George Karslidis of Drama

Early life and monastic beginnings

Sources agree that the saint was born Athanasios Karslidis in 1901 of Pontic-Greek descent and that he was orphaned young; the details of his childhood diverge between accounts, some relating that he was raised by an older brother and others that he was reared by grandparents. His youth unfolded among the Greek communities of the Caucasus, and he is said to have travelled through Georgia, Armenia, and Russia.

He took up the monastic life at a monastery in the region of Tiflis (Tbilisi) and, by tradition, was tonsured in 1919 as a young man, receiving the name George. During the consolidation of Soviet power he was imprisoned and, according to the tradition of his life, subjected to harsh treatment, an experience that underlies his later title of Confessor.

Foundation of the monastery at Drama

Having left the Soviet domains, the saint settled around 1929 in the village of Sipsa, later renamed Taxiarches, near Drama in northern Greece, and remained there for about thirty years. In 1936 he made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. In 1938 the Greek authorities granted him a parcel of land, and with the help of the villagers he raised a small church and a monastery dedicated to the Ascension of Christ; the monastery church was consecrated in September 1939.

From this monastery he served as an elder and confessor, drawing pilgrims who sought his counsel and his prayers. He reposed there on November 4, 1959, and his relics remain at the monastery.

Veneration and glorification

During his lifetime and after his repose the saint was venerated by the faithful for his ascetic life, his gift of spiritual counsel, and reports of miracles and prophecies. The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople formally glorified him in 2008, numbering him among the saints, and he is commemorated on November 4.