Commemorated on February 12
Saint Prokhore the Georgian, a descendant of the noble Shavteli
family, was born at the end of the 10th century and grew up in a
monastery. When he reached manhood he was ordained a hieromonk and
labored for one year at the Lavra of St. Sabbas in Jerusalem. Then, with
the blessing of his spiritual father Ekvtime Grdzeli, he began the
reconstruction of the Holy Cross Georgian Monastery near Jerusalem.
According
to tradition, at this spot Abraham’s nephew Lot planted three trees—a
cypress, a pine, and a cedar. Eventually these three trees miraculously
grew into one large tree. When the Temple of Solomon was being built,
this tree was cut down but left unused. It is said that the Cross on
which Christ our Savior was crucified was constructed from the wood of
this tree.
In the 4th century, the land on which the miraculous
tree had grown was presented to Holy King Mirian, the first Christian
king of Georgia. Then in the 5th century, during the reign of Holy King Vakhtang
Gorgasali, the Holy Cross Monastery was founded on that land. The
monastery was destroyed several times between the 7th and 9th centuries.
Finally,
in the 11th century, King Bagrat Kuropalates offered much of his wealth
to Fr. Prokhore for the restoration of the monastery. St. Prokhore
beautified the monastery, then gathered eighty monks and established the
typicon (the monastic rule) for the community in accordance with that
of the St. Sabbas Lavra.
When St. Prokhore had labored long and lived to an advanced age, he chose his disciple Giorgi to be the monastery’s next abbot.
Then
he departed for the wilderness with two of his disciples, and after
some time the righteous monk yielded up his spirit to God.
Beyond
this, little is known about the life of St. Prokhore. According to
Georgian researchers and scholars, he was probably born sometime between
985 and 990. He spent the years 1010 to 1015 in Jerusalem, and labored
at the Lavra of St. Sabbas until 1025. He reposed in the year 1066,
between the ages of 76 and 81.
The holy martyr Luka of Jerusalem
lived in the 13th century. He was born to an honorable, pious Georgian
family by the name of Mukhaisdze. After the repose of Luka’s father, his
mother left her children and went to labor at a monastery in Jerusalem.
When
Luka reached the age of twenty, he traveled to Jerusalem to visit his
mother and venerate the holy places. After spending some time there he
decided to remain and be tonsured a monk. He was later ordained a deacon
and became fluent in Arabic. Soon the brothers of the monastery
recognized his wisdom and asked him to guide them as abbot. For three
years Luka directed the monastery in an exemplary manner.
But the
devil was envious of the holy father and provoked a certain
Shekh-Khidar, an influential Persian at the court of Sultan Penducht,
(Probably Sultan Zakhir-Rukedin-Baibars-Bundukdar of Egypt (1260-1277)
to take up arms against St. Luka. Sultan Penducht then transferred
possession of theHoly CrossMonastery to Shekh-Khidar, who “treated the
Georgian monks in a beastly manner and finally ousted them from the
monastery altogether.” Fulfilling his God-given duty, the blessed Luka
insisted on personally confronting Shekh-Khidar in defense of his
brotherhood.
Luka’s Christian brothers and sisters warned him,
saying, “Shekh-Khidar is threatening you.... Flee and hide from him!” But
Luka paid no heed to their admonitions, certain that it was more
fitting to die for Christ than to live for the world. As he had
insisted, he himself approached Shekh-Khidar and asked for the release of the imprisoned fathers.
Luka
told him that he was prepared to accept any demands. The wicked Persian
leader demanded nothing from Luka except that he convert to Islam,
promising to make him emir if he consented. When he refused, the furious
Shekh-Khidar ordered St. Luka’s beheading.
After the terrible
deed had been performed, St. Luka’s severed head turned toward the east
and gave thanks to God with an expression of pure peace. Soon after, his
precious body was set on fire at the command of the bewildered
Shekh-Khidar. This occurred in 1277. St. Nikoloz Dvali the Martyr was
born at the end of the 13th century to a God-fearing couple who directed
his path toward the spiritual life.
At the age of twelve Nikoloz
traveled to the Klarjeti Wilderness and was tonsured a monk. From there
he made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and remained in the holy city,
settling at the Holy Cross Monastery. Burning with desire for the
apostolic life, Monk Nikoloz was determined to die a martyr’s death.
In
Jerusalem a group of godless men arrested and tormented St. Nikoloz for
publicly confessing the Christian Faith, but a group of Christians
succeeded in rescuing him from prison. Then, in accordance with his
abbot’s counsel, St. Nikoloz relocated to a Georgian monastery on
Cyprus. There the pious monk beseeched the Lord to make him worthy of
the crown of martyrdom. One day, while he was praying before the icon of
St. John the Baptist, he heard a voice saying, “Nikoloz! Arise and go
to Jerusalem. There you will find a Georgian monk who will teach you the
way of righteousness and encourage you on the path of martyrdom. He has
been appointed to guide you.”
Accordingly, St. Nikoloz returned
to Jerusalem, met the monk whom God had appointed, and informed him of
what had been revealed. The Most Holy Theotokos and St. John the Baptist
appeared to St. Nikoloz’s spiritual father, who had been praying
intensely for guidance, and told him that it was the Lord’s will for
Nikoloz to journey to Damascus.
While in Damascus, the holy father
entered a mosque and openly confessed Christ to be the Savior,
reproving those present for their folly. The angry Muslims seized St.
Nikoloz, beat him, and cast him into prison. After a great struggle, the
metropolitan and local Christians succeeded in recovering him from
captivity, but he immediately returned to the Muslims and began again to
denounce their ungodly ways. Again they beat him mercilessly, lashed
him five hundred times, and cast him in prison for a second time. But
the holy martyr’s wounds were healed through the miraculous intercession
of St. John the Baptist, and after two months he was released from
prison.
By chance the emir of the city caught a glimpse of St.
Nikoloz as he was preparing to return to Jerusalem. The emir recognized
him and sent him to Dengiz, the emir of emirs. Dengiz flattered him and
offered to convert him to Islam, but St. Nikoloz bravely defended his
faith in Christ. In response, Dengiz ordered his execution.
At
the hour appointed by Dengiz, the blessed martyr turned to the east,
joyfully bowed his neck to the sword, and prayed, “Glory to Thee, O
Christ God, Who hast accounted me worthy to die for Thy name’s sake.”
The sword pierced his neck, but the severed head glorified God seven
times, crying out, “Glory to Thee, O Christ our God!”
The Persians burned the saint’s body, and for three days a pillar of light shone at the place where it lay.
When
St.Nikoloz’s spiritual father heard about his martyrdom, he prayed to
God to reveal to him whether Nikoloz would be numbered among the saints.
Then one day while he was reading, he saw a vision of a host of saints
standing atop a mountain, illumined and surrounded by a cloud of
incense. Among them the Great-martyr George shone especially brightly,
and he called St. Nikoloz, saying, “Nikoloz! Come and see the monk, your
spiritual father. He has shed many tears for you.”
Nikoloz
greeted his spiritual father, saying, “Behold me and the place where I
am, and from this day cease your sorrowing for me.”
St. Nikoloz
Dvali was tortured to death on Tuesday, October 19, in the year 1314.
The Georgian Church continues to commemorate him on that date.
SOURCE:
SAINT OR FEAST POSTED THIS DATE 2014(with 2013's link here also and further:, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, and even 2008!):
Commemorated on February 29
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