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At that time the venerable Nune
[Nino], Mother of Iberia, came to Mts'xet'a and was there for three
months. The queen of Iberia,
Soghome [Salome], inquired of her whence she had
come.
Nino replied: "Hear from the beginning [information]
about me. Once it happened that the Frankish (Branjats')
people fought with Rome,
and a man named Zaboghon, a Cappadocian,
triumphed over them through the power of Christ, and seized the king and his
army. Astounded, they requested the grace of baptism, and it was administered
to them. [The victors] sent to their land [men] illuminated in Christ. Zaboghon himself went along with them, and converted the
Frankish people to Christianity. Going to the king, [Zaboghon]
received [36] numerous gifts from him and then went to Jerusalem to revere the holy places. There
he discovered two orphans who had come from Klastrat
following the death of their Christian parents. One was Yubnaz;
his sister was Susan, [g44] who served the Bethlehemite
Niop'or. Zaboghon married
Susan and went to the city of Klastrat. I am their daughter.
When I was twelve years old, they went to Jerusalem, and my father went to a retreat,
entrusting me to God and to the grace of Christ, so that I be dedicated as a
virgin to the Heavenly Bridegroom. I entered the home of Niap'or,
an Armenian man from the city of Dwin, and served him for two
years. Daily I learned about the dispensation of Christ our God, about how He
was martyred and regarding where the winding-sheets of our Lord were. And
they taught me that what had been written in prophecies had been fulfilled in
the Lord--that He was crucified, resurrected, had ascended to Heaven, and
would come again. Pilate's wife had requested the grave shroud and believed
in Christ. She went to her home in Pontus. After some time it fell
to the evangelist Luke, who knew what she had done. They say that Peter had
taken with him the veil (varshamak), and
that the cloak [of Christ] had reached the Tsmakayin
country and was in the city of Mts'xet'a; and that the Cross of the Lord lay buried at Jerusalem and would
become manifest when It chose. I [37] heard all this and went to the
Patriarch, and he blessed me.
Then I went to Rome,
that perchance I would find there a portion of Christ's grace. With my sight
fixed on the Living Hope, I found the monastery of Paul wherein three hundred
virgins were dwelling. Temptations were visited upon us there, and we came to
Armenia.
But the emperor wrote a letter to Trdat who sought
after and found us by the wine-presses of the vineyards. [g45] Despite the
king's efforts, he was unable to wed the bride of Christ, Hrip'sime.
He killed thirty-seven of us by sword. The others were dispersed. I remained
under a rose bush which had not blossomed. Raising my eyes, I saw the souls
of the saints moving through the sky. A clerical commander with a fiery army
came before them, having a censer in his hand. Censing at the saints, he
turned thence with them and they passed behind a curtain. Then I protested to
the Lord, saying: 'Jesus my Lord, why did you leave me here?' Then [a voice]
said to me: 'Fear not, for you too shall ascend to your sisters. But now go
to the northern region, where the harvest is abundant, but where there is no
cultivator.' In this short time, that thorny bush had blossomed with
flowering roses. Arising, I went to Armenian Urbanis,
wintered there, and in the month of June I came to the mountain of Chawaxet'. I came to lake P'arwana where I saw
fishermen fishing, and shepherds by the shore. And I heard them swearing by Aramazd and Zade--for [38] I
knew the Armenian language, having studied it at the home of Niop'or Dwinets'i.
Asking them where they were from, they replied: 'From Darb, Lrbin, Sap'ursl, K'intser, Rhapat of Mts'xet'a
where the false gods are glorified and where the kings rule. The river which
flows from this lake goes there.' Isolating myself, I lay my head down and
slept. I had been given a document in Latin, sealed with a ring, and the
writing on the seal was in the name of Jesus Christ. The man who had given me
the letter said: 'Arise, go and preach what is written here.' But I said to
him: 'Who am I, but an ignorant, weak woman?' He replied: 'In the grace of
Christianity and in the Land
of Life, which is
Heavenly Jerusalem, there is neither male no female.
Speak not of weakness and ignorance, [g46] for Christ is the might of God,
and the wisdom of God. Furthermore, Mary Magdalen
preached the resurrection of Christ to the Apostles and to many others, yet
there was no shame either for the speaker or for the listeners.' Opening the
document, I found there concisely written the entire power of the Gospel,
comprised in ten statements. When I read this and learned from it, I awoke.
As requested by the Lord I came, following the river from the west until the
water turned eastward. I reached Urbnis and
remained there for a month.
Then, following some merchants, I came to Mts'xet'a. On the day of the festival of Aramazd, [I followed] the king and the entire public.
There I saw [39] a man, in copper armor, wearing a gold helmet adorned with
two emeralds and one crystal. In his hand he held a sword like lightning. He
moved, terrifying the people who trembled and said: 'Woe to us, for we erred
in sacrificing, or sinned by deed with the Jews or mages, and Aramazd will kill us.' To the right [of Aramazd] was a golden image named Gats'a,
to his left, a silver image named Gayim. Then I
recalled what Yubnagh, the patriarch of Jerusalem had said to
me: 'You shall reach the country of warriors against the true God.'
Distraught, I wept and beseeched God for mercy on those gone astray, and I
said: 'God of my father and mother, silence these diabolical images and
destroy them so that they recognize you as the sole true God.' Suddenly a
very strong wind arose, there was the rumbling of
thunder, a storm of lightning, hail stones weighing a lter
each, a foul, loathsome odor, a heavy darkness, and the images became undiscernible. The crowd scattered and hid. The next day
the king and all the people went forth seeking to discover the cause of these
events. Then some said: 'T'rujan the Chaldean god and our Aramazd
[g47] have been enemies from the beginning. Once our god ruined [T'rujan] with water, and now he is taking revenge.' But
others spoke the truth, saying: 'God the Great Who struck the king of Armenia and then cured him again together with
all Armenia, worked this miracle.' I found the crystal gem [40] and
went to the Banch'i tree which they call the Shielder of king Bartom, and
for six days I prayed there.
On the day of the great Transfiguration of the Lord, when
the Lord displayed the image of the Father to the principal Apostles and
prophets, a maid-servant of the king, named Shushan, came to me and seeing me
was astonished. Bringing a Latin translator, [she] questioned me, taking pity
on me as a foreigner. She wanted to take me to court. But I did not go with
her. Instead, I went thence and found a woman named Anastu,
the wife of the man who tended the royal garden; and she received me with
delight. I was at their home for nine months. It happened that they had no
child, and were therefore very sad. Then a luminous man said to me: 'Enter
the garden, take soil from the base of the fir bush by the roses, give it to
them to eat in the name of the Lord, and I shall give them a child.' I did
so, and gave them [the soil] in the name of Jesus Christ God of Sabayovt', Who came in humility and shall come in His
glory and judge the world equitably. Hearing this, they believed in Christ and
received the promised child. I left their home and dwelled for three months
outside the wall in a tamarisk grove. Having fashioned a cross, I worshipped
the Holy Trinity before it, day and night. Day after day I went to the Jews
because of the language, and for information about the Lord's robe. The
priest Abiathar (Abiat'ar)
and his daughter Sidonia (Sidona)
[g48] and six Jewish women additionally believed in the [41][second]
coming of Christ. Asking Abiathar, they learned the
truth."
Now when the wise queen heard all of this, she was
astounded and believed what she had heard. When she learned about the great
miracle which had happened to her father Trdatios,
she became yet more confirmed in the faith, and glorified God in His
ineffable glory.
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