George of Drama

George of Drama
Venerable Elder and New Confessor
Born	Athanasios Karslidis ათანასე კარსლიდისი January 1, 1901 Chadik, Tsalka, Borchaly uezd, Tiflis Governorate, Caucasus Viceroyalty, Russian Empire (today Georgia)
Died	November 4, 1959 Taxiarchis, Drama, Greece
Venerated in	Eastern Orthodox Church
Canonized	November 2, 2008, Monastery of the Ascension of Christ, in Taxiarchis, Drama, by Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.[1]
Major shrine	Relics in Monastery of the Ascension of Christ, in Taxiarchis, Drama.[2]
Feast	November 4 (ns)[3][4][5] October 24 (os)[6][7]

George of Drama (Greek: Ὁ Όσιος Γεώργιος της Δράμας, Georgian: დრამის წმინდა გიორგი, January 1, 1901 – November 4, 1959) was a Caucasus Greek elder known for his gifts of spiritual discernment and clairvoyance. He is considered by Eastern Orthodox as a confessor and venerable.

Karslidis' relics are kept in the Monastery of the Ascension of Christ, in Taxiarchis, Drama,^[2] 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,^{[1][note 1]} and his Feast Day is celebrated every year on November 4.^[3][4][5]

The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church decided at its meeting of December 24, 2008 to add Karslidis' name to the Menology of the Russian Orthodox Church, establishing his feast day on October 24/November 6.^{[6][7][note 2]}

Life

In Georgia

George Karslidis was born in Chadik, Tsalka, Russian Empire in 1901.^[9][10] His grandparents were refugees who had come from Gümüşhane in the Ottoman Empire following the Crimean War. He was orphaned at a young age losing both his father and his mother on the same day. Wounded by the abusive treatment given to him by his older brother, he escaped alone to the mountains, where he was saved by Turkish villagers who took him with them to Pontos.^[11] He is known to have travelled to Georgia, Armenia, and Russia before spending most of his life in the village of Taxiarchis, Drama, Northern Greece. He founded the Monastery of the Ascension of Christ in the village of Taxiarchis, 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, Karslidis is said to have sometimes been seen levitating in prayer during the Divine Liturgy.^[12]

Karslidis became a Novice monk at a monastery in Georgia after travelling to Tiflis, Georgia, where a priest cared for him. There he began his monastic life. He 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.^[13]

Karslidis 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.^[14]

In Greece

In 1929 Karslidis settled in the village of Taxiarches (Sipsa), in Drama, Northern Greece, where he lived the remaining thirty years of his life.^[3]

In 1936 Karslidis managed to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, visiting the sites of Christ's life, and visiting various monasteries and hermitages.^[15]

In 1938 the Greek government made a permanent distribution of farmland, Karslidis was given an acre of land on which he managed to build the foundations of a humble monastery dedicated to the Ascension of Jesus. The monastery was officially consecrated in 1939.^[15]

Karslidis foresaw the coming of World War II as well as the Greek Civil War that would follow it.^[15] He was sentenced to death for the second time in his life in 1941 by Bulgarian forces, 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.^[3]

Karslidis died a few hours after midnight on November 4, 1959 and was buried behind the Katholikon of the Monastery of the Ascension.^[1]

Monastery of the Ascension

After Karslidis' death, the monastery 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 memory of the monastery's founder.^[16]

On April 25, 1971, the monastery was consecrated, and on November 5, 1976, it was granted official recognition by the Church of Greece.^[17]

Notes

Citations

Further reading

• Middleton, Herman A. "Elder George of Drama." In: Precious Vessels of the Holy Spirit: The Lives and Counsels of Contemporary Elders of Greece. 2nd Edition. Thessalonica, Greece & Asheville, NC: Protecting Veil Press, 2004. pp. 178–191. ISBN 9608761409
• Moses, Monk of Mount Athos. The Blessed Elder George Karslides (1901–1959). Thessaloniki: Orthodox Kypseli Publications, 1998. 149 pp.
• October 22/November 4. Orthodox Calendar (PRAVOSLAVIE.RU).

In Greek

• Great Synaxaristes: (in Greek)Ὁ Ὅσιος Γεώργιος Καρσλίδης. 4 Νοεμβρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
• (in Greek) Όσιος Γεώργιος Καρσλίδης ο Ομολογητής. Ορθόδοξος Συναξαριστής. 04/11/2014.
• (in Greek) Θαύματα, διδαχές και Προφητείες του οσίου πατρός Γεωργίου Καρσλίδη. Ιερά Μητρόπολις Δράμας. 07/11/2011. Retrieved: 30 July 2014.
• (in Greek) ΙΕΡΕΣ ΜΟΝΕΣ – 2) Αναλήψεως Του Σωτήρος. Ιερά Μητρόπολις Δράμας. 18/10/2011 . Retrieved: 30 July 2014.
• (in Greek) ΙΕΡΑ ΜΟΝΗ ΑΝΑΛΗΨΕΩΣ ΤΟΥ ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ ΤΑΞΙΑΡΧΩΝ (ΣΙΨΑ) ΔΡΑΜΑΣ. Μοναστήρια της Ελλάδας. Retrieved: 30 July 2014.

This page was last edited on 25 January 2024, at 06:15