St. Gregory is the Patron Saint of the Armenian Church. He is usually referred to as "Our Holy Father St. Gregory the Enlightener," because he has converted the Armenian people to Christianity. Christianity began to be preached in Armenia in the middle of the first century by the Apostles St. Thaddeus and St. Bartholomew, who for that reason, are called the "The First Enlighteners of Armenia." The Church they founded in Armenia was small and scattered. Nevertheless, it survived all vicissitudes and persecutions of the first three centuries. Missionaries from the South, Syria, and the West, Cappadocia, constantly strengthened the flickering light of the Gospel. However, it was St. Gregory who established Christianity as the official religion of Armenia and thus made Armenia the first Christian State in world history.

The early life story of St. Gregory and the account of the conversion of Armenia have been preserved in the book of the historian Agathangelos, who is traditionally known to be as King Tiridat’s secretary. This story is one of the most interesting in the annals of Christianity. As part of a planned plot, the Persian King Ardashir Sassanian, in the year 238, sent a trusted friend to Armenia to kill King Khosrov. The newcomer, named Anack, happened to be of the same Parthian royal family, which had been reigning for two centuries in Armenia. King Khosrov was the ruling monarch in 238. Therefore it was very easy for Anack to win the confidence of his royal cousin, King Khosrov. One day, as they were out for hunting, Anack killed the King and ran away. The loyal men of the King pursued Anack and killed him on a bridge and threw his body into the river. The dying King gave orders to exterminate Anack’s family. Only one infant escaped from this slaughter, and was rushed by his nurse to the city of Cæsarea in Cappadocia. This nurse happened to be a converted Christian. Therefore she brought up her princely charge in the Christian faith and gave him a Greek name, Gregory. The boy became a devout and zealous Christian, married a Christian lady named Mariam, whose brother was a well known missionary bishop, confessor and martyr. Gregory had two children, Aristakes and Verthanes.

When the Persian King heard that the King of Armenia was killed, he overran the country with a huge army and established Persian rule in Armenia. Two of the children of King Khosrov were saved by loyal satraps. The Princess Khosrovidought was taken to one of the inaccessible castles of that country, while the boy-prince Tiridat was taken to Rome. Tiridat received a thorough Roman training. He was a famous athlete in the Roman arena and an able general in the Roman army. When he became a mature young man, able to rule a kingdom, the Roman Emperor Diocletian gave him a Roman legion and sent him to occupy Armenia to recover the throne of his fathers, and become a Roman ally. As Tiridat was passing through Armenia Minor, which was under Roman control, most of the Armenian feudal lords, who had remained loyal to the throne and who had escaped the country accompanied Tiridat. Gregory also decided to go along with him. Nobody had any knowledge of his background or of his religious convictions. He probably had some farreaching ideas in his mind. Tiridat found out that he was a well educated and dependable and conscientious young man. Therefore he appointed him as his secretary. One cannot help seeing the hand of Providence in this strange association. Two young men, whose fathers had killed one another, were returning to their native country with the idea of saving their homeland from alien yoke, the one physically, the other spiritually. After winning victory over his enemies, Tiridat gave orders for a great and solemn celebration. During the festival the young ruler ordered his secretary Gregory to lay wreaths of flowers and laurel leaves, the symbols of victory, before the state of the goddess Mother Anahit, who was the most popular deity of the country. Gregory, after some hesitation, confessed that he was a Christian and he could not perform such an idolatrous act. He began preaching about the foolishness of idolatry and the wisdom of worshipping the One God, Who created heaven and earth. One of the king’s ministers, who had found out who Gregory was, thought this was a good opportunity to reveal the secret. He therefore told the King that Gregory was the son of Anack, the killer of his father King Khosrov. Gregory did not deny the stunning revelation. So Tiridat gave orders to torture Gregory in order to induce him to apostasy. The story enumerates twelve terrible tortures. When Gregory stood fast, then the King ordered him to be put to death by throwing him into the prison-pit or dungeon where major criminals were usually thrown to be starved to slow death. The pit was full of human bones and filth. St. Gregory survived this terrible ordeal for thirteen years. Someone in the Court, who was secretly Christian, had found the way to feed the Saint in the dungeon. This was done, most probably, with the knowledge and assistance of Khosrovidought, Tiridat’s sister, who seems to have been sympathetic to Christians. Perhaps she was even a Christian herself.

Then Tiridat ordered the persecution of Christians in his realm. This persecution revealed the presence of a group of Christian women, who were peacefully and secretly living in the neighborhood of his capital city of Valarshapat. The superior of these pious women was called Gaiane. There was also among them a beautiful maiden called Ripsimeh. Tiridat wanted to have her as his concubine. Ripsimeh refused and resisted the King’s advances and finally fled from the Palace. This was too much for Tiridat, the mighty and victorious king. He then mercilessly ordered to have all these women killed. They were 37 in number. This slaughter of innocent women and his frustration at being "repulsed by a young lady," as the sacred song says, threw the King into melancholy and finally made him insane. When out hunting he often behaved like a beast, hence the legend that he was transformed into a boar. He could not attend the affairs of the state. People began to worry about him, because he was a King loved by his people. Most of all his sister, Khosrovidought, did everything to bring back her beloved brother to his senses. Then one day she suddenly remembered Gregory! In her dream she saw Gregory coming out of the dungeon and healing her brother! She told the people at the Court of her dream, and revealed that Gregory was living and was the only man in the world who could cure the King. As the condition of the King was getting worse, they sent men to the dungeon; and to the great surprise of everybody they heard a feeble "yes" to the question: "Gregory, are you still alive?" As they lowered the rope, out came a man with a long beard, dirty clothes and darkened face. But his face was shining with a strange and strong light. After dressing him properly, they took him to the presence of Tiridat. Moved by a strange force which he could not control, Tiridat kneeled down before his prisoner, Gregory, putting his hands on the King’s head, prayed for him. Thereupon Tiridat was cured and became a new man. He said to Gregory: "Your God is my God, your religion is my religion." Gregory lifted him up and embraced him. From that moment until their death they remained faithful friends and worked together, each in his own way for the establishment of the Kingdom of God in Armenia, beginning in the year 301 A.D.

Gregory first converted the people in the capital city and in its neighborhood. There were no bishops or clergymen left in the country, because of the severe persecutions by Tiridat. So Gregory could not find people in holy orders to baptize the neophytes. Gregory himself was still a layman. Therefore the Royal Council decided to send Gregory back to Cæsarea to be ordained as the bishop of Armenia. His fame as a wonderworking confessor and a great missionary had already reached Cæsarea. He was received with great honors. The Metropolitan of the city, Leontius, ordained him a priest and then consecrated him a bishop. Gregory took many priests from Cæsarea and from Sebastia, where his bishop brother-inlaw Athanakenes was martyred. He took with him his two sons also, who were well educated young men. His elder son, Verthanes, was already married. His younger son was a monk. Gregory’s wife was already dead by this time.

So with a group of clergymen Gregory came to Armenia. The King, the ruling feudal lords and the army came to meet him at the banks of the river Euphrates. He ordered a week of abstinence for everybody, including the King, the Queen and courtiers. The Armenian Church to this day observes this week of abstinence, established by St. Gregory, as the week of "Arachavorats" i.e., "the week of Catechumens." He preached and prepared the people for baptism. The clergymen whom he had brought with him assisted him in baptizing the people. He personally baptized the first Christian King of Armenia in the year 302, together with the Queen and the King’s sister and the royal household and the feudal lords of the country. Tiridat formally proclaimed his country a Christian State, in the year 302 A.D. So Armenia became the "First country of any size to become officially Christian." The Roman Empire became Christian twenty years later in 323. Then the mass conversion of the whole country began. Gregory preached the Gospel from one end of the country to the other. Occasionally he met resistance from pagan priests. But such resistance was easily subdued. Pagan places of worship were transformed to Christian temples. Together with many other churches, Gregory built two famous sanctuaries: The shrine of "St. Garabed" "The Forerunner," near the city of Moosh, dedicated to the name of St. John the Baptist, whose relics he had brought with him from Cæsarea and had put them in this church. This monastery became one of the most important religious centers of Armenia. It was almost the greatest Holy place where our people used to go on pilgrimage for many centuries. It is now in ruins under Turkish rule, after the cruel deportations of 1915.

The other shrine which Gregory and Tiridat built was Holy Etchmiadzin (see the article), still functioning as the headquarters of the Armenian Church near the present capital of Armenia.

Although there were bishops in Armenia long before St. Gregory, looking after their flock in the persecuted Church in Armenia, yet it was St. Gregory who became the first “Catholicos of All Armenians.” He governed the Armenian Church for about 25 years. He diligently worked for the internal organization of the Church. Gregory died in 325, shortly after the First Ecumenical Council of the Universal Church was convened in the city of Nicaea.

St. Gregory was also instrumental in spreading the seeds of the Gospel in the neighboring Caucasian countries of Georgia and Caspian Albany (present day Azerbaijan). Gregory sent to these countries especially his youthful grandson Grigoris, who was cruelly martyred by Caucasian barbarians.

St. Gregory is one of the great missionaries of the Christian Church. He is commemorated as a canonized Saint by all the ancient churches of the East and of the West, including the Greek Orthodox and the Roman Catholic Churches.

The Armenian Church has set aside three holy days in honor of St. Gregory, commemorating three of the main events of his life: first his Sufferings and Entrance into the dungeon, second, His Coming out of the dungeon and Converting Armenian to Christianity, third Discovery of his relics. St. Gregory died in solitude, like Moses.