George the Recluse

Holy Venerable George the Recluse, called also the God-⁠bearer, a Georgian, laboured on the Black Mountain and passed to the Lord in the year 1068. On the Black Mountain there were at that time many churches and monasteries, and many from all the Orthodox world longed to settle there. Misunderstandings often arose between monks of different nationalities. The saint found shelter in an inaccessible cleft of a high mountain and was therefore called the Recluse.

The monks of the Black Mountain knew well his holy life. So Venerable George the Athonite, having come to the Black Mountain and going with prayer round all the monasteries of the place seeking a spiritual father, asked to be received precisely by Saint George the Recluse. George the Recluse received the young ascetic and, after instructing him properly, blessed him to labour in the Iveron Monastery on Athos and to continue the translation work of Venerable Euthymius the Athonite. Venerable George went to Athos, but instead of translating books, for seven years fulfilled other obediences. Learning of it, George the Recluse sent a disciple to him with a reproach and ordered him again to translate theological books from Greek into Georgian. George the Athonite humbly submitted to the will of his guide.

Though he lived as a hermit, Saint George the Recluse carried on intense literary activity and had close ties with the writers of Iveron and other Georgian monasteries. He directed Father George the Athonite on the way of writing. At his request and charge, George the Lesser wrote the life and struggles of his guide, Saint George the Athonite. The saint himself copied lives translated by David Mtbevari, of Martha, the mother of Simeon the wonderworker, and of Saint Barlaam the Syro-⁠Caucasian. He passed to the Lord in 1068, after the death of his renowned disciple, George the Athonite.

He is commemorated on 16 July, following the Georgian calendar. He is not included in the present calendar of the Russian Church.