Gregori Mletamwanga

Gregori Mletamwanga (kwa Kiarmenia Գրիգոր Լուսաւորիչ, Grigor Lusavorich, 257 hivi - 331 hivi) ndiye mwanzilishi na kiongozi wa kwanza wa Kanisa la Kitume la Armenia kwa kuongoa nchi nzima ya Armenia kutoka Upagani kuingia Ukristo mwaka 301. Hivyo Armenia ikawa taifa la kwanza kufanya dini hiyo kuwa dini yake rasmi.

Mt. Gregori Mletamwanga.

Kisha kupata hivyo sifa ya kuwa Mtume wa Waarmenia kwa juhudi kubwa sana, alikwenda kuishi upwekeni yanapokutana matawimto mawili yanayounda mto Eufrate, akaishi huko hadi kifo chake[1].

Tangu kale anaheshimiwa na madhehebu mbalimbali ya Ukristo kama mtakatifu.

Sikukuu yake inaadhimishwa na Waarmenia tarehe 9 Juni, lakini na Wakristo wengine tarehe 30 Septemba[2].

Maisha

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Gregori alikuwa mtoto[3] wa watu wa koo bora za Armenia na Parthia[4] Anak Mparthia[5][6][7] na Okohe.

Anak alishutumiwa kwamba alimuua mfalme Khosrov II akauawa. Gregori alinusurika na kupelekwa Caesarea huko Kapadokia alipolelewa na Phirmilianos (Euthalius) kama Mkristo safi.

Baadaye Gregori alimuoa Miriam, binti wa mtawala wa Kiarmenia wa Kapadokia, wakapata watoto wawili, ambao pia wanaheshimiwa kama watakatifu: Vrtanes na Aristaces. Vrtanes aliendeleza ukoo, kumbe Aristaces akawa mwandamizi wa baba yake alipofariki. Hapo katikati Miriam na Gregori walitengana ili mume aweze kuingia umonaki, halafu Gregori alihama Kapadokia na kurudi Armenia ili kuiinjilisha kama fidia ya makosa ya baba yake.

Wakati huo alitawala Tiridates III, mwana wa Khosrov II. Huyo aliagiza Gregori afungwe miaka 12 au 14 ndani ya kisima karibu na Artashat. Alitolewa mwaka 297 hivi ili amponye Tiridates III, aliyechanganyikiwa kabisa baada ya kusalitiwa na kaisari wa Dola la Roma Diocletian aliyevamia na kuteka maeneo mengi ya magharibi mwa. Armenia Kubwa.

Mwaka 301 Gregori alimbatiza Tiridates III pamoja na maofisa wa ikulu na masharifu mbalimbali. Mfalme alitoa pia hati ya kumruhusu kabisa Gregori aongoe nchi nzima. Hivyo mwaka uleule Armenia ikawa taifa la Kikristo.[8]

Kanisa mama la Etchmiadzin, lililojengwa huko Vagharshapat, limebaki hadi leo kiini cha kanisa na taifa la Armenia.

Mwaka 302, Gregori aliwekwa wakfu na rafiki yake wa utotoni Leontius wa Kaesarea kama Patriarki wa Armenia[9].

Sikukuu na nyimbo kadhaa za dini ya jadi ziligeuzwa kuwa za Kikristo[10].

Mwaka 318, Gregori alimteua mwanae wa pili Aristaces kama mwandamizi[9] aeneze Ukristo katika Kaukazi. Pia alimuagiza mjukuu wake Gregori (bin Vrtanes) kufanya umisionari huko; hatimaye kijana huyo aliuawa akiwa anahubiri huko Albania ya Kaukazi.

Miaka ya mwisho Gregori alitawa pamoja na wachache wengine katika patakatifu karibu na Mlima Sebuh alipobaki hadi alipokufa[11].

Tazama pia

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Tanbihi

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  1. https://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/72525
  2. Martyrologium Romanum
  3. Hovannisian, The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times, Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiquity to the Fourteenth Century, p. 72
  4. Agat’angeghos, History of the Armenians, p. xxvii
  5. Lang, David Marshall (1980). Armenia, cradle of civilization. Allen & Unwin. uk. 155. ISBN 9780049560093.
  6. Russell, James R. (2004). Armenian and Iranian Studies. Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University. uk. 358. ISBN 9780935411195.
  7. Terian, Patriotism And Piety In Armenian Christianity: The Early Panegyrics On Saint Gregory, p. 106
  8. It was the first nation to adopt Christianity as its official religion. The Journal of Ecclesiastical History – Page 268 by Cambridge University Press, Gale Group, C.W. Dugmore
  9. 9.0 9.1 Fortescue, Adrian. "Gregory the Illuminator." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 13 Aug. 2014
  10. A number of prayers, and about thirty of the canonical hymns of the Armenian Church, are ascribed to Gregory the Illuminator. Homilies of his appeared for the first time in a work called Haschacnapadum at Constantinople in 1737; a century afterwards a Greek translation was published at Venice by the Mekhiterists; and they have since been edited in German by J M Schmid (Ratisbon, 1872).
  11. The original authorities for Gregory's life are Agathangelos, whose History of Tiridates was published by the Mekhitarists in 1835; Moses of Chorene, Historiae Armenicae; and Symeon the Metaphrast. A Life of Gregory by the Vartabed Matthew was published in the Armenian language at Venice in 1749 and was translated into English by the Rev. Father Malan (1868).

Vyanzo

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  • Agat’angeghos, History of the Armenians, SUNY Press, 1976
  • R. G. Hovannisian, ed. The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times, Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiquity to the Fourteenth Century, Palgrave Macmillan, 2004
  • A. Terian, Patriotism And Piety In Armenian Christianity: The Early Panegyrics On Saint Gregory, St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2005
  • V. M. Kurkjian, A History of Armenia, Indo-European Publishing, 2008

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