Fr Alex Swain

Beloved in Christ,

The history of early Christianity has always fascinated me, and it continues to do so. Through historical record, liturgical compendiums, and accounts by various government bodies, we craft a fragmented, but fascinating, account of what life was like for the earliest Christians.

What their worship was like (spoiler, it’s relatively like ours!), how they understood their relationship with God in Christ, and how profoundly seriously they took their faith. In many cases it was a matter of life and death, freedom and imprisonment, as various pogroms by Pagan governing officials sought to root out the faith.

Today we have yet another feast day remembering the life of an early Christian. We recall St. Gregory the Illuminator, Bishop & Missionary. According to Lesser Feasts & Fasts, Gregory is known as the “Apostle of the Armenians.”

A mixture of facts and legends make up what we know of him. He was likely born around 257 and grew up in Caesarea as a Christian. He married a woman named Mary and had two sons. He returned to Armenia later in life and converted King Tiridates to Christianity.

Armenia is the first country/nation/kingdom to officially become Christian, and the country rapidly adopted the faith and set a precedent for Emperor Constantine’s Edic of Milan in 313, which made Christianity a legally recognized religion throughout the Roman Empire.

Tradition has it that Gregory became Bishop of Caesarea around 300 and sent his younger son to the First Ecumenical Council at Nicaea in 325 and died in 332.

St. Gregory’s life reminds us that our witness to life in Christ can have effects far greater than we can ask or imagine. Gregory converted, after all, a King—and subsequently a nation—to the knowledge and mercy and love of Christ.

But the first step of sharing our testimony of Christ with others involves us deeply reflecting on what being a disciple of Christ means, and how we have seen Jesus show up in our own lives.

What does it mean to follow Jesus?

What is it like to have a relationship with Jesus?

These are questions that the Episcopal tradition doesn’t always speak to at the forefront, but they are deeply important. I encourage all of us to spend some time with these questions today.

May St. Gregory pray to us to the Lord our God!

Yours in Christ,

—Fr Alex