Holy Great-martyrs David and Constantine Mkheidze, Princes of Argveti (†740) — October 2 / October 15 (Julian Calendar)

On this day, October 2 according to the Julian Calendar (October 15 civil calendar), the Georgian Orthodox Church commemorates the holy great-martyrs David and Constantine Mkheidze, princes of Argveti.

The holy martyrs David and Constantine Mkheidze were princes of Argveti, “learned in the Old and the New Law, true believers, tested and valiant in ranks and in battles.”

David was “of airy and pure flesh, with enchanting hair, a comely frame and a thick beard,” and Constantine “of comely frame, with enchanting hair… and a beard.” When the brothers learned of the invasion of the impious Murvan the Deaf, they besought the Lord for help, gathered an army, and appointed intensified prayers and night vigils for the people.

The infidels fell upon the Georgians encamped near Mount Persati, and with God’s help the Georgians were victorious. Enraged, Murvan the Deaf gathered a countless host, and the Arabs laid waste to everything. The surviving population took refuge in the forests. In the unequal battle the brothers David and Constantine were taken captive.

The prisoners were brought before Murvan the Deaf. The impious commander began to mock the bound Christians, but they answered him: “Your laughter and boasting against us are vain and empty, for your glory lasts but a moment and will swiftly vanish; your victory over us came not from your worthiness but because of our sins, for we transgressed the commandments of God, and so your multitude prevailed over us, that God might chasten us by the hands of you, the lawless and godless.” At this bold reply Murvan was filled with wrath and ordered the saints to be tortured.

Astonished by the courage of David and Constantine, Murvan wished to bend the brothers with flattery. He said to David: “I have heard of your valor, and therefore I advise you to abandon the vain and empty talk of your folly and submit to the law of Muhammad.” As a reward he promised honor and the rank of spasalar (commander-in-chief). St. David made the sign of the cross and answered: “God forbid that we should abandon the light and follow the darkness. Our God enlightened us when He sent His Son into the world, and He became man for us and bore the whole dispensation: the crucifixion, burial, resurrection and ascension; and He will come again to judge the living and the dead. The Saviour sent His disciples into all the world to preach. Two of His disciples preached to us and turned us from the worship of idols. Taught and enlightened by them, we serve no other law, but are ready for Christ’s sake for scourging, torment, fire, water, sword and death.” Then he denounced the Quran and the law of the Hagarenes: “Muhammad turned you from fire-worship, but he could not bring you to know God; therefore you are like those shipwrecked men who survived in the middle of the sea, but having reached the shore were swallowed up.”

Enraged by David’s answer, Murvan turned to Constantine and tried to win him over, but Constantine too fearlessly confessed the Holy Trinity: “As my lord David testified and confessed… so I too believe and confess, for I was taught in one law and one faith, and I believe in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and for this I will die.”

Furious, Murvan ordered the brothers to be weakened by hunger and thirst. After ten days of “manifold torment” he sent sorcerers and diviners to the saints of Argveti, but the martyrs once more fearlessly confessed Christ.

The brothers were led to the riverbank near the church of Saints Cosmas and Damian (below the later “Chain Bridge”), cruelly beaten, bound hand and foot, and stones were tied to their necks and they were thrown into the river.

Before their death the brothers prayed: “O Lord God Jesus Christ, Son and Word of God the Father, as You heard our petitions and counted us worthy of martyrdom for Your holy name, hear now also the supplications and requests of us, Your servants; and as we kept our bodies incorrupt and undefiled for Your holy name, so after our martyrdom keep our bodies incorrupt and unbroken; and to those who call upon Your holy name by our names, let Your mercy swiftly come and grant forgiveness of their sins, and make the members of our bodies healers of all diseases and infirmities, to the glory of Your all-hymned name.”

A voice was heard from heaven, confirming that their petition was heard. Terrified by the heavenly voice, the tormentors fled.

During the night a miracle took place: three pillars of light descended from heaven to the earth, and the radiance lit up the place. By God’s will the stones fell away from the martyrs’ necks and the holy bodies floated up to the surface of the water. The princes’ servants brought the bodies ashore. Suddenly they heard a voice coming from the pillar of light: “Take up the bodies of those holy martyrs and carry them through the forest toward the east, and wherever it pleases you, there bury those holy bodies of the martyrs, for there is the command of the Lord God that the bodies of the holy martyrs shall rest there.”

Astonished, the servants carried the saints’ bodies throughout the night and at last brought them to the summit of a cliff rising in the Tsqaltsitela gorge. A church of the Annunciation had once stood there, which Murvan the Deaf had destroyed. Below the ruins of the church they saw an empty tomb in the rock, and in that very tomb they laid the martyrs. From then on the heroes’ grave and its surroundings were called Motsameta (“of the Martyrs”).

For three hundred years the incorrupt bodies of David and Constantine lay in that tomb. In the first half of the 11th century King Bagrat III rebuilt the church that had been destroyed by the Saracens and translated into it the martyrs, who had until then been hidden from sight. The incorrupt and unharmed bodies of the saints lay in the grave as if at rest, and worked many miraculous healings, “just as they themselves had asked of God.”

But the sufferings of the Mkheidze brothers, it seems, did not end there. A new martyrdom still awaited them…

Almost twelve centuries passed, and a raging enemy again invaded Georgia — this time the God-fighting Red army from the north, led by commanders worse than Murvan the Deaf, this time Georgian-born and Christian-baptized. After the devastation of eastern Georgia the “Red Horde” crossed into western Georgia and, like Murvan the Deaf, “slew and laid waste everything.” The leader of this host of the enemies of the Lord, driven by dark powers — Sergo Ordzhonikidze — added a new and terrible “victory” to his “glorious feats,” proving once again whose will he carried out in his own homeland. Twelve centuries earlier Satan, put to shame by the Mkheidze brothers, took vengeance on the martyrs once more. By order of “Iron Sergo,” the incorrupt bodies of the heroes who gave their lives for homeland and faith were dug up out of the tomb and dragged along the highways and street after street… and then, as at the first martyrdom, their incorrupt remains were thrown into the water… Through the truly astonishing devotion of local Christians, the saints’ bodies escaped final destruction and, by the Lord’s will, returned as intercessors for all the faithful to their eternal resting place.