History of Armenia, by Father Michael Chamich; from B. C. 2247 to ...

HISTORY OF ARMENIA.
177
he should, consequently, be visited with the
emperor's vengeance, in a fit of violent rage,
caused Husik to be seized and scourged so
severely that he expired under the punishment.
His pontificate lasted six years.
His remains
were interred near those of his father in the
village of Thordan.
In the room of the blessed Saint, whose cruel
death had left vacant the pontifical chair, the
Armenians appointed an old man named Daniel,
a Syrian, and disciple of St. Gregory, by whom
he had been consecrated priest. His sway
lasted but a very short time, for having thought
proper to admonish the king on the unjust death
of Husik, he' was ordered to be strangled.
This
beino- done, the body of the unfortunate Daniel
was taken to the convent to which he had
formerly belonged, called the Garden of Hazies,
and there buried. The Armenians then wished
to appoint a descendant of the Illuminator to
the important office of pontiff: none, however, of
that family was found fit for the station.
Husik
had indeed left two sons, Pap and Athanagheney,
but both were addicted to vicious habits. So
great, however, was the veneration of the people
for the memory of St. Gregory, that they hoped
for a change in the conduct of his two unworthy
descendants,
and therefore for some time kept
the pontificate vacant. Having, as a probationary
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