Saint Husik I or Husik ( hy, Սբ. Հուսիկ Ա. Պարթև ) was the 15th

Catholicos-Patriarch Catholicos, plural Catholicoi, is a title used for the head of certain churches in some Eastern Christian traditions. The title implies autocephaly and in some cases it is the title of the head of an autonomous church. The word comes from ancient ...

of the

Armenian Apostolic Church , native_name_lang = hy , icon = Armenian Apostolic Church logo.svg , icon_width = 100px , icon_alt = , image = Էջմիածնի_Մայր_Տաճար.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , a ...

. He was the fourth in line, and the last Catholicoi, in the line of the

Arsacid dynasty The Parthian Empire (), also known as the Arsacid Empire (), was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Iran from 247 BC to 224 AD. Its latter name comes from its founder, Arsaces I, who led the Parni tribe in conquer ...

after

Gregory the Illuminator Gregory the Illuminator ( Classical hy, Գրիգոր Լուսաւորիչ, reformed: Գրիգոր Լուսավորիչ, ''Grigor Lusavorich'';, ''Gregorios Phoster'' or , ''Gregorios Photistes''; la, Gregorius Armeniae Illuminator, cu, Svyas ...

, St. Aristaces I and St. Vrtanes I. Husik was the son of Vrtanes IDodgeon, ''The Roman eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars (AD 226-363): a documentary history'', p.324 by an unnamed mother and had a brother called Grigoris who was martyred in

Caucasian Albania Caucasian Albania is a modern exonym for a former state located in ancient times in the Caucasus: mostly in what is now Azerbaijan (where both of its capitals were located). The modern endonyms for the area are ''Aghwank'' and ''Aluank'', amon ...

(died 330–340). His paternal uncle was Aristaces I and paternal grandfather was the great Gregory the Illuminator.P’awstos Buzandac’i’s, ''History of the Armenians'', Book Three, Chapter 12 Although Husik was born, educated and ordained in

Caesarea Caesarea () ( he, קֵיסָרְיָה, ), ''Keysariya'' or ''Qesarya'', often simplified to Keisarya, and Qaysaria, is an affluent town in north-central Israel, which inherits its name and much of its territory from the ancient city of Caesare ...

Cappadocia Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Re ...

; he also spent part of his life in the Arsacid Court of King Tigranes VII (Tiran). Husik married at some point an Arsacid Princess, who was an unnamed daughter of

Tiridates III of Armenia Tiridates III ( Armenian: Գ ''Trdat III''; – c. 330), also known as Tiridates the Great ( hy, Տրդատ Մեծ ''Trdat Mets''), or Tiridates IV, was the Armenian Arsacid king from c.298 to c. 330. In 301, Tiridates proclaimed Christiani ...

and

Ashkhen Ashkhen ( hy, Աշխէն, flourished second half of the 3rd century & first half of the 4th century) was the Queen of Armenia and a member of the Arsacid dynasty by marriage to King Tiridates III of Armenia.Dodgeon, ''The Roman Eastern Frontier a ...

. With his wife, Husik had two sons: * Papas (Pap), who renounced his Catholicos position in 348. He married Varazdoukht, an Arsacid Princess who was one of the sisters of Tigranes VII. * At’anaganes, who married Bambish, an Arsacid Princess, a sister of Varazdoukht and Tigranes VII. Through his second son, Husik was the grandfather of the Catholicos, St. Nerses I.The Armenian Church – Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin: Establishment of the Armenian Church
/ref> He became the new Catholicos after his father and reigned from 341 until 347. Husik was known to be a good person. During his reign, Husik denounced the evils of King Tigranes VII and the King's courtiers. He went so far at one point, Husik tried to ban Tigranes VII and his associates from the church at the time of a festival. For this act that Husik did to King Tigranes VII and his associates, Husik died as a Christian martyr from being clubbed to death. Husik along with his brother and members of his family are all Saints in the Armenian Apostolic Church.

References

Sources

* M.H. Dodgeon & S.N.C Lieu, The Roman eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars (AD 226–363): a documentary history, Part 1, Routledge, 1994 * C. Toumanoff, Manuel de généalogie et de chronologie pour le Caucase chrétien (Arménie, Géorgie, Albanie) étail des éditions p. 74 * R. Grousset, Histoire de l’Arménie des origines à 1071, Paris, Payot, 1947 (réimpr. 1973, 1984, 1995, 2008), 644, pp. 127–130
The Armenian Church – Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin: Establishment of the Armenian Church

References

Sources

See also