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St. Gregory's Passion
St. Gregory's passion, described in detail by the fifth century writer Agathangelos, and perhaps presented with exaggerations, reminds us how enduring one becomes through faith and prayer. St. Gregory constantly attributed his perseverance to divine intervention.
Enraged by Gregory's boldness, King Drtad ordered him to be subjected to twelve different kinds of torture at a site located to the immediate south of Erez, the present-day city of Erzinjan in Turkey. A monastery dedicated to the passion of St. Gregory was erected at this site.
Gregory's hands were bound behind him and he was gagged. A block of salt was attached to his back, a harness was placed around his chest, and he was tied with cords and suspended him from a high place in the palace. The cross-examination continued and Gregory refused to give in. The process was repeated to no avail, since Gregory was resolute in his dedication to Christ.
The second torture was more severe. For seven days he was suspended, upside down from one foot, as dung was burned from below and ten men flogged him with green rods. Throughout the ordeal Gregory never ceased from praying for the salvation awaiting him. At the completion of the second torture, Gregory was ready to receive eternal life and dared the king to execute him. But Drtad wanted to punish him for his insulting attitude towards the gods of the state and for his obstinacy.
He ordered his shins and feet to be stretched with cords between blocks of wood until they were bloody. When Gregory defied the pain, Drtad commanded the attendants to drive nails through the soles of his feet. As they made him walk on his feet, blood gushed out and covered the earth. Then they delivered punches to his head, but he did not sway from his faith. His head was placed in a carpenter's vice and a mixture of salt, borax and rough vinegar was poured into his nose by means of a reed tube. Not content with this, they tied a sheepskin sack around his neck half-filled with cinders and left him in that state for six days.
He was once again brought to stand before the king. Gregory's defiance convinced the king that the tortures had not been strong enough to break him. He ordered him to be turned upside down so that water would be poured into his belly by means of a funnel. Then the tormentors shredded the flesh on his flanks with iron scrapers, so that blood gushed out. Following this torture, iron thistles were brought and spread on the ground. Gregory was thrown on these naked and was pushed and pulled until his entire body was torn.
When the king expressed amazement about his endurance once again, Gregory replied that it was due to the grace of God. Enraged at the answer, Drtad ordered the attendants to put iron leggings on his knees and strike them with heavy hammers. Gregory was suspended from the gallows and was left there for three days until his knees were broken. Still unyielding, Gregory was subjected to the most horrible torment. Lead was melted in iron cauldrons and poured over his entire body, so that his flesh was completely burned. He miraculously survived this torture as well.
The king was now ready to speak to him in milder terms, when one of the courtiers disclosed to him the true identity of Gregory as the son of the notorious Anag. At the order of the king, Gregory was bound hand and foot and neck and incarcerated in a dungeon. The site of this dungeon was located in the vestry of the St. Gregory the Illuminator Monastery in Karin (modem Erzurum), a pilgrimage site until 1915.