Commemoration Day of
St. THADDEUS the APOSTLE
AND
ST. Sandukht THE VIRGIN
The Holy Apostle Thaddeus
The first Enlightener of Armenia and its most renowned Apostle.
In the Gospel of Luke (6:16) and the Acts of the Apostles (1:13), he is identified as Judas, the son of James. In the Gospel of John (14:22), he is mentioned as "Judas (not Iscariot)," the disciple who interrupted Christ during the Last Supper by asking:
"Lord, how is it that You will reveal Yourself to us, and not to the world?"
Jesus replied indirectly that He would reveal Himself to those who love Him, while remaining unseen by those who do not love Him.
The Apostle Matthew calls him "Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddeus" (Matthew 10:3), while Mark simply refers to him as Thaddeus (Mark 3:18). The Roman Catholic Church identifies him with Jude, the Brother of the Lord, to whom the Epistle of Jude is attributed, the final of the Catholic Epistles. The Eastern Churches, however, do not accept this identification.
According to Armenian tradition, the Apostle Thaddeus first came to Edessa, where, in fulfillment of Christ's promise, he healed King Abgar and converted him to Christianity. Indeed, Edessa is regarded as one of the earliest centers of Christianity.
Thaddeus then continued preaching northward into the kingdom of the Armenian King Sanatruk. There he preached the Gospel and converted many Armenians, who became the first fruits and foundation of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
He also entered the royal court and converted the king's daughter, Sandukht, who would later be martyred by her own father.
After performing many miracles and bringing thousands to the Christian faith, the Apostle Thaddeus was finally martyred by the sword in the province of Artaz, in what is now western Iranian Azerbaijan. His tomb has been preserved there to this day, and a magnificent church was built over it.
Saint Sandukht
Saint Sandukht is the pride of the Armenian Church and its Protomartyr. Just as Saint Stephen is the first martyr of the universal Christian Church, so Saint Sandukht is the first martyr of the Armenian Church.
According to tradition, she was the daughter of King Sanatruk, who ruled Armenia from AD 38 to 68. She embraced Christianity through the preaching of the Apostle Thaddeus.
When her father learned of her conversion, he first attempted to persuade her to abandon Christianity. When Sandukht remained steadfast, he ordered her imprisoned together with the other newly converted Christians.
The Apostle Thaddeus secretly visited the prison, comforting and strengthening them. Through his prayers, their chains miraculously fell away. Seeing this miracle, the prison guards and thirty-three other prisoners embraced Christianity, according to the Book of Martyrs.
The king made one final attempt to persuade his daughter to return to the ancestral pagan religion and summoned her before him.
The royal messenger who went to the prison witnessed the prisoners' chains lying broken while they joyfully listened to the Apostle Thaddeus preaching. Astonished by what he saw, he himself became a Christian.
Enraged, the king ordered the execution of all the new converts, sparing only Thaddeus and his daughter for the moment.
When Saint Sandukht appeared before her father, the king reproached her:
"You have rejected me, your father, and joined yourself to that deceiver,"
referring to Thaddeus.
Sandukht answered:
"The one whom you call a deceiver has enlightened my soul."
The king then declared:
"My final word to you is this: you must return to the religion of your ancestors; otherwise, you shall suffer a cruel death."
He ordered her to be bound and tortured.
Throughout her sufferings, Sandukht continually prayed:
"Christ, my Savior, help me."
At that moment, the Book of Martyrs relates, a brilliant light descended from heaven, the earth shook, and Sandukht's bonds were miraculously broken. Those present were filled with awe and amazement.
Many converted to Christianity as a result of this miracle, including Princess Zarmandukht, one of the king's close relatives. She too was martyred by the king's command. A heavenly light likewise descended upon her, leading many more to believe in Christ.
Eventually, Sandukht was returned to prison.
That night she received a vision in which a glorious heavenly figure clothed her in a radiant robe and placed a splendid crown upon her head. She understood that her martyrdom was near.
The following day the executioner came and led her to the place of execution.
Before her death, the saint first prayed for the land of Armenia.
Then she bowed her head before the executioner.
Rather than beheading her, he thrust his sword into her heart, and the soil of Armenia was watered with the precious blood flowing from her pure and innocent heart.
For many years the location of Saint Sandukht's tomb remained unknown. Eventually, through a divine vision, it was revealed to a hermit named Kirakos.
According to the historian Malachia Ormanian, until about sixty or sixty-five years before his own time, the site of her tomb was traditionally identified with Narek Monastery, which had originally been the Monastery of Saint Sandukht (Azk). Ormanian also notes that in the ancient Armenian calendars, Sandukht's feast was originally celebrated independently and was only later joined with that of the Apostle Thaddeus.
The Armenian Synaxaria differ regarding both the date of her death and her feast. The Synaxarion of Marzvantsi commemorates her on December 23, while Peshtimaljian's places her feast on December 15.
Today, the Armenian Apostolic Church celebrates Saint Sandukht together with Saint Thaddeus the Apostle on the Saturday following the Feast of the Transfiguration (Vardavar).
Hymn to Saint Sandukht
The Armenian Hymnal preserves the following hymn dedicated to Saint Sandukht:
Today the Holy Church rejoices in you,
O witness of Christ, Saint Sandukht.
You abandoned the worship of your fathers
And shed your holy blood for Christ.You became the disciple of the Apostle Thaddeus
And remained steadfast in the true faith.
You were not corrupted by pagan worship,
But were found worthy to ascend to the Father.You renounced the glory of noble birth
And were adorned with divine glory.
Today you stand among the hosts of heaven's angels;
Intercede for us before the Lord.
SCRIPTURE READINGS
~ Wisdom of Solomon 1:1-7 ~
Love righteousness, you rulers of the earth; think of the Lord in goodness and seek him with sincerity of heart, because he is found by those who do not put him to the test and manifests himself to those who do not distrust him. For perverse thoughts separate people from God, and when his power is tested, it exposes the foolish, because wisdom will not enter a deceitful soul or dwell in a body enslaved to sin. For a holy and disciplined spirit will flee from deceit and will leave foolish thoughts behind and will be ashamed at the approach of unrighteousness. For wisdom is a kindly spirit, but it will not free blasphemers from the guilt of their words, because God is witness of their inmost feelings and a true observer of their hearts and a hearer of their tongues. Because the spirit of the Lord has filled the world and that which holds all things together knows what is said.
~ Jeremiah 16:16-21 ~
I am now sending for many fishermen, says the Lord, and they shall catch them; and afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks. For my eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from my presence, nor is their iniquity concealed from my sight. And I will doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable idols, and have filled my inheritance with their abominations. O Lord, my strength and my stronghold, my refuge in the day of trouble, to you shall the nations come from the ends of the earth and say: Our ancestors have inherited nothing but lies, worthless things in which there is no profit. Can mortals make for themselves gods? Such are no gods! "Therefore I am surely going to teach them, this time I am going to teach them my power and my might, and they shall know that my name is the Lord."
~ 1 Corinthians 12:28-13:10 ~
And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.
If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end.
~ Holy Gospel of St. Luke 9:1-6 ~
Then Jesus called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. He said to them, "Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money—not even an extra tunic. Whatever house you enter, stay there, and leave from there. Wherever they do not welcome you, as you are leaving that town shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them." They departed and went through the villages, bringing the good news and curing diseases everywhere.