seek out the place where the robe was, and tried to obtain information from her governess. "My child," said Niapkhora, "I see that by thy strength thou are equal to a lioness, whose roar hushes up the growling of all quadrupeds. Thy capacity for penetration puts thee on a footing with the female eagle, who by her flying exceeds the male eagles and with her little eyes sees all creation; having beheld the booty she inspects it with her piercing glances, just as the fire experiments with the gold, and makes for it with spread-out wings. Such will be thy life. Thy voice will be heard all over the world and thy booty is to enrich God. Now I will explain it all to thee. Thou knowest that the immortal God had compassion for the mortal inhabitants of this world and came to earth in order to assemble around him the nations and save the whole world. His first good deeds were applied to the Hebrews, among whom he made the dead arise, made the blind see, and healed the sick. Astounded, they sent out messengers all over the world in order that the Hebrews might most rapidly assemble at a great council.

"'We are perishing,' exclaimed the messengers, 'hurry, gather ye all!'

"Then from all countries there came together people, educated in the laws of Moses--they came together to openly oppose themselves to the Holy Ghost and, namely, do what was necessary to the world. They crucified the Lord Jesus and drew lots to get his robe. The robe was handed over without quarreling to the Man of Mtzkhet. Thou knowest also that upon the burial of our Lord they placed guards at his tomb, but that he arose according to prediction, and in the tomb there remained nothing but the shroud, which the Apostle Luke took, but no one knows to whom he gave it. As to the vesture of the Lord, which was not found in the tomb, many conclude that the Apostle Peter took it without telling anything about its further fate. I in my turn am more inclined to believe what we heard from the Hebrews of Mtzkhet. The crosses are hidden here at Jerusalem, but this place is unknown to everybody until the Lord doth open it in times to come by his chosen messenger!"

Hearing these words, Nina raised herself and thanked God and asked: "Well, where then is that land where the robe was discovered?"

"The town of Mtzkhet is in Georgia. This is a mountainous land, the borderland of Armenia, and its inhabitants still continue to practise idolatry. The Chaldean magis have a strong influence over the people," replied Niapkhora.

At that time there arrived from Ethesus a woman who had come to visit and pay homage to the Holy Sepulchre and who stopped at Niapkhora's.

"Is the Empress Helen still in the shade of unbelief?" asked Niapkhora of her.

"I am her servant," answered the newcomer, "and know all her wishes, both open and hidden. She would like to become a Christian and be baptized."

"Let me go to the sovereign," Nina began to ask of her mistress, "perhaps our Lord Jesus Christ!"

"Let us first ask the blessing of our most holy Patriarch German," answered Niapkhora, and went to him.

Soon they called in Nina and placed her on the steps of the ambo; thereupon German put his hands upon her shoulders and having sighed from the depth of his soul, he said: "Vladyka, Immortal God! To Thee I commit this orphan, the daughter of a sister of one of Thy servants, and send her to preach Thy faith and announce Thy resurrection everywhere where Thou desirest it to be carried out! Heavenly Jesus! be Thou her companion during the journey, her protector in danger, a refuge, a leader and a teacher as Thou hast been from century to century to all those who feared Thy holy name!"

That very night the Virgin appeared to St. Nina in a dream, to whose happy lot Iveria fell when she together with the apostles drew lots to see who should go to preach the faith of Christ in Georgia. In the hands of the Heavenly Queen there was a vineyard cross, which by her command was tied with some of Nina's hair. The Most Holy Virgin handed the cross to the sleeping girl and ordered her to go in her stead to convert the Iverian people. The Saint awoke with the cross in her hands and hastened to announce to her mother all that had occurred. With happy emotion Sossanna listened to her, kissed her, crossed herself, and blessing her, let her start out, commending Nina to the care of God.

From her mother Nina went straight to the Ethesian woman, whom she began to hurry up to start out, as her heart was burning with impatience; and notwithstanding the uncertainty and length of the journey, her readiness to do everything to serve God was so great that she did not have the least fear; this ardor was not left unrewarded by the Leader of Hearts. He Himself appeared to St. Nina, quieted and strengthened her for the coming expedition.

Having reached Ethesus, the Saint, in the house of her companion, found the Tsarevna Ripsime fleeing from the Diocletian torments together with fifty friends. Soon they were joined by three hundred maidens and Saint Gaiane, her nurse. Ripsime grew attached to Nina, because the Ethesian woman told her the latter's story, and the Saint took advantage of the kind feelings of the Tsarevna in order to instruct her still more in the faith; and in the course of this year she baptized the Queen, Gaiane, and seventy men of her suite.

They passed two years together at the monastery of Poss-Rhoss. Just at that time Emperor Maximian sent his eunuchs everywhere to seek out the beautiful and good girls and bring them to him--without distinction of rank, extraction, or even religious belief.

The messengers arrived at the monastery of Poss-Rhoss, beheld Ripsime, and struck by her unusual beauty, they did not yet decide to take her, but began to enquire about her family. Having found out that she was of royal rank, they considered her worthy of becoming Maximian's wife, painted her portrait and went away. Hardly had Maximian glanced at her portrait, when his heart flamed up with some strong passion. He announced that in the whole world there was no equal perfection of beauty, that Ripsime was worthy of becoming his wife, that their marriage should be celebrated with unheard of till then solemnity, and he immediately sent messengers to all parts of his immense monarchy so that each subject might come to take part in the nuptial festivities. In the meantime the saints trembled from fear because they knew that this Tsar was like a vessel of anger, sly like a snake in heaven, also not clean, and idolatrous. They imagined that the Tsarevna's portrait would cause them to be very much grieved, and having fasted a long time, they prayed to God and decided to rely on His holy mercy and secretly run away from this place. And thus the seventy sisters set out for Armenia, in the neighborhood of Vagkarshapat, and reached a splendid town called New Dovin, where the Tsar himself resided.

Here they took up their quarters in poor huts, which surrounded the town from the north and west and were used for pressing out the grapes. Here with laborious work they earned their own living. Having, however, discovered that the Tsarevna Ripsime with her nurse and companions had disappeared in some unknown place, Maximian became perfectly furious and sent messengers to look everywhere for her.

His ambassadors arrived at the court of Trdat, Tsar of Armenia, with the following letter: "The autocratic Emperor to his nearest brother, friend and comrade Trdat--I salute thee. Thy friendship is our most faithful ally; I inform thee above all that the sinful Christian nature is very harmful to us, because it forces the nations to disregard our mightiness and not respect our Majesty. Their religion consists of the following points: they serve a dead and crucified man, adore wood and consider it glorious to die for their Lord. Although they fear not the Jews, they nevertheless fear Him, whom the Jews killed and crucified. In their blindness they defame monarchs, scorn the gods, attribute absolutely nothing to the powerful brightness of the sun, moon, and stars--saying that these are the creations of the crucified. They anger the whole world to such a degree that fathers and mothers separate themselves one from another, not awaiting death. In vain do our commands and terrible tortures exterminate them, for they appear in still greater numbers! Having by chance seen a young Christian maid, I wished to marry her, but she, instead of desiring to be united with a Tsar, rebuked me like a dirty being and secretly ran off into thy lands. Investigate this affair, my dear brother, order a search to be made, and as soon as thou findest her with her companions, put to death the latter, but send splendid Ripsime hither, or if she pleases thee, take her, for thou wilt not find such a perfect beauty in all Greece. I hope that thou art in good health--adieu, serve the gods!"

Having read the letter, Trdat began the search, and soon found the saints. Ripsime produced on him exactly the same impression as on Maximian and he also made up his mind to have her become his wife. But the Saint flatly refused him, and so he tortured her together with thirteen companions on the fifth of October; and Saint Gaiane and two others on the following day. The remaining succeeding in hiding themselves; among them was also St. Nina, who by God's instructions hid herself in the branches of a prickly rosebush, without flowers. Here she beheld a bright star coming down from the clouds; it served as a footstool to a deacon, in whose hands there was a censer; out of the latter there came such an abundant perfume that the sky really darkened. The deacon was accompanied by innumerable heavenly beings. This was the instant when the martyrs breathed their last breath, united themselves with the heavenly forces sent out after their souls, and together with them rose to heaven.

"Lord Jesus!" exclaimed the Saint, "why dost thou abandon me with aspics and snakes?"

In answer to this lamentation, a voice was heard from Heaven, saying: "Arise and start for the North, where there is a great harvest, but few workers!"

And thus the fourteen-year-old child went out to convert a whole country. She guided herself by the voice of God and overcame all difficulties: the length of the journey and physical exhaustion, and the fear of wild animals and wicked people and the cold and hunger and want! She went as the apostles went; without a staff, and just like them, she conquered kings, converted whole nations, healed the sick and glorified the name of that God who had called to her: "Arise and go!" Without losing a moment's time she left for the North.

The dear one constantly reminded her of the following words: "There is a great harvest but few workers!" and in this she seemed to think there was an explanation of the fact that on her fell the godly choice. Near Khertviss her strength began to fail. From continuous walking she had become quite lame and was forced to stop and go into winter quarters--enduring innumerable privations. In time her health was so much restored that she started again on her expedition.

Having reached the frontier of Djavakhetta she stopped on the bank of Lake Pkaravno, known also under the designations: Pkdrnav, Paraban, Pkanavar, and Tanaravan; from this lake flows out a river called the Mtkouar of Djavakhetta, from which are to be seen high mountains covered with snow even during the summer months. They are the cause of much cold weather in all the neighboring towns and villages. Fear seized Saint Nina.

"O Lord!" she cried out, trembling, "accept my soul!" and she fell to the ground. For two whole days she could not master her fright nor continue her journey. At last hunger forced her to ask for food of some poor fishermen trading on the lake and of the shepherds who guarded their herds on the banks of the lake.

The latter often used to invoke their gods at night. These were called Armaz and Zaden, and the heathen inhabitants of the lake districts promised them rich sacrifices if they only guarded the herds from any possible evil. Hearing that their prayers were spoken in Armenian, to which Saint Nina was somewhat accustomed as she had served at Niapkhora's, she dared to ask them whither they had come.

"I am an Akovanian from Elrbienik on the banks of the Lopatsh-Tskan" (this is the left arm of the Alasana, Plinii calls the inhabitants of this region Loubienis), said one of them.

"We are Kakhetines from Sapourtzle and Kindsar near Mouknar," murmured two others.

"But I am a Touissian from Rabatt," added a third one.

"Here is one from the great city of Mtzkhet, where there lives a Tsar and where we have temples of our gods; in summer we all drive our herds to the banks of the Pkarnav, thus saving ourselves from the unbearable heat of our countries. The reason that the lake has so many names is that each of us pronounces its name according to his own language. In the autumn we disperse to our many homes to escape the cold of this district."

"Where is Mtzkhet?" asked Nina with a fainting heart.

"This river unites itself with another one which comes from Kola, changes its name to Mtkonar and flows to Mtzkhet."

She looked at the sides of the river: it was an endless plain. She became frightened upon beholding its boundless limits. Having sighed over the great length of the coming journey, she put her head on a stone near the source of the river and fell asleep.

In a dream there appeared to her a man of middle height with flying hair, and handed her a written roll, which ran as follows: "Carry this in all haste to the idolatrous Tsar of Mtzkhet!" Saint Nina cried bitterly and began to implore and pray: "O Lord! I am a woman, an adventurer, uneducated, I am unable to say much; now how in the world am I to go into a strange land to heathen nations--to a mighty Tsar?"

Then the shining man unfolded the roll in which were written ten commandments as on the tablets of Moses, and gave them to St. Nina to read. She awoke with the roll in her hands. The following were the contents of the roll:

I: Amen--I say unto ye, go on then, for this testament will be proclaimed all over the world, will go from mouth to mouth, and hardly will it be known when documents will appear to commemorate the event.

II: Make no difference between men or women. III: As thou goest, instruct all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. IV: The world is the language of enlightenment and thy glory, O Israel! V: This good deed of heaven will be practised the world over. VI: He who accepts you, accepts Me and he who accepts Me accepts Him who glorified Me. VII: Mary loved the Lord exceedingly, for she always obeyed his commandments. VIII: Not cutting off the bodies of the murderers, the souls of those who are powerful shall not linger. IX: The speech of Jesus to Mary Magdalen: "Go, O woman, and announce my fraternity!" X: "Teach them to promptly and rigidly observe all these commandments and then I shall be with you, in all times and to the end of the world--Amen!"

Having read the roll, Saint Nina became convinced that this apparition came directly from the Lord. She ardently prayed that the Lord might soothe her, and committing herself to his will, she immediately followed the course of the river. At first it flowed towards the West through wild and sterile countries. The journey became still more terrible through the number of wild animals filling these deserts with their fearful roaring, but not one of them attempted to approach and touch the protege of God. Only when the river turned to the East did they begin little by little to disappear. Driven on by fear she forgot exhaustion and went rapidly ahead, hardly stopping a minute to catch breath. Soon after the turn of the river Saint Nina overtook some travellers going to Ourbishi or Ouriat-Oubani (which means "Street of the Hebrews"), and joyfully followed them, but at Ourbishi a disappointment awaited her; instead of believers of the real God she found people who bowed down and adored fire, wood, and stone; her heart burned with indignation, but the Lord comforted her by instructing some Jews to give her a hospitable reception, which she made use of for about one month, when the following spectacle aroused her feelings:

She beheld a great crowd of people going towards Mtzkhet, and as she heard from her host that there were Hebrews there, she followed the people in the distance and thus happened to reach her point of destination upon the fete of Armaz. Before reaching the bridge near Mogontka this large crowd stopped like one man to bow down to the fire, and Saint Nina cried bitterly at the loss of such a large, large number of human souls, ransomed by the most precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. On the sixth of August, 324 A. D., on the day of the Transfiguration of the Lord, Saint Nina, according to tradition, accomplished her first wonder. Upon that day appointed for the feting of the idol Armaz, it was the duty of the Tsar and Tsaritsa to take part in the ceremonies. From early in the morning numberless crowds of people, like flowers in the field, filled the streets, shouting and hurrying, each one trying to excel his neighbor in ornamenting their respective houses with carpets, fine shawls and other such articles, all along the road by which the royal cortege was to pass. First there arrived the Tsaritsa Nana, surrounded by the wives and daughters of the aristocracy. She was followed by the Tsar with a numerous suite. Songs of praises and blessings were heard among the crowd of the nation. With great pomp the procession ascended the mountain to adore their god, who was cast of clean gold, while at his side there stood two inferior gods of silver, who wore gold cuirasses and in their aquamarine eyes had artificially made rolling emerald pupils. These last idols were of human proportions and inside of them a mechanism was hidden, through which their hands (in which there were sharp swords) cut down all those who dared to approach the chief god without making a sacrifice, or all those who adored other and foreign gods instead. On the Roman bridge, Saint Nina joined the procession.

"What in the world does all this mean?" she asked of a Jewess.

"This is the god of gods--Armaz, who calls the people to do him homage. No other idol can compare with him, because each of us puts on his best garment to-day and holds a flag in his hand as a sign of joyousness."

In the meantime the procession had reached its destination. The Tsar bowed down to the ground, surrounded by whole clouds of incense. The sacrificers offered their victims. The Tsaritsa, the nobility, innumerable hordes of people followed the example of their ruler to the greatest displeasure of the Saint, who with all her heart prayed to Him, who had made her glorious and lo! a short-breathed West wind came up, at first softly, then always stronger and stronger, and finally turned into an oragan.

Losing their breath and feeling choked, the Tsar ran away and the sacrificers and the nation too, but the orcano turned into a perfect rain of stones--not allowing even half of those fleeing to seek shelter. Stones of such a size poured down that not every grown up man could raise them with both arms, and they continued to ransack the temple and idols, until all had been turned to ashes and dust.

The heathens fled in terror; this mountain, such a short time before so crowded with people, had now been totally cleared of men and upon it sat only Nina, who was not at all terrified by the fearful spectacle. She saw in this a new proof of the all mightiness of her own God, and under his powerful protection she quietly lay down and peacefully fell asleep on a huge block of stone.

The next day, by the order of the Tsar, one of the noblemen went to inspect the scene of the disaster of the preceding day. He beheld Saint Nina, concluded by her dress that she was a traveller from some distant land, and with customary Georgian hospitality, invited her to stop at his home. But his offer was by no means accepted by the Saint. She continued her journey along the banks of the river and finding on the road an eye of one of the gods, she took it along with her. Upon reaching the junction of the Koura and Aragva, where formerly there stood a town and a fortress, she resolved to take a rest and pass the night at that point of the cape, where till then there still remained the ruins of the church of Favora.

At that time beautiful, well-shaped, high birches grew there, with magnificent shady branches. They were planted by Tsar Bartom, who often rested in their shade; this custom was long observed by the nobility and well-known men and almost every sunny day some one from the aristocracy passed the day under the branches of the birches. On one of these trees Saint Nina painted a cross and lived under it in constant prayer till the twelfth of August. On that day came to refresh herself with the coolness of the famous trees, the lady of the royal court Krokhana with her servant, a Greek woman. The latter by the order of her mistress asked the Saint who she was, what she was undertaking, and whether she did not need something. The Saint said that she was "Tevee," i. e., a prisoner of war (which does not mean that she was a servant, as some writers out of pure ignorance expressed themselves in describing her life) and did not tell of her real extraction. Krokhana immediately invited her to follow her to the palace, but the Saint refused even this invitation.

Within three days, i. e., on the day of the Assumption of the Holy Virgin, she crossed the Mtkovar and entered the royal fruit gardens. Near the place where now stands the church of the Katholikoss (Patriarch) and a pillar erected by God, there lived in those times a guardian, whose wife Anastasia hastened to come out to meet the stranger. She embraced her like an old and dear friend, kissed her, washed off her dusty feet, rubbed her exhausted body with strengthening fragrant butter and having offered her bread and wine, asked her to take a rest and to recover after the long, long journey. Here the Saint remained nine months, frequently visiting Ourbishi, where some Hebrews lived, in the hope of finding out something more about the Lord's robe; and indeed the Lord blessed her attempts. She made the acquaintance of Abiatkar, the descendant of Elios, whom she quickly converted to Christianity together with all his family. "When she arrived," said Abiatkar in his tale, remembered in Georgian History, "I received a letter from Jewish priests in Antiochia, in which they expressed themselves thus":

"The Lord divided the kingdom of Israel into three parts, which were owned by the Romans, Armenians, and Barbarians. There will be no more prophets; all that he told us through the inspiration of the Holy Ghost was fulfilled, we are scattered all over the world and our fatherland is occupied by the Romans. O Jews! let us now weep with our nation, for we offended God, the Creator of all beings."

Looking over now the books in which Moses teaches us: "each one who on earth calls himself God shall be put to death!" Why is it possible then that we sinned in killing Jesus of Nazareth? We actually see that in ancient times, when our forefathers sinned before God and forgot Him, He lowered them to servitude and made them experience all the horrors of captivity; but when they turned again to Him and invoked Him, He saved them from need. From the scriptures we know that this happened seven times in ancient history. Now, then, when our fathers put their hands on the son of a poor woman, God deprived us of his mercifulness and support and lo! our government fell to pieces, we were separated from our temples and our nationality was forgotten. That was about three hundred years ago. The Lord does not hear our prayers and does not send us help, from which we conclude that perhaps this man was sent by God. Thus did they write me several times and aroused doubts in my soul, to explain which, I applied to Saint Nina. I asked her who was Jesus and why the Son of God became a simple man.

Then Saint Nina opened her mouth and from it flowed out words of life as abundantly as the waves in the depth of the sea. From her very mouth I found out everything contained by the Christian books, and she explained to me their profound meaning. I felt like a man aroused from sleep, like a madman coming back to his senses. She filled my heart with pity for our forefathers, made me convince myself in the truths of the New Testament, and from her words I indeed recognized in him Jesus Christ, the Son of God, crucified, resurrected, and having come with glory; nay, I understood that He was the one who had been promised to those believing. I saw many other wonders yet, accomplished by Saint Nina at Mtzkhet in my time, and together with my daughter Sidonia was converted and received the Holy Baptism, being cleansed of all wickedness. I received that which the prophet David had vainly wished: I heard a choir of voices glorifying the New Testament, the object of his sighing; and we were favored with the permission to partake of the Holy Communion, of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb that perished for the sins of the world, the best and most compound of victuals. O Lord, strengthen this faith in my heart to my last breath! All that I shall after this relate, I myself heard, with my own ears from my mother, my father, or read in books, recording the words spoken by our ancestors."

After this follows the story already known to us about the robe. On the tomb of Sidonia under a huge cedar grew up a fragrant bush loaded down by a numberless quantity of flowers and leaves, and from its branches a whole bush was formed, under which Saint Nina let herself down, not knowing how near she was to the aim of her desires. All nights she passed here in prayer, and lo! in one of these sleepless nights of prayer a shining man appeared to her and, pointing to the fragrant bush, ordered her to take up some earth under it to use for healing the sick. The next morning as usual Anastasia came to her, offering her wine, bread, fruits, and cheese. Having noticed that her eyes were filled with tears, Nina asked her the cause, and so found out that both she and her husband were deeply grieved by the fact that they had no children and attributed this misfortune to Anastasia's illness. The Saint immediately applied holy earth and Anastasia was cured.

Let us now return to Abiatkar's tale. During that period Saint Nina saw one and the same dream three or four times in those few minutes in which she used to rest. A horde of blackbirds bathed itself in the river, came out of the water whiter than snow, and rushed towards a peach tree actually growing near her bush. In the apparition it appeared covered with wonderful buds and flowers. With great haste the birds gathered and all rivalled one another in bringing them to the Saint as to the owner of the garden; afterwards united around her in a circle and sang most marvellously.

The Saint related all these events to my daughter Sidonia, who exclaiming very loud, expressed herself thus: "O Prisoner; thou that didst take off our chains! I know that thou art the reason of all that hath now taken place, that by thee we are made to discover and acknowledge the past spilling of the blood of the Heavenly Man, for that deed the Hebrews and their kingdom perished, they were deprived of their temples and a strange people took the place of their greatness. Jerusalem, O Jerusalem! how thou dost spread thy wings in order to protect under them nations from every part of the world, thy children only remained without shelter and are scattered one by one all over the earth! Now there comes to us here a woman, born in a foreign land, who makes over our whole kingdom!"

Then addressing the Saint, she said: "That, which thou sawest, clearly predicts to us that this place has been changed by thee into religious gardens, in which thy pupils and followers whitened by thee like birds will eternally gather heavenly fruits, singing praises and glorifying God!"

The Saint openly preached the message of Christ, telling the people that up till then they had been entirely misled. She pointed to the grape cross which had already accomplished many wonderful cures without applying any medicine, simply by holding it to the sick people. She was joined in her converting expedition by seven Jewish women whom she had baptized. Among them also my daughter Sidonia, and I myself helped them with all my strength, trying to deserve the glorious name of Paul, which the Saint had bestowed upon me upon my baptism. Knowing well the Jewish law, and being instructed by the Saint, it was easier for me to convert the unbelieving and some of them becoming rebellious, wished to assault me with stones; but Tsar Mirian sent out several of his attendants to deliver me from their arms, because the news of the glory of the wonders accomplished in Greece and Armenia came to him and so he did not prevent Saint Nina and her pupils from preaching the truth, which he sympathized with.

But the devil, who had for a long time raged against the true believers, won the heart of the Tsaritsa Nana, who kept her husband from becoming a Christian. The fasts, vigilance, and prayers of the Saint astounded the heathens and they frequently asked her the cause of such actions.

Filled with joy, she naturally took advantage of such moments to unceasingly preach to them the religion of Christ, and Anastasia and her husband zealously assisted her in such a time. Once they brought to the Saint a dying infant, whom all physicians considered absolutely incurable. The mother of the baby was a fierce adorer of idols and did not cease to injure the faith of Christ, and even prevented others from accepting the teachings of Saint Nina. Only the complete hopelessness forced her to apply to the wonderful girl.

"I am not educated in human science," said the Saint, "but the Lord Jesus Christ, whom I serve is strong enough to heal him."

And with these words she placed him on her foliage couch, on which, having knelt, she usually pronounced her long prayers and kept her almighty vigilance, and having crossed him with the vineyard crucifix, she sent him away, healthy and happy. But his mother, who now fervently believed in the Christian faith, loudly glorified the Lord Jesus Christ. A little later the Tsaritsa fell ill and they sent for the marvellous doctor to the palace.

"I cannot go into a heathen house and therefore request the Queen to come to me," was the answer of the Saint. Nana submitted. Her son Revv and some ladies of the court were obliged to carry her in their arms. Numerous crowds of people accompanied the procession with visible curiosity and concealed their dissatisfaction; but this dissatisfaction turned to excessive joy when she was cured and with tremendous attention did the crowds of heathens listen to Sidonia, who had educated the Tsaritsa in the true faith; after that she was baptized by Abiatkar and returned to her husband, a fervent Christian.

Here it will be opportune to tell why Tsar Mirian once upon a time was so much in favor of Christianity. Hardly any other monarch in the world could boast of such great success in war as Mirian; he conquered much and always had good luck, nowhere and never did he lose a single battle, and he justly deserved the term "the invincible." But that which seemed to all mere luck, was nothing less than the intention of God, leading him this road to learn the truth.

In the year 312 the Persian Tsar Sapor sent a messenger to Mirian with a proposal to unite their forces and jointly attack Greece. Mirian consented, and soon their army, the number of which the contemporaries compare with grass in the fields or the leaves of the trees, fell upon the Emperor Constantine, who did not dare to oppose himself, and with sorrow saw how they ravaged one Greek province after another.

The clergy encouraged its sovereign, assuring that the Lord would not let the unbelievers possess a Christian kingdom. A dream convinced Constantine still more in this idea. He hastened to become baptized and led his army by a flag on which was represented a cross of stars, surrounded, according to the apparition, with the words: "By this I conquer!"

Soon the handful of Christians conquered the hordes of heathens at Andriansora. Both tsars with the remainder of their troops were turned to flight and pursued by Constantine who, following them on their heels, invaded their dominions. The Persian Tsar, having abandoned his ally, ingloriously fled, but Mirian defended the towns and fortresses in Georgia until all his generals had perished; then he sent an embassy to Constantine with peace proposals.

Constantine, who feared a second invasion of the Persians, consented to peace only with the imperative condition that in case of a war with the Persians, Mirian should assist him with an army, but to make sure of the observance of this condition, he took Mirian's son Bakour as a hostage. Mirian's failure in the war with Constantine, the incomprehensible fear which had forced him to turn to flight, him, Mirian, whom all considered fearless and invincible and who up to this time had known no fear, gave him an exalted opinion of that God whom Constantine worshipped, and he frequently thought about His incomparable mightiness. The wars in which he was allied with Trdat, had led him astray, although, after the war with Constantine and the disaster at the fete of Armaz his faith in the religion of the false gods was very much shaken, but the furious opposition of the Tsaritsa Nana made also this second deep impression vanish.

Now, however, when the newly converted woman wished to bring him to the light of truth, she was met with indifferent curiosity and cold inquisitiveness, instead of the former hearty interest. Mirian had already succeeded in forgetting that impression, which the victory of Constantine and complete fall of Armaz had produced upon him, he interrupted her fiery, persuasive speeches with the question how he came to see her healthy once more. The Tsaritsa spoke the truth. Her husband knew very well what a tremendous contrast there was between her experience and all then known means of curing, and he would not believe at all that the simple appliance of a cross could have as consequence a complete restoration to health. The court ladies, witnesses of the wonder, were then summoned to appear, and very naturally confirmed the words of the Tsaritsa. But the Tsar was not yet convinced.

It was then ordered that any one of the eye-witnesses should be called up, and lo! a whole crowd of people came to testify the truth of what had taken place. Among others there was also Abiatkar, to whose tale we shall now return: "The sovereign noticed me and began to inquire about the Christian teachings. He knew much in the Old and New Testament, and thus I had to explain rather than merely relate, and so it was easier to converse with him than with the uneducated heathens. After that time he often sent for me.

Once he told me that in the Book of Nebrotk the following version was written: "During the construction of the tower of Kaskinie in the city of Khagkan (Babylon), Nebrotk heard a heavenly voice, which said to him: 'I am Michael, to whom the Lord confided the administration of the East, go thou out of this town, for the Lord does not wish that thou shouldst see that which He hid from human eyes. Leave the building, for otherwise God will certainly destroy it. In the future there will come a Heavenly King, whom thou dost want to see, and although He will be hated by the cursed nation, the fear of His name will cleanse the earth of all sins, kings will renounce their thrones in order to live in poverty. He will look upon thee with mercy in disastrous times and will save thee!'"

I did my best to convince the sovereign that this is the confirmation of that which we have already read many a time in the Old and New Testaments. He agreed with me, but continued to adore the idols and the fire, notwithstanding the prayers of the Tsaritsa, who constantly persuaded him to be baptized. The devil held him still another year in his claws after Nana had been converted. On that account I could not convert even a single heathen, while Saint Nina daily converted dozens of people, untiringly preaching to the people the truth. She continued to pretend that she was a prisoner of war, not telling anyone whence she came and whither she intended to go. Much time went by, the Tsar interfered with the Saint and remained deaf and dumb to the prayers of the Queen; and the visits of Abiatkar did not lead to the desired result. He conversed whole hours with him and every time let him depart unpersuaded in the truth.

Once there arrived from Khorossan a courier of the Sossanid family, with messages from the Shah of Persia who suddenly fell ill. The Tsaritsa Nana sent for Saint Nina, who again refused to come to the house of the idolatrous Tsar and requested the sick man to repair to her house. King Mirian, who was not yet fully convinced of the mightiness of the Christian God and had not entirely renounced his former religion, wished himself to accompany his dying guest, whom they bore in their arms.

"Through what power dost thou effect thy cures?" said the Tsar, turning to the Saint. "Art thou not a daughter of Armaz, dost thou not belong to the number of the descendants of Zaden, notwithstanding that thou callest thyself a stranger? Dost thou not secretly bow down before them and seek their moral support? And do they not give thee the power of healing, which nourishes thee wherever thou art? I know that thou didst convert people to the faith of a foreign God for the sole sake of trying their fidelity afterwards. Glory to our gods, who have disclosed the truth to me! I shall respect thee as I do the governess of my children and cover thee with honors in this mighty city, where thou didst hide thyself under the pretense of being a prisoner, but display no more before me and do not speak about the Christian faith.

"Our great gods only are the actual healers of the world! The sun shines because they illuminate it, they send down rain, give fertility to the earth and nourish blessed Georgia. Armaz and Zaden know all secrets. Gatz and Gaim, the ancient gods of our forefathers are worthy of the confidence of all mortals! If thou wilt cure this mtvar I will shower riches upon thee, make thee a citizen of Mtzkhet and a servant (mere priest) of Armaz. Although they (the idols) were destroyed by an unusual storm and hail of stones, yet the spot where we adored them did not perish. Ytkrondjan--the Chaldean God and our Armaz are constantly fighting. It is known that our god once directed the sea against his enemies and that is the reason why they now revenge themselves by letting this disaster occur just as the rulers of the earth constantly do. Carry thou out then, my order!"

"O King!" answered Saint Nina, "as the representative of our Lord Jesus Christ and the prayers of His All-holy Mother and all saints existing, I am sent by God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, the Father of all great and small beings, from man down to the last degrees of insects, through His indescribable mercy, like a piece of coal out of the stove of His goodness in order that thou shouldst learn to believe in and reach heavenly heights, the sunny world, the depths of the sea, earthly magnitude! Find out and acknowledge now thou, O Tsar, Him who covers the sky with clouds, who fills the air with the sound of thunder and shakes all creation, who lights up the sky with lightning, makes the tops of mountains slip off or turns them into volcanoes! Before His voice the foundations of earth tremble and mountains disappear like sea-waves! Know thou all this and admit thou the invisible God, living in heaven, who has sent His Son begotten of Him, to earth in the form of a mortal man, who having accomplished everything His Father wished Him to do, rose to Heaven in sublime glory. Dost thou not see that this, the eternal, only and true God looks after the needs of the humble and turns His face away from the proud? O Tsar! the time is already approaching when even thou shalt know and recognize God and verily shalt behold the wonder of light, which there is in this town. I am speaking of the Lord's robe; and the sheepskin of Illina, and many other treasures indeed, are hidden here, which God will point out to thee. I shall cure thy archimage just as I healed thy wife in the name of my Lord Jesus Christ and by the strength of His honest cross. The Tsaritsa already informed thee that she recovered from her illness only after she had sincerely renounced the idol-worship. Now her mind has broadened out and with ardor she does everything that is ordered in the Christian law--nay, that other people may learn from her righteous way of living!"

Then, upon the command of the Saint, they placed the image facing the East. The Tsaritsa fell down on her knees and began a prayer under the cedar while the Saint raised the hands of the sick man towards Heaven and ordered him to loudly repeat thrice:

"Renounce thou Satan! Bow thou down before my Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God!"