George of Drama

Saint George of Drama (Greek: Ὁ Όσιος Γεώργιος της Δράμας, Georgian: დრამის წმინდა გიორგი, January 1, 1901 – November 4, 1959), born Athanasios Karslidis, was a Caucasus Greek Orthodox monk venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church. He is particularly revered in the Greek and Georgian Orthodox traditions for his spiritual guidance and asceticism.

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 (present-day 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]

The relics of Karslidis are kept at the Monastery of the Ascension of Christ in Taxiarches, Drama, Greece.^[2] It is reported that his skull bears an imprint resembling the sign of the holy cross. He was glorified on Sunday, November 2, 2008, during a visit by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to Drama.^[1] In 2016, a portion of his relics were donated to the Episcopal see of Tsalka, Georgia, under the Georgian Orthodox Church.^[8]

During a meeting on December 24, 2008, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church resolved to include Karslidis in the Menology of the Russian Orthodox Church, designating his feast day as October 24 (Old Style)/November 6 (New Style).^[6][7]

Early life

George Karslidis was born in Chadik, Tsalka, in the Russian Empire, in 1901.^[9][10] His grandparents were refugees from Gümüşhane in the Ottoman Empire, who fled after the Crimean War. He was orphaned at a young age, losing both parents on the same day, leaving him in the care of his older brother. According to anonymous accounts, after experiencing unspecified abuse from his brother, Karslidis escaped to the mountains where he was found by Turkish villagers and brought to Pontus.^[11] Karslidis later established the Monastery of the Ascension of Christ in Taxiarches, which was officially consecrated in 1939. He served there as an elder and spiritual leader for the local community. Some accounts report Karslidis having been witnessed levitating in prayer during the Divine Liturgy.^[12]

Career

Karslidis began his monastic life as a novice monk at a monastery in Georgia after travelling to Tiflis, where a priest cared for him. He is reported to have waited nearly ten years to be officially tonsured a monk, which happened in July 1919, at the age of eighteen. He received the monastic name George Symeon.^[13]

According to his biographers, Karslidis was already regarded as a spiritual elder at that time, attracting many visitors seeking his counsel.^[14]

In 1929, Karslidis settled in the village of Taxiarches, Sipsa, Drama, northern Greece, where he lived for the remaining thirty years of his life.^[3] In 1936, he made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, visiting sites associated with the life of Christ, as well as numerous monasteries and hermitages.^[15]

In 1938, the Greek government allocated him an acre of land as part of a permanent rural land distribution. On this plot, he established the foundations for a monastery dedicated to the Ascension of Jesus, which was officially consecrated in 1939.^[15]

Followers of Karslidis believe that he foretold World War II and the subsequent Greek Civil War.^[15] In 1941, he was reportedly sentenced to death by Bulgarian forces. However, after calmly praying and inviting his executioners to proceed, they abandoned the attempt and fled, apparently out of fear.^[3]

Death

He died on 4 November 1959 in Greece. Karslidis was buried behind the Katholikon (main church) of the Monastery of the Ascension, where he had worked for three decades.^[16]

Monastery of the Ascension

The Monastery of the Ascension fell into disrepair after Karslidis's death, until Metropolitan Dionysios (Kyratsous) of Drama began its renovation in 1970. Following restoration, monastic life was revived, and a sisterhood dedicated to Christ was established.^[17] The monastery was reconsecrated on April 25, 1971, and on November 5, 1976, it received official recognition from the Church of Greece.^[18]