The Life and Prayers of St. Hripsime
During our recent Beauty as Witness retreat, we explored the life of St. Hripsime, a woman venerated as one the first martyrs in Armenian history, whose faith and courage were so extraordinary it was described in her hymns as a return to Eden.
According to tradition, Hripsime was of royal birth, daughter of a pious man of Rome. Under the guidance of St. Gaiane, she and 35 female companions formed a group of devout Christian nuns in the Monastery of St Paul located in the mountains of Rome around 300 A.D. Hripsime was extremely beautiful, and her portrait had attracted the attention of the Roman emperor Diocletian, who vowed to marry her.
To avoid his forceful advances and to maintain their monastic vows of devotion to Christ, Hripsime and their community fled Rome. After traveling to Alexandria, they finally arrived in the vicinity of Vagharshapat in Armenia, where, it is said, they found an old building of an abandoned wine press and settled there.
And in their supplication they prayed:
"Lord our God, who sent your only-begotten Son, who came and filled the whole world with your Spirit and wisdom in order to inscribe everyone with the name of Israel, 'seers of god.' And we heard him say 'Although they will persecute you from city to city, you will not be able to exhaust the cities of Israel until my return there'.”
Emperor Diocletian continued his pursuit of St. Hripsime and the nuns. He asked the pagan Armenian King’s help in returning them to Rome. However, when King Drtad’s soldiers discovered where the nuns were hiding and King Drtad heard the report of the beautiful Hripsime, he, too, desired to marry her. He sent royal envoys to clothe her in costly garments and bring her to the palace, but she refused.
"Because she did not wish to come willingly in honor and pomp,” the king said, “let them bring her forcibly to my palace and lead her to the royal chamber."
“So the servants took Rhipsime by force, now lifting her, now dragging her. And she cried out and said: "Lord Jesus Christ, help me." And the whole crowd followed her.
St. Hripsime was forcibly brought into the king’s royal chamber and left there.
When the king entered, he seized her in order to work his lustful desires. But she, strengthened by the holy Spirit, struggled like a beast and fought like a man. They fought from the third hour until the tenth and she vanquished the king who was renowned for his incredible strength.
The king sent for St. Gayane, commanding her to tell St. Hripsime, “do his will and we shall live.” Instead, St. Gayane encouraged Hripsime to stand firm in her faith. For this, she was beaten heavily. Her jaw was broken and her teeth were knocked out.
"...Now look down, Lord, from heaven from your holiness, lest we become like that house which was built on the sand, and which was toppled by the buffetings of afflictions and various trials. But confirm us in the truth of the gospel of peace, and lead us according to your will, and make us worthy of the marriage of the evening light, when you will make the evening as bright as the day at the dawning of the rays from the face of your glory. And preserve us under your wings, that we may reach the haven of your will. And give us to drink the cup of martyrdom, that we may receive the crown as reward in the day of the just judgment at the revelation of your glory."
But St. Hhipsime was still fighting with the king “from the tenth hour of the day until the first evening watch.” Strengthened by the Holy Spirit, she struck him, chased him and overcame him at last. St. Hripsime and Gayane escaped from the palace and returned to the winery.
"Lord God almighty, who fashioned your creatures through your only-begotten and beloved Son, and formed the order of the visible and invisible creatures through your holy Spirit; who brought everything from nothing into being; and at your command move all visible and invisible powers which are in heaven and earth, in the sea and on dry land. For you it is, Lord, who drowned in the flooding waters the impious and impure men of the eighth generation, and saved your beloved Noah who had kept the command of your word, and rescued him from the flood through the cross-like wood. You who then worked salvation through the symbol of the cross, now work the same through the true cross, on which you hung and shed your blood for the healing of our woes.”
Because of her refusal, the king’s forces came and inflicted terrible tortures upon Hripsime, Gayane, and the other sisters, before they were killed.
"Benevolent and sweet one, who cast us into this trial, grant us victory through your power; for yours is victory and your name will conquer; keep us in hope and chastity, that thereby we may enter the allotted number of your just ones, that we may receive the rewards of our labors which you will give in compensation to each one of those who stand in your fear and keep your commandments.”
The martyrdom of these women took place in the last year of St. Gregory the Illuminator’s imprisonment in the deep pit by King Drtad. Shortly after their martyrdom, the king and his household fell sick, which no doctor could cure. Eventually, they went to St. Gregory, who had been imprisoned for twelve years in a pit for his faith. St. Gregory asked them to seek the intercessions of the martyred nuns. Speaking of St. Hripisme, he told the king, “She was martyred so that you might be healed”. And they were indeed miraculously healed.
It is said that after this St. Gregory was released from the pit, and immediately built chapels over the relics of the nuns. The Cathedral of St. Hripsime, built over this original chapel in the 7th century, remains a monument of Armenian architecture. St. Hripsime and her companions are venerated as the first martyrs in Armenian history, whose blood became the seed of the Armenian church.
"For if you saved the beasts and animals in the ark, how much more will you care for your images that glorify you? While if you cared for the reptiles and birds, how much more will you care for us, whom you have called the temple of your will?" - Prayer of St. Hripsime
Holy Mother Hripsime and her companions, pray to God for us!
(Italicised portions are taken from Agathangelos: History of the Armenians, Translation and Commentary by R. W. Thomson: Chapter 5. The Martyrdom of Rhipsime, Gaiane and their companions).