From translations of St. George of Iveron from Latin into Greek, the famous work of Bishop Dorotheus “On the 70 Disciples of the Lord” has come down to us. The original work of the Venerable George of Iveron, “The Life of John and Euthymius,” is also widely known, providing detailed information about the foundation and internal life of the Athos Iveron Monastery under its first ktitors and abbots, the Venerables John and Euthymius (July 12 and May 13).
After a year of novitiate, the Monk George was ordained to the rank of priest in 1042 and appointed senior hieromonk at the cathedral church. He also served as regent. The saint devoted his free time from divine services to translation work and poetic creativity. The Athos hymns of St. George of Iveron, in particular the famous “Evening Bells” (translated into Russian by I. I. Kozlov), were subsequently translated into many European languages.
After the death of the abbot of the Iveron Monastery, Stefan Khartulyari, the Monk George was elected as the new abbot in 1044 (the lot pointed to him three times). Under the care of the new abbot, the cathedral church of the monastery in honor of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary was rebuilt and strengthened and the rights of Georgians to the Iversky Monastery were confirmed. For this purpose, the Monk George visited Constantinople, where he was received by Emperor Constantine IX Monomakh (1042-1055) and received a letter of grant from him.
Returning to the Iveron monastery, the monk left behind him the abbot of George Oltiseli and went to the Black Mountain, near Antioch. He was probably forced to do this in order to justify before the Patriarch of Antioch Theodosius III (1057-1076) the brethren of the Iveron Monastery, suspected by the Greeks of non-Orthodoxy. The Monk George managed not only to cope with this task, but also to convince the Antiochian High Hierarch of the canonical legality of the autocephaly of the Georgian Orthodox Church, which preserves the apostolic succession from the holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called. From Antioch, at the invitation of the Georgian king Bagrat IV (1027-1072), the Monk George went to Georgia. He spent five years in Georgia: he taught the people in word and deed, helped improve church life, and introduced his translation works. Thanks to their high scientific and literary merits, they were recognized as exemplary by the Georgian Church.
Concerned about the spiritual enlightenment of the country, the Monk George selected 80 Georgian youths and went with them to Athos to send them to the school he founded. On the way he visited Constantinople. Despite the persuasion of his students to postpone the visit to the emperor, since the Monk George fell ill, he, having been informed from above about his upcoming death, hastened to introduce his students to Emperor Constantine X Luke (1059-1067) and received a certificate for their education at the Athos school.
The next day, June 29, 1065, Saint George peacefully departed to the Lord. The body of the saint was transported with honor to Athos, glorified along the way by obvious signs of God's mercy. It lay in a coffin for a year without burial in the Church of All Saints. When the coffin was opened, the saint’s body turned out to be completely incorrupt: not a single hair fell from his head or beard. The tomb of St. George was installed near the shrine of St. Euthymius on May 24, 1066, on the day of remembrance of St. Simeon of Divnogorets. With the consent of the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia John IV (1110-1142), the memory of St. George was celebrated annually on this day, later timed to coincide with the day of his blessed death, and now celebrated on June 27.
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St. Ioannikis I of Serbia, Archbishop. († after 1272, commemorated May 28)
The Monk Ioannikis, the son of pious parents, left the world in his youth and, out of love for our Lord Jesus Christ, having loved a chaste life, took upon himself the monastic form.
He was a disciple of St. Savva the Second, even before his election to the archbishop's throne of the Serbian Church, who loved the monk very much for his virtuous life. Therefore, Ioannikis accompanied his elder, St. Savva to the Holy City for the veneration of the life-giving tomb of the Lord. In Jerusalem, at the request of St. Savva, the Monk Ioannikios was ordained a deacon and then awarded the grace of the priesthood. Returning then from the trip, St. Savva and his disciple, the Monk Ioannikios, settled in St. Mount Athos, where for quite some time they labored for the Lord in desert labors and fasting, enduring persecution and sorrow, and often torment from the godless robber corsairs who were then ravaging the Holy Mountain.
Finally, according to God's will, St. Savva wished to return to his fatherland Serbia, taking with him the Monk Ioannikios, with whom he did not want to be separated, as with his long-term fasting companion and associate. But the love of kind solitude strongly attracted the Monk Ioannikis again to the Holy Mountain. The monk considered the suffering he suffered there from the barbarians to be a feat, which he wanted to imitate the Lord who suffered for the salvation of the world. Therefore, with the blessing of the Right Reverend Sava, he returned to Athos to his kind labors.
Upon his return, the monk began to strive even more intensely, so that his life was praised by all those living on the Holy Mountain, for they saw him as skillful in every matter and able to serve the benefit of many, which is why the abbot of the Hilandar Lavra wanted to make him the steward of this monastery; The monk for a long time denied such a burdensome duty, but, convinced by the entire Council of Fathers, and not daring to disobey the commandment given to him, he accepted this obedience, and soon after that, at the request of the Serbian King, he was installed by the Cathedral of the Holy Mountain and abbot of the glorious Hilandar Lavra.
The monk worked a lot in the management of the honorable Hilandar Lavra in those troubled and turbulent times: so the Lord helped him day by day through sorrows and hardships to be relieved from the burden of sin, so that, even in possession of earthly power, he could appear skilled in everything. The Monk Ioannikis did not abandon his exploits, which he learned from a young age, i.e. fasting, vigils and prayer, and was especially distinguished by his spiritual love for his brethren and his compassionate disposition towards the poor. After quite some time, the monk renounced the abbotship of the monastery and returned to Serbia, fleeing earthly power and wanting only silence. But the saying is true that a burning lamp cannot be hidden under a bushel. For whomever the Lord loves, the kingdoms of the earth glorify him during his life and after his death, and his memory endures with praise for generations and generations.
The Monk Ioannikis, by the will of King Urosh, who wanted to take advantage of his spiritual experience, was made abbot of the Lavra of Studenica, created by the Monk Simeon Nemanja, where St. his relics rest. And soon he became the Archbishop of Serbia. The blessed king Urosh loved the very Reverend Ioannikis, and during his reign Serbia began to rest from the turmoil and enjoy peace, but from time immemorial the hater of the Christian race - the devil - inspired envy of this pious ruler, his son Stephen the King, who took the throne from his father. When the king Urosh was expelled from the kingdom and retired to the country of Chlum, the blessed Archbishop Ioannikis, leaving his holy throne, followed the king and there he soon passed from a temporary life to an endless life.
After two years and nine months, King Urosh and Mother Elena, at the request of the people, took the trouble to transfer the saint to Serbia. When they opened the tomb of Blessed Ioannikiy, his body turned out to be incorrupt, and it was laid with honors in the Sopochansky Monastery, near the body of King Urosh. Then they began to elect a new high priest, and the successor of St. Blessed Eustathius was elected to Ioannikis.
Commemoration of the repose of St. Ioannikios - May 28. He ruled the Serbian Church according to St. Savva is four years old, but now she rejoices in heaven with the angels, constantly glorifying the Most Holy Trinity of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.