Hierarch
Hierarch Gregory the Illuminator of Armenia
ок. 239/252 — †325/326 (датировки расходятся)
St. Gregory, Illuminator of Great Armenia — a descendant of the Parthian Suren-Pahlavuni clan, a preacher who converted King Tiridates III and in 301 made Armenia the first state to officially adopt Christianity; founder and first Catholicos of the Armenian Church, who spent many years imprisoned in the pit of Khor Virap for refusing to renounce Christ.
St. Gregory was born into the Parthian Suren clan, a branch of the Arsacid dynasty. His father Anak was implicated in the assassination of the Armenian King Khosrov II and was executed for it; a Christian nurse secretly smuggled the infant Gregory to Caesarea in Cappadocia, where he was raised and baptized. He entered the service of King Tiridates III of Armenia, who, for his refusal to renounce Christ, imprisoned him for 13 years in a pit (the Khor Virap prison) at Artashat. After Tiridates fell gravely ill and was miraculously healed through Gregory's prayers, the king converted to Christ, and in 301 Armenia became the first state to officially adopt Christianity as its state religion. Gregory was consecrated bishop (c. 301-305), founded Etchmiadzin Cathedral, and became the first Catholicos, organizer of the Armenian Church.
NOTE ON DATES: sources disagree on the exact years of his life — the Orthodox Encyclopedia gives c. 239-325/326, other sources c. 252-326 or 331/332; the precise dating remains a matter of scholarly discussion. Category note: he is officially titled "hierarch" (святитель) in Russian Orthodox sources, not "equal-to-the-apostles," despite his apostolic role in enlightening an entire nation.