Feast Day ~ May 1
It is almost impossible for Americans to conceive of a saintly ruler. We are taught from early childhood that it is only right to maintain a separation of Church and State, to keep religion out of politics and politics out of religion, that our Constitution mandates it. We also live in an age when the conduct of our country’s leaders is often far from the precepts of any faith tradition. So the idea that there might be a Christian ruler whose governance shows the mercy, love, and humility that are the marks of a follower of Jesus Christ is beyond our imaginations.
But this is an American problem and that of some other modern states which have religiously diverse populations or which have relentlessly pushed faith away from the “real life” of the political arena. It would now be extremely difficult to picture a devout Christian as president of our country (especially an Orthodox Christian president who would maintain the Lenten fast and never schedule White House activities on Sunday mornings or during Holy Week!).
But our present situation has not always been the case in other nations and certainly not in some ages past. St. Tamar, the queen of Georgia from 1184 to 1213, is one who ruled with Christian charity and who is revered by the Georgian people as a saintly monarch.
Born in 1166 to King George III and Queen Burdukhan who did not have a son, it was evident that Tamar would be the only heir of her father. Fearing the great strife that a battle over the succession would cause, the king named Tamar as his co-regent when she was twelve years old. Upon her father’s death when she was eighteen, Tamar was declared the sole ruler of Georgia, often titled “king” to emphasize the strength of her position, as she was the first woman to have this responsibility.
Tamar began her rule by calling a church council, asking the clergy to “judge according to righteousness” and to begin with her and the other nobles to condemn sin and not be influenced by wealth. She described the joint purpose of the State and the Church saying that “You by word and I by deed, you by preaching and I by the law, you by upbringing and I by education will care for those souls whom God has entrusted to us, and together we will abide by the law of God…You as priests and I as ruler, you as stewards of good and I as the watchman of that good”.
In order to ensure that the succession would not be contentious the next time, the Court and the Church insisted that Tamar marry and they chose a Russian prince to be her husband. He proved to be handsome and a good soldier who helped the Georgian army in its many battles. But he also proved to be an unsuitable husband for the good queen. He was accused of drunkenness and sexual immorality, was banished from Georgia, and Tamar was granted a divorce.
After offers from many other hopeful suitors, Queen Tamar chose her own second husband who was also a capable soldier but a constant support for the queen who encouraged her good works. A son, George, and a daughter, Rusudan – both of whom became rulers of Georgia – were born to the couple.
Georgia was in constant conflict with its Muslim neighbors and there was frequent warfare, with Christians often suffering at the hands of Muslim conquerors. Queen Tamar became known as the protector of Christians, battling to free Armenia from Muslim control. Armenia had been the first entire country to become Christian on the conversion of King Tiradates in 301; Georgia was declared a Christian state in 327 by the newly-converted King Mirian III, so both countries had a long, rich history of Christian life which had to be protected.
One of Queen Tamar’s efforts at strengthening Christianity was to build and support monasteries, not only in Georgia but also in Greece, Macedonia, Romania, on Mt. Athos and in the Holy Land. When Saladin took Jerusalem from the western Crusaders in 1187, Tamar was evidently successful in her pleas to him to return the property of the eight Georgian monasteries there which he had confiscated, and Georgians were allowed free access to the city, unharmed. On the coins of the realm in her day, Queen Tamar was styled as “champion of the Messiah” and she made every effort to be worthy of that title.
It was known that the queen spent her days dressed in the usual royal finery and attending to state affairs but that, in the evenings, she was on her knees in prayer for her people, the nation that had been entrusted by God to her care. She made and embroidered clothing which she gave to the poor and also made vestments for the churches.
In preparation for her own death, Queen Tamar had her son George named as co-regent, as her father had done with her. Giving up her earthly kingdom into his care, Tamar fell asleep in the Lord in the year 1213. Perhaps to prevent desecration by any enemies of Georgia, the burial place of the queen has never been revealed. The possible places include the Monastery of Gelati and the Monastery of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem, but her relics have never been found.
In the centuries since her death – and even during her reign – St. Tamar has been revered by the Georgian people and her reign considered a “Golden Age”. She has been portrayed in art, poetry, folk song, and literature as the ideal woman and ideal ruler.
St. Tamar shows us that it is not impossible for a temporal ruler to be a saint. Whatever the circumstances of our lives – whether our duty is to manage a household or run a country, to be a diligent worker or supervise employees – if we do these things in humility, with love and care for those in need, in constant prayer for others, then we are on our way to holiness, to becoming saints. May St. Tamar, Queen of Georgia, pray for us on our journeys toward the Kingdom of God.