ITS MONDAY MADNESS 🔥🏀
Join Fr Michael and Fr Christian as we look back at last week’s biggest surprises, shout out our favorite commenters, and preview all the matchups coming your way this week 🙌
After you watch the video, don’t forget to cast your vote in today’s showdown 👀
It’s a clash of fan favorites from across the nations
Nino of Georgia 🇬🇪 vs Gregory the Illuminator 🇦🇲
Only one advances ⚔️
It’s going to be a HUGE week of Lent Madness… LET’S GO 🙏🔥 #LentMadness
Gregory the Illuminator
Look up the word illuminate in the dictionary, and you will find a variety of definitions, including “to make clear”, “to bring to the fore”, and "to enlighten spiritually or intellectually.” All of these definitions can be easily applied to the life of St. Gregory, who was given the additional title “the Illuminator” likely to differentiate him from the other St. Gregorys in the world. The person now known as Gregory the Illuminator (or in some cases Gregory the Enlightener) was born with the first name Suren in about 257 CE in Armenia to a Parthian nobleman. He was raised in Caesarea of Cappadocia as a Christian and did not return to Armenia until adulthood.
Once returned, he entered the service of King Tiridates III, who was intolerant of Christianity. King Tiridates asked Gregory to perform a pagan sacrifice, which he refused because of his Christian faith. This made the king angry, so the king ordered Gregory to be tortured and thrown into a pit filled with venomous snakes. The king’s sister was instrumental in Gregory's release from the pit 14 years later. Upon surviving his experience in the pit, Gregory converted King Tiridates to Christianity, and then Christianity was adopted as the state religion of Armenia in 301 CE. Gregory preached the Christian faith across Armenia and even healed (and later baptized!) King Tiridates, who, sources say, “had been driven into animal madness for his sinful behavior.” Quite a turn of events in the relationship between those two!
As a bishop, Gregory raised churches in place of destroyed pagan temples, founded schools, and established the ecclesiastical structure in Armenia, thus cementing Gregory’s status as a seminal figure in Armenian Christianity. Gregory’s two sons eventually succeeded Gregory as bishop. After Gregory’s retirement as bishop, he embraced a hermit lifestyle and lived out the remainder of his years in a cave, where he died around 328 CE. Gregory is such an instrumental figure in Armenian Christianity that he has three feast days dedicated to him: one commemorating the discovery of his relics, one commemorating the date of his descent into the snake pit, and yet another commemorating his release from said snake pit. In addition to the Armenian church, he is recognized with feast days in other Orthodox traditions and in the Anglican Communion. He is the patron saint of Armenia. Not surprisingly, there are many churches throughout the world named for St. Gregory the Illuminator, including a cathedral located less than 5 miles from where this biography is being written. Perhaps a selfie by this Celebrity Blogger in front of said cathedral will appear in future rounds if given the opportunity!
— Kathryn Nishibayashi
Collect for Gregory the Illuminator
Almighty God, who raised up your servant Gregory to be a light in the world, and to preach the Gospel to the people of Armenia: Illuminate our hearts, that we also in our own generation may show forth your praise, who called us out of darkness and into your marvelous light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Nino of Georgia
Just before the turn of the 4th century, a young girl was born to a Greek-speaking Roman family in Cappadocia. The baby, Nino, would go on to receive the title “Equal to the Apostles” from the Orthodox Church for her role as the “Enlightener of Georgia”—the woman who converted an entire country.
Nino had prominent parents in Roman society and so was raised by a nun in Jerusalem, immersed in the rhythms of early Roman Christianity. Perhaps because she showed promise as a future religious herself, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, who was also her uncle, helped her make her way to Rome. There she met and served the lady Hripsime, who had caught the eye of the Emperor Diocletian, a notoriously anti-Christian figure. To avoid his pursuit, with the help of Nino, Hripsime and her companions fled to Armenia. Along the way, Nino baptized the whole crew of women. These “35 virgins” went on to preach the word of God throughout Armenia.
They did not escape the notice of nobility in their new location, however, and soon King Tiridates III called for their beheading. Hripsime was martyred, but Nino made her way out and over to the Kingdom of Iberia, the modern-day country of Georgia.
There, she had her famous vision: Mary the Godbearer extending a cross of grapevines, with the instruction that Mary would be her shield in the work of converting the people there to the saving faith in Jesus. Nino received the grapevine cross and tied it with her own hair. Today, the “grapevine cross” is distinct for its drooping arms.
Nino traveled all over the Kingdom of Iberia converting people to Christianity. Eventually, she encountered Queen Nana, who had long suffered from debilitating illness. Nino healed her and baptized her. Her husband, King Mirian, initially rejected his wife’s conversion until his own miracle occurred. After being struck blind on an excursion, he prayed to the God of his wife and begged for healing. With his sight restored, he, too, was baptized and became the first Christian King of Iberia, securing the role of Christianity in the kingdom. Nino, seeing that she had fulfilled the instructions from her vision, retreated to the mountains, where she spent her remaining days living a monastic life.
Today, Nino is a Georgian national hero, whose faith laid the groundwork for the Georgian Orthodox Church. The name Nino is still to this day the most popular name for women in the country.
— Julia Offinger
Collect for Nino of Georgia
Almighty God, who called your servant Nino to be your apostle to the people of Georgia, to bring those wandering in darkness to the true light and knowledge of you; Grant us so to walk in that light, that we may come at last to the light of your everlasting day; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
56 comments on “Gregory the Illuminator vs. Nino of Georgia”
Nino for me (because I'd never heard of HER before)
We have an Episcopal Church mission in Tbilisi, Georgia, called St. Nino!
For the third time, voting wouldn't go through on my iPad; my choice simply would not register. It worked fine on my phone though, so maybe there’s a glitch with the tablet interface?
Both surrounded by rather fantastical legends, not to mention the overlap with bad King Tiridates III….
Coin flip goes to Nino.
My vote goes to Nino. I had not heard of her before, and wonder why, given her influence on what became Georgia, George is their patron saint rather than Nino. A quick google search suggests George only has two feast days in Georgia, rather than Nino's three.
I was ready to vote for Gregory who survived a snake pit until I read the account of Nino. It was a totally new story to me and such an affirmation of women’s ministry. How could I not vote for her?
The Armenian Church has meant so much to Christianity and suffered mightily. There’s only one quarter of the holy city of Jerusalem named for a nation, and it’s the Armenian! It has to be Gregory for that fact alone
I was set to vote for Gregory, but found Nino's story interesting. I had never heard of her. Nino gets my vote today.
I love it when it is hard to choose! It gives fuel to the day`s conversations.
I had no idea who to vote for today -- the mission of each one seems essentially identical, and I hadn't heard of either one before. So I read the comments before voting. There were only 5 and four of them said they were going to vote for Gregory but changed to Nino. So I had to buck that trend and went ahead to vote for Gregory. Besides -- 14 years in a pit with venomous snakes?
Interesting that they both crossed King Tiridates lll. But just like with Daniel in the lion's den and his friends in the fire pit, God must have been with Gregory amidst the snakes. So he gets my vote.
I grew up in southern Florida. I had nightmares of walking in the Everglades. Snakes would be crawling up to where I was walking. To this day, I can't stand photos of snakes. A few years ago on a Saturday morning, I was on the commode and saw something black wrapped around the door post. I screamed for my husband to catch a baby black snake. He thought it was cute.
Please let us know who came out on top the previous day. Thanks.
Looks like we won't see a selfie of Kathryn at Gregory the Illuminator....
more's the pity. Thay's why I voted for Gregory!
The new “Tim and Scott” duo is delightful, insightful, energetic, with just the right blend of talents for this position. Thanks!
14 years in a snake pit.....seriously??!! Nino's story is much more believable!
Another "1/2 vote to each" selection.
Nino, for a change of pace.
Gregory will understand ...
Nino, because of her vision of Mary the Godbearer, "Theotokos" in Greek. One of my professors at Perkins said several years ago, in defense of the ordination of women, "If a woman could hold the body of the Lord in her body, she could certainly hold the body of the Lord at the altar."
Brillant!!
Who was victorious from the 7 sleepers vs. Thomas?
Video was great and fun
Shout out to the folks creating the bios!
Thomas won by a few thousand votes!
Thomas won. If you would like to see how the vote is going, then look at results after voting by pressing that button.
While I am skeptical about some parts of the stories of both Gregory and Nino (Survived 14 years in a pit of venemous snakes? Really? Was a virgin who hung around with 35 other virgins, implying that those of us who choose to marry and have children aren't nearly as spiritual as those who do not? Nonsense!
However, because I have to vote for someone, I'll cast my ballot for Nino - as one woman supporting another.
I have questions about the snakes. Were they the same ones Patrick drove out? And I thought Iberia was Spain. Suspending disbelief is hard work. I voted for Nino because I do believe in the power of a group of virgins to change the world. Yesterday the U.S. and Israel murdered over 150 schoolgirls in Minab. One of those “precision strikes.” They also hit a hospital. Destroying ordinary life is empire’s specialty. May the memory of those little girls sustain their families in the days to come. God is always with the people under the bombs. For Allah is all merciful and the best disposer of human affairs.
I also wondered, having thought Iberia was Spain...
snakes pits, beheadings challenges I hope never to face. it was a difficult choice today. my rationale is if you escaped snakes you do not need my help and thus Nino got my vote.
Nino! What a great story. I am currently working on a poem about the visitations of Mother Mary to our world, and now I have to revise to include the grapevine cross, tied with Nino's hair.
What a joy! Of course I vote for her.
I’m voting for Nino in honor of my daughter who taught in Georgia!
Concrete thinking won the day for me. As an artist, I first hoped Gregory was a champion of illuminated manuscripts or other decorative arts. As a member of our church's Flower Committee the grapevine cross with "drooping arms" tipped my vote to Nino.
I want to see this grapevine cross! I voted for Nino; her story was so compelling. And I like the part where she retired and lived out her life peacefully.
“Snakes! Why did it have to be snakes?” I can’t be the only one who recalled this iconic movie line.
Years ago we hosted a couple from Georgia through the Friendship Force and heard about Nino from them. Had to vote for her. Besides, women in mission work need support.
Surviving a snake pit is truly amazing and probably a miracle in itself, however as a woman in ministry, it is impossible not to support Nino. Her story snd her work are things that legends are made of.
Where is the MUSIC at the conclusion of Monday Madness?
I have had the good fortune to be acquainted with several Armenians and have always been struck with the depth of their faith and their constant devotion. Their country of origin has gone through many trials to remain Christian. I have to vote for Gregory.
I have to vote for Gregory the Illuminator. His healing of King Tiridates III, after that king had left him is the snake pit for 14 years, shows immense forgiveness. That is crucial to becoming beloved community.
I've known about Nino for a while, as her name is also rendered as Nina, and I claim her as my name saint. A strong, independent woman, educated, venerated as "Equal to the Apostles" - I'm happy to share her name.