Name George of | ||
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Died November 4, 1959
Taxiarches (Sipsa), Drama. Venerated in Eastern Orthodox Church Canonized November 2, 2008, Monastery of the Ascension of Christ, in Taxiarches (Sipsa), by Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Major shrine Relics in Monastery of the Ascension of Christ, in Taxiarches (Sipsa), Drama. Feast November 4 (ns)
October 24 (os) | ||
Venerable Elder and New Confessor Saint George (Karslidis) of Drama (Greek: Ὁ Όσιος Γεώργιος Καρσλίδης ο Ομολογητής), January 1, 1901 – November 4, 1959, was a Greek Elder known for his gifts of spiritual discernment and clairvoyance.
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He is known to have been in Georgia, Armenia, and Russia before spending most of his life in the village of Taxiarches (Sipsa), in Drama, Northern Greece. He founded the Monastery of the Ascension of Christ in the village of Taxiarches (Sipsa), 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, Saint George would sometimes be seen levitating in prayer during the Divine Liturgy.
His relics are kept in the Monastery of the Ascension of Christ, in Taxiarches (Sipsa), Drama, 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 I, and his Feast Day is celebrated every year on November 4.
The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church decided at its meeting of December 24, 2008 to add the name of the Venerable George (Karslidis) of Drama to the Menology of the Russian Orthodox Church, establishing his feast day on October 24/November 6.
In Pontus
The Venerable Elder George Karslidis was born in Argyroupolis, Pontus in 1901, which was the seat of the Metropolis of Chaldia. His pious parents Savvas and Sophia baptized him with the name Athanasios. However while he was still an infant, his parents died on the same day, and he was nurtured by his grandmother, who raised him with exemplary Pontic piety.
From a very early age he gave signs of his inclination towards God. While still a child, he prayed constantly, practiced fasting, and at the age of seven years he went on a pilgrimage to venerate Panagia Soumela, at the Soumela Monastery.
In Georgia
At the age of just nine years old he became a Novice monk at a monastery in Georgia, after having travelling to Tiflis, Georgia, where a pious priest cared for him. Thus beginning his monastic life, he patiently 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. Soon afterwards he was ordained a Hierodeacon.
During the tragic days of the persecution of the Church by the communists in Georgia, the young Hierodeacon and his fellow monks were arrested as "enemies of the state", suffering imprisonment, humiliation, executions, public shamings and unheard of tortures. He was sentenced to death by firing squad, and was shot, but survived miraculously, as the three bullets which hit him only grazed him, and did little harm.
In October 1925 he was ordained Hieromonk and Confessor by Metropolitan John Tsiaparaski of Grouzia Sceta (Georgia), and 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.
He served the Divine Liturgy with great attention, slowly and with care that the proper spirit be cultivated and preserved. During the preparation of the elements, God would inform him of the spiritual state of those he commemorated, both the living and the dead. With great pastoral discernment, he would pass the information on to his parishioners, either to encourage them to pray more fervently for the souls of the deceased or to bring sinners to repentance.
In Greece
In 1929, after many struggles, he finally managed to settle in the village of Taxiarches (Sipsa), in Drama, Northern Greece, where he lived the remaining thirty years of his life. The faithful recognized the sanctity and virtuous life of the Elder, and various families in the village took him in.
In 1936 the Elder managed to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, venerating the sites of Christ's life and sufferings, and visiting various monasteries and hermitages.
In 1938 the Greek government made a permanent distribution of farmland, and the Elder 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.
The Elder foresaw the coming of World War II as well as the Greek Civil War that would follow it. He was sentenced to death for the second time in his life in 1941 by Bulgarian invaders from the north, 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.
Elder George Karslidis died a few hours after midnight on November 4, 1959, and was buried behind the Katholikon of the Monastery of the Ascension.
Monastery of the Ascension
After his repose, the Monastery of the Ascension 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 blessed memory of the monatsery's founder, Elder George.
On April 25, 1971, the monastery was consecrated, and on November 5, 1976 it was granted official recognition by the Church of Greece.