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ld be the real cause of the conversion of these people and be their everlasting and ever tender helper and protector." "Most holy one, yes, let at all times the will of thy Godly son and thine be carried out and fulfilled to the satisfaction of all the world." Then the most Holy Virgin washed her face and having pressed it well against a platter, she left on it her reproduction with her predicted son in her arms. Having handed the image to Saint Andrew, she said: "Yes, may the mercifulness and the overwhelming help of Him who was born of me be with thee everywhere where thou choosest to go. I myself will invisibly help to increase the complete success of thy preaching tour and my province of future enlightenment will always remain under my constant, nay, never ceasing care and protection." The holy apostle, having thereupon fallen at the feet of the most Holy Virgin, thanked her with tears in his eyes and joy in his heart, went to preach the faith at Trebizond, taking along with him Simon the Canonite. But here they did not r

r of the Holy Virgin Mary. When, however, he wished to leave, the adoring people stopped him with the following remarkable words: "If thou art actually going away, leave us at least the im

ath remained to the present day. Then they said good-bye to the splendid apostle, thanking him for his many good deeds, kissing him with true love and affection, and with him they sent one of the newly converted by the name of Matata. Going through the valley of Kkeniss-Tskall h

ll-tchett (the river of lilies) in Armenian and really lies just opposite Sakrisse, and arranging themselves, they settled down to rest near an idolatrous temple, nowadays Dzvel-Eklesia. At that time this country was administrated by a widow by the name of Samsgvari, which means "frontier," who had but one son and he too had just died among the depressed and mourning subjects of his mother. That same night from the guarding fortress a powerful light was seen over t

ou come and what in the world is the new faith about which thou speakest so much, for verily I

God and the King of all kings. Know ye then that He who believeth in Him and lets himself be baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost will receive

carry out and fulfill to general satisfaction everything that thou commandest me to do, without uttering the slightest objection, only in

he world at large. I, however, beg thee to increase my strength of belief in Him, the Saviour of the world." Having heard these sincere words with pleasure, the apostle chased away the musicians and the curious, leaving only Samsgvari and her relations, and taking the image of the most Holy Virgin, he placed it on the corpse of the little chil

threw herself at the feet of the Saint, gratefully thanking him and covering his knees with tears. She, with all her heart, believed in the Lord Jesus and was baptiz

hasten ye therefore, so that we may choose the only true and sincere faith and decide whom it becomes us to obey and adore." Having heard of this wonder, the Meskhians rushed in from every spot of the monarchy in such numberless crowds that they actually filled the w

e gates of the temple, to solemnly place the holy image between the idols, to set up proclamations on both sides of the gates, place guardians and pass the night in religious prayers. "Pray all you want to your false gods," said the faithful followers of Him whose religion conquereth all oth

ht like the sun. Then they understood the importance of the new religion and the whole nation unanimously exclaimed: "Great is the God of Christians, preached about by the holy apostle Andrew," but the sacrificers begged the Saint to forgive them th

t them all the laws of the faith. Every single day the nation gathered in tremendous crowds and the apostle carefully explained to them the rules and details of the religion and all the necessary church rules, con

"formed itself from simply being touched by the body of the Mother of our God," and he went on explaining to them how by the extreme condescension of the Lord the apostles drew lots to find out where each one should go to preach and that Samtsketia fell to the share of the Virgin Mary. He joyfully related how instead of herself she had sent her portrait into the provinces belonging to her sphere

ia," that is "ancient church," as the present edifice is built of stones which had served to construct the first church and stands on exactly the same spot. Then Saint Andrew went to preach the Holy Gospel in Nigalia, Djavakheti

d faithful followers succeeded in concealing images and crosses and loudly praised God that the apostle was no longer in their presence. The Tsar, however, grew very angry against the kristave of Klardjette for his not having held up the Saint, who, passing Easter Day tog

baptized tremendous numbers of people. Afterwards they went back to Abkhazetia and farther to the city of Sebasst, the present Tikkoum, where many more unbelievers were also converted to the religion of Christ. Here Saint Andrew left Simon the Canaanite with several good pupils and continued his route to Djivetta, peopled by a wild vile nation, filled to overflowing with disgraceful sinfulness, love of cruelty and without any religious feeling whatever. They actually did not want to listen to him and unanimousl

ease to make a fearful row and locked themselves up with their army in Jerusalem. Then the Romans surrounded this town and began to mercilessly besiege it. The besieged were suffering from terrible hunger and diseases and the nation from despair began a terrific civil war. In a short time there perished such a quantity of Hebrews,

f the grandsons of Bartome and Kartaume the kings Azork and Armazeli, the latter found out about the existence in his monarchy of the miloti of the prophet Ilia and instantly gave orders to look for it among the Jews, but the Lord did not allow this extreme treasure to fall into the hands of the ruthless pagans, his searchings finally turned

time the true believers will sing praises unto God, is like the

m feel quite at home in their new fatherland. In the year one hundred and eighty-six A.D., Revv ascended the Georgian throne. The word "reva" signifies "conqueror," but the nation gave this serene sovereign a designation still more suited

ld their own in small numbers among the worthy descendants of the most enlightened apostles. These little marks of attention were sufficient to support Christianity, which stood high in the eyes of many men in the country. From this