Dodo of Gareja

Holy Venerable Dodo of Gareja was a disciple of Saint David of Gareja and lived in Georgia in the sixth century, dying in 596 or, by another date, in 623. He came from the princes Vachnadze of Kakheti, a princely line, and was tonsured a monk while still young. A lover of poverty and solitude, he struggled as a hermit at Nino-⁠tsminda in Kakheti.

Hearing of the miracles of Saint David of Gareja, he went to the Gareja desert to see them for himself. The fathers received each other warmly, and Dodo remained under David's guidance. He spent five years with him, and David, deeply impressed by his devotion to the faith, proposed that he take some monks and begin building cells on a neighbouring mountain. Dodo and the brothers built cells for a new monastery dedicated to the Mother of God and gave themselves with great zeal to asceticism. He was abbot of this monastery in the mountains of Kakheti for twenty-⁠five years. He struggled in a narrow cleft of the rock, praying with tears of repentance.

He baptized Prince Bubakar of Rustavi together with his family, after the prince's son had been miraculously healed by Saint David. He became the confessor of his teacher. He was renowned for the gift of working wonders and for fragrance. He was buried in his cave-⁠cell, above which a church was later built.