Ambrosius of Georgia
Ambrose the Confessor | |
---|---|
His Holiness and Beatitude the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia | |
Born | Besarion Zosime Khelaia September 7, 1861 Martvili, Georgia |
Died | March 29, 1927 Tbilisi, Georgia |
Venerated in | Georgian Orthodox Church |
Canonized | 1995 by Georgian Orthodox Church |
Feast | March 16 (29) |
St. Ambrosius (Georgian: ამბროსი, Ambrosi) (September 7, 1861 – March 29, 1927) was a Georgian religious figure and scholar who served as the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia from 1921 to 1927. Best known for his opposition to the Soviet regime, he was canonized in 1995 by the Georgian Orthodox Church as Saint Ambrosius the Confessor (ამბროსი აღმსარებელი, Ambrosi Aghmsarebeli).
Early life and career
Ambrosius was born as Besarion Khelaia (ბესარიონ ხელაია) in
Autocephalist movement
In the 1900s, during the heated debates concerning the status of the Georgian church, he emerged as one of the leaders of the Georgian
The 1917
Catholicos Patriarch of All Georgia
The
Under the newly established
On February 7, 1922, Ambrosius addressed a memorandum to the
Shortly afterwards, the 1924
The extent of the Red Terror in Georgia and a public outcry caused by it forced the Soviets to relatively moderate their pressure on Georgia's society in the following years. In early March 1925 the Chairman of the All-Union Executive Committee, Mikhail Kalinin, visited Georgia and called for the amnesty of the participants of the August 1924 insurrection, and for the suspension of religious persecutions. In 1926, Ambrosi and several other clerics were released from prisons. He did not live much longer, however, and died on March 29, 1927, in Tbilisi.
Ambrosius is also a known as a prolific historian of church and researcher of primary Georgian sources. He authored a number of articles published in Russian and Georgian press, and discovered a hitherto unknown version of the medieval Georgian chronicle, Moktsevay Kartlisay (“
Canonization
In 1995, the
References
- ^ a b (in Georgian) Marine Khositashvili, წმიდა მღვდელმთავარი ამბროსი აღმსარებელი (ხელაია) (The Holy Archpriest Ambrosius the Confessor (Khelaia)) Archived 2007-02-08 at the Wayback Machine, „საპატრიარქოს
- ^ David Marshall Lang (1962). A Modern History of Georgia, London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, p. 177.
- ^ David Marshall Lang (1962). A Modern History of Georgia, p. 109. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, p. 177, Werth, p. 86
- ^ Paul Werth, Georgian Autocephaly and the Ethnic Fragmentation of Orthodoxy, p. 96
- ^ Paul Werth, Georgian Autocephaly and the Ethnic Fragmentation of Orthodoxy, p. 74; David Marshall Lang (1962). A Modern History of Georgia, p. 109. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, p. 178
- ^ David Marshall Lang (1962). A Modern History of Georgia, p. 109. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, p. 178.
- ^ It was not until 1943 that the Russian Orthodox Church recognized the autocephaly of the Georgian Patriarchate and the relations between the two co-religionist churches were restored.
- ^ David Marshall Lang (1962). A Modern History of Georgia, p. 109. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, p. 241; Janin, p. 164.
- ^ Tchantouridze, Lasha. Russia Annexes Georgia. Georgian Patriarch’s Letter to the 1922 Genoa Conference. The Canadian Journal of Orthodox Christianity. Volume III, No 3, Fall 2008
- ISBN 0-8245-0013-X.
- ^ David Marshall Lang (1962). A Modern History of Georgia, p. 109. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, p. 241
- ^ "Mikheil Saakashvili – Georgia will not kneel, or lick the conqueror's boots". InterPressNews. 26 October 2013. Archived from the original on 20 November 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
- Pere Janin (2004), The Separated Eastern Churches, p. 164, Gorgias Press LLC, ISBN 1-59333-110-X.
- Fr. Elie Melia, "The Orthodox Church in Georgia", A Sign of God: Orthodoxy 1964 , Athens: Zoe, 1964, pp. 112–113