The Feast of St. Gregory the Illuminator’s Emergence from the Pit is one of the major celebrations of the Armenian Church, observed on the Saturday following the Feasts of the Hripsimean and Gayanean Martyrs. In the year 301, St. Gregory’s release from imprisonment in the deep pit of Khor Virap marked the beginning of the Armenian nation’s great conversion.
After the martyrdom of St. Hripsime, St. Gayane, and their companions, King Trdat III, the Great (Tiridates III) of Armenia and his courtiers suddenly fell gravely ill. Driven to madness, the king abandoned the palace and wandered among the marshes like a wild boar. In a dream, the king’s sister learned that only Gregory, still imprisoned in Khor Virap, could cure her brother’s affliction. After thirteen years in captivity, St. Gregory was freed. Through his prayers, King Trdat was healed and became a fervent supporter of Gregory the Illuminator’s Christian mission. Christianity was thus proclaimed the state religion of Armenia.
St. Gregory beheld a vision: beams of light descended from heaven—first upon the three sites of the virgins’ martyrdom, and then Christ Himself, the Only-Begotten Son of God, bathed in divine light, descended from the heavens and struck the underground pagan temple of Sandaramet with a golden hammer, demolishing it and revealing the site where the Holy Cathedral of the Armenian Faith was to be built. From this vision arose the name 'Etchmiadzin', meaning “the Only-Begotten descended.”
St. Gregory the Illuminator shared this vision with King Trdat, who, under his royal patronage, commissioned the construction of the Catholicosal Mother Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin, dedicated to the Holy Mother of God. The Holy Altar of Descent was built at the precise site of Christ’s descent. King Trdat, Queen Ashkhen, the king’s sister Khosrovidukht, and the people all took part in the construction of the Mother Cathedral and the sanctuaries honoring the martyred virgins.