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Venerable Father Pimen, Fool-for-Christ and Enlightener of Dagestan, and His Companion Anton Meskhi, the Censurer of Kings (13th century)

Commemorated March 16/29

Memory 16 (29) March

Venerable Father Pimen, Fool-for-Christ and Enlightener of Dagestan, and His Companion Anton Meskhi, the Censurer of Kings (13th century)

Venerable Father Pimen, Fool-for-Christ and Enlightener of Dagestan, and His Companion Anton Meskhi, the Censurer of Kings (13th century)

Venerable Father Pimen, Fool-for-Christ and Enlightener of Dagestan, and His Companion Anton Meskhi, the Censurer of Kings (13th century)

Saint Pimen the Fool-for-Christ and Anton Meskhi (of Meskheti, in southern Georgia) lived in the 13th century, when the Mongols were regularly invading Georgia. The entire country, and the Church in particular, languished under the yoke of Mongol oppression. The Georgian people were once again faced with a terrible choice: to preserve their temporal flesh or attain spiritual salvation. Most would not yield to the temptation of the enemy and chose instead to die as martyrs for Christ.

At that time a monk named Pimen, a fool-for-Christ, labored in the Davit-Gareji Wilderness. His ancestral roots were in the Kakheti region of eastern Georgia. Pimen rebuked kings and condemned the unjust and immoral acts of the nobility. The pious monk Anton Meskhi labored with him.

Enlightened by divine grace, the fathers recognized that the Georgian people were following their king’s poor example. Thus, the monks began a struggle for the spiritual salvation of the nation’s people that demanded the censure of the king.

In addition to their labors of foolishness and censuring of kings, the saints preached Christianity among the Dagestani.^[1]

For their great spiritual achievements and struggles on behalf of godly purity, the Christian Faith, and the spread of the Gospel among the Dagestanis, the Georgian Church has counted Pimen the Fool-for-Christ and Anton Meskhi worthy to be numbered among the saints.

Filled with theological wisdom and bearing the yoke of foolishness- for-Christ, O Holy Saints Pimen and Anton the Georgian Sun, pray to God for us!

^[1] Dagestan is located to the northeast of Georgia and borders the Caspian Sea.

Archpriest Zakaria Machitadze

For further information on the book THE LIVES OF THE GEORGIAN SAINTS by Archpriest Zakaria Machitadze contact St. Herman Press:
St. Herman Press, P.O. Box 70, Platina, CA 96076
http://www.stherman.com/catalog/chapter_five/Lives_of_the_georgian_saints.htm

3/29/2007

Saint Ambrosi the Confessor, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia (†1927)

Saint Ambrosi the Confessor, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia (†1927)
Archpriest Zakaria Machitadze

Saint Ambrosi the Confessor, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia (†1927)

Saint Ambrosi the Confessor, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia (†1927)
Archpriest Zakaria Machitadze
In response to one of the Bolshevik interrogations, the patriarch asserted, “Confession of Faith is a spiritual necessity for every nation — persecution increases its necessity. Faith deepens, being contracted and accumulated, and it bursts out with new energy. So it was in the past, and so it will be in our country. Georgia is no exception to this universal law.” St. Ambrosi spoke these remarkable last words to his persecutors: “My soul belongs to God, my heart to my motherland, and with my flesh you may do whatever you wish.” The court sentenced the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia to seven years, nine months and twenty-eight days in prison.

The Lives of the Georgian Saints

The Lives of the Georgian Saints
Archpriest Zakaria Machitadze

The Lives of the Georgian Saints

The Lives of the Georgian Saints
Archpriest Zakaria Machitadze
Since the time of the ancient Greek historians, Georgia has been viewed as an enigma hidden behind impenetrable mountains and a complex language. Little has been written about this small country and its saints. Now, Pravoslavie.Ru presents the entire collection of the Lives of the Georgian saints which has been translated for the first time into English. These lives encompass the seventeen hundred years of Orthodox Christianity in Georgia. The stories of ascetics and bishops, warriors and noblemen are intertwined with the tumultuous history of the Georgian land.

Venerable Hieromartyr Gabriel the Lesser (†1802)

Venerable Hieromartyr Gabriel the Lesser (†1802)
Archpriest Zakaria Machitadze

Venerable Hieromartyr Gabriel the Lesser (†1802)

Venerable Hieromartyr Gabriel the Lesser (†1802)
Archpriest Zakaria Machitadze
Saint Gabriel the Lesser was a major figure in the eighteenth- century Georgian Church. Few details of his life are known, but it is evident that the education he received was quite good for the period. Striving toward the monastic life but still living in the world, Gabriel tried in every way to close himself off from the vanity of the world. He kept a small sewing shop in Tbilisi and distributed most of his profits to the poor.

See also

Who Really Was Mary Magdalene?

Who Really Was Mary Magdalene?
Michael Houli, Professor of Theology

Who Really Was Mary Magdalene?

Who Really Was Mary Magdalene?
Michael Houli, Professor of Theology
And now we will ascertain what kind of "truth" is taught in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Gnostic Gospels, according to Dan Brown. Do they reverse the authentic truths of the Gospel? Clearly not!

Holy Hierarch David, Patron Saint of Wales

Holy Hierarch David, Patron Saint of Wales
Commemorated March 1/14

Holy Hierarch David, Patron Saint of Wales

Holy Hierarch David, Patron Saint of Wales
Commemorated: March1/14
Dmitry Lapa
The abbot led the same simple life as his monks and worked as hard as any of them. All the community members wore simple clothes and all their belongings were held in common. Voluntary poverty and the refusal of all possessions were among the main rules of the monastery. St. David himself, like many other Celtic saints, used to retreat to the river to read the whole Psalter, standing in cold river water even in winter.

Saint Cuthman of Steyning

Saint Cuthman of Steyning
Commemorated February 8/21

Saint Cuthman of Steyning

Saint Cuthman of Steyning
Commemorated February 8/21
Dmitry Lapa
St. Cuthman of Steyning, one of the most venerated saints in southern England, probably lived in the late 7th to early 8th century. He is best remembered in the small town of Steyning in West Sussex. Sussex people have for many centuries venerated him for his meekness, humility, love, compassion, closeness to the people and many miracles.