In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit!
Sabinin. Holy Virgin blesses St. Nino. 1882 Georgia, which in ancient times was called Iberia, is the portion of the Most Pure Mother of God that by the will of God fell to Her by lot in order to preach there the saving Gospel of Her Son and Lord Jesus Christ.
After the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ to Heaven, the apostles, together with His Mother Mary, remained continuously in the Upper Room of Mt. Zion, waiting for the promised Spirit the Comforter, as the Lord Himself had commanded them: They should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith He, ye have heard of Me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence (Acts 1:4, 5).
While waiting for the promise, the apostles began to cast lots in order to find out which country each of them had been preordained by God to spread the Gospel in. The Most Pure Mother of God also wished to participate in the drawing of lots so that She too would have Her own portion, which God would deign to point out to Her.
And the land of Iberia fell to Her share by lot.
The Theotokos gladly accepted this lot and, after the Descent of the Holy Spirit, intended to go to Iberia right away, but an angel of God told Her to stay in Jerusalem until the time came, the country that She had inherited by lot would be enlightened by the faith of Christ later, and She would be its Sovereign Lady.
This predestination of God for the enlightenment of Iberia was fulfilled three centuries after the Ascension of Christ. The Fulfiller was the Most Blessed Mother of God Herself, Who sent the Holy Virgin Nino (also spelled Nina), a daughter of very pious parents from Cappadocia, with Her blessing to preach in Iberia. St. Nino’s parents sent her to be raised by a devout eldress named Nianfora, who lived at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. At the age of fourteen, under her spiritual guidance, St. Nino firmly learned and observed all the rules of faith and piety, and diligently studied the Holy Scriptures with prayer.
The time came, and the Most Blessed Theotokos appeared to St. Nino in a dream and commanded her to go to the Iberian land to preach the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ there. The Most Pure Virgin also promised to be St. Nino’s Heavenly Patroness, and gave her a cross woven from grapevines.
On waking up and seeing the cross in her hands—the symbol of the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and life over death—Blessed Nino bound the cross with strands of her own hair and went to Iberia to raise in a faraway land the saving banner of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4).
Having arrived in Iberia, St. Nino—not by force of arms, not by convincing words of human wisdom, but by the power of the Cross and prayer—dispelled the darkness of paganism in which the people of Iberia had wallowed, enlightened this nation with the light of Christ’s truth and guided it to the path of salvation.
Thanks to the apostolic feat of St. Nino, the history of Georgia as an Orthodox state began in the fourth century A.D. Keeping the faith of Christ and the reverent memory of their enlightener and invoking her name for help, for more than 1,600 years now the Georgian people have always emerged victorious against the almost incessant raids and attacks of the enemies of the Lord’s Cross.
Such is the significance of St. Nino’s labors for the history of the Georgian land.
To this day, St. Nino is remembered in every corner of Georgia—its baptizer, zealous intercessor and tireless protectress; and she helps everyone who calls out to her with faith and prayer.
There are no barriers, no political boundaries for prayer and for the help of the saints. The saints are beyond time and all human conventions. The holy baptizer of Georgia helps not only the faithful of Georgia, but also all those who turn to her in prayer.
It has always been so. It was also the case in the recent history of our motherland.
During the Second World War, many people in the Soviet Union and across the globe prayed for the liberation of Leningrad citizens from the siege. There were ascetics who took on special spiritual feats. Among them was the holy Metropolitan Zinovy of Tetritskaro, in the schema—Seraphim (Mazhuga; 1896–1985; commemorated September 9/22).
A successor and keeper of the living tradition of the elders of the famous Glinsk Monastery (in the Sumy region of what is now Ukraine close to the Russian border), the rector of St. Alexander Nevsky Church in Tbilisi, Vladyka Zinovy undertook the spiritual feat of praying for the lifting of the siege and received an answer to his prayers from above, as he himself related:
“In those days, once early in the morning, I saw Equal-to-the-Apostles St. Nino kneeling before the Throne of God and imploring the Lord to help the suffering people of the besieged city overcome the foe. And large tears, the size of grapes and like crystals, were rolling down the saint’s cheeks. I interpreted it this way: The Mother of God gave the obedience to St. Nino to be the helper of the besieged city.”
The Queen of Heaven sent St. Nino again, this time to be the patroness of the starving inhabitants of Leningrad during the Nazi siege. And on the feast day of St. Nino Equal-to-the-Apostles—January 27, 1944, eighty-two years ago—the enemy siege of the city on the Neva was completely lifted. The sun of the joy of life and the happiness of freedom shone over the much-suffering city.
And to this day, residents of St. Petersburg, while not forgetting those almost 900 horrible days and nights of the siege and the suffering of their citizens, reverently honor St. Nino Equal-to-the-Apostles for her intercession before the Lord.
Celebrating the feast of St. Nino Equal-to-the-Apostles and commemorating the lifting of the siege of Leningrad, today we have especially prayed for the repose of the commanders and soldiers who laid down their lives on the battlefield, for all those who suffered all kinds of torments for the faith of Christ and passed away, and for all the defenders of the besieged city.
We must preserve this memory of our heroic history and pass it on to our children, so that they and their children’s children may not forget at what cost, through what fervent prayers and spiritual and physical exertion this happiness was won. This is the only way we can be worthy descendants of our heroic victorious ancestors.
A nation that turns away from God and forgets its history inevitably degrades spiritually, submits to foreign invaders, and perishes physically.
Before her repose, St. Nino left a testament to all of us:
“Stand firm to preserve carefully the true Christian faith and the seal of Holy Baptism, guiding the paths of your lives towards the Heavenly Kingdom; and pass on from generation to generation information about all the miracles and healings performed by God, so that they may know the power of God and the flock of Christ may multiply.”
Holy Nino Equal-to-the-Apostles, protect us from all evil and sorrows! Amen.
