Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II of All Georgia. Photo: Karibche.ge Recent days have been very sad for Georgia—we bade farewell to our Patriarch Ilia II. For almost fifty years he bore the heavy cross of the Patriarchate, and it seemed to us that it would last forever! I was eight years old when the Lord called him to serve as Patriarch, and now I am fifty-six. I have spent my whole life with him! A man has passed away whose importance for Georgia is now hardly possible to comprehend fully. A man who for so many years has been our pastor, our conscience, our justification before God, and at the same time a simple, loving and warm-hearted father to everyone! A man who served his country faithfully and prayed for us until his last breath. Rulers and eras changed, much of what seemed to be completely stable crumbled, but our Patriarch stood like a rock that for the Georgian people served as a yardstick for the Lord. With his wise advice, gift of foresight, and ability to comfort everyone, he earned the fame of a “Biblical Patriarch” among our people. Sincere love for his people and living faith in God are what the Patriarch lived by over almost fifty years of his tenure, and what led to the revival of the Georgian Church.
Having inherited scattered churches, a small number of monasteries, and several dozen priests, Patriarch Ilia increased their number so much that Georgia has completely ceased to resemble its former self. Over 2,000 churches that are active in Georgia today were never closed even during the COVID-19 pandemic. Patriarch Ilia II opened theological academies and seminaries, organized the translation and publication of the Psalter, as well as new editions of the Bible, including the translation of ancient texts into modern Georgian, painted icons for churches and composed church music.
On learning about the terrible demographic catastrophe in Georgia, he announced that he would personally baptize every third and subsequent child of any married couple in the country. As a result, he baptized more than 50,000 babies, which contributed to a large increase in the birth rate in Georgia—and our Patriarch Ilia II became one of the most prolific godfathers in the world.
Locum tenens of the Patriarchal Throne, Metropolitan Shio (Mujiri), together with the cross procession, follows the car with Patriarch Ilia II’s body heading for Sameba Cathedral in Tbilisi
No wonder that so many people wanted to bid farewell to their beloved Patriarch after his repose.
Georgia had never known such national unity as at the funeral of our Patriarch, and probably never will. With a population of 3.9 million, more than 1.5 million came to bid farewell to the Patriarch! And how many people wanted to, but couldn't come due to various circumstances... During these days, the Georgian Government announced free additional passenger trains, extra intercity bus services; the Tbilisi municipal transport was free, and metro hours were extended. People walked in an endless stream day and night, queuing for eleven to twelve hours just to enter the church for a few minutes and pay their final respects to their newly reposed archpastor. Both old and young Georgians, people with young children, and those with disabilities flocked to Sameba Cathedral. There was a man without legs, on crutches, in front of my spiritual sister, who had been standing in line for many hours, and when they prompted him to move ahead, he refused. He stood there almost until the very end. Seeing elderly people with walking sticks, who had difficulty climbing a large number of steps leading to the Holy Trinity Cathedral, the police lifted them up, holding their hands on both sides. Residents of the houses along the line to the church lowered water from their balconies or gave it out from their windows to those waiting, so that those who had been standing for many long hours could quench their thirst.
Georgia had not known such national unity and such a profound sense of collective for a long time grief as in these days. Police officers, paramedics, and representatives of other professions walked in an organized manner, but the procession of the Patriarch's godchildren deserves special mention.
On the second evening after his repose, a huge number of his godchildren came to pay their final respects to their godfather. The procession of godchildren with white roses was so massive that they walked all night long. The godchildren stood in such an intense surge of affection for their godfather, which they will probably never forget their whole lives. When in 2014 Georgia was celebrating the uncovering of the relics of the Venerable Elder Gabriel (Urgebadze) and people from all over the country flocked to the Holy Trinity Church to venerate his relics, I thought as I was standing with my son in a long queue: “The whole of Georgia will turn out again when our Patriarch is gone.” And then I thought, “May God grant that this happens as much later as possible.” Yes, I believed that a large number of people would want to pay their respects to the Patriarch, because I knew how he was loved in Georgia; but of course, I couldn't have imagined that 1.5 million people would turn out!
Cross procession with Patriarch Ilia II’s body in the courtyard of Sameba Cathedral He is a man who gave himself completely to his people, a man of great spiritual gifts who did so much for Georgia and whose merits simply cannot be enumerated... But this is not what brought all these people to Tbilisi on that day, what inspired even the most infirm Georgians to come out and wait for so many hours, often in the rain and still very cold weather, especially at night. It was love that brought all of them—the love that our Patriarch Ilia was able to instill in the heart of each one of us! The love that has brought people together these days in such a way that all conflicts, differences, social statuses, and political preferences were forgotten. Muslims who are predominant in the Georgian municipality of Marneuli have announced the cancellation of their religious holidays on these days. Everyone was standing in line, standing with great sorrow in their hearts—the kind of grief that you can only feel over someone very close to you. “Sakartvelo, mikvarkhar (Georgia, I love you)!” the Patriarch would often say, and even his passing has contributed to national unity and unprecedented spiritual upliftment. People wept at the farewell ceremony, without hiding their tears. Every soul felt a great inner orphanhood, but at the same time there was also a feeling of grace-filled consolation in sorrow, sent to us by the Heavenly Father.
Church music composed by Patriarch Ilia was performed: “Kyrie eleison” (Greek: “Lord, have mercy”), “I am weary, O Lord, come to me!” and others. And when, at the end, “Christ is Risen!” was sung at the church, jubilation arose in my soul. Yes, our Patriarch Ilia has left us, but a new intercessor has appeared in Heaven for each one of us and for the whole of Georgia!
