Christopher

Blessed Christopher, called Christesia, was a Georgian monk who lived in the David Gareji wilderness and died peacefully in 1771 at the age of eighty.

His family came from Egrisi in western Georgia. From youth he longed for the divine services and solitude, but his master forced him to marry, and he had a son. Later, when his wife and son died, the master insisted that he marry again, but Christesia would not. He told his spiritual father, who advised him to leave the world and go to the David Gareji wilderness. Inspired by his counsel, he abandoned his possessions and the world and withdrew to the Monastery of Saint John the Baptist in David Gareji.

For many years he served in humility: he was assigned to gather firewood and bring water for the monastery, and did these tasks obediently and meekly. Every day he walked over four miles to fill a pitcher with water, then carried it to a small hut nearby and hung it at the entrance, so that travellers could see it from afar and come to quench their thirst. He also kept a little vegetable garden to feed passers-⁠by. Every Saturday he prepared kolio (wheat and honey, offered in memory of the departed) and divided it in three: the first part for the family and loved ones of those who donated the wheat and honey, the second for the departed fathers of the monastery, and the last for all departed Orthodox Christians.

It grieved him to see his brothers at odds, so when he heard that two were quarrelling he would go to reconcile them. "My children," he would say, "if you do not heed my words, I will leave in sorrow, and the devil, always opposed to peace, will rejoice and bring more troubles on you. I came to you hungry, and I will depart hungry." His words warmed hearts. One hot evening after Vespers he set off on foot for a village. Night fell moonless and extremely dark; when he could go no farther he stopped to pray, and a bright light appeared before him and guided him all night to the village of Sartichala. His cell was poor and cramped: he slept on a bed of planks covered with sheepskin, with a stone for a pillow, wore a sheepskin coat and bark sandals, and gave to the poor whatever he received. Fully trusting in God, he did not worry about the morrow. He was tonsured a monk in old age and given the name Christopher, and reposed peacefully in 1771.

He is commemorated on 11 May.