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Venerable Martyrs Geronti, Serapion, German, Besarion, Mikael, Svimeon, and Otar of the Davit-Gareji Monastery (†1851)

Memory 12 (25) August

Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries the Dagestanis were continually raiding and pillaging the Davit-Gareji Wilderness. They destroyed churches and monasteries, stole sacred objects, and tortured and killed many of the monks who labored there.

A Dagestani army invaded the Davit-Gareji Wilderness in the summer of 1851. They looted the Davit-Gareji Lavra and carried off many of the monastery’s sacred treasures and books. Then they took many of the monks captive and tortured a few of the most pious.

First they stabbed Hierodeacon Otar to death, then they beheaded Hieromonk Geronti. The unbelievers battered Hieromonk Serapion to death with their swords.Monk German was stabbed in the stomach, then beheaded.Monk Besarion was also beheaded. The eighteen- year-old Svimeon tried to flee on foot but was shot at with bows and arrows, then caught and beheaded. Monk Mikael, the most outstanding among the brothers in humility and silence, was subjected to the harshest tortures.

After their martyrdom the bodies of these holy men were illumined with a divine light.

The martyrdom of the holy fathers of the Davit-Gareji Monastery was described in 1853 by Hieromonk Isaak of Gaenati, who witnessed the tragedy. Hieromonk Isaak himself was captured and led away to Dagestan by the merciless bandits. He was later freed through the mediation of Tsar Nicholas I (1825–1855).

O Lord our God, Thy holy martyrs Geronti, Serapion, German, Besarion, Mikael, Svimeon, and Otar were accounted worthy of Thine incorruptible crowns. By Thee they were granted the power to defeat ungodliness and cast down the powerless idols. Through their holy intercessions save our souls, O Christ God!

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

8/24/2007

Venerable Ekvtime, Abbot of the Monastery of St. John the Baptist (†1804)

Venerable Ekvtime, Abbot of the Monastery of St. John the Baptist (†1804)
Commemorated August 8/21

Venerable Ekvtime, Abbot of the Monastery of St. John the Baptist (†1804)

Venerable Ekvtime, Abbot of the Monastery of St. John the Baptist (†1804)
Archpriest Zakaria Machitadze
Saint Ekvtime was abbot of the Monastery of St. John the Baptist in the Davit-GarejiWilderness. In the chronicles of the monastery he is commemorated as a “man of many labors.”

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.

Holy Martyrs Metropolitan Nazar of Kutaisi-Gaenati, Priests German, Ieroteos and Simon, Archdeacon Besarion, and All the New Martyrs of the Totalitarian Regime (†1924)

Holy Martyrs Metropolitan Nazar of Kutaisi-Gaenati, Priests German, Ieroteos and Simon, Archdeacon Besarion, and All the New Martyrs of the Totalitarian Regime (†1924)
Commemorated August 14/27

Holy Martyrs Metropolitan Nazar of Kutaisi-Gaenati, Priests German, Ieroteos and Simon, Archdeacon Besarion, and All the New Martyrs of the Totalitarian Regime (†1924)

Holy Martyrs Metropolitan Nazar of Kutaisi-Gaenati, Priests German, Ieroteos and Simon, Archdeacon Besarion, and All the New Martyrs of the Totalitarian Regime (†1924)
Archpriest Zakaria Machitadze
Metropolitan Nazar of Kutaisi-Gaenati was born in 1872 in the village of Didi Jikhaishi in Imereti. His forefathers belonged to a long lineage of clergy, and the future metropolitan was nurtured in the Church from the earliest years of his youth.

See also

Venerable Ioane-Tornike of Mt. Athos (10th century)

Venerable Ioane-Tornike of Mt. Athos (10th century)
Commemorated June 12/25

Venerable Ioane-Tornike of Mt. Athos (10th century)

Venerable Ioane-Tornike of Mt. Athos (10th century)
Archpriest Zakaria Machitadze
Tornike Eristavi (later Ioane of Mt. Athos) was a Georgian army commander famed for his victories in war and a favorite of King Davit Kuropalates. Eventually he abandoned his worldly glory and set off in search of his spiritual father, St. Ioane, on Mt. Olympus. There he learned that St. Ioane had moved to Mt. Athos, so he journeyed there and settled with him in a monastery headed by St. Athanasius the Athonite. He was tonsured a monk and given the new name Ioane.

Venerable Ioane of Zedazeni and His Twelve Disciples (6th century)

Venerable Ioane of Zedazeni and His Twelve Disciples (6th century)
Archpriest Zakaria Machitadze

Venerable Ioane of Zedazeni and His Twelve Disciples (6th century)

Venerable Ioane of Zedazeni and His Twelve Disciples (6th century)
Archpriest Zakaria Machitadze
Our Holy Father Ioane of Zedazeni and his twelve disciples, Abibos of Nekresi, Anton of Martqopi, Davit of Gareji, Zenon of Iqalto, Tadeos of Stepantsminda, Ise of Tsilkani, Ioseb of Alaverdi, Isidore of Samtavisi, Mikael of Ulumbo, Piros of Breti, Stepane of Khirsa, and Shio of Mgvime, were Syrian ascetics and the founding fathers of Georgian monastic life. St. Ioane received his spiritual education in Antioch.

Venerable Ioane of Shavta, Bishop of Gaenati, and Evlogi the Prophet and Fool-for-Christ (13th century)

Venerable Ioane of Shavta, Bishop of Gaenati, and Evlogi the Prophet and Fool-for-Christ (13th century)
Archpriest Zakaria Machitadze

Venerable Ioane of Shavta, Bishop of Gaenati, and Evlogi the Prophet and Fool-for-Christ (13th century)

Venerable Ioane of Shavta, Bishop of Gaenati, and Evlogi the Prophet and Fool-for-Christ (13th century)
Archpriest Zakaria Machitadze
The great Georgian hymnographer, philosopher, and orator St. Ioane of Shavta labored in the 12th and 13th centuries, during the reign of the holy queen Tamar. Few details of his life have been preserved, but we know that he received his education at Gelati Academy, where he studied theology, ancient and Arabic history, philosophy, and literature. He was later tonsured a monk and labored at Vardzia Monastery.