St. Husig

St. Husig, the second son of St. Vrtanés, followed his father’s example by embracing secular life. Nourished by King Diran, he was forced into marrying the king’s daughter, much against his will. He and his wife had twin sons, Bab and Athenogenes. His inclination towards a celibate life, however, alienated his wife and invited on him the hostility of the royal court. Their pressure was terminated by his wife’s death, after which Husig devoted himself to raising his children. In a dream, the Lord appeared to him and told him that from his children there “will be born other children, and they will be illuminators of knowledge and fonts of spiritual wisdom for the realm of Armenia.”

After his father’s demise, Husig was in line for the succession of the episcopal throne of Greater Armenia. King Diran immediately dispatched a delegation of thirteen high-ranking princes and dignitaries to accompany Husig to Caesarea. There, Husig was elevated to the episcopal rank. On his return to Armenia he was met by the king and taken to the city of Ardashad, where he was officially enthroned. Like his father and grandfather, he became a wonderful pastor of his flock.

Husig’s woes began when he, as the upholder of the moral precepts of the church, began to castigate the king and his magnates for their unchristian behavior: they had engaged in immoral acts and had shed innocent blood for political ends. Husig excommunicated them, forbidding their entry into the church. Predictably, this invited on him the royal court’s animosity. On one occasion—a day of annual celebration when Husig, on a pastoral visit to the western province of Great Dzopk, was present at the palatine church in the royal fortress of Pnapegh—King Diran arrived with his retinue and tried to enter the church. Learning about their arrival, Husig stepped out and cried aloud: “You are unworthy! Why have you come? Do not go inside!” Angered by this, the kings attendants dragged him inside the sanctuary and beat him with rods, shattering his bones. The servants of the church of Pnapegh carried the battered bishop, who was still alive, to his ancestral estate in Tortan. Unable to recover from his injuries, Husig died there and was buried near the graves of his father and grandfather. His tomb was shown inside the church of Tortan. The martyrdom of St. Husig is dated to a.d. 344.