Equal-to-the-Apostles
Equal-to-the-Apostles Nino (Nina), Enlightener of Georgia
ок. 280 — 335
Also known as: Нино Каппадокийская
Equal-to-the-Apostles Nino, Enlightener of Georgia — a relative of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, miraculously called by the Mother of God to preach in Iberia, who converted King Mirian III and Queen Nana and established Christianity as Georgia's state religion.
IMPORTANT MERGE NOTE: the card nina_of_tver has been merged into this one — research found no genuine, independent saint "Nina of Tver" (the full Synaxis of Tver Saints — over 40 ancient saints and 125+ New Martyrs — was checked, and Nina does not appear among them); the duplicate card's previously listed date ("January 14/27") exactly matched St. Nino of Georgia's own feast date, which is what gave away the contamination. All 5 images of the merged card, on visual inspection, turned out to be entirely unrelated contamination (scanned pages of the 1910 "Grodno Diocesan Gazette," archival covers with inventory numbers) — none were carried over.
Visually confirmed: this card's own image is a Georgian mosaic with a Georgian-language inscription, the saint holding a grapevine cross and a book.
Equal-to-the-Apostles Nino, niece of the Patriarch of Jerusalem Juvenal (her father, Zabulon, later became a hermit; her mother was a deaconess), was born around 280 near Cappadocia. The Mother of God appeared to her, gave her a cross woven of grapevine, and commanded her to go enlighten Iberia (Georgia). Fleeing there during the persecutions of Diocletian (284–305), she settled at the household of the royal gardener, becoming renowned for healing the sick through prayer while preaching Christ.
She healed Queen Nana, who was baptized in 314; King Mirian resisted until he was struck blind during a solar eclipse while hunting, was healed after calling on Christ, and was baptized with his court. By 324 Christianity was established as Georgia's state religion. A church dedicated to the Holy Apostles was built with clergy summoned from Constantinople (a precursor to Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in Mtskheta). Nino is also associated with the tradition of the Robe of Christ coming to Georgia.
After 35 years of ascetic labor in Georgia, she died in 335; King Mirian (already in this database as mirian_iii_of_iberia) built a church at her burial site.
Her feast is kept on January 14/27.