George of Drama

George of Drama (Greek: Ὁ Όσιος Γεώργιος της Δράμας, Georgian: დრამის წმინდა გიორგი, January 1, 1901 – November 4, 1959) was a Caucasus Greek elder known for his gifts of spiritual discernment and clairvoyance. He is considered by Eastern Orthodox as a confessor and venerable.

George of Drama
Venerable Elder and New Confessor
BornAthanasios Karslidis
ათანასე კარსლიდისი
January 1, 1901
Chadik, Tsalka, Borchaly uezd, Tiflis Governorate, Caucasus Viceroyalty, Russian Empire (today Georgia)
DiedNovember 4, 1959
Taxiarchis, Drama, Greece
Venerated inEastern Orthodox Church
CanonizedNovember 2, 2008, Monastery of the Ascension of Christ, in Taxiarchis, Drama, by Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.[1]
Major shrineRelics in Monastery of the Ascension of Christ, in Taxiarchis, Drama.[2]
FeastNovember 4 (ns)[3][4][5] October 24 (os)[6][7]

Karslidis' relics are kept in the Monastery of the Ascension of Christ, in Taxiarchis, Drama,[2] and he is one of few saints known to bear an imprint of the sign of the cross on his skull. He was glorified on Sunday November 2, 2008, during the visit to the city of Drama of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew,[1][note 1] and his Feast Day is celebrated every year on November 4.[3][4][5]

The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church decided at its meeting of December 24, 2008 to add Karslidis' name to the menology of the Russian Orthodox Church, establishing his feast day on October 24/November 6.[6][7][note 2]

Life

In Georgia

George Karslidis was born in Chadik, Tsalka, Russian Empire in 1901.[9][10] His grandparents were refugees who had come from Gümüşhane, Ottoman Empire, following the Crimean War. At a young age, he was orphaned, losing both his father and his mother on the same day. Wounded by the abusive treatment given to him by his older brother, he escaped, alone, to the mountains, where he was saved by Turkish villagers, who took him with them back to Pontos.[11] He is known to have travelled Georgia, Armenia, and Russia before spending most of his life in the village of Taxiarchis, Drama, Northern Greece. He founded the Monastery of the Ascension of Christ in the village of Taxiarchis, which was officially consecrated in 1939, and became the spiritual leader of the community of Drama. Like other contemporary elders and many saints throughout Christian history, Karslidis is said to have sometimes been seen levitating in prayer during the Divine Liturgy.[12]

Karslidis became a Novice monk at a monastery in Georgia, after travelling to Tiflis, Georgia, where a priest cared for him. Thus beginning his monastic life, he waited nearly ten years to be officially tonsured a monk, which took place in July 1919, at the age of eighteen. He was given the new name Symeon.[13]

Karslidis was given the new name George. By this time he had acquired the reputation of being a God-bearing elder and so people flocked to him.[14]

In Greece

In 1929, Karslidis settled in the village of Taxiarches (Sipsa), in Drama, Northern Greece, where he lived the remaining thirty years of his life.[3]

In 1936 Karslidis managed to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, visiting the sites of Christ's life, and visiting various monasteries and hermitages.[15]

In 1938 the Greek government made a permanent distribution of farmland, and Karslidis was given an acre of land, on which he managed to build the foundations of a humble monastery dedicated to Christ's Ascension. The monastery was officially consecrated in 1939.[15]

Karslidis foresaw the coming of World War II as well as the Greek Civil War that would follow it.[15] He was sentenced to death for the second time in his life in 1941 by Bulgarian forces, but after he prayed with calmness and asked them to proceed with their work, they abandoned him out of fear and ran away; thus once again he survived miraculously.[3]

Karslidis died a few hours after midnight on November 4, 1959, and was buried behind the Katholikon of the Monastery of the Ascension.[1]

Monastery of the Ascension

After Karslidis' death, the monastery he had worked so hard to establish fell into disrepair until 1970, when Metropolitan Dionysios (Kyratsos) of Drama undertook its renovation. Since then the monastic life has been re-established, with a monastic sisterhood dedicated to Christ, and to the memory of the monastery's founder.[16]

On April 25, 1971, the monastery was consecrated, and on November 5, 1976, it was granted official recognition by the Church of Greece.[17]

Notes
  1. The official Announcement by Church of Greece was on November 3, 2008:
    (in Greek) Μετά το τέλος της Θείας Λειτουργίας, που τελέσθηκε το πρωί της Κυριακής με βυζαντινή μεγαλοπρέπεια στο Μητροπολιτικό Ι. Ναό της Δράμας, με τη συμμετοχή του Μακαριωτάτου Αρχιεπισκόπου Αθηνών και πάσης Ελλάδος κ.κ. Ιερώνυμου και πλήθος Μητροπολιτών από τη βόρεια Ελλάδα, η Α. Θ. Π. ο Οικουμενικός Πατριάρχης κ.κ. Βαρθολομαίος αναφέρθηκε στη ζωή και το έργο του νέου αγίου της Ορθόδοξης Εκκλησίας, του Οσίου Γεωργίου του Καρσλίδη του Ομολογητού. Λίγο νωρίτερα, ανέγνωσε την Πατριαρχική και Συνοδική Πράξη της αγιοκατάταξης του Οσίου στο εορτολόγιο της Εκκλησίας.[8]
  2. (in Russian) "24 декабря 2008 года определением Священного Синода Русской Православной Церкви имя преподобного Георгия (Карслидиса) включено в месяцеслов Русской Церкви с установлением празднования его памяти 6 ноября, как это установлено в Константинопольском Патриархате (журнал № 109)."[7]

Citations
  1. (in Greek) ΙΕΡΑ ΜΟΝΗ ΑΝΑΛΗΨΕΩΣ ΤΟΥ ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ ΤΑΞΙΑΡΧΩΝ (ΣΙΨΑ) ΔΡΑΜΑΣ. Μοναστήρια της Ελλάδας. Retrieved: 30 July 2014.
  2. (in Greek) ΤΟΠΙΚΗ ΑΓΙΟΛΟΓΙΑ Archived 2014-09-30 at the Wayback Machine. Ιερά Μητρόπολις Δράμας. Retrieved: 30 July 2014.
  3. Great Synaxaristes: (in Greek)Ὁ Ὅσιος Γεώργιος Καρσλίδης. 4 Νοεμβρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
  4. (in Greek) Όσιος Γεώργιος Καρσλίδης ο Ομολογητής. Ορθόδοξος Συναξαριστής. 04/11/2014.
  5. (in Greek) Τυπικὸν τῆς Μεγάλης τοῦ Χριστοῦ ᾽Εκκλησίας. 4η Νοεμβρίου 2014. Οἰκουμενικὸν Πατριαρχεῖον Κωνσταντινουπόλεως (Ecumenical Patriarchate). Retrieved: 18 August 2015.
  6. (in Russian) 6 ноября (24 октября). Православная Энциклопедия под редакцией Патриарха Московского и всея Руси Кирилла (электронная версия). (Orthodox Encyclopedia – Pravenc.ru).
  7. (in Russian) Торжества по случаю первой годовщины канонизации и 60-летия со дня преставления преподобного Георгия (Карслидиса) прошли в г. Драма (Греция). Официальный сайт Русской Православной Церкви (Patriarchia.ru). 9 ноября 2009 г. 15:21. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
  8. (in Greek) Νέος Άγιος στο Ορθόδοξο εορτολόγιο. ECCLESIA.GR. ΝΟΕΜΒΡΙΟΣ 2008. 3/11/2008. Retrieved: 30 July 2014.
  9. Ὃ ὅσιος Γεώργιος τῆς Δράμας - Νέα ἔκδοση, Ιερά Μονή Αναλήψεως του Σωτήρος Ταξιαρχών Δράμας (Σίψα), Πορφυρία Μοναχή, 2019
  10. Middleton, Herman A. "Elder George of Drama." In: Precious Vessels of the Holy Spirit: The Lives and Counsels of Contemporary Elders of Greece. 2nd Edition. Thessalonica, Greece & Asheville, NC: Protecting Veil Press, 2004. p. 179.
  11. Excerpt From: Anonymous. “Saint George of Sipsa, From Child to Saint.” iBooks.
  12. Middleton, Herman A. "Elder George of Drama." In: Precious Vessels of the Holy Spirit: The Lives and Counsels of Contemporary Elders of Greece. 2nd Edition. Thessalonica, Greece & Asheville, NC: Protecting Veil Press, 2004. p. 183.
  13. Middleton, Herman A. "Elder George of Drama." In: Precious Vessels of the Holy Spirit: The Lives and Counsels of Contemporary Elders of Greece. 2nd Edition. Thessalonica, Greece & Asheville, NC: Protecting Veil Press, 2004. p. 180.
  14. Middleton, Herman A. "Elder George of Drama." In: Precious Vessels of the Holy Spirit: The Lives and Counsels of Contemporary Elders of Greece. 2nd Edition. Thessalonica, Greece & Asheville, NC: Protecting Veil Press, 2004. p. 181.
  15. Middleton, Herman A. "Elder George of Drama." In: Precious Vessels of the Holy Spirit: The Lives and Counsels of Contemporary Elders of Greece. 2nd Edition. Thessalonica, Greece & Asheville, NC: Protecting Veil Press, 2004. p. 184.
  16. Middleton, Herman A. "Elder George of Drama." In: Precious Vessels of the Holy Spirit: The Lives and Counsels of Contemporary Elders of Greece. 2nd Edition. Thessalonica, Greece & Asheville, NC: Protecting Veil Press, 2004. p. 187.
  17. (in Greek) ΙΕΡΕΣ ΜΟΝΕΣ – 2) Αναλήψεως Του Σωτήρος. Ιερά Μητρόπολις Δράμας. 18/10/2011 . Retrieved: 30 July 2014.

Further reading
  • Middleton, Herman A. "Elder George of Drama." In: Precious Vessels of the Holy Spirit: The Lives and Counsels of Contemporary Elders of Greece. 2nd Edition. Thessalonica, Greece & Asheville, NC: Protecting Veil Press, 2004. pp. 178–191. ISBN 9608761409
  • Moses, Monk of Mount Athos. The Blessed Elder George Karslides (1901–1959). Thessaloniki: Orthodox Kypseli Publications, 1998. 149 pp.
  • October 22/November 4. Orthodox Calendar (PRAVOSLAVIE.RU).

In Greek
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