On the second week of February, the Armenian Apostolic Church commemorates <b>St. Vartan</b> and 1036 martyrs.
St. Vartan is the Christian general who led the Armenian troops (the Vartanants) against the Persians at the Battle of Avarayr on May 26, 451 A.D. The feast commemorating this great defining moment of the Armenian nation is now kept on the Thursday preceeding the Great Lent.
In the 5th century, the Persians controlled the eastern part of Armenia (the Byzantine Greeks held the west), and Persian King Yazdigerd II (438-457) sought to impose Mazdeism, then the religion of Persia, on his Armenian subjects.
However, there was no turning back to paganism for St. Vartan and the Armenian people who were united in their loyalty to the Christianity they had received from St. Gregory the Illuminator. As one, they rose to resist the advance of the powerful Persian army sent by the Persian king to impose Mazdeism on the Armenians, whether they agreed or not.
Joining St. Vartan and his troops, were St. Leondius the Cleric (Ghevond, in Armenian) and his name sakes, the Ghevondian Saints. These were priests, bishops, and even the Catholicos of the day, who marched into battle against the Persians each carrying, as the tradition has it, a cross in one hand and a sword in the other. The Feast of the Ghevondians takes place on the Tuesday before the Feast of the Vartanants, and is a special day for the clergy of the Armenian Church.
