Saint Nino, Equal-to-the-Apostles, Enlightener of Georgia
Equal-to-the-Apostles, Enlightener of Georgia
- Feast day
- January 14
- Lived
- c. 296–338
- Patronage
- Georgia, women missionaries
A young woman from Cappadocia brought an entire nation to Christ with a cross made of grapevine branches bound with her own hair — still the emblem of the Georgian Orthodox Church.
Life
Nino was a relative of Saint George, raised in Jerusalem, who travelled to Iberia — eastern Georgia — in search of the Lord's tunic, believed to have been brought there by a Jew of Mtskheta present at the Crucifixion. The Theotokos appeared to her and gave her the vine cross.
She lived in a bramble bush at the edge of the royal garden in Mtskheta, healing the sick by prayer. When Queen Nana was cured of a serious illness she was baptised; King Mirian resisted until he was struck blind while hunting and recovered his sight after calling on the God of Nino.
Legacy
Georgia became a Christian kingdom in 326, one of the earliest states to do so. Nino withdrew to Bodbe in Kakheti, where she died and where her tomb remains a national shrine. Her vine cross is kept in the Sioni Cathedral in Tbilisi.
When Saint Nino is commemorated
The feast falls on January 14 on the Revised Julian (New) calendar used by most Greek, Antiochian and Romanian parishes. Parishes that keep the Julian (Old) calendar — much of the Russian, Serbian and Georgian Churches, and Mount Athos — celebrate it on the civil date January 27, thirteen days later. You can switch between both reckonings anywhere on this site.
See the full liturgical day for January 14, 2027
That page gives the fasting rule in force, the Epistle and Gospel appointed for the day, and every other saint commemorated alongside Saint Nino. To keep the feast, look for a parish in the USA, Canada or Australia directory, and read the Akathist hymns appointed for private prayer.
Other saints commemorated in January
- Anthony the GreatJanuary 17
- Athanasius the GreatJanuary 18
- Basil the GreatJanuary 1
- Gregory the TheologianJanuary 25
- John the ForerunnerJanuary 7
- Seraphim of SarovJanuary 2