George of Drama

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Saint George of Drama
A photograph of St. George giving a priestly blessing
Venerable 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 adherents of Eastern Orthodox Christianity as a saint, confessor and venerable Elder.

Karslidis' relics are kept in the Monastery of the Ascension of Christ, in Taxiarchis, Drama,^[2] and he is one of the 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]}

George Karslidis was born in Chadik, Tsalka, Russian Empire in 1901.^[9][10] His grandparents were refugees who came from Gümüşhane in the Ottoman Empire following the Crimean War. He was orphaned at a young age, losing both parents on the same day and leaving him only with his older brother. A victim of abuse from that same brother, he escaped to the mountains where he was found 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 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 and Karslidis was given an acre of land on which he managed to build the foundations of a monastery dedicated to the Ascension of Jesus. The monastery was officially consecrated in 1939.^[15]

Karslidis is believed to have foreseen 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]

After Karslidis' death, the monastery that he established fell into disrepair until Metropolitan Dionysios (Kyratsos) of Drama undertook its renovation in 1970. Since then its monastic life has been re-established, along with a monastic sisterhood dedicated to Christ.^[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]

• 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).

• 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.