Saint

John the Iberian
Fresco of John the Iberian at Iviron on Mount Athos
Athonite Father
BornKingdom of the Iberians
Died~1002 AD
Mount Athos
Venerated inRoman Catholic Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
FeastJuly 12
PatronageGeorgia
Mount Athos

John the Iberian[lower-alpha 1] (Georgian: იოანე მთაწმინდელი; died c. 1002) was a Georgian monk, who is venerated as a saint. His name refers to his origins from the Kingdom of the Iberians.

Life

A member of a Georgian noble family from Tao-Klarjeti in southern Georgia,[1] he was married and served as a military commander.

After becoming tonsured as a monk early 960s at the lavra of the Four Churches in Tao-Klarjeti, he became a monk at Mount Olympus (now Uludağ) in Bithynia and then traveled to Constantinople to rescue his son, Euthymius the Illuminator (Euthymius Opplyseren).[1] Euthymius had been held as a hostage by the emperor.[2]

John and his son attracted many followers, so they both retired to the monastery of Saint Athanasius on Mount Athos. They founded Iviron monastery with the help of John’s brother-in-law, John Thornikos, a retired general. John served as the first abbot of Iviron. He died in 1002.[3]

References

  1. ↑ also known as John the Georgian, John the Hagiorite, and John Iweron.
  1. 1 2 Speake, Graham (2018). A history of the Athonite Commonwealth: the spiritual and cultural diaspora of Mount Athos. New York. ISBN 978-1-108-34922-2. OCLC 1041501028.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. ↑ Butler, p. 86
  3. ↑ Butler, p. 87

Bibliography

  • Butler, A. (1995) Butler's Lives of the Saints, Volume 7, Liturgical Press
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