Martyr Shushanik Of Georgia

St. Shushanik (baptismal name Vardanduxt, daughter of the Armenian military commander Vardan) was a 5th-century Georgian queen and martyr. She was married to Varsken, the pitiaxsh (ruler of the border region of Gogarene/Ran), who under pressure from the Persian shah renounced Christianity and adopted Zoroastrianism. Shushanik refused to follow her husband into apostasy and, upon learning of his betrayal of the faith, withdrew to a cell by the palace church. For her steadfastness Varsken subjected her to brutal torture and imprisoned her in a dungeon, where she spent about six and a half years (from 469 AD) in fasting, vigil, and unceasing prostrations. Many came to her seeking prayer and healing. In the final year of her captivity sores broke out over her body; having received Holy Communion from Bishop Photius, St. Shushanik died peacefully in the dungeon around 475 AD. Her Life, written by her spiritual father, the priest Iakob Tsurtaveli ("The Martyrdom of Shushanik"), is the oldest surviving original work of Georgian literature. In 586 her relics were translated to the Metekhi church in Tbilisi. Her commemoration, originally kept on October 17 (the day of her death), was later moved to the day of the translation of her relics — August 28/September 10.