David Gareji and Lucian

Saint David of Gareji was Syrian by birth. He became a disciple of Saint John of Zedazeni and journeyed with him to Georgia. With his spiritual son Lucian, he settled on a mountain above Tbilisi, the capital of Kartli. At that time Kartli was constantly threatened by the Persian fire-⁠worshippers. David spent entire days in prayer, asking the Lord to forgive the sins of the city's inhabitants, and when he finished his prayer for the day he would stand on the mountain and bless the whole city. Once a week David and Lucian went down into the city to preach. A church dedicated to Saint David was later built on the mountain where he labored.

David's authority and popularity alarmed the fire-⁠worshippers, who accused him of adultery in an attempt to discredit him in the eyes of the people. As a "witness" they summoned an expectant prostitute, who accused him of being the child's father. Hoping in God, the saint touched his staff to the woman's womb and ordered the unborn child to declare the truth. From the womb the infant uttered the name of his true father. Outraged at the slander, the bystanders stoned the woman to death. David pleaded with them to stop but could not placate the furious crowd. Deeply disturbed, he departed the region with Lucian.

In the Gareji wilderness

The holy fathers settled in a small cave in the wilderness and spent all their time in prayer. They ate nothing but herbs and the bark of trees. When the herbs withered in the summer heat, the Lord sent them deer. Lucian milked them and brought the milk to David, and when the elder made the sign of the Cross over it, it was miraculously transformed into cheese. Shaken by the miracle, Lucian said: "Even if my body rots and wastes away from hunger and thirst, I will not permit myself to fret over the things of this temporal life." The fathers kept a strict fast on Wednesdays and Fridays, eating nothing, and even the deer did not come on those days. A frightful serpent inhabited a cave nearby and attacked all the animals, but at David's command it deserted that place. Once local hunters were tracking the deer and caught sight of Lucian milking them as they stood quietly like sheep. The hunters paid great respect to David and, returning home, reported what they had seen.

Soon the Gareji wilderness filled with people who longed to draw nearer to Christ. A monastery was founded there, and for centuries it stood as a center and cornerstone of faith and learning in Georgia. After some time David set out on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, entrusting Lucian with his responsibilities at the monastery and taking some of the brothers with him. As they approached the place called the Ridge of Grace, from which the holy city becomes visible, David fell to his knees and glorified God with tears. Judging himself unworthy to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, he was satisfied to gaze upon the city from afar. He stood at the city gates and prayed fervently while his companions entered and venerated the holy places. Returning, he took with him three stones from the Ridge of Grace. That night an angel appeared to the patriarch of Jerusalem and told him that a pious man named David, visiting from afar, had taken with him all the holiness of Jerusalem. The angel said that the venerable man had passed through the city of Nablus, clothed in tatters and carrying on his shoulders an old sack with the three holy stones. The patriarch sent messengers after the stranger asking him to return two of the stones and keep one. David returned two but declined the patriarch's invitation to visit him. He took the third stone back to the monastery, and to this day it has been full of the grace of miraculous healing. After he brought the stone, the number of brothers at the monastery doubled. He ministered to all of them and visited the cells of the elder hermits to offer solace. In accordance with his will, a monastery in the name of Saint John the Baptist was founded in the place called Mravalmta (the Rolling Mountains).

Repose

The Lord informed David of his imminent departure to the Kingdom of Heaven. He gathered the fathers of the wilderness and instructed them for the last time not to fall into confusion but to be firm and ceaselessly entreat the Lord for the salvation of their souls. He received Holy Communion, lifted up his hands to the Lord and gave up his spirit. His relics have worked many miracles: those blind from birth have received their sight, and believers have been healed of every spiritual and bodily affliction at his grave. David Gareji and Lucian are commemorated on 9 June (new style; 22 June on the old calendar).