Source: St. Petersburg Times

http://www.sptimes.com/News/011301/SouthPinellas/Sacred_flame_honors_A.shtml

On January 13, 2001, the St. Petersburg Times reported on the celebration of the 1700-year anniversary of the conversion of Armenia's King Tiridates III to Christianity by St. Gregory the Illuminator. "A sacred flame commemorating the event is making its way to Armenian Orthodox churches around the world." The flame comes from Khor Virab, the site of St. Gregory's imprisonment. "On Jan. 6, the date that Armenian Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas, representatives from many of the diocese's 60 parishes took part in a ceremony to receive what is being called the Light of St. Gregory...The Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church, as the denomination is known, traces its origins to the first century, when the apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew introduced Christianity to Armenia." It was not until King Tiridates' conversion, however, "that converts were able to worship openly."