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GREECE
St Spyridon of Trimythous, Corfu
The relics of the wonderworker in the church of the old town of Kerkyra
1929–1995
The life of St Gabriel
- 1929
- Born in Tbilisi, 26 August
- 1955
- Monastic vows with the name Gabriel
- 1965
- Arrest after the May Day demonstration
- 1995
- Repose in Samtavro, 2 November
- 2012
- Canonised
- 2014
- Uncovering of the relics, transfer to the church
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 thirties and forties. In 1955 he took monastic vows with the name Gabriel.
In 1965, during the May Day demonstration in Tbilisi, he set fire to a portrait of Lenin and was arrested. He was interrogated and held in a psychiatric hospital, after which 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.
Father Gabriel spent his last years at Samtavro convent in Mtskheta. He died on 2 November 1995 and was buried there. In 2012 the Georgian Church canonised him, and in 2014 his relics were uncovered and moved into the monastery church, where they remain today.
People come to the relics of St Gabriel from all over Georgia and from other countries. They pray to him for health and healing, for their families and loved ones. A prayer service is held in the monastery on Tuesdays. Our groups spend two days in Samtavro on every autumn trip.
THE PLACE
Samtavro monastery
Samtavro stands in Mtskheta, the ancient capital of Georgia, twenty kilometres from Tbilisi. The monastery was founded in the 4th century on the spot where St Nino, Equal-to-the-Apostles, lived. The Church of the Transfiguration holds the relics of St Gabriel and of King Mirian and Queen Nana.
How to visit on your own, photos and videos from our trips →
