David of Gareji

Life events

1. Educated

   David became a disciple of John of Zedazeni, one of the Thirteen Assyrian Fathers who brought monasticism to the Kingdom of Iberia.

2. Other

   David founded the David Gareji monastery in the semi-desert region of Iberia, together with his disciples Dodo and Lukiane.

3. Pilgrimage

   David traveled to Jerusalem on pilgrimage but, considering himself unworthy to walk where Jesus had walked, climbed a hill surrounding the city without entering its gates and refused to meet Elijah, the Patriarch of Jerusalem.

4. Other

   Near Nablus on his return journey, envoys sent by Patriarch Elijah of Jerusalem overtook David and reclaimed two of the three stones he had taken from the Holy Land; the patriarch commanded that David not remove the full grace of Jerusalem. David brought the single remaining stone back to Iberia.

5. Died

   David died in the second half of the 6th century and was buried in the David Gareji Lavra, the monastery he had founded.

6. Translated

   In the 9th century, on the initiative of Hilarion the Iberian, David's tomb was converted into a site of public worship.

Relationships

Documented claims

• The single stone David brought back from the Holy Land became known as the stone of grace, credited with healing power and venerated by Christian pilgrims and Muslim visitors alike; since the 1990s it has been kept at Sameba Cathedral in Tbilisi. (likely)
• Orthodox hagiography titles David the founder of the Georgian Thebaid, likening the semi-desert monastery complex he established to the Egyptian desert fathers' region of Thebaid. (likely)
• David's vita, Life and Deeds of Our Saint Father David of Gareji, was composed at a Georgian monastery on Mount Athos in the circle of disciples of Euthymius the Iberian. (likely)
• In 2000, under the blessing of Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II of All Georgia, David's tomb was opened and cleaned; archaeological findings confirmed the accuracy of written sources and local monastic traditions. (likely)