St. Bartholomew | St. Thaddeus and St. Santoukhd

One of Jesus' apostles, Thaddeus was sent to Armenia to preach the word of the Lord.  At the city of Urfa he healed an Armenian king.  Thaddeus baptized the king and his subject before traveling to northern Armenia, where he met King Sanadroug at the town of Shavarshan in the Ardaz province.

While stopped in Shavarshan, Thaddeus preached the Lord's gospel and baptized many people.  The king's young beautiful daughter, Santoukhd, sought Thaddeus out so she could learn the gospel.  After she accepted Christ and was baptized, a heavenly sign set her aside as a holy virgin.  When this news reached King Sanadroug, he was furious and ordered all Christians killed.  As his soldiers were about to kill Thaddeus, there was a tremor and a bright light streaked across the sky, which frightened the would-be assassins away.

The Lord Jesus Christ appeared to Thaddeus and said, "Your preaching will be rejected.  But those who are martyred for the sake of my name will be accorded a place in my Father's house."

Eventually, some of the king's soldiers arrested Thaddeus and threw him in jail.  But the king continued to be alarmed, because more and more people were accepting the word of the Lord.  And as he ordered the deaths of Christians, the king wept as he remembered his jailed daughter, Santoukhd. 

Thaddeus and Santoukhd were brought before the king, who asked his daughter, "Do you renounce me and love that deceiver? I will destroy him and you by a tormenting death."  Santoukhd replied, "The person whom you call a deceiver led me from lies to the true God."  As she continued professing her faith, the king ordered soldiers to tie his daughter's hands behind her back and whip her until she renounces Christ.

As the soldiers were torturing her, there was a heavenly sign: the earth shook and a loud voice said, "Brave maiden, stand firm and don't be afraid for I am with you."  Then the chains bounding Santoukhd broke.  And she, Thaddeus, and the believers were able to leave the presence of the king and his soldiers.

In a distant valley, Santoukhd retrieved the bodies of the martyrs who were killed by her father's soldiers and gave them a proper burial.  She comforted the grieving, fed them, clothed them, and performed many miracles. 

The king complained that his daughter was misleading people and resolved to have her killed.  She was arrested and led to the executioner, who picked up a sword intended for Santoukhd, but instead struck and killed his chieftain.  The non-Christians assembled for the execution than attacked Santoukhd, but ended up only killing each other, leaving only Santoukhd among the dead.

As she stood there, Santoukhd prayed, "Lord Jesus, accept me."  One of the soldiers thrust his sword into the holy virgin's heart and she gave her soul to God.  A sweet fragrance filled the air at that moment, and a light shown from heaven over her body for three days and three nights.  More than 2,000 men and women, who saw the events, became believers in Christ and were baptized by Thaddeus.

As he was comforting the new believers, Thaddeus was arrested and brought before the king, who asked, "Why did you pervert the mind of my daughter?"  Thaddeus answered, "I did indeed persuade your daughter to abandon darkness and the worship of evil, and allowed Christ to enter her life by baptism of the holy font.  You presume to have killed her, but in reality she was taken from death to eternal life." 

Seething with anger, the king ordered the apostle thrown to man-eating beasts.  But the lions just crouched at his feet like tame animals.  The king tried to throw Thaddeus into a fire, but a wind blew the fire onto the nonbelievers.  The king fled to his palace and Thaddeus emerged from the fire unscathed.  Many witnesses began to believe in Jesus and were baptized.

While the apostle was marching away with the new believers, the king had him arrested again.  As the executioner raised his sword to kill Thaddeus, he instead turned and stabbed his own brother, who was well known for being merciful, and compassionate, and helpful to the poor and needy.  Thaddeus was troubled by the good man's death, and prayed that the Lord bring him back to life "so all might know that you are the God who has sole authority over life and death."  The man rose up, revived, and then professed his belief in the Lord.

The enraged king ordered the execution of the saint on the spot.  At once, a sweet fragrance spread everywhere, a light shone from above, the ground shook, and thunder rippled through the air.  The ground opened, swallowing the apostle, then mysteriously closed. 

Many witnesses fled in horror, but more than 3,000 became believers in the power of the Lord.  At the time of his ascension into heaven, believers who saw the apostles soul, said they heard him exclaim, "Holy apostle and our father, remember us before Christ!"