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Holy Catholicos Sarmean (†774)

Memory 21 August (3 September)

The chronicles listing the generations of chief shepherds of Georgia reveal that St. Sarmean was leader of the Georgian Apostolic Church from the year 767 (or 760, according to some sources) until the year 774. These were years of Arab-Muslim rule in Georgia. The Arabs persecuted the Christians, oppressed those who served in the Church, and tried in every way to convert the country to Islam. Despite the frightful abuses that the faithful endured and the transformation of the city into a residence for the emir, many Tbilisi churches continued to function.

Sarmean was a firm defender of Orthodoxy. Once, however, on Cheese-fare Thursday at Shio-Mgvime Monastery, a group of strangers bearing gifts arrived at the monastery. He served Holy Communion to them without ever inquiring into their faith. Later he learned that they were Jacobites.

His carelessness was revealed to him in a dream that same night.

When he awoke the next morning, Catholicos Sarmean summoned the bishops, confessed his mistake, burned the gifts that the Jacobites had given him before their eyes, and departed for an isolated cave, where he wept over his sin with bitter tears.

But the All-merciful Lord sent a sign to St. Sarmean to inform him that his transgression had been forgiven. The bishops sent him a message from Mtskheta: “O Great Sovereign Patriarch Sarmean! Rejoice!

We, your spiritual children, believers in your holiness, the entire council of bishops, wish to inform you that St. Shio has appeared and told each of the five of us that the Lord has remitted your sin. Makehaste and summon us to the monastery, that we may give thanks to get her to our Holy Father Shio!”

Holy Catholicos Sarmean, divinely endowed with humility, faith, love, and the fear of God, led his flock wisely to the end of his days and reposed peacefully in the year 774.

O Great Sovereign Patriarch, Holy Catholicos Sarmean, have mercy on thy children and all those who believe in thy blessedness!

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

8/31/2007

Saint Tbeli Abuseridze (13th century)

Saint Tbeli Abuseridze (13th century)
Commemorated August 17/30

Saint Tbeli Abuseridze (13th century)

Saint Tbeli Abuseridze (13th century)
Archpriest Zakaria Machitadze
Holy Father Tbeli Abuseridze lived and labored in the 13th century. His father Ioane, the archduke of Upper Atchara, perished in a battle with the Turks. After Tbeli’s mother was widowed, she was tonsured a nun and given the name Ekaterine. Tbeli’s brothers, Abuseri and Bardan, were also well-known figures in their time.

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 Serapion the Wonderworker of St. John the Baptist Monastery (†1774)

Venerable Serapion the Wonderworker of St. John the Baptist Monastery (†1774)
Commemorated August 24/September 6

Venerable Serapion the Wonderworker of St. John the Baptist Monastery (†1774)

Venerable Serapion the Wonderworker of St. John the Baptist Monastery (†1774)
Archpriest Zakaria Machitadze
Saint Serapion was abbot of the Monastery of St. John the Baptist in the Davit-Gareji Wilderness. He was endowed by God with the ability to work miracles.Once St. Serapion set off for the city, following at a short distance behind several of the monastery’s brothers.

See also

Saint Razhden, Protomartyr of the Georgian Church (†457)

Saint Razhden, Protomartyr of the Georgian Church (†457)
Commemorated August 3/16

Saint Razhden, Protomartyr of the Georgian Church (†457)

Saint Razhden, Protomartyr of the Georgian Church (†457)
Archpriest Zakaria Machitadze
Saint Razhden the Protomartyr was descended from a noble Persian family. When Holy King Vakhtang Gorgasali married the daughter of the Persian king Hormuzd III Balunducht, the queen took Razhden with her to Georgia.

Saint Tsotne Dadiani the Confessor (13th century)

Saint Tsotne Dadiani the Confessor (13th century)
Commemorated July 30/August 12

Saint Tsotne Dadiani the Confessor (13th century)

Saint Tsotne Dadiani the Confessor (13th century)
Archpriest Zakaria Machitadze
Saint Tsotne Dadiani, a virtuous military leader and the prince of Egrisi, lived in the middle of the 13th century. During that time Georgia languished under the yoke of Mongol oppression.

Saint Ioane (Chrysostom) the Catholicos (†1001)

Saint Ioane (Chrysostom) the Catholicos (†1001)
Commemorated March 3/16

Saint Ioane (Chrysostom) the Catholicos (†1001)

Saint Ioane (Chrysostom) the Catholicos (†1001)
Archpriest Zakaria Machitadze
Catholicos Basil III’s “Story of St. Shio’s Miracles” describes how the hitherto childless parents of St. Ioane prayed at length to St. Shio of Mgvime. After the birth of Ioane, his God-fearing parents sent him to be raised at Shio-Mgvime Monastery. There he acquired the sanctity and wisdom for which he would later be called “Chrysostom,” meaning “golden mouth” in Greek. By this name he has been known throughout the history of the Georgian Church.