Page 28 - THE ARMENIAN CHURCH_Neat

Long History in Brief 29

dugth, the sister of Drtad, was assured by an
angel that only Gregory could cure her
brother. Finding Gregory alive in the pit after
thirteen years looked indeed like a miracle.
Gregory cured the king and immediately
embarked on the Christianization of Ar-
menia.
Gregory first buried the relics of the
martyred Christian pious women, and three
churches, St. Hripsime, St. Gayane and St.
Shoghagat, were built on the sites of their
martyrdom. In a vision, Gregory saw an
angel tapping the earth with a golden
hammer in the middle of Vagharshabad, the
capital of Armenia. On that site, Gregory
had the Cathedral of Saint Etchmiadzin
(Surb Ējˇmiacin) built. The word Etchmiad-
zin, which originated from this vision, means
the descent of the Only Begotten.
After Christianity had spread in the
country, the king and his princes chose
Gregory as the head of the Church. He was
consecrated by a Nicene Father, St. Leontius,
at Caesarea as an expression of the close ties
existing between the two Sees, as well as a
sign of personal affection between St. Gre-
gory and St. Leontius.
On his way back to Armenia, St. Gregory
continued his missionary work, baptizing,
teaching, and building churches. King Drtad
and the princes were baptized by St. Gre-
gory in the Aradzani River. This formative