Serapion of Gareja

Holy Venerable Martyr Serapion of Gareja was a hieromonk of the Davit Gareja desert in Georgia and received the crown of martyrdom in the summer of 1851.

That summer a large band of Dagestanis attacked the Davit Gareja desert. They plundered the monastery, took captive the hieromonks Gerontius and Serapion and the monks Herman, Bessarion, Michael, Otar and Simon, and put them to death as martyrs. The martyrdom of the fathers of Davit Gareja was described in 1853 by Isaac, a hieromonk of Gelati, who was a living witness of the raid.

The saint is commemorated on 25 August, in the new style, in the Georgian tradition; he is not included in the present calendar of the Russian Orthodox Church.