PHOTO-REPORT: Faithful from across England and Wales undertook the first of two pilgrimages from the British Isles to Georgia this year.

From 11 - 22 May 2026, a group of pilgrims from the parishes of London, Wallasey and Cardiff undertook a pilgrimage to the Orthodox sites of ancient Georgia, under the spiritual guidance of Archpriest Paul Elliott and Hieromonk Mark (Underwood). This was the first of two pilgrimages to the country being undertaken from the UK this year, with the second taking place in June.

Hieromonk Mark provided the Diocesan web site with the following impressions of the pilgrimage:

Our pilgrims from Wallasey, Cardiff, and the cathedral parish have returned to their communities filled with spiritual strength and joy, having journeyed from place to place across sacred Georgia, at first singing Paschal hymns and later celebrating the Lord’s Ascension on the eve of our return homewards, having at the Great Feast been received by His Holiness, Catholicos-Patriarch Shio, the newly-enthroned head of the Georgian Orthodox Church, and being anointed by him during the All-Night Vigil.

Wherever we went we were greeted with the most extraordinary warmth, generosity and openness. At an impromptu visit to the modern St Nicholas Church, our Kazan Parish in Cardiff, Wales was gifted unexpectedly with a carved Kazan Icon — despite the nastavnik having never met us, and having had no advance indication of the dedication of our parish. We received this as an extraordinary blessing from the Mother of God, and a welcome to her ‘first portion’, with her Iveron Icon as the constant reminder, everywhere we went, that Georgia is her divinely allotted domain.

Wherever we travelled or simply walked in Tbilisi, our clergy were asked for blessings, especially for children, and the local people expressed their deep feelings of brotherhood in the Faith, giving gifts and mementos.

Our Chancellor, Archpriest Paul, who has led pilgrimages to Georgia from the Diocese in previous years, was welcomed back with great joy, and clergy and monastics asked us to convey their greetings to our Bishop Irenei and his God-preserved flock.

We felt particularly blessed to participate in the celebration of the Divine Liturgy in the great monastery church of Samtavro, with its sisterhood’s heavenly chanting, contrasting with and complementing the profound simplicity and periodic silence of the Liturgies in the ancient monasteries of Gareji and Kvelatsminda.

Samtavro seemed to keep calling us back for unexpected visits, and we felt not only the blessings of St Nino and St Gabriel, but also the legacy of unceasing prayer that started in St Nino’s tiny temple, where the clergy had the blessing of communing on our first visit, and beside which we prayed a very joyful moleben, being joined by Georgian and Russian pilgrims.

We ourselves were privileged to chant the Divine Liturgy in the Volnisskiy Sioni women’s monastery: an outpost and fortress of Faith in a 90% Muslim area of Georgia. In its state of ongoing restoration it is a symbol of regeneration, renewal and hope.

The exuberant joy and brightness of the Syro-Aramaic Liturgy in the Monastery of the Thirteen Assyrian Fathers made a profound impression on all, especially given our eagerness to meet Archimandrite Seraphim Bit Kharibi and experience the uniqueness of the Syro-Aramaic monastic services.

The parish of St Alexander Nevsky in Tbilisi was a home-from-home, with the Liturgy chanted beautifully by only two pious women. The grave of the parish’s previous nastavnik and elder, Archimandrite Vitaly, is behind the Altar, and is a place of pilgrimage. We were able to serve the litia for the departed there after our breakfast, and were given gifts made by one of the elder’s spiritual daughters.

Amongst Georgia’s wealth of relics, we were blessed to venerate those of St Nino and St Gabriel; the Venerable Assyrian Fathers David of Gareji, John of Zedazeni, Shio of Mgvime, Anton of Martkopi, and Isidor of Samtavisi; the martyred Princes Constantine and John; the burial place of St Sidonia with the Lord’s chiton in Svetiskhoveli, and the enshrined remains of the Life-Giving Pillar, of which a portion is kept in nearby Samtavro.

Visiting St Gabriel’s House was a source of particular joy, and we chanted the Akathist Hymn in the garden, whilst our pilgrims prayed in the house — one of the Cardiff ladies receiving instant relief from migraine when St Gabriel’s hat was placed upon her head.

We were overjoyed to be able to pray at the shrines of the saints, commemorating the many faithful of our communities and praying especially for the newly elected Catholicos-Patriarch Shio, whose personal blessing brought us immense joy.

We were also able to visit the tomb of the late Catholicos-Patriarch Ilya II, in Sioni cathedral, where we were welcomed with warmth and generosity.

Everywhere we went, we saw not only renewal and growth, but a society transfigured by Faith, and the imprint of holiness in the most ordinary places and circumstances. We treasured our time together as pilgrims and, returning to our parishes invigorated and inspired, we eagerly wait our return with great anticipation!

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