Milwaukee Armenians

       This Saturday, July 9, the Armenian Church commemorates one of the three feast days dedicated to St. Gregory the Illuminator: The discovery of his relics. St. Gregory is considered to be the “Apostle of Armenia.” After years of evangelizing, St. Gregory sought solitude and an ascetic life. He chose a cave on Mount Sebouh as his dwelling place. It was here that Gregory died alone. Shepherds found his body and without realizing who he was buried him under a pile of stones. Later a hermit, Karnig of Basen, who had been a disciple of St. Gregory saw a vision and went to Mount Sepouh where he found the site of Gregory’s burial. He took the remains to the village of Dortan for burial, where King Drtad was buried. Relics from the right hand of St. Gregory are at the Holy Mother See of Etchmiadzin and the Holy See of Cilicia. The Catholicoi mix the new muron  (chrism) with the old muron with the golden right hand that contains the relics.