Saint George Karslides: One of the Most Important Holy Figures of the 20th Century

 

 

 

By Lambros Skontzos

Saint George Karslides (1901–1959) is one of the most distinctive and important holy figures of the twentieth century! His life seems to recapitulate the lives of many other saints whom we read about in the Synaxarion.

After all, he is not simply a Venerable of the Church, but also a confessor and martyr who lived through particularly harsh days of trial and martyrdom during the period of Communist rule in Georgia. The culmination of these trials, of course, was his confrontation with the firing squad.

The monk Symeon, the name given to the Saint when he was tonsured, having previously been called Athanasios, received several bullets from the firing squad, but chiefly in his legs! Thus, the wounds were not fatal. For this reason, his life was subsequently spared, since a law provided that anyone who survived a firing squad was entitled to a pardon!

Narration on the Lamentation of the Prophet Jeremiah Over Jerusalem, Its Fall, and on the Ecstasy of Abimelech

The illustration depicts Abimelech asleep beneath the fig tree, with his basket of figs and Jerusalem in the distance. It is an artistic reconstruction in a Byzantine-inspired style, not a reproduction of a historical icon.

 

Introduction

On November 4, the Greek Orthodox Synaxarion preserves an unusual narrative concerning the Prophet Jeremiah, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the miraculous seventy-year sleep of Abimelech. According to the account, as the Babylonian armies prepared to capture Jerusalem, Jeremiah was instructed by God to conceal the sacred vessels of the Temple in a rock. Abimelech, an Ethiopian who had previously rescued the Prophet from a cistern, was sent to the vineyard of Agrippa to gather figs for the sick. There, beneath a tree, he fell asleep and remained asleep for seventy years, awakening only after the Babylonian captivity had run its course. Unaware of the passage of time, he returned to Jerusalem carrying the same figs, which had miraculously remained fresh. His bewilderment upon discovering that the city and its inhabitants had changed, and his eventual conversation with an elderly man who explained what had happened, form the central episode of the narrative.

Venerable George Karslides in the Hymnography of the Orthodox Church

 

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

“George, the cultivator of virtue and dweller with wisdom, the useful vessel of the all-powerful Spirit, the Comforter, and the inexhaustible fountain of healings, having in recent times followed the footsteps of the illustrious venerable Fathers of old, became a pillar and an image for those who wish to live piously.”

With these brief words in the Synaxarion of his service, the good and well-known hymnographer of our Orthodox Church, more precisely, officially titled the “Great Hymnographer of the Church of the Alexandrians,” Dr. Haralambos Bousias, who also composed the service of our Venerable and God-bearing Father George Karslides the Confessor, summarizes the principal elements of the Venerable Father's life in Christ: the Venerable Father was a man of virtue and wisdom; he was a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, with the result that he himself, as surely as his grace-gushing relics, became a fountain of healings for every illness of the faithful people who had recourse to him and continue to do so. The cause of these supernatural states was the fact that throughout his life he strove to follow in the footsteps of the great venerable Fathers of the Church of old. For this reason, he too, together with the great venerable Fathers, became a support and an example for all faithful Christians.

Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: November 4

The Month of November

Day 4

66. To Orthodox Soldiers: On Which Soldier Is Most Likely to Defeat the Enemy in Battle

(From the Life of Venerable Ioannikios the Great)

When you, God-loving soldiers, enter into battle against the enemies of your homeland, who do you think among you is most likely to emerge victorious, ahead of the others? Of course, you will say: “God alone knows who!” But perhaps some will add: “Most likely, the one who has studied the art of warfare better than the others, who is undaunted in courage, and who possesses better weapons than the rest.” We fully agree with the first answer, that God alone knows who will emerge victorious, but we do not entirely agree with the second. In our opinion, the one most likely to emerge victorious is not the one who is skilled, courageous, and possesses good weapons, but the one who was already a true Christian before the battle, who always had the fear of God in his heart, who conducted himself righteously and piously even before the battle, was diligent in prayer, and showed zeal for every good work. Which of us is right in our judgment? Let us not argue about this; let the matter itself decide between our judgments.

From Cappadocia to Nea Ionia: The Incorrupt Relics of Saint George the New Hieromartyr of Neapolis and Their Historic Transfer

 

On November 2, 2026, the incorrupt holy relics of Saint George the New Hieromartyr of Neapolis were solemnly transferred from the Church of Saint Eustathios in Perissos, Nea Ionia, to the newly built church dedicated to him at the Ionian Centre. The ceremony took place on the eve of the Saint’s feast, November 3, and marked an important event in the religious and historical life of the Asia Minor refugee community of Nea Ionia.

The Uncovering of the Holy Relics of Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyva (November 3, 1994)

On November 3, the Orthodox Church commemorates the uncovering of the holy relics of Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyva, an event associated with the same spirit of humility and concealment that characterized the Elder throughout his earthly life.

Saint Porphyrios, who reposed on December 2, 1991, at the Sacred Skete of Kavsokalyva on Mount Athos, had expressed the desire that his burial take place quietly, without public attention. His final wish was consistent with the simplicity and humility with which he had lived. He did not want an elaborate funeral or a distinguished tomb, but a simple monastic burial among the fathers of the skete.

A Refutation of Iconoclasm by Saint Anthony the Confessor Directed Toward the Iconoclast Emperor Leo V the Armenian

 

Introduction

 

The Antirretikos Logos (Refutatory Discourse) of Saint Anthony the Confessor, Archbishop of Dyrrhachium and later of Thessaloniki (†844), is a fiery, direct defense of the Orthodox position on holy icons before the iconoclastic Emperor Leo V the Armenian (813–820). The text does not survive as an independent manuscript. Instead, it was preserved for posterity by being embedded verbatim into Chapters 13–15 of The Life of Saint Theodora of Thessaloniki, a 9th-century biography written by the cleric Gregory.

 

Confronting an imperial court determined to re-enact the destruction of holy icons, Anthony bypasses simple rhetoric to construct a sophisticated theological framework centered on two core arguments:

Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: November 3

The Month of November 

Day 3

65. What Reward Awaits Those Who Help or Visit Those in Prison?

(From the Life of Akepsimas, Bishop, and Those with Him)

It is known that one of the works of bodily mercy consists in helping someone who is in prison or visiting him. What do you think, brethren? Will those who are diligent in this work of mercy receive a reward from God, or not? Know that they will, and that their reward will be great. For those who help or visit people in prison can expect the favor of God, crowns in Heaven, and, finally, such blessings and such joys there as we cannot even imagine now.

How do we know that those who help people in prison obtain the favor of God? From the Life of Saints Joseph the Presbyter and Aethalas the Deacon. What is written there? The following is recorded: In the city where the aforementioned Saints lived, there was a certain holy woman named Snandulia, who pleased God by visiting those who suffered in prison. When she learned that Joseph and Aethalas had been thrown into prison after their torments, she went there and, finding the Saints lacerated and barely breathing, gave the prison guards a great deal of gold and persuaded them to release the Saints for a short time so that they could go to her house. When the martyrs were brought to her, Snandulia laid them on beds, washed their wounds, wiped the blood from them with clean linen, anointed their bodies with precious myrrh, kissed their shattered hands and feet, and wept bitterly over them. Then Joseph said to her: “O holy woman! Know that the kindness you have shown us is pleasing to God, and for it you will receive His favor.” From this it is clear that those who help people in prison truly receive the favor of God.

Homilies from the Menaion for Every Day of the Year: November 2

The Month of November

Day 2

64. The Lord Is Always an Unfailing Helper to His Faithful Servants in Their Sufferings

(From the Life of the Holy Martyrs Akindynos, Pegasios, Anempodistos, and Those with Them)

People of little faith, who waver in their faith, are always especially fainthearted in times of distress and suffering, and cry out: “Where is God? Why doesn't He deliver me from my troubles? Apparently, He does not see, or does not want to see, human sorrows and sufferings and relieve them!” Are people of little faith right to speak this way? Is it true that God does not see, or does not want to see, human sufferings and relieve them? What answer should we give to those who waver in their faith? We will answer as God has put it into our minds, but not with arguments or conjectures. We will answer with actual and indisputable examples.