Righteous 20th century

Saint George the Pilgrim

1846 – 1916

Also known as Gheorghe Lazăr · Moș Gheorghe Lazăr

A Transylvanian layman who left his family to live as a wandering pilgrim and ascetic, preaching repentance throughout Moldavia. He reposed at Piatra Neamț in 1916.

Feast Day

August 17

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Commemorated as

The Holy and Righteous George the Pilgrim of Piatra Neamț

Life

George the Pilgrim, born Gheorghe Lazăr, was a nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century Romanian layman who, after raising a family, left his home to live as a wandering pilgrim and ascetic. He is best known for the final decades of his life at Piatra Neamț in Moldavia, where he lived in great austerity in the bell tower of an old princely church. He reposed in 1916 and was glorified by the Romanian Orthodox Church in 2017, which commemorates him on August 17.

He was born in 1846 in the village of Șugag, in Alba county in Transylvania, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The sources describe him as the child of devout parents and as a man who, in his early adult life, married and raised a household while keeping a disciplined Christian life of work, prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

In the 1880s he undertook an extended pilgrimage to the Holy Land, the wilderness of Sinai, and Mount Athos before returning home. Some years later he withdrew from family life and his native region to live as a pilgrim among the monasteries of Moldavia, eventually settling permanently at Piatra Neamț. He is venerated in the Romanian Orthodox tradition under the affectionate name 'Moș Gheorghe' ('Grandpa George').

Timeline 6 moments Read Hide

1846 Born at Șugag Gheorghe Lazăr was born in the village of Șugag, Alba county, in Transylvania, then under Austro-Hungarian rule.
1883–1884 Pilgrimage to the Holy Land With his wife's blessing he traveled to venerate the Tomb of the Lord in Jerusalem, continuing to the Jordan, the Sinai wilderness, and Mount Athos.
c. 1890 Withdraws to Moldavia He retired as a pilgrim to the monasteries of Moldavia, later settling permanently at Piatra Neamț.
1916 Repose He reposed on August 15, 1916, at Piatra Neamț after some twenty-six years living in a church bell tower.
1934 Relics translated to Văratec His remains were transferred to Văratec Monastery in northeastern Romania.
2017 Glorified The Romanian Orthodox Church canonized him, appointing August 17 as his feast day.

Contributions & Legacy

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Family Life and Pilgrimage

According to the accounts of his life, Gheorghe Lazăr married at about the age of twenty-four and had five children, supporting his family through honest labor while keeping a rule of prayer, fasting, and charity. He remained a layman throughout his life and was never ordained or tonsured a monk.

In the early 1880s, with his wife's blessing and after roughly fourteen years of marriage, he set out with a group of pilgrims to venerate the Tomb of the Lord in Jerusalem. The sources differ slightly on the year, placing his departure in 1883 or 1884. From the Holy Land he is said to have traveled to the monasteries of the Jordan and Sinai wilderness and then to Mount Athos, where he remained for about a year and a half before returning to his homeland after roughly three years away.

Life at Piatra Neamț

Around 1890 he withdrew as a pilgrim to the monasteries of Moldavia, and within a few years he settled permanently in the town of Piatra Neamț. There he took up residence in the bell tower of an old church, where he lived as a hermit in the midst of the city for some twenty-six years until his death. The sources describe this church variously; several associate the tower with the princely church complex of Piatra Neamț built in the time of Saint Stephen the Great, while another account names it the bell tower of the Church of Saint John the Baptist.

His manner of life was severely ascetic. According to the accounts, he lived without fire, bed, or warm clothing, went barefoot through the year with his head uncovered, kept rigorous fasts—particularly on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays—slept only a few hours each night, made many prostrations, and read through the Psalter daily. His preaching and example of repentance drew people to him, and he came to be regarded as a spiritual elder.

Repose, Relics, and Glorification

He reposed on August 15, 1916, and was buried in the town cemetery at Piatra Neamț. In the summer of 1934 his remains were transferred to Văratec Monastery in northeastern Romania, where his relics are kept and are reported by the faithful to be fragrant.

The Romanian Orthodox Church recognized him as a saint in 2017. The proposal for his canonization was put forward by the Metropolitan Synod of Moldavia and Bucovina, and the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church formally proclaimed his sanctity that year, appointing August 17 as his feast day. In subsequent years his relics have been carried to Romanian Orthodox parishes abroad, including in the United States.

Notes

Born 1846 at Șugag, Transylvania; reposed 1916 at Piatra Neamț. Glorified by the Romanian Orthodox Church in 2017.

Sources: Basilica.ro; Romanian Orthodox Church canonization (2017)