Equal-to-the-Apostles, King Tiridates III the Great, King of Armenia

Equal-to-the-Apostles King Tiridates III the Great of the Arsacid dynasty ruled Greater Armenia from 286 to 342, the son of King Khosrov I. In his youth he was known for a cruel disposition and was a zealous persecutor of Christians. Gregory, who served at his court (the son of his father's killer, seeking to atone for his father's guilt through diligent service), refused to honor pagan idols and openly confessed the Christian faith, for which he was subjected to the harshest torture and cast into a deep pit full of serpents and scorpions near the city of Artashat, where he spent fourteen years. Meanwhile, King Tiridates was struck by a grave illness, which church tradition describes as demonic possession. The king's sister, St. Khosrovidukht, received a revelation that only Gregory, long presumed dead, could heal the king. Gregory was pulled from the pit alive, and through his prayers King Tiridates was healed. Shaken by this miracle, the king repented, received baptism, and in 301 proclaimed Christianity the state religion of Armenia, making it the first country in the world to officially adopt the Christian faith. Gregory was later ordained bishop and became the first primate of the Armenian Church, receiving the title of Enlightener of Armenia. King Tiridates, for the rest of his life, did everything in his power to establish and spread Christianity in his kingdom. He died in 342. His memory is kept on September 20, in the Synaxis of Hierarch Gregory, Enlightener of Armenia.