The saint of the poor and the suffering
Saint George was born on January 18 in 1901, in Tsalka of
Georgia, in a village called Handik. When he was baptized, he
received the name Athanasios. His ancestors were Pontiac, since
they had migrated to Handik from Argyroupoli of Pontos, due to
the Russian-Turkish war.
His parents died of cholera on the same day and he was left an
orphan at the age of five. Therefore, he had a very harsh and
lonely childhood.
The paternal house of the Saint in Hadik, photo by Holy Monastery of the Ascension of Saviour Taxiarches [Sipsa] Drama
At the age of nine, The Great Martyr George the Trophy Bearer,
who was his protector, led him to a renowned monastery in
Dranda, dedicated to the Dormition of Theotokos where he lived
in prayer and obedience, surpassing many of his elders in
asceticism and in spiritual struggles. Thus in his very early years
he was gifted with the charismas of the Holy Spirit.
The night of his tonsure, all the bells and semantron” of the
monastery rang by themselves, showing that the newly tonsured
monk was blessed to become God’s vessel. He received the name
Simeon.
Due to the communistic and atheistic regime, his monastery was
shut down by the Bolsheviks and all the monks who refused to
deny their Faith were imprisoned, tortured and executed by the
firing squad. Our Saint was one of themn. When he was shot, the
bullet hit the encolpion of Theotokos that he was wearing on his
chest, ever since his beloved grandmother had gịven it to him for
protection! As he was shot, he fell down and other bullets
injured his feet severely, leaving him half paralyzed and weak for
the rest of his life. He was only 23 years old.
After persecutions and hiding, he was ordained a priest and he
was named after his Protector, The Great Martyr Georgios the
Trophy Bearer.
In 1930, he arrived in Greece along with other migrants. He was
already very exhausted and sick due to all the horrible torture.
At that time, the Greek government was giving away pieces of land to all refugees, so our Saint’s land happened to be in this
village which is called Sipsa, exactly where we are standing now.
The villagers helped him build the small church of The
Ascension of the Lord, together with two small cells where he
used to live by himself, very ascetically, praying and fasting
strictly.
He was blessed with many charismas of the Holy Spirit: he
would spiritually “see” the past, the current and the future state
of people visiting him, as well as secrets kept deep in their hearts
and minds. People would also visit him to seek cure to their
diseases, solution to their problems, consolation and spiritual
and material alms. Years later, he would become well known and
he would lead scores of people to the knowledge of God. On the
other hand, he would get very angry with blasphemous visitors
who would think of him as a fortune teller or a medium, so he
would send those away, immediately.
During Divine Liturgies, many Saints would participate with him
and people would see him not touching the ground.
In the Second World War, he saved the village from the enemies
and every other danger.
He reposed in the Lord on the 4th of November, 1959 and during
his burial, the two cypresses leaned over his grave prostrating
him. The translation of his holy relics took place in 2006, and
his canonization in 2008.
Countless miracles take place every
day on his grave and blessings overflow from his holy relics.
In 1970, Abbess Akylina reconstructed this great women
monastery around his grave, as he had foreseen.
May all of you have his blessing.
