The patron saint of women named Nina is Saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina. Who is Saint Nino and her role in the history of Georgia

Life and Events from the life of St. Nina

In 280, in the city of Kolastry, located in the province of Cappadocia, in Asia Minor, the future Christian enlightener of Georgia, St. Nina, was born. The times of persecution of Christians by the grace of God were already coming to an end: a little more than 30 years remained before the victory of Constantine the Great over Maxentius in the battle of the Mulva Bridge in 312. The result of the battle was the complete legalization of the Christian faith, and its widespread unimpeded distribution began, however, in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire, indulgences for believers in Christ were already significant at that time.

The only daughter in the noble family of the Roman governor Zebulun, who was the brother of the holy martyr George the Victorious, and his wife Susanna, the sister of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Saint Nina was brought up from childhood in a chaste spirit of faith and piety. From an early age, taught to read and write, she read inspired books, studied the Gospel with the help of her parents, grew up as a humble, obedient child and could serve as an example of virtue for many.

When the girl was 12 years old, her father and mother decided to visit Jerusalem to bow to the Lord's shrines. There, following a heartfelt call, my father decided to resign as governor and become a monk. Susanna agreed with her husband's decision, and Zebulun, after being tonsured, with the blessing of the Patriarch, retired to the desert of Jordan. The wife also devoted herself to serving God, becoming a deaconess at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, while Nina was taken in by the pious old woman Nianfora.

The young saint continued her growth in faith, understanding her deeper and deeper with all her heart. Reading the Gospel, reading about the passions of the Lord, about His Crucifixion, she wept. And when I read about how the soldiers shared His seamless, seamless tunic from top to bottom, which, according to Tradition, was woven by the Most Pure One herself (John 19; 23), I thought about how such a shrine could disappear without a trace. With these questions, Saint Nina turned to the old woman, and Nianfora told her that far in the northeast there is the country of Iberia (now Georgia), there is the city of Mtskheta. The chiton of the Lord Jesus Christ now resides there, but the peoples living in Iveria do not know Christ, but profess paganism. (Now Mtskheta is a small village, where the monuments of ancient Georgian architecture, which Georgia is so famous for, are partly preserved.)

Svetitskhoveli Cathedral
- main cathedral Georgia. Mtskheta

Nina was amazed - how is it, there is such a shrine, and no one knows about it! And she had a great desire to go to Iberia and find a chiton woven by the Mother of God herself. She began to earnestly pray to the Mother of God that the Most Pure One would help her in her aspirations. Her prayer was so sincere that one day in a dream the saint appeared to the Queen of Heaven Herself and ordered her to go to Iberia, preach the gospel there about Jesus Christ, revealing to people the wisdom of the Gospel, converting the pagans in His name. Thus, Nina will find favor in the eyes of God, and the Mother of God Herself will patronize her, all the more so when, after the Ascension of Christ, the apostles gathered for a common prayer in the Zion room and with them were the Mother of Jesus, and His brothers, and some of the wives, they threw lot - where to go to whom to convert the Gentiles.

As Stefan the Holy Mountaineer writes, the Most Pure One also wished to receive Her inheritance for the preaching of the Gospel. She also cast lots, and She got Iberia, which became the first of the four inheritances of the Mother of God on earth. It was already difficult for the Mother of God to embark on such a long journey, but the Angel who appeared to Her announced that it was not yet time for the gospel in Iveria, and when the time came, everything would be accomplished in Her lot. Thus, Saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina became the first of the saints who brought the faith of Christ to Georgia, therefore in this country she leads the number of the most revered saints here.

However, when the Blessed Virgin appeared to Nina in a vision, the young saint was amazed, how can a weak girl convert an entire nation, and even so far beyond the boundaries of the Holy Land? Then the Blessed Virgin gave the holy maiden a cross woven from a vine, with a special transverse crossbar, the ends of which were slightly lowered down, and said that this cross would be her shield, protect against enemies visible and invisible, and also by its power she would bring faith to the Iberian country .

A cross woven from vines, which, according to legend, the Mother of God handed over to Saint Nina. Stored in Bodba

The vision ended, and Nina immediately woke up, and in her hands was the cross given to her by the Most Pure One. The saint reverently kissed him and tied the cut strand of her hair around him. ancient custom: according to him, the master cut off the hair of the slave and kept it with him as a sign that this person is his slave. So Saint Nina announced to God that henceforth she was His eternal servant, a servant of His Cross. Her uncle, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, blessed her niece with joy, the Lord also sent her companions - from Rome through Jerusalem, Princess Ripsimia, her mentor Gaiania, pursued by the emperor Diocletian, and with them other girls who decided to devote themselves to God, were sent to those parts, pursued by the emperor Diocletian.

By the time the virgins reached Armenia, Diocletian had already found out that Hripsimia and the virgins had settled outside her capital, and wrote to the Armenian king Tiridates, who professed paganism, to find Hripsimia and do with her at his discretion - or send her to Rome, or take her as his wife. The servants of the Armenian king quickly found a place where the virgins settled, who decided to devote themselves to God, and Tiridates tried to persuade Ripsimia to marry, but she sharply refused him, saying that she was the bride of Christ, earthly marriage was impossible for her, and no one dares to touch her. Tiridates considered himself insulted and in anger ordered the girl and her friends and companions to be tortured, after which they died. By the way, later Tiridates was converted to Christianity by Saint Gregory the Illuminator, and did a lot for the conversion of the entire Armenian people.

At the same time, only Saint Nina escaped from the servants of Tiridates, hiding in a rose bush. She prayed for the martyrs, and suddenly, looking into the sky, she saw an angel meeting the souls of the martyrs, and with him a host of celestials. She saw how the souls of her friends ascended into heaven, and in sorrow she turned to God, asking why He left her here alone. And in response, she heard the Voice of God, which said that a little time would pass, and she, too, would be in the Kingdom of Heaven. Now she should go further north, where "the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few" (Matt. 9; 37).

And Nina went north. She walked for a long time, and finally came to a turbulent river. The Kura, the largest river in the Caucasus, was in front of her. On its shore, she met Armenian shepherds. At one time, her mentor Nianfora taught her the languages ​​of the Caucasus, and Armenian too. Nina asked the shepherds where the city of Mtskheta was, and they replied that Mtskheta was downstream, it was a great city, the city of their gods and their kings. And Nina realized that she had ended up in places where no one knows the Lord, and how she, alone and weak, could be, how to surpass such a mass of pagans, to convince them to convert to the true faith.

Thinking, she dozed off, and in a dream someone of majestic appearance appeared to her with a scroll in his hands. Sayings from the Gospel were inscribed on it in Greek, which said that the one who preaches the faith of Christ would not be abandoned by the Lord, but would receive “mouths and wisdom, which all who oppose you will not be able to contradict or resist” ( Luke 21:15), and when they stand before the rulers and authorities who do not confess Christ, let them not care what they say, “for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that hour what you should say” (Luke 12:11, 12 ). And the last saying was: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen” (Matthew 28:19, 20).

Mtskheta - the ancient capital of Georgia

The Word of God strengthened Saint Nina, and she went on to Mtskheta. The path was difficult, Nina was starving, she was tormented by thirst, wild animals roamed around, but she reached ancient city Urbanisi, where she stopped for a while to get to know the customs of the Iberian people better, to study their language, and then again moved towards the goal of her journey.

At that time, King Mirian and Queen Nana ruled in Iveria, and Saint Nina ended up in Mtskheta just on the day when the men were going to big holiday worship of the local idols Aramaz and Zaden, to their temples on the top of the mountain. A huge crowd at the head of the cortege of the king and queen with numerous servants went up to the altar.

The worst thing is that human sacrifice still existed here. When the barbaric rite began, the priests burned incense, and to the sound of trumpets and drums, the blood of the innocent was shed, and everyone, including the royal couple, fell prostrate before the idols. Saint Nina with tears began to pray to God that He, by His will, would stop the excesses and destroy the idols, turn them into dust. Her quiet voice was not heard among the crowd and the loud sounds of chants, but God hears another voice - the voice of sincere and heartfelt prayer, which sounds louder than drumming. No one at first noticed how black clouds began to gather from the west towards the mountain of idols. They were flying fast, and therefore the peal of thunder thundered suddenly, a flash of lightning struck the temples. The idols collapsed, and all the remnants of the altar, breaking into pieces, collapsed into the Kura and were carried away by its fast waters.

Everything happened very quickly, everyone was shocked, the next day they began to look for the remains of the figures, found nothing, and began to think if their gods were so strong, and maybe there is another, stronger God? ..

And Saint Nina entered the gates of the city like a wanderer. She needed shelter, and the Lord did not leave his servant. When Nina walked past the royal garden, she met Anastasia, a kind woman, the wife of a gardener. The king's gardener's family had no children, they had long regretted it. They liked the quiet, humble girl, and they set up a tent for her in the corner of the garden, where Nina settled.

Confluence of Aragvi and Kura,
and a view of the ancient capital of Georgia, the city of Mtskheta

Saint Nina prayed day and night so that God would give her understanding on how to fulfill the vow she had given to the Mother of God and find the tunic of the Lord. And so the first miracle was that, through the prayers of Nina, Anastasia began to have children, and so she and her husband believed in Christ, and Saint Nina told them about Him, read the Gospel to them, thus enlightening in faith. One day, a woman's child became seriously ill. No one could help, everyone believed that the child was doomed. In complete despair, she went out into the street and began to loudly ask for help in the hope of a miracle. These requests were heard by Nina. The child was brought to her in the tent, the saint laid her cross on him, turned to God, and at the same moment the child opened his eyes, the next moment he stood up healthy, and his mother, hearing Whose name her child was healed, also believed.

From that day on, Saint Nina began to publicly preach the teachings of Christ, calling on everyone to repent and believe. Her talks were attended by many, especially from Jewish wives. The first to come to the true faith was Sidonia, the daughter of the Jewish high priest Abiathar, and Abiathar soon came to believe after her. About this there are recorded "Evidence ..." of Sidonia and Abiathar themselves, in which the life of St. Nina, which they were witnesses, is described in great detail. She revealed to Abiathar the secret of her desire to find the tunic of the Lord, and he told her that his family kept the memory of how his great-grandfather Elioz was in Jerusalem on the day of the execution of Christ and bought the tunic of Jesus from the soldier who got it by lot. This is recorded in the "Testimony of Abiathar the High Priest about the tunic of the Lord."

Jvari. The place where St. Nina installed the first cross
and from where you can see the confluence of two rivers

It is known from him that at the hour of the crucifixion of the Lord, the mother of Elioz suddenly felt ill - as if a hammer was beating her heart, hammering nails into it. She exclaimed, "The kingdom of Israel has perished!" and fell dead. When Elioz returned home with the tunic, his sister Sidonia, in memory of whom Elioz later named his daughter, took the tunic from her brother's hands, pressed it to her heart, and also died immediately. Before the burial, they tried to take the tunic out of her hands, but no one was able to do it. Saint Sidonia was buried like that - with Christ's tunic pressed to her chest. Where the place of her grave was was forgotten, they only remembered that now it turned out to be somewhere in the royal garden. They say that a cedar with healing power grew by itself in the garden, and it is believed that this place is where Sister Elioza was buried, and with her a tunic woven by the Mother of God for the Son.

Saint Nina saw an important sign in this story and began to pray at a large cedar tree so that the Lord would reveal to her whether the legend was true. She prayed all night, and again she had a vision. Many black birds flocked to the royal garden, and from there they flew to another large Georgian river - Aragvi. Having bathed in it, they became the purest whiteness, again flew to the royal garden, sat down on the branches of a wonderful cedar and began to sing songs of paradise. When Nina woke up from the vision, its meaning was clear to her: the birds are the local peoples, the transformation of their plumage from black to white after bathing in the waters of Aragvi is a sign that they will receive the sacrament of Baptism into Christ, and the songs of paradise are the hymns of worship in the temple , which will be erected on the site where the cedar was now growing.

Iveria belonged to the eastern region of the Roman Empire, where Tsar Constantine the Great already ruled, and the Christians were under his protection, therefore Tsar Mirian did not interfere with Nina in her Christian preaching. Queen Nana was angry with her. But, apparently, this was the Providence of the Lord - soon the queen was visited by an illness that quickly worsened, and all the doctors were powerless. When things got really bad, the courtiers, who heard about healings and miracles performed through the prayers of a wanderer living with the gardener of the king, that she did not refuse help to anyone, decided to call her to the queen. However, Nina refused to come to the palace, ordered to bring the queen to her and said that she believed in her healing by the power of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The cross placed by St. Nina in the ancient temple on Mount Jvari

There was no time for royal pride, and the queen was brought on a stretcher to Nina's tent, accompanied by her son Rev and other people. In the tent, Nana was laid on a bed of leaves (according to other sources, felt), and the saint prayed for a long time beside her. After that, she got up and laid her cross on the head, legs and shoulders of the patient, as it should be with the sign of the cross. The Empress immediately felt a clear and serious relief, and Saint Nina offered up a prayer of thanksgiving to God and loudly confessed the name of Christ before everyone.

The healing of the queen and her subsequent recognition of Christ as her God made a great impression on those present, many believed and were ready to accept Baptism, but the king himself hesitated to accept the new faith. This was largely due to political reasons.

When St. Nina converted Khvarasneli, a relative of the Persian king Khozrov, who had previously been a follower of the Zoroastrian teaching, to Christianity, Mirian's consent to the free practice of Christianity became dangerous for the Iberian king. Saint Nina healed Khvarasneli from obsession, praying with her disciples for him under the shadow of a wonderful cedar. After the noble husband was unconscious, and Nina prayed for him for two days, evil spirit came out of it, the nobleman recovered and surrendered to Christ with all his soul.

Therefore, in order not to incur the wrath of a strong state neighbor, a fire-worshipper, Mirian decided to exterminate the Christians altogether. During a forest hunt in the Mukhran forests, he loudly and decisively declared to all those accompanying him that all Christians would be exterminated, and if the queen persisted, then the same fate would befall her. At the same moment, on a clear day, as on the day when the Iverian idols collapsed and fell into the Kura, a thunderstorm came up. Lightning flashed, blinding Mirian, so much so that the world in his eyes plunged into complete darkness, a terrible thunder fell on everyone, his companions rushed in all directions. In horror, the king began to cry out to call on his gods, but he remained alone and blind. Then he remembered the many miracles of help and healing that people, including his wife, received from the wanderer Nina, and called on God, in whom Nina believed. Moved by a lofty feeling, he promised to confess His name, and promised that he would erect a cross to His glory and a temple to His name and be a faithful servant of God and His messenger Nina. At the same moment he received his sight, and the storm subsided as suddenly as it arrived.

Svetitskhoveli. Tower over the grave
Sidonia and the Chiton of the Lord.

The Life-Giving Pillar is located almost in the center of the modern temple; a stone canopy is built over it, which is painted with frescoes. Most of the surviving fragments of frescoes illustrate the history of the Chiton of the Lord and the Pillar itself.

So Mirian also believed in Christ, and on the advice of St. Nina he himself sent a letter to Constantine the Great asking him to send priests to Iveria to baptize and enlighten his people. Another part of Nina's vision of the cedar also came true: the Christian king Mirian ordered that a temple be erected in his garden on the site where the miracle cedar stood and erect it before the arrival of the priests from Constantine. By order of Mirian, the cedar was cut down, six pillars were hewn out of six branches, and a seventh from the trunk, but it was so heavy and large that they could not lift it in any way. And a lot of people, and powerful machines could not even move the cedar pole from its place.

Saint Nina again began to call on God for help and prayed in the garden all night long. By early morning, a bright young man appeared to her, entwined with a fiery belt, quietly said something to Nina, and Nina immediately fell to her knees and bowed to him. The young man easily raised the pillar, which sparkled like lightning and was visible from all parts of the city. Then everyone saw how the pillar slowly sank to the place where the cedar stood, and myrrh began to flow from under its base, the fragrant aroma of which flooded the whole district. The pillar rose and fell many more times. Many sick people were brought to him, and they were instantly healed. The time came when the miracle stopped, and the first wooden temple in Iveria-Georgia was founded on that place. Now in the same place there is a cathedral in honor of the Twelve Apostles, Svetitskhoveli - translated into Russian "Life-Giving Pillar" in memory of those miraculous healings by Divine grace. It is believed that the chiton of the Lord is still kept here.

Meanwhile, a letter from Tsar Mirian, sent at the request of Saint Nina, was delivered to Constantine the Great. Having learned about everything, the Equal-to-the-Apostles Tsar and Equal-to-the-Apostles Empress Elena rejoiced. Constantine the Great sent Bishop John to Iveria with priests and deacons; among the gifts to the temple were the holy cross, icons of the Savior and the Mother of God, and other gifts. In a response message, he thanked the Lord for the fact that now new regions were converted to the true faith, and Saint Helen sent a letter of praise to Saint Nina.

When the priests arrived in Mtskheta, all royal family, servants, and after them the rest of the people were baptized. This was the beginning of the spread of Christianity in Georgia and the accomplishment of what was commanded by the Mother of God, Saint Nina. The king also asked the consent of Saint Nina to build a temple on the site of her tent, to which the holy wanderer agreed with joy and thanked God that her prayerful labors in Mtskheta would be another place to offer praise to the Lord.

Later, also at the request of King Mirian, Saint Constantine sent to Mtskheta a part of the Life-Giving Tree of the Lord, acquired through the labors of Empress Helen, with nails that nailed the Body of Christ, that part that served as a support for the feet of Jesus, as well as architects and builders for the construction of stone churches and more priests to lead worship in the new churches, as the number of converts grew. However, the ambassadors brought a part of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord from Constantine not to Mtskheta, but to Maiglis and Yerusheti, located on the very borders of the state. King Mirian was very upset by this, but Saint Nina consoled him, saying that the glory and power of the Lord now protect his country on its borders, spreading the faith of Christ further, and then - how can you be sad if there is such a shrine in your country as the most pure chiton of the Lord Himself, worn by Him during His earthly life!

However, the crowdedness of the city was difficult for Nina, as, indeed, for all the saints, who, although they were the greatest and most merciful philanthropists, tried always, when possible, to make their communication the smallest among the vanity of the earthly people, preferring one interlocutor, to whom day and night they turned their prayers of the Lord. For them, it was important, first of all, to serve Him, and Saint Nina continued her gospel of Christ in difficult mountainous places, in the upper reaches of the Aragvi and Iori, where she enlightened the mountain peoples in the faith, and then headed to Kakhetia and there she passed through all of Georgia and adjacent to her Caucasian territories.

While preaching in Kakheti, Saint Nina received from the angel of God the news of her imminent death. Upon learning of this, the saint sent a letter to Tsar Mirian asking him to send a priest, Bishop Jacob, to prepare her before she departed to God. Everyone went to her - the bishop, king Mirian and all his nobles. Everyone wanted to see their mentor for the last time, who had done so much to educate the people of Iberia, thereby saving their souls for Eternal Life. At that time, many disciples had already gathered near the saint, and now they were inseparably with her. One of them, Solomiya Udzharskaya, wrote down a lengthy story about the life of St. Nina from her words. Testimonies from Sidonia, Aviathar, and King Mirian added to it substantially. After that, they became one of the main sources of exposition of the life of Nina by St. Demetrius of Rostov.

Having received the last communion from the hands of the bishop, Saint Nina peacefully passed away to God in the year 335 from the Nativity of Christ at the age of 55 and was buried according to her will in the village of Bodbi, otherwise it is called Bodbe. In 342, at the place of her burial, Tsar Mirian erected a temple in the name of a relative of St. Nina, the holy martyr George the Victorious, and in 1889, at the behest of the emperor Alexander III a monastery was formed here in the name of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina. Here, under a bushel, the relics of St. Nina rest, but the temple itself has now fallen into extreme desolation.

Tomb of Saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina in Bodbe

After the burial of Nina, King Mirian, contrary to the promise given by the saint, wanted to transfer her relics to Mtskheta, but in no way could anyone move her imperishable relics. They still rest in Bodby, in the temple, which was renovated at the beginning of the 19th century by Metropolitan John.

Placement of holy crosses

History has preserved the legend that when the people of Tsar Mirian were baptized, Saint Nina ordered him to put worship crosses on the most high mountains where bright stars will rise. One star rose over the confluence of Aragvi and Kura, the second - in the west, the third over Bodbi, where St. Nina was buried. According to legend, a tree of marvelous beauty was found for the crosses near the city of Mtskheta. The Iberians-Georgians told Bishop John about it, and he blessed them to build worship crosses from this tree. When they came to cut the tree, Bishop John also came with the people and ordered that neither a leaf nor a branch from this tree be damaged during the felling. After it was cut down, it lay untouched for 37 days. When in May everything fruit trees blossomed, holy crosses were made from this tree and the first one was placed in the new church. And there was a sign in Mtskheta: a bright pillar stood over the temple, and Angels descended and ascended along it, and around it a starry crown shone. After the placement of all three crosses, many miracles and signs happened, and many miraculous healings recorded in the Narrative of the Establishment of the Holy Crosses under Tsar Mirian.

Cross of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina
Trinity Church is located at an altitude of 2,170 m
at the foot of Kazbek along the Georgian Military Highway
in the Georgian village of Gergeti.
During the Persian invasion of Tbilisi (1795)
in Gergeti they hid the cross of St. Nina.

The Holy Cross of Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina made a great journey through the Caucasus and Russia. Until 453, it was kept in the Mtskheta cathedral church. When the pagans began to persecute Christians, the cross was taken by the monk Andrew and transferred to the Taron region in Armenia, where it was kept in the church of the Holy Apostles, which was called among the Armenians Gazar-Vank (Lazar's Cathedral). The persecution of the Persian magicians led to the need to transfer it to different fortresses, until in 1239 the Georgian queen Rusudan and her bishops begged the Mongolian governor Charmagan, who conquered the city of Ani, to return the cross of St. Nina to Georgia. The governor agreed, and the cross returned to Mtskheta. However, the turbulent and warlike history of the Caucasus did not allow the holy cross to find peace: it constantly traveled around Georgia - this is how it was saved from desecration or loss, until in 1749 it came to Russia through the labors of Metropolitan Roman of Georgia, who secretly took it to Moscow, where he handed it for the preservation of Tsarevich Bakar Vakhtangovich. After that, the cross of St. Nina was kept in the Nizhny Novgorod province, in the village of Lyskovo, where the estate of the Georgian princes was located. In 1808, the grandson of Bakar Vakhtangovich, Prince Georgy Alexandrovich presented the holy cross of Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina to Emperor Alexander Pavlovich, who decided that the shrine should be returned to Georgia.

Since then, the holy cross, handed over to St. Nina by the Most Holy Mother of God, has been kept in Tiflis Zion cathedral, in an icon case bound with silver.

Memorable places of St. Nina in Georgia

Svetitskhoveli - Cathedral Patriarchal Church of Georgia

Svetitskhoveli, the "Life-Giving Pillar" - the main cathedral of Georgia, is located in Mtskheta, a small village, and during the arrival of St. Nina with a sermon - the ancient capital of Georgia. The early history of its origin and the miracles that preceded it have already been described in detail above in the section "Events from the Life of the Saint", in a brief biography of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina, otherwise the temple of the Twelve Apostles. The first temple building on the site where the great cedar grew, under which Saint Sidonia was buried with the tunic of Jesus - the robe of the Lord, was a wooden church founded by the pious king Mirian in the 4th century.

In the fifth century, during the reign of Vakhtang I Gurg-Aslani, a stone temple in the form of a basilica was erected in its place and existed here until the 11th century, when the Catholicos of Georgia Melchizedek began the construction of a cathedral - a new patriarchal cathedral, the construction of which lasted from 1010 to 1029. The main architect of the temple was the architect Arsukidze. There is a legend that his teacher, seeing the temple, envied the student and took revenge on him by slandering him. The architect's right hand was cut off. Whether this is true or a legend, but above the central arch of the northern facade of the building you can see the relief of a hand with a square and the inscription: "Hand of God's servant Arsukidze. Remember."

Monastery Samtavro

And in the northern part of Mtskheta, not far from Svetitskhoveli, there is the Samtavro Monastery. It also originated in the 11th century. Here, one of the oldest churches of the 4th century, Makvlovani, the “small” church of St. Nina, is preserved, associated with a legend according to which there was a tent of the holy enlightener built for her by the royal gardener of Tsar Mirian. This is one of the few temples representing the early Georgian architecture, which has retained its original features to this day.

Sioni - temple in Tbilisi

Another holy place for Georgia is the Sioni temple in Tbilisi, where the cross of St. Nina is now kept. One of the two main temples of the country, consecrated in honor of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is named after Mount Zion. The temple stands on the banks of the Kura in the historical center of the Georgian capital.

At the end of the 6th century, a church was built here, and then, after the liberation of Tbilisi from the invasion of the Saracens, David IV the Builder erected a new temple here at the beginning of the 11th century, which stood until the new invasion of the Arabs and the earthquake of the 17th century. The temple suffered another destruction in the 18th century from the invasion of Aga Mohammed Khan, and was restored again, but despite such frequent renovations, the temple has retained the main features of its original appearance today.

The temple where the relics of St. Nina are kept is the most important place for many pilgrims

And the most important place for many pilgrims to the places associated with the name of St. Nina - Bodbi or Bodbe in Kakheti, 2 km from the city of Sighnaghi, the last refuge of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina on earth. Her honest remains lie here, which King Mirian, no matter how much he wanted to take them for burial to the then capital - Mtskheta, which is now called Mtskheta, could not even raise them. The desire of the saint to be laid to rest here was irresistible.

Once St. Nina founded a community of disciples here, then a monastery grew up here, where all the buildings are ascetic in terms of architecture, but the earthly path of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina was just as ascetic and full of hardships. This small church is often referred to as St. Nina's House at Bodby. The name of the architect has not been preserved.

How does the icon protect

The icon of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina is a wonderful shrine. Prayer before her will protect both those who are baptized in her holy name, and all who turn to her for help in any matter, especially in spiritual enlightenment. She is asked for protection from attacks by evil forces and cases that could lead to mental and physical ailments. Also, St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina, Enlightener of Georgia, protects all those who are engaged in useful education - teachers, teachers. And of course, all of Georgia and all Georgians living in their homeland and outside it are under the special care of St. Nina.

What does the icon help with?

Prayer before the icon of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina helps in healing from mental and physical ailments, even in very difficult cases. Everything depends only on faith, according to which, as you know, it is given to us. Saint Nina healed with a cross from a vine given to her by the Most Pure Virgin herself, having at the same time unbreakable firmness in devotion to Christ, so that Saint Nina can be asked for spiritual help and strengthening in faith. Carrying out a mission comparable to the apostolic, and therefore canonized in the face of the Equal-to-the-Apostles saints, Saint Nina was, in essence, engaged in teaching, and therefore patronizes teachers and lecturers. And, of course, she especially helps everyone who is baptized in her honor.

For Georgia, St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina is the leading saint, along with her cousin, St. George the Victorious. Therefore, wherever fate brings the one whose homeland is ancient Iveria, he knows that St. Nina always helps those whose ancestors lived on the earth, where St. Nina fulfilled the will of the Mother of God for Her first destiny.

How to pray in front of an icon

The words of God to the servant, in the apostleship of the sermon to the first-called Andrew and the other apostle imitated, the enlightener Iberia, and the Holy Spirit to the tsevnitsa, Saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Nino, pray to Christ God to be saved to our souls.

O all-praiseful and marvelous Equal-to-the-Apostles Nino, we resort to you and tenderly ask you: protect us (names) from all evils and sorrows, enlighten the enemies of the saints of the Church of Christ and shame the opponents of piety and implore the All-good God our Savior, now stand before Him, may He grant the people Orthodox peace, long life and haste in every good undertaking, and may the Lord lead us into His Heavenly Kingdom, where all the saints glorify His all-holy name, now and ever and forever and ever. Amen

When is the holy day

The meaning of the icon

The hagiographic ambiguity of the icon of St. Nina is also contained in her cross, handed over to her by the Most Pure: it was woven from a vine - it has always been an associative symbol of Georgia, and will twist a lock of the saint's hair as a sign that she is a voluntarily servant of God. And, looking at us from the icon, Saint Nina seems to be asking: how ready are today's believers just as unconditionally and voluntarily to twist in their hearts, figuratively speaking, with a lock of their hair their cross, which everyone who follows Christ carries?

The icon is a great shrine and often the root cause, the beginning of a closer, deeper spiritual enlightenment. And how and when it will begin is the will of God. Saint Nina wept over the Gospel when she read about the last days of Christ's earthly journey. So, imbued with the lives of the saints, living them while reading as much as it is accessible and open to us, we multiply our connections with the holy archetype through his icon-painting image and the legend about him, and this is God's special mercy to us and His grace, given through a miracle. Russian icon painting.

The meaning of the name NINA

Nina is a good and kind name, gentle, beautiful, feminine female name.
- The origin is Greek.
- The meaning of the name Nina is "royal", "great", "affectionate"

The corresponding zodiac sign is Aquarius.
- The ruling planet is Uranus.
- Talisman stone - carnelian, sapphire, zircon.
- Talisman-color - lilac, blue, red, a combination of matte blue and beige.
- Mascot plant - vine, cypress, violet, orchid, forget-me-not.
- Animal talisman - doe, dove.
- The most successful day is Friday.
- A predisposition to such traits as - calmness, adherence to principles, peacefulness, sociability, intuition, receptivity. Like her totem, the vine needs care in order to bloom in time. happy marriage or an interesting job for her is an important basis of life.
- Nina's birthday - January 27, May 14, November 19.