Venerable (Monastic) 20th century

Gabriel (Urgebadze)

1929 – 1995

Also known as Gabriel of Samtavro · Goderdzi Urgebadze · the Fool-for-Christ

A Georgian archimandrite, fool-for-Christ, and confessor who endured Soviet persecution — famously burning a portrait of Lenin — and spent his last years at Samtavro Convent in Mtskheta receiving crowds of pilgrims. He reposed in 1995 and is among Georgia's most beloved modern saints.

Feast Day

November 2

Draft

Draft — pending review. Not yet verified for publication.

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Commemorated as

Our Venerable Father Gabriel (Urgebadze), Confessor and Fool-for-Christ of Samtavro

Life

Saint Gabriel (Urgebadze) was a Georgian archimandrite, fool-for-Christ, and confessor who lived through the whole of the Soviet period and became one of the most beloved Georgian saints of modern times. Born Goderdzi Urgebadze in Tbilisi on 26 August 1929, he was drawn to the faith from childhood despite the official atheism of the state and, by tradition, the Communist Party affiliation of his family. He received monastic tonsure in 1955, taking the name Gabriel, and was ordained to the priesthood the same year.

His most famous act came on 1 May 1965, when, during a May Day demonstration in Tbilisi, he set fire to a large portrait of Lenin, declaring that glory is due not to a dead man but to Christ, who conquered death and bestowed eternal life. For this he was severely beaten, sustaining many broken bones, and was detained and confined in a psychiatric hospital; afterward he was barred from public liturgical service while retaining his priestly rank. Out of this confession of faith arose the manner of life for which he is best known: the deliberate foolishness for Christ by which he masked his holiness, evaded the attention of the authorities, and rebuked the world's idols.

From 1971 he was attached to the women's Samtavro Monastery in Mtskheta, where he spent his last decades living in great austerity and receiving the crowds of pilgrims who came to him. He was widely held to possess gifts of clairvoyance, discernment of hidden thoughts, and healing. He reposed on 2 November 1995 and was buried in the monastery courtyard. The Holy Synod of the Georgian Orthodox Church glorified him as a saint in 2012, and his grave at Samtavro remains a major place of pilgrimage.

Timeline 6 moments Read Hide

1929 Birth in Tbilisi Goderdzi Urgebadze is born in Tbilisi on 26 August.
1955 Tonsure and ordination Tonsured at Motsameta Monastery near Kutaisi as Gabriel and ordained hieromonk.
1965 Burning of the Lenin portrait Burns a large portrait of Lenin at a May Day demonstration; is beaten, detained, and confined to a psychiatric hospital.
1971 Samtavro Monastery Attached to the women's Samtavro Monastery in Mtskheta, where he spends his last decades.
1995 Repose Reposes on 2 November and is buried in the monastery courtyard.
2012 Glorification Glorified as a saint by the Holy Synod of the Georgian Orthodox Church.

Contributions & Legacy

3 contributions Read Hide

Early Life and Monastic Formation

Goderdzi Urgebadze was born in Tbilisi on 26 August 1929. His father, Vasili, died when the boy was about two years old; his mother, Varvara, by tradition later became a nun under the name Anna. Accounts relate that he was drawn to Christ from a young age — by some accounts purchasing a Gospel as a child after first hearing the name of God — and that his devotion set him at odds with his household, so that he left home while still a boy.

He received monastic tonsure on 23 February 1955 at Motsameta Monastery near Kutaisi, taking the name Gabriel in honor of Gabriel the Iberian. He was ordained hieromonk shortly afterward. He served in Tbilisi at Sioni Cathedral and at Betania (Bethany) Monastery, where, according to the tradition, his spiritual fathers were the confessors later glorified as saints of the Georgian Church.

Confession and Foolishness for Christ

On 1 May 1965, amid a May Day demonstration in Tbilisi, Gabriel burned a large portrait of Lenin, publicly rejecting the veneration of a dead man in place of the worship of Christ. The act brought a brutal response: he was beaten and gravely injured, and after detention he was committed to a psychiatric hospital — a common Soviet means of silencing dissent. He survived, but was forbidden to serve publicly even as he kept his priestly rank.

Thereafter he embraced the path of the fool-for-Christ, behaving in ways that appeared mad to onlookers. By this hidden ascesis he deflected honor and esteem, escaped the closer scrutiny of the authorities, and continued to preach and to call people back to the faith. The tradition records that he undertook pilgrimages and worked to restore churches that had fallen into ruin under Soviet rule.

Samtavro and Repose

In 1971 Gabriel was assigned to the women's Samtavro Monastery in Mtskheta. There he lived in extreme poverty and simplicity — accounts describe his dwelling variously as a tower cell and as a small shed — while pilgrims came to him in growing numbers seeking counsel, prayer, and healing. He was credited with clairvoyance and the discernment of consciences, and reports of healings attached themselves to him both in life and at his grave.

He reposed on 2 November 1995 and was buried at Samtavro. The Georgian Orthodox Church canonized him in 2012, and his relics were later exhumed and reburied. His grave at the monastery has become a place of pilgrimage, and he is commemorated on 2 November.

Notes

Born in Tbilisi, 1929; reposed Nov 2, 1995. Glorified by the Georgian Orthodox Church in 2012.

Sources: OrthodoxWiki; Wikipedia; Mystagogy; Georgian Orthodox Church glorification (2012)