Venerable (Monastic) 20th century

Euthymius the Confessor of Georgia

1865 – 1944

Also known as Euthymius (Kereselidze)

A Georgian monk who labored to preserve and notate the ancient Georgian church chant under Soviet persecution.

Feast Day

January 20

Draft

Draft — pending review. Not yet verified for publication.

Hymn / Apolytikion Icon gallery Video / Media

Commemorated as

Our Venerable Father Euthymius (Ekvtime Kereselidze) the Confessor of Georgia

Life

Euthymius the Confessor, known in Georgian as Ekvtime Kereselidze, was a Georgian monk and musicologist remembered chiefly for collecting, transcribing, and preserving the ancient tradition of Georgian liturgical chant during the early Soviet period. He was born Evstate in 1865 in the village of Sadmeli in the Racha region of western Georgia, the son of Solomon and Marta Kereselidze. He is commemorated on January 20.

After attending the local parish school, he left around the age of fifteen for Kutaisi and then Tbilisi in search of work. In Tbilisi he joined with other young men to found a theological society or 'book club' devoted to strengthening the Orthodox faith among the Georgian people and to studying and disseminating the ancient school of Georgian chant. In the 1890s, with the assistance of St. Ilia Chavchavadze, the group acquired a print shop and published theological texts.

He entered Gelati Monastery as a novice in 1912 and was tonsured a monk on December 23, 1912, receiving the name Ekvtime (Euthymius). He was ordained hierodeacon in May 1913 and priest in 1917. The principal labor of his life was the gathering of hundreds of ancient Georgian hymns and their transcription from medieval Georgian neume notation into European staff notation, work that secured the survival of a tradition then under threat. He died at Zedazeni Monastery in 1944 and was glorified by the Holy Synod of the Georgian Orthodox Church as a confessor in 2003.

Timeline 7 moments Read Hide

1865 Birth Born Evstate in the village of Sadmeli in the Racha region of Georgia.
1912 Tonsure at Gelati Entered Gelati Monastery and was tonsured a monk on December 23, 1912, receiving the name Ekvtime.
1917 Ordained priest Ordained to the priesthood, having become hierodeacon in 1913.
1929 Zedazeni Monastery Began serving at Zedazeni Monastery, where he concealed the chant manuscripts.
1935 Manuscripts to the State Museum Transferred 34 volumes containing 5,532 chants and theological manuscripts to the State Museum of Georgia in November.
1944 Repose Died at Zedazeni Monastery and was buried in the monastery yard.
2003 Glorification Numbered among the saints by the Holy Synod of the Georgian Orthodox Church as 'Ekvtime the Confessor' on September 18.

Contributions & Legacy

2 contributions Read Hide

Preservation of Georgian Chant

The defining achievement of Ekvtime's life was the rescue of the ancient school of Georgian church chant, which survives today largely as a result of his labors. He gathered hundreds of hymns and transcribed them from the medieval neume system into European staff notation so that they could be read, copied, and performed.

From 1929 he was based at Zedazeni Monastery, where the sources relate that he concealed the chant manuscripts by sealing them in metal vessels and burying them in the earth to protect them under Soviet conditions. In November 1935 he transferred thirty-four volumes of music containing 5,532 chants, together with several theological manuscripts, to the State Museum of Georgia, ensuring their survival.

Monastic Life and Death

Ekvtime entered Gelati Monastery in 1912 and was later attached to Zedazeni Monastery from 1929. According to the synaxarion, monastic life in Georgia grew increasingly perilous during World War II; the abbot of Zedazeni, Archimandrite Mikael, was shot by Communists for violating an imposed curfew.

Ekvtime died peacefully at Zedazeni in 1944 and was buried in the monastery yard. The Holy Synod of the Georgian Orthodox Church numbered him among the saints as 'Ekvtime the Confessor' on September 18, 2003, recognizing both his confession of the faith under persecution and his role in preserving the national tradition of liturgical song.

Notes

Modern saint — clergy/source review advised.

Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Jan 20