Anthony of Chqondidi

Saint Anthony of Chqondidi was metropolitan of Chqondidi in western Georgia in the eighteenth century, a learned hierarch, a defender of Orthodoxy and of the enslaved, who died in the year 1815. He is commemorated together with his disciple, the hieromonk Jacob.

He was born into the family of Otia Dadiani, prince of Egrisi (now Samegrelo). His mother, Gulkan, daughter of Prince Shoshita III of Racha, gave him his first Christian instruction. The family had five sons and one daughter, Mariam, who became the wife of King Solomon the Great of Imereti. After his father's death Anthony grew up at the court of his elder brother Katsia and was prepared for a diplomatic career, studying philosophy, literature, poetry, art and foreign languages, among them Turkish and Persian. But he chose the monastic life and soon became a monk.

Sensing his lack of church learning, he asked the monks of Martvili Monastery for help. French missionaries were brought to teach him scholastic philosophy, but Anthony saw that they mixed the poison of heresy into Orthodox doctrine. Once, at a meal, he asked a Frenchman whether he could pour wine into a cup of water without the two mixing. The priest answered that it was impossible, and Anthony said that in the same way Orthodox doctrine and heresy cannot be held in one vessel. From that day he parted from the French missionaries. His thirst for learning gave him no rest, and he went to Tbilisi, to the court of King Erekle II, whose wife, Queen Darejan, was his cousin.

In 1761 he was consecrated bishop of Tsageri, in lower Svaneti, and became known for his sermons, which moved even the Catholicos of Georgia. Fasting had so worn him that his face came to resemble that of an angel. He ordered that a meal be prepared for the poor every day at the residence in Chqondidi, and every bishop after him has kept the custom. In the eighteenth century many lords of western Georgia traded in slaves, and Bishop Anthony boldly opposed this unjust practice; between 1792 and 1794 he convened several councils that publicly condemned the slave traders. In 1788 he approved large grants of land to the monasteries of Martvili, Nakharebou and Sairme and persuaded the Dadianis to exempt them from taxes.

In 1789, by then metropolitan, he left Chqondidi for Nakharebou Monastery, which he had built, enriched it with sacred objects, ancient icons and lands, and spent the rest of his life there. He reposed in 1815, at a great age, and was buried at Nakharebou. Hieromonk Jacob, his disciple, devoted friend and helper, also lived as a saint and was received into the heavenly kingdom.

He is commemorated on 13 October by the old style (26 October by the new style).