Saint Aristaces also known as Aristakes ( hy, Սբ. Արիստակես Ա. Պարթև) was the 13th

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 G ...

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 ...

from 325 ad until his death on 333 ad. He was assigned by his father, Catholicos-Patriarch St. Gregory I, before his death, as the next

Catholicoi 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 G ...

of the Church. He was known for the stabilization and the strengthening of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

, in the Caucasus Albanian region and in

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

. He was the second son of

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 ...

to his wife Miriam next to his older brother, later next Catholicos-Patriarch, St. Vrtanes I. Gregory also placed and instructed his grandson Gregory (Aristaces’ nephew and one of the sons of his brother Vrtanes) in charge of the holy missions to the peoples and tribes of all of

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'', among ...

. His nephew was

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

ed by a fanatical mob, while preaching in Albania. After reaching his late eighties Gregory I the Illuminator withdrew to a small sanctuary near Mount Sebuh (Mt. Sepuh) in the

Daranali Daranali or Daranaghi () was a district (''gavar'') of the province of Upper Armenia of Greater Armenia. It was located in the basin of the Western Euphrates (Karasu), near modern-day Kemah (Kamakh, Kamacha, Camachus), Turkey. Its center was the f ...

province (Manyats Ayr, Upper Armenia) with a small convent of monks, where he remained until his death. Aristaces was later replaced by his brother, Vrtanes I.

See also