When, by the special wish of the Lord, the apostles drew lots to
decide who was to go out into foreign lands and preach the gospel of
Christ, the enlightenment of Georgia fell to the share of the Holy
Virgin. The Lord appearing to her exclaimed: "My mother, taking
into account thy desires, I have come to the conclusion that this
nation is more worthy than all others to have a place in the list of
heavenly joys and blessings. Send thou then into this fine country,
which hath fallen to thy lot, Andrew the First and hand him thy
picture, which, from being placed against thee, represents thine holy
face!" Then the Most Holy Mother of God announced to the apostle:
"My dear pupil Andrew, I am very much grieved by the fact that the
faith of the name of my son is not being preached nor advanced in the
country, whose enlightenment hath fallen to my lot. When, however,
I desired to start out for the journey my son and my God appeared
to me and ordered that I should send to my separate province with
thee my image and His, so that I should be the real cause of the
conversion of these people and be their everlasting and ever tender
helper and protector." "Most holy one, yes, let at all times the
will of thy Godly son and thine be carried out and fulfilled to the
satisfaction of all the world." Then the most Holy Virgin washed her
face and having pressed it well against a platter, she left on it her
reproduction with her predicted son in her arms. Having handed the
image to Saint Andrew, she said: "Yes, may the mercifulness and the
overwhelming help of Him who was born of me be with thee everywhere
where thou choosest to go. I myself will invisibly help to increase
the complete success of thy preaching tour and my province of future
enlightenment will always remain under my constant, nay, never ceasing
care and protection." The holy apostle, having thereupon fallen at
the feet of the most Holy Virgin, thanked her with tears in his eyes
and joy in his heart, went to preach the faith at Trebizond, taking
along with him Simon the Canonite. But here they did not remain long
and continued their journey to Edjis. Seeing the perfect craziness
of those stupid inhabitants, who were more like entirely senseless
animals, the apostle directed himself towards Georgia, and arriving
in Great Adtchara, began his holy work; for even here the inhabitants
did not profess the faith of the only true and real God and committed
deeds which were so shameful that it is unsuitable even to refer to
them in any imaginable way. They showered many indignant insults upon
the apostle, who simply and most patiently bore them all with the help
of God and by being occupied in constant prayer before the image of the
most Holy Virgin--and lo! the Lord fulfilled the ardent desire of his
heart and brought the inhabitants upon the righteous way, but on the
spot where the reproduction of the mother of our God was standing,
there appeared an abundant and truly splendid fountain flowing to
this day, and in which the saintly apostle baptized the inhabitants,
who had gathered there from all the surrounding towns and villages.
He blessed and ordained the deacons and priests, explained to them in
detail the holy principles of the faith as well as the church laws and
successfully constructed there a church in honor of the Holy Virgin
Mary. When, however, he wished to leave, the adoring people stopped
him with the following remarkable words: "If thou art actually going
away, leave us at least the image of the Mother of our God as a place
of refuge and protection in case of trouble and need." Then the Saint
ordered made a platter of just the same size as the image and put
them together.
Immediately the reproduction was transferred to the new slab without
any injury to the former image. Immediately afterwards, the apostle
handed the newly made image to the inhabitants, who, having received
it with joy, placed it with great honors in their fine church, where
it hath remained to the present day. Then they said good-bye to
the splendid apostle, thanking him for his many good deeds, kissing
him with true love and affection, and with him they sent one of the
newly converted by the name of Matata. Going through the valley of
Kkeniss-Tskall he led Saint Andrew up to the summit of a mountain, on
which the Saint formally erected a cross in honor of our blessed Lord
Jesus Christ and that was the reason why this exceptionally favored
mountain began to be universally called "Rouiss-Djouar," which means,
"the iron cross."
After that they went down into the valley of Odzrche and soon reached
the frontiers of Samtske, where they took up their headquarters in
the village of Mount Zaden. Seeing that the inhabitants over there
bowed down to and wickedly worshipped idols, they sincerely prayed
to the image, which had triumphantly accompanied them everywhere and
instantly all idols fell and were broken to pieces. Then they continued
their route to Astbour, which was formerly called Tchoukall-tchett
(the river of lilies) in Armenian and really lies just opposite
Sakrisse, and arranging themselves, they settled down to rest near an
idolatrous temple, nowadays Dzvel-Eklesia. At that time this country
was administrated by a widow by the name of Samsgvari, which means
"frontier," who had but one son and he too had just died among
the depressed and mourning subjects of his mother. That same night
from the guarding fortress a powerful light was seen over that spot
where the image of the Mother of our God was placed, and at sunrise
people were immediately sent to find out who was there and what their
business was. Returning to the city, the envoys announced to Samsgvari,
that it was the light from the reproduction of some wonderful Virgin,
whom two foreigners had evidently brought with them; that they knelt
and prayed before this strange image and that they preached the faith
of a new God, who could make the dead rise.
The widow immediately sent for the saints and questioned Andrew:
"Who are thou, whence didst thou come and what in the world is the new
faith about which thou speakest so much, for verily I say unto you,
up to this time nothing approaching it in the very least has ever
been heard of?"
"I arrived from Jerusalem," energetically answered the apostle,
"and am the servant of our Lord Jesus Christ, who doth make the dead
rise again. I preach about Him as about God and the King of all
kings. Know ye then that He who believeth in Him and lets himself
be baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost
will receive all he asketh for with true faith and will be healed of
every illness." Upon hearing these sounding words, Samsgvari fell at
his feet with tears in her eyes and cried out:
"Oh, have thou pity for my widowhood and terrible unhappiness and with
the strength of thy God bring back my only son to life. I will duly
carry out and fulfill to general satisfaction everything that thou
commandest me to do, without uttering the slightest objection, only
in order that I may behold again my dear son alive, for he is the only
descendant of our great family, for I have really no other children."
"Well, if thou believest in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only
true God, He will certainly give thee all that thou dost ask of Him
with faith." Then the widow with tears of joy said to the Saint: "O
servant of the only real and true God, I do sincerely believe in Jesus
Christ, of whom thou preachest and whose holy name thou announcest to
the world at large. I, however, beg thee to increase my strength of
belief in Him, the Saviour of the world." Having heard these sincere
words with pleasure, the apostle chased away the musicians and the
curious, leaving only Samsgvari and her relations, and taking the
image of the most Holy Virgin, he placed it on the corpse of the
little child and falling on the ground he began to pray, the tears
abundantly streaming down the fine features of his fervent face, and
with many sighs he stretched out his arms towards the image and then
rose, took the little boy by the hand, and truly! the boy seemed to
awake as though from sweet slumber, and Saint Andrew handed him over
to his mother.
All those present were silent--so struck were they with surprise,
while the widow, seeing her beloved son restored to life, was filled
with utmost joy, jumped up and threw herself at the feet of the Saint,
gratefully thanking him and covering his knees with tears. She, with
all her heart, believed in the Lord Jesus and was baptized with her
son and all his household. Afterwards she sent out her servants to
all the Samtsetskian mtavares with official letters, containing the
following passages:
"I, Samsgvari, the widow of your kristav, do joyfully announce to you,
my brethren, a most happy event for all nations, for there arrived
from a strange land, a man who preacheth the faith of a new God,
the reproduction of whom made my blessed son arise from the dead;
hasten ye therefore, so that we may choose the only true and sincere
faith and decide whom it becomes us to obey and adore." Having heard of
this wonder, the Meskhians rushed in from every spot of the monarchy
in such numberless crowds that they actually filled the whole valley
of Sakriss, and they all stared with perfect astonishment at the
risen son of Samsgvari. But the sacrificers of Artemis and Apollo,
the temple of which was situated in that part of the country, firmly
resolved to oppose themselves to the Saint and cried out:
"Artemis and Apollo are great gods," and after them many of the people
shouted the same, while others nevertheless exclaimed: "We must all
necessarily submit before such an unusual wonder!" Rebelling and
quarrelling in every way began to make itself felt. In the end it was
decided to open the gates of the temple, to solemnly place the holy
image between the idols, to set up proclamations on both sides of the
gates, place guardians and pass the night in religious prayers. "Pray
all you want to your false gods," said the faithful followers of
Him whose religion conquereth all others, "we, however, will pray
to our only real and true God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and at sunrise
we shall see: if your gods get the upper hand and are victorious, we
will follow your example. If, however, they are defeated by our God,
then let all present give praises unto Him the Only one."
Having carried out everything according to the agreement, at very
sunrise they opened the doors of the temple and beheld the idols,
fallen and broken to pieces in the dust, while the image of the
Mother of our God was surrounded with glitter and light like the
sun. Then they understood the importance of the new religion and the
whole nation unanimously exclaimed: "Great is the God of Christians,
preached about by the holy apostle Andrew," but the sacrificers begged
the Saint to forgive them their sin of unbelief, and all having assured
him of their repentance, were baptized in the name of the Father and
of the Son and of the Holy Ghost and loudly sang praises unto God,
who had safely saved them from the deadly grasp of the merciless devil.
Then Saint Andrew made up his mind to go into other wild countries
and preach the principles of the New Testament, but the widow
and the nation implored him not to go away from them until he had
successfully taught them all the laws of the faith. Every single day
the nation gathered in tremendous crowds and the apostle carefully
explained to them the rules and details of the religion and all the
necessary church rules, consecrated for their service a bishop, many
priests and deacons and again started for his great and dangerous
mission. Samsgvari and the nation renewed their ardent entreaties,
but the Saint tenderly replied to them:
"My dear children, do not lead me into temptation, for my duty calls
me and prescribes to me to render also other cities and villages
happy." "Well, if thou must absolutely abandon us," they mournfully
answered, "so leave us at least the image of the most Holy Virgin
to strengthen our never-ceasing confidence in the new faith and
as a means of mutual protection." "This image," said Saint Andrew,
"formed itself from simply being touched by the body of the Mother
of our God," and he went on explaining to them how by the extreme
condescension of the Lord the apostles drew lots to find out where
each one should go to preach and that Samtsketia fell to the share
of the Virgin Mary. He joyfully related how instead of herself she
had sent her portrait into the provinces belonging to her sphere of
enlightenment as a means of confirmation and protection to the true
believers and promised that she would always be with them in spirit
and soul now, henceforth and evermore. Messkhi and Samsgvari, having
found out that they were under the spiritual regency of the Heavenly
Tsaritsa, were filled with indescribable joy, but the desire to be
able to possess her image made them still more radiant.
With tears of emotion in their eyes they solemnly placed it in a small
church, which had been speedily constructed and consecrated in the name
of the Holy Atskourian Virgin. Nowadays they usually call this church
"Dzvelle-Ekletsia," that is "ancient church," as the present edifice
is built of stones which had served to construct the first church and
stands on exactly the same spot. Then Saint Andrew went to preach
the Holy Gospel in Nigalia, Djavakhetia, Artakanna and Kola, where
he remained very long, enlightening the depraved unbelievers. From
there he directed himself to Klardjetta, then to the land of Parthia,
Armenia, and for the fete of Easter safely arrived at Jerusalem.
When, however, Tsar Aderke discovered that the Kartlians and
Messkhians had finally abandoned the faith of their forefathers,
he sent several kristaves to them, who by force officially obliged
many to return to a regime of darkness and falseness. Nevertheless
some true and faithful followers succeeded in concealing images and
crosses and loudly praised God that the apostle was no longer in their
presence. The Tsar, however, grew very angry against the kristave of
Klardjette for his not having held up the Saint, who, passing Easter
Day together with the remaining apostles, again bravely started on a
large preaching tour in Georgia. Crossing the lands lying near Fao as
the Choroke, he thoroughly inspected the villages, preaching everywhere
and to everyone the Holy Gospel of Christ, and soon reached Svanetia.
Here at that time a woman reigned, who accepted the apostle's saintly
blessing with false and pretended good feelings. Matata with the
remaining pupils stayed in these domains, but Saint Andrew and
Saint Simon went farther to Ossetia, where they got to the town
of Posstaphore and from there they soon successfully arrived at
the Bosphorus, where with the almighty and conquering help of God
they were favored with the gift of being able to accomplish many
wonders, and converted to the only real and true faith and baptized
tremendous numbers of people. Afterwards they went back to Abkhazetia
and farther to the city of Sebasst, the present Tikkoum, where many
more unbelievers were also converted to the religion of Christ. Here
Saint Andrew left Simon the Canaanite with several good pupils and
continued his route to Djivetta, peopled by a wild vile nation, filled
to overflowing with disgraceful sinfulness, love of cruelty and without
any religious feeling whatever. They actually did not want to listen
to him and unanimously made up their minds to kill him, but lo! the
Lord protected his faithful servant, ordering him to instantly depart
from the wretched creatures. But this nation remained in unbelief
to this day. The tomb of Simon the Canaanite is in Nikopsia, between
Abkhezethe and Djikerk, on the frontier of Greece. Having confirmed the
Abkhazians and Megroes in the new faith, Saint Andrew left entirely
for Skythia. Soon afterwards Tsar Aderke died and the kingdom of
Georgia was divided among his two sons Bartomme and Kartamme.
During their rigid administration in the year 70 A. D., a rumor began
to gain ground that the inhabitants, who were under the supreme
authority of Rome, absolutely refused to submit themselves to the
Emperor Vespasian and energetically rebelled. The Emperor ordered
his son Fitt to persuade the Jews to quiet down, but they did not
cease to make a fearful row and locked themselves up with their
army in Jerusalem. Then the Romans surrounded this town and began
to mercilessly besiege it. The besieged were suffering from terrible
hunger and diseases and the nation from despair began a terrific civil
war. In a short time there perished such a quantity of Hebrews, that
they threw one hundred thousand corpses out of the town; besides that
the streets and houses were filled to overflowing with dead people. In
the end the Romans made their way to Jerusalem, ruined it completely
and destroyed the temple, so that according to the holy words of the
Saviour, not one stone remained on top of another.
Ever since then the Jews have overrun every part of the world and
no longer have any own fatherland. Many of them arrived at Mtzkhet
and settled down with their compatriots, among whom were also the
sons of Varrava, delivered by the Hebrews instead of Jesus Christ,
when they were invited to let one of their prisoners free. During the
reign of the grandsons of Bartome and Kartaume the kings Azork and
Armazeli, the latter found out about the existence in his monarchy of
the miloti of the prophet Ilia and instantly gave orders to look for
it among the Jews, but the Lord did not allow this extreme treasure
to fall into the hands of the ruthless pagans, his searchings finally
turned out to be vain attempts and to all questions the Hebrews simply
answered that it was concealed in the earth near a magnificent cedar,
which had grown over the tomb of Sidonia. Consequently Saint Nina more
than once commanded Abiatkar to question his father where it indeed
was situated, but the old man every time gave one and the same answer:
"The spot, where is hidden this holy garment, about which in its time
the true believers will sing praises unto God, is like the place on
which Jacob beheld the staircase leading up to Heaven."
This was the only occasion when they seriously disturbed the
Hebrews, all the remaining time, however, before and afterwards,
they constantly received and treated them exactly according to the
rules of true Eastern hospitality and made them feel quite at home
in their new fatherland. In the year one hundred and eighty-six
A.D., Revv ascended the Georgian throne. The word "reva" signifies
"conqueror," but the nation gave this serene sovereign a designation
still more suited to him and still more honorable, for they rightly
named him "the just sovereign," for his very first great public act
was the repression of privateering and robbing in the army and the
prohibition to bring children to be offered to the gods.
Although Revv the Just was himself an idolator, yet he did have some
kind of a vague idea of the New Testament of our Lord Jesus Christ,
highly esteemed His true followers and even strictly forbade to chase
the Christians, who had held their own in small numbers among the
worthy descendants of the most enlightened apostles. These little
marks of attention were sufficient to support Christianity, which
stood high in the eyes of many men in the country. From this bright
moment onwards the number of Christians began undoubtedly to increase,
although of course slowly, but every year so that by the arrival of
Saint Nina they were already forming a considerable and by no means
to be despised class.