Zabulon and Sosanna

Venerable Zabulon and Sosanna were the parents of Saint Nino, Enlightener of Georgia. According to Holy Tradition, Saint Nino and the Great Martyr George were blood relatives. At the time of George's martyrdom, a nobleman, the servant of God Zabulon, arrived in Rome from Cappadocia. He began to serve in the emperor's army and before long was widely recognized as a courageous cavalryman and fine soldier. In a battle with the Franks the Lord granted him victory: he captured the Frankish king and his suite and delivered them to the Roman emperor. The emperor sentenced the captives to death, but before they were executed they confessed a desire to be baptized. Zabulon relayed this to the emperor and became their godfather. Then he pleaded for mercy for his godchildren, and the emperor set them free. Nearly all the Franks were converted to Christianity through Zabulon's struggles on behalf of the faith. A ninth-⁠century Georgian hymnographer wrote: "Her father Zabulon converted Gaul with his sword, and blessed Nino converted Georgia with the Life-⁠giving Cross."

Some time later Zabulon journeyed to Jerusalem on a pilgrimage. There he distributed all his possessions to the poor and began to serve Patriarch Juvenal of Jerusalem. There he met Sosanna, the patriarch's sister, and soon after the patriarch joined them in marriage. The newly wedded couple moved to Cappadocia, where they had a baby girl whom they named Nino. While raising Nino, Sosanna served God and the needy with great dedication. When Nino was twelve, her parents sold all their possessions and moved back to Jerusalem. With the patriarch's blessing, Zabulon departed for the wilderness to begin a life of asceticism; the place where he labored is known only to God. With the patriarch's blessing, Sosanna ministered to the poor and infirm. On 10 December 1996 the Georgian Orthodox Church declared Zabulon and Sosanna, the parents of Saint Nino, confessors of the Christian faith: living at a time when pagan religions were still widely practiced and Christians were often persecuted, they converted many people and then abandoned worldly things to follow God alone. They are commemorated on 20 May (new style; 2 June on the old calendar).