Saint John Saint George
Commemorated on September 21
Archimandrite John (Basil Maisuradze in the world) was born in the
town of Tskhinvali in Samachablo around 1882. He was raised in a peasant
family and taught to perform all kinds of handiwork. Basil was barely
in his teens when he helped Fr. Spiridon (Ketiladze), the main priest at
Betania Monastery, to restore the monastery between 1894 and 1896.
From
his youth Basil was eager to enter the monastic life, and in 1903,
according to God’s will, he moved to the Skete of St. John the
Theologian at Iveron Monastery on Mt. Athos. Among the brothers he was
distinguished for his simplicity and obedience. He was tonsured a monk
and named John in honor of St. John the Theologian, whom he revered
deeply and sought to emulate.
The monk John was soon ordained to
the priesthood. Throughout his life the holy father dedicated himself to
serving God and his brothers in Christ in hopes that his own life might
be fruitful for them.
Fr. John remained on Mt. Athos for
seventeen years. Then, due to the increasingly troubling circumstances
there, he left the Holy Mountain with the other Georgian monks sometime
between 1920 and 1921. He settled at Armazi Monastery outside of
Mtskheta, where the Bolsheviks had left just one monk to labor in
solitude. Once a band of armed Chekists broke into the monastery, led
both Fr. John and the other monk away, and shot them in the back.
Believing
them to be dead, they tossed them in a nearby gorge. A group of people
later discovered Fr. John’s nearly lifeless body and brought it to
Samtavro Monastery in Mtskheta. The other monk suffered only minor
injuries and returned to the monastery on his own.
When his
health had been restored, Fr. John went to Betania Monastery, where his
first spiritual father was still laboring. He was appointed abbot
shortly thereafter. Accustomed to hard work from his childhood, he
skillfully administered the agricultural labors of the monastery. When
visitors came to the monastery seeking advice or solace, Fr. John
welcomed them warmly, spreading a festal meal before them. He enjoyed
spending time with his guests, especially with children.
It is
said that he always had candy or a special treat to give to the little
ones. The children loved him so much that on the feast of St. John the
Theologian, while he was sprinkling the church with holy water, they
skipped around him and tried to tousle his hair. The children’s parents
were ashamed, but Fr. John cheerfully assured them that it was fitting
to be so joyous on a feast day.
Truly Fr. John was endowed with a
deep love for young people, and he was also blessed with the divine
gifts of prophecy and wonder-working. Once a certain Irakli Ghudushauri,
a student at Moscow Theological Seminary, visited him at the monastery.
Fr. John received him with exceptional warmth, blessing him with tears
of rejoicing. This student would later become Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia
II, the beloved shepherd who continues to lead the flock of the Georgian
faithful to this very day.
Fr. John disciplined himself severely.
He worked hard all day and slept on a single piece of wood. He would
spend entire nights praying. Many wondered when he rested and where he
had acquired such a seemingly infinite supply of energy.
Occasionally
thieves would steal food or domestic animals from the monastery. But
the monastery also had many protectors, even within the Soviet
government. A group of Christians who worked for the government while
secretly practicing their faith supported Fr. John and Fr. George
(Mkheidze) (see below), explaining and justifying them to the government
as “guardians of a national cultural monument.”
Many of the
miracles performed by Fr. John are known to us today, though he was wary
of receiving honor for his deeds. Frs. John and George healed the deaf,
and many of the terminally ill were brought to them for healing. After
spending several days in the monastery, the infirm would miraculously be
cleansed of their diseases. Fr. John bore the heaviest workload in the
monastery. He sympathized deeply with Fr. George, who was ailing
physically and unfit for strenuous labor. But Fr. John departed this
life before Fr. George. Fr. John became ill and reposed in 1957, at the
age of seventy-five. He was buried at Betania Monastery.
Fr.
George (Mkheidze) was born in the village of Skhvava in the Racha region
around 1877. He received a military education—a highly esteemed
commodity among the Georgian aristocracy—but instead of pursuing a
military career in defense of the Russian empire, he dedicated himself
to Georgia’s national liberation movement. At one point the pious and
learned George worked for St. Ilia the Righteous as his personal
secretary. He often met St. Ilia’s spiritual father, the holy hierarch
Alexandre (Okropiridze), and the holy hieromartyr Nazar (Lezhava), and
he was acquainted with other important spiritual leaders of the time as
well.
Desiring to sacrifice his life to God, George was tonsured
into monasticism by the holy hieromartyr Nazar. His rare character
combined a nobleman’s deportment with a monk’s humble asceticism. Fr.
George was ordained a priest and soon after elevated to the rank of
archimandrite.
Filled with divine love and patriotic sentiment,
the holy father willingly endured the heavy burdens and spiritual
tribulations afflicting his country at that time.
In 1924, while
Fr. George was laboring at Khirsa Monastery in Kakheti in eastern
Georgia, an armed Chekist mob broke into the monastery. The perpetrators
beat him, cut off his hair, shaved his beard, and threatened to take
his life. He sought refuge with his family, but to no avail—his
brothers, who were atheists, shaved off his beard while he was sleeping.
(One of Fr. George’s brothers later committed suicide, and the other,
together with his wife, was shot to death by the Chekists.) In the same
year, Fr. George visited Betania Monastery and was introduced to Fr.
John (Maisuradze), with whom he would labor for the remainder of his
life.
Fr. George’s health was poor, and he was able to perform
only the lightest of tasks around the monastery. He tended the vegetable
garden and took responsibility for raising the bees. He was extremely
generous. At times he would give all the monastery’s food to the needy,
assuring Fr. John that God Himself would provide their daily bread.
Tall,
thin, and with an upright posture, Fr. George was strict in both
appearance and demeanor. He spoke very little with other people, and
children did not play with him as they did with Fr. John. Knowing his
character, they tried to please him by reciting prayers and behaving
themselves. Fr. George did not like to leave the monastery, but it was
often necessary for him to travel to Tbilisi to visit his spiritual
children— among whom were many secret Christians who worked for the
government.
Fr. George was endowed with the gifts of prophecy and
healing, but he was careful to hide them. When constrained to reveal
them, he would pass them off as though they were nothing extraordinary.
Once a certain pilgrim arrived at the monastery and was surprised to
discover that Fr. George knew him by name. Sensing his great amazement,
Fr. George told the pilgrim that he had attended his baptism some thirty
years earlier, thus concealing his God-given gift. Fr. George knew in
advance when his nephew was bringing his sisters, whom he had not seen
in forty-eight years, to visit him at the monastery during Great Lent.
Enlightened with this foreknowledge, Fr. George prepared fish and a festal meal in honor of the occasion.
The
prayers of Fr. George and Fr. John healed the former’s nephew, who was
afflicted by a deadly strain of meningitis. They restored hearing to a
deaf child and healed many others of their bodily infirmities.
In
1957, when Fr. John reposed in the Lord, Fr. George was tonsured into
the great schema. He was given the name John in honor of his newly
departed spiritual brother. Fr. George-John now bore full responsibility
for the affairs of the monastery. His health deteriorated further under
the weight of this heavy yoke. His spiritual children began to come
from the city to care for him.
Once a twenty-year-old girl arrived at the monastery, complaining of incessant headaches. She had
been told that the water from Betania Monastery would heal her. She
remained there for one week and was miraculously healed. When she left
to return home, Fr. George-John walked five miles to see her off, in
spite of his physical frailty.
The Theotokos appeared to Fr.
George-John in a vision and relieved his terrible physical pain. The
protomartyr Thekla also appeared to him, presenting him with a bunch of
grapes. Several days before his repose, the holy father was in the city
when an angel appeared to him and announced his imminent repose. The
angel told him to return to the monastery to prepare for his departure
from this world.
St. George-John (Mkheidze) reposed in 1960. He
was buried at Betania Monastery, next to Fr. John (Maisuradze). These
venerable fathers were canonized on September 18, 2003, at a council of
the Holy Synod under the spiritual leadership of His Holiness Ilia II,
Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia. Frs. John and George-John have been
lovingly deemed “one soul in two bodies.”
SOURCE:
SAINT OR FEAST POSTED THIS DATE 2012(with 2011's link here also and further, 2010, 2009, 2008 and even 2007!)