Saint Gregory the Illuminator

Born in Armenia, the son of Anak the Parthian, Gregory grew up and lived in Caesarea in a Christian environment. During the reign of the king of Armenia, Tiridates IV, whose servant he was, he refused to support the king in his wish to restore the feasts of the goddess Anahit. In anger, the king had him thrown into a deep pit ""khor virab"", where according to legend he remained imprisoned for 13 years. An old lady gave him bread to eat and he managed to survive there among snakes.
During this time, King Tiridates, had fallen in love with the young and very beautiful Christian Hripsime, a refugee in Armenia having fled Rome. As she rejected his advances, she was massacred together with her companions. Crazed with pain and remorse, the king was transformed into a boar. Tridates’ sister, who had converted to Christianity herself, convinced him that only Gregory could restore his human and royal face, so Tiridates set him free. He was healed and decided to convert his entire family, and later his kingdom, to Christianity.
Armenia thus became, around the year 310, the first state to officially adopt Christianity and Gregory the Illuminator was its first Catholicos, the head of the Armenian Church.