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Saints Salome of Ujarma and Perozhavra of Sivnia (4th century)

Memory 15 (28) January

Saints Salome of Ujarma and Perozhavra of Sivnia were the helpers and closest companions of St. Nino, Enlightener of Georgia. St. Nino herself had converted them to the Christian Faith.

Salome was the wife of Revi, the son of King Mirian, and Perozhavra was married to the ruler of the Kartli region. Both women were queens, but they succeeded in serving St. Nino while retaining their imperial roles. St. Nino taught them to pray, and the women fasted regularly and performed good works. As a result of their influential social status, the two queens were able to help St. Nino tremendously in spreading the Christian Faith.

After the conversion of Kartli, with inspiration from St. Nino and by the order of King Mirian, St. Salome erected a cross in Ujarma in the Kakheti region. When St. Nino fell ill in the village of Bodbe, the queens Salome and Perozhavra stood by her bed and wept bitterly at having to part with their beloved teacher and healer. They entreated St. Nino, who was finishing her last hours on this earth, saying, “Tell us, our Queen, how did you come to our country to free our souls, and where were you raised? Tell us how to continue your good works. You who have delivered us from bondage to the enemy, tell us, what shall we do?” From the information that St. Nino then related to them, Sts. Salome and Perozhavra wrote The Life of St. Nino, Enlightener of Georgia. The Apostolic Orthodox Church of Georgia commemorates them on January 15, the day following the commemoration of St. Nino.

O Holy Saints Salome and Perozhavra, standing before Christ our King and our God, have mercy on us and save us!

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

1/29/2008

Venerable Giorgi the Scribe and His Brother Saba, of Khakhuli (11th century)

Venerable Giorgi the Scribe and His Brother Saba, of Khakhuli (11th century)
Commemorated December 19/January 1

Venerable Giorgi the Scribe and His Brother Saba, of Khakhuli (11th century)

Venerable Giorgi the Scribe and His Brother Saba, of Khakhuli (11th century)
Archpriest Zakaria Machitadze
Saints Giorgi and Saba of Khakhuli were brothers of Iakob, the father of St. Giorgi of the Holy Mountain. Giorgi and Saba labored as monks at Khakhuli Monastery in southern Georgia.

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 Eprem the Lesser, the Philosopher (†1101)

Venerable Eprem the Lesser, the Philosopher (†1101)
Commemorated January 18/31

Venerable Eprem the Lesser, the Philosopher (†1101)

Venerable Eprem the Lesser, the Philosopher (†1101)
Archpriest Zakaria Machitadze
Тoday little is known about the life of venerable Eprem the Lesser, the great 11th-century writer, translator, philosopher, and defender of the Georgian Church. His work Reminiscences and other sources, however, provide us with the means to speculate about the major periods of his life and labors.

See also

The Nine Kherkheulidze Brothers with Their Mother and Sister and Nine Thousand Martyrs of Marabda (†1625)

The Nine Kherkheulidze Brothers with Their Mother and Sister and Nine Thousand Martyrs of Marabda (†1625)
Commemorated August 3/16

The Nine Kherkheulidze Brothers with Their Mother and Sister and Nine Thousand Martyrs of Marabda (†1625)

The Nine Kherkheulidze Brothers with Their Mother and Sister and Nine Thousand Martyrs of Marabda (†1625)
Archpriest Zakaria Machitadze
In the Feast of the Annunciation in the year 1625, the Georgians annihilated the army of the Persian shah Abbas I in the Battle of Martqopi. The victory unified Georgia’s eastern provinces of Kartli and Kakheti. It also instilled hope in other enslaved peoples of the Transcaucasus, and rebellions began to break out everywhere.

Holy Martyr Salome the Georgian (13th century)

Holy Martyr Salome the Georgian (13th century)
Commemorated July 20/August 2

Holy Martyr Salome the Georgian (13th century)

Holy Martyr Salome the Georgian (13th century)
Archpriest Zakaria Machitadze
The details of the life of St. Salome the Georgian are notpreserved. In the Synaxarion of Jerusalem’s Holy CrossMonastery it is written: “On this day (July 20) we commemoratethe martyrdom of Salome the Georgian, who atfirst yielded to the Persian threats and renounced Christ,but later confessed the true Faith. For this she was beheaded and castinto the flames.”

Venerable Basil Ratishvili (13th century)

Venerable Basil Ratishvili (13th century)
Commemorated April 18/May 1

Venerable Basil Ratishvili (13th century)

Venerable Basil Ratishvili (13th century)
Archpriest Zakaria Machitadze
Saint Basil Ratishvili, one of the most prominent figures of the 13th-century Church, was the uncle of Catholicos Ekvtime III. He labored with the other Georgian fathers at the Iveron Monastery on Mt. Athos. Endowed with the gift of prophecy, St. Basil beheld a vision in which the Most Holy Theotokos called upon him to censure King Demetre’s impious rule.