Today the church honors the martyrs of Georgia.
Orate pro nobis.
In AD 1227, the Muslim Sultan Jalal al-Din Khwarazmshah and his army of Muslim Turks attacked Georgia. On the first day of the battle, the Georgian army valorously warded off the invaders as they were approaching the capital city of Tbilisi. That night, however, a group of Persians, who were long standing enemies, who were living in Tbilisi secretly opened the gates and summoned the enemy Muslim army into the city.
According to one manuscript, this most terrible day in Georgian history was described: “Words are powerless to convey the destruction that the enemy wrought: tearing infants from their mothers’ breasts, they beat their heads against the bridge, watching as their eyes dropped from their skulls....”
A river of blood flowed through the city. The Muslim Turks castrated young children, raped women, and stabbed mothers to death over their children’s lifeless bodies. The whole city shuddered at the sound of wailing and lamentation. The river and streets of the city were filled with death.
The sultan ordered that the cupola of Sioni Cathedral be taken down and replaced by his vile throne. And at his command the icons of the Theotokos and our Savior were carried out of Sioni Cathedral and placed at the center of the bridge across the Mtkvari River. The invaders goaded the people to the bridge, ordering them to cross it and spit on the holy icons. Those who betrayed the Christian Faith and mocked the icons were spared their lives, while the Orthodox confessors were beheaded.
One hundred thousand Georgians sacrificed their lives to venerate the holy icons. One hundred thousand severed heads and headless bodies were carried by the bloody current down the Mtkvari River.
Almighty God, who gave to your servants the Martyrs of Georgia boldness to confess the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ before the rulers of this world, and courage to die for the true Faith: Grant that we may always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us, and to suffer gladly for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
Amen.
