(On small screens, scroll down for the text in English and Russian; the photogallery is beneath the texts. | На маленьких экранах прокрутите вниз, чтобы увидеть текст на английском и русском языках; фотогалерея после текстов.)
English:
From 14th - 23rd May 2024, a group of pilgrims from the United Kingdom made a pilgrimage to the holy Orthodox sites of Georgia. Organised by the Parish of St Elisabeth in Wallasey, England, and led by the Diocesan Chancellor Archpriest Paul Elliott, the pilgrims spent over a week in one of the oldest Orthodox lands in the world, venerating the relics of saints, worshipping in sacred shrines and temples, and visiting with representatives of the Patriarch of Georgia as well as clergy and monastics across the region.
A recounting of the pilgrimage by Archpriest Paul was received by the Diocesan web site, and we provide it below, followed by an extensive photogallery.
Русский:
С 14 по 23 мая 2024 года группа паломников из Великобритании совершила паломничество к святыням православной Грузии. Паломничество, организованное приходом святой Елизаветы в Уолласи (Англия) под руководством епархиального канцлера протоиерея Павлом Эллиотт, предоставило его участникам возможность провести более недели в одной из древнейших православных земель мира, поклоняясь мощам святых, священным святыням и храмам, и встречаясь с представителями Патриарха Грузии, а также духовенством и монашествующими по всему региону.
Отчет о паломничестве протоиерея Павла (на английском языке) был размещен на епархиальном сайте, и мы приводим его ниже вместе с обширной фотогалереей.
A Recounting of the Pilgrimage, from Archpriest Paul Elliott.
A group of pilgrims, mainly from St Elisabeth's Parish in Wallasey and from the London Cathedral journeyed to Georgia to visit the holy sites there.
We arrived and straight away were taken out to the monastery at Alaverdi. We learned that here, and in other sixth-century sites throughout Georgia, 13 Assyrian Fathers laboured to establish the monastic life. Saint John, their spiritual father, travelled to Georgia from what is now southern Iraq with his disciples Abibus, Anthony, David, Zenon, Thaddeus, Isidore, Joseph, Jesse, Michael, Pyrrhus, Stephen, and Shio. Our first introduction to their lives was from our excellent guide, David Abuladze, who was so very proud of his Georgian Christian heritage.
All the monastic sites he took us to were still lived and prayed in by monastics. At Gareja, monks still live up in the caves where St David first settled and where he received sustenance from a herd of wild deer. These monasteries somehow have survived ruthless invasions by Persians, Saracens, Ottomans, bandits from Dagestan and Soviet atheists — and still monks and nuns witness to Christ in the holy places.
We journeyed high into the mountains, almost to the snow line, where yet again we discovered that monastic life was still being lived 3,000 metres above sea level. The churches were all beautiful, some dating to the fourth century and associated with St Nina, the Equal of the Apostles Evangeliser of Georgia. We were taken to her shrine, to her Cross which is preserved in Tbilisi, and to the site where she was surrounded by blackberry bushes to protect her. While in Tbilisi we also visited the new, enormous cathedral which was finally completed in 2004, and is spectacular.
Everywhere we went we were greeted warmly by clergy and monastics who joined us for our prayers which we chanted in every holy place we visited. Our guide took us to both the little church built by St Gabriel Urgebadze in the Soviet times, and to his holy relics in the women’s monastery to which the saint was banished after release from a psychiatric hospital — where he had been sent after setting alight a huge poster of Lenin in front of the Communist Party HQ. In the little church in St Gabriel's parents house in Tbilisi we served Vespers and were taken into his cell by his nephew. We saw all the things that the saint rescued from rubbish tips: icons, church artefacts, even photographs, with which he filled his little church.
On our first Sunday we were blessed to serve with Archimandrite Seraphim bit Harbibe, whose monastery serves exclusively in Syro-Aramaic (one of the few places in the world that does). On the final day of our pilgrimages, the summer feast of St Nicholas, we attended Liturgy at St Alexander Nevski Church in the old centre of Tbilisi. Here we were warmly greeted and our clergy served as honoured guests. The day ended with a personal invitation from Patriarch Ilya to visit his residence. He was unfortunately indisposed but we were greeted at the Patriarchate by Father George Zviadadze, Rector of the Seminary and the Patriarch's personal representative. Our mini, informal choir sang the Paschal Troparion in Georgian, which greatly moved our host. We presented a selection of gifts for the Patriarch, including books on British Saints, and we all received gifts in return from His Holiness.
We were all inspired by a truly wonderful pilgrimage to this lovely Christian country. Our hearts were uplifted by the kindness, warmth, hospitality and faith of the clergy, monastics and people who greeted us with such vibrant Christian love. Georgian Orthodoxy is truly inspiring, and we all came away with so many memories to cherish.
Photogallery | Фотогалерея:
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