Who St. Sarkis Was ...

St. Sarkis ( c320-370), a saint of the Armenian Apostolic Church, was born in the province of Gamerek, in the state of Caesarea, during the mid-fourth century reign of Constantine the Great. He was venerated by the Armenians due to his courageous victories for Christianity. In spite of his fame, St. Sarkis was a poor man, who never denied help to the needy and oppressed. 

During the reign of Constantine the Great, St. Sarkis, then a Greek General, was recognized for his great military skill as a warrior, and was made a Roman General. Although he fought for the Roman armies under the authority of a pagan monarch, St. Sarkis, a Christian, spread the teachings of Christ. He destroyed pagan temples, and religious artifacts whenever possible and erected churches and crosses to replace them. Despite the growth of the Roman Empire, there came a time when the services of St. Sarkis were no longer useful to them. 

As the story is told, God made His presence known to St. Sarkis. His message to the great warrior was that the time had come for him to depart from his land to one where he would be directed. St. Sarkis, along with his son Mardiros, departed to the land of Armenia for a period of time, then to Khorasan, Persia, where St. Sarkis was appointed General of the armies of King Shapur, who was a staunch pagan. It was then that he and his son were called to fight for Persia against the armies of the Roman Empire. Shortly after the defeat of the Romans armies by the Persians in 363 A.D., Saint Sarkis returned to Khorasan, where he continued to teach Christianity to his troops with a renewed enthusiasm. 

King Shapur, displeased with St. Sarkis' practice of Christianity, tested his allegiance to God and encouraged him to worship the pagan gods of his faith. St. Sarkis bravely refused. King Shapur became enraged, and ordered St. Sarkis to worship his pagan gods. In defiance, St. Sarkis fearlessly attacked nearby idols and images before him demonstrating complete contempt for the heathen worshippers. 

Retaliatory attacks from both sides ensued, wherein during one of the incidents, Mardiros, the son of St. Sarkis was killed, and St. Sarkis himself was seized and dragged into a dungeon to await his fate. He was condemned and sentenced to decapitation. 

In his final hours, St. Sarkis offered his last prayers, "Oh my Lord, Christ, my God, hear all those who utter my name in their hour of need, for they remember my martyrdom in their prayers. " A voice answered, "Your wishes shall be granted and your requests fulfilled, and you shall come to enjoy favors which have been prepared for thee." Saint Sarkis was tragically executed on the dawn of the new moon. 

Shortly thereafter, the body of St. Sarkis were reverently removed and carried to the famous site of Mazandaran, near the city of Taghman. Followers of St. Sarkis exhumed his body and moved it to the city of Hamyan. Sometime later, the scholarly monk, St. Mesrop, again disinterred the body of St. Sarkis. With solemn pageantry, St. Mesrop relocated the Saint's remains to the city of Garpi. He then had an impressive monastery erected over the 'site of the beloved Saint's grave. The famed Garpi Monastery stands to this day and is well known by theologians and students of religion worldwide. 

St. Sarkis is known as the all powerful warrior and Saint riding on a white charger, who, in the blink of an eye, reaches those calling to him for help.