People come to the relics of St Gabriel (Urgebadze) from all over Georgia and from many other countries. Here is a short account of his life and practical advice on how to reach Samtavro monastery in Mtskheta, where he is buried.

Childhood and monastic vows

Goderdzi Urgebadze was born on 26 August 1929 in Tbilisi; his family called him Vasiko. From childhood he was drawn to the Church, which was not safe in Soviet Georgia in the 1930s and 1940s. In 1955 he took monastic vows with the name Gabriel.

1965 and the years of trial

During the May Day demonstration of 1965 in Tbilisi Father Gabriel set fire to a portrait of Lenin and was arrested. He was interrogated and held in a psychiatric hospital, and afterwards he was barred from serving for years. He lived in Tbilisi and in Samtavro as a fool for Christ, rebuking and consoling the people who came to him.

The last years in Samtavro and glorification

Father Gabriel spent his last years at Samtavro convent in Mtskheta. He died on 2 November 1995 and was buried at the monastery. In 2012 the Georgian Church canonised him, and in 2014 his relics were uncovered and moved into the Church of the Transfiguration, where they remain today.

People pray to him for health and healing, for their families and loved ones. Their testimonies of help, received by the mercy of God through the prayers of the saint, are collected in the section testimonies.

Samtavro monastery

Samtavro stands in Mtskheta, the ancient capital of Georgia. The monastery was founded in the 4th century where St Nino, Equal-to-the-Apostles and the enlightener of Georgia, lived. Today it is a working convent. In the Church of the Transfiguration, besides the relics of St Gabriel, are the tombs of King Mirian and Queen Nana, the first Christian rulers of Georgia. A prayer service at the relics is held on Tuesdays.

How to get to Samtavro on your own

Mtskheta is twenty kilometres from Tbilisi. From the city you can get there by taxi in about half an hour or by minibus from Tbilisi to Mtskheta; in Mtskheta the monastery is within walking distance of the centre, next to Svetitskhoveli Cathedral. Samtavro is a convent: women need a headscarf and a skirt, men long trousers, and photos inside the church are taken only with permission.

With a group or with a prayer note

Our groups spend two days in Samtavro on every autumn trip from Tallinn, at the service and at the relics, without rushing. The dates of the next trip are in the pilgrimage section. If you cannot travel, you can submit a prayer note to the relics: we hand it to the monastery ourselves.

More about the saint, his prayer and the icons with a particle of cloth from his relics is on the page of St Gabriel of Samtavro.