martyred 1616
The monks of the David-Gareji lavra in Georgia, slain in 1616 during the invasion of Shah Abbas I when, on the night of Pascha, they refused to renounce Christ.
The Holy 6,000 Venerable-Martyrs of the David-Gareji Wilderness
The 6,000 Martyrs of David-Gareji were the monks of the David-Gareji lavra, a complex of cave monasteries in the wilderness of Kakheti in eastern Georgia, who were slain in 1616 during the invasion of the Persian shah Abbas I. The tradition relates that they were martyred on the night of Pascha, when, refusing to renounce Christ, they were put to the sword after completing the paschal liturgy.
The monastic settlement traced its origins to Saint David of Gareji, one of the Thirteen Syrian Fathers who established monasticism in Georgia in the sixth century. By the seventeenth century it had grown into a major center of Georgian spiritual life. The martyrs are commemorated on Bright Tuesday, the third day of Pascha, and also on April 26.
Your holy martyrs O Lord,
through their sufferings have received incorruptible crowns from You, our God.
For having Your strength, they laid low their adversaries,
and shattered the powerless boldness of demons.
Through their intercessions, save our souls!
Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).
The David-Gareji lavra lay in the arid Gareji range on the border of Kakheti, a landscape of caves hewn into the rock that had sheltered Georgian monks since the sixth century. Founded by Saint David, one of the Thirteen Syrian Fathers, it became one of the principal centers of Georgian monasticism, and by the early seventeenth century its brotherhood numbered in the thousands.
The tradition records that in 1616 Shah Abbas I, campaigning against Georgia, was hunting in the mountains of Gareji and spent the night nearby. His attention was drawn to a moving column of light, which proved to be the monks processing three times around their church with candles in celebration of Christ's Resurrection. He commanded his army to fall upon them.
The abbot Arsenius, the synaxarion relates, went out to the commander and asked that the brothers be allowed to complete the paschal service and receive the Holy Gifts. The request was granted; the fathers communicated, encouraged one another, and presented themselves in festive vesture. The Persians first beheaded the abbot and then put the brotherhood to death. Late in the seventeenth century King Archil collected their remains and enshrined them in the Transfiguration church, where they are venerated.
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