St. Vardanants refers to all martyrs who shed their blood in 451 AD during the Battle of Avarayr to defend the Christian faith and the homeland. The Armenian people revolted against the pressures of Persian King Yazdegerd II, particularly his decree demanding that the Christian peoples under his rule abandon their faith. As a result, they preserved their Christian faith, native language and script, national identity, and culture.
The Battle of Avarayr was perhaps the first military confrontation of the Christian world, fought for the sake of faith against a non-Christian world. It was a clash of opposing ideologies: light and darkness, life and death, faithfulness and apostasy, the freedom of the homeland and enslavement. In this battle, the profound truth of living through a conscious death was reaffirmed.
The Armenian Church, in gratitude, has canonized the 1,036 martyrs of Avarayr under the leadership of Commander Vardan Mamikonian. Unfortunately, history has not preserved the names of all of them. Only the names of nine noble leaders are known:
- Vardan Mamikonian The Brave, with 133 comrades,
- Khoren Khorkhoruni The Courageous, with 19 comrades,
- Artak Paluni The Villiant with 57 comrades,
- Tachat Gntuni The Remarkable, with 19 comrades,
- Hmayak Dimaksian The Wise, with 22 comrades,
- Nerses Kajberuni The Miraculous with 7 comrades,
- Vahan Gnuni The Youthful, with 3 comrades,
- Arsen of Entzayotz The Righteous, with 7 comrades,
- Garegin Srvandztyants The Enlightened, with two relatives and 18 comrades.
The Feast of the Naming Day of His Holiness KAREKIN II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians
On this day, after the Divine Liturgy, a Patriarchal Prayer Service is offered in all Armenian Apostolic churches.