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Shio of Mgvime

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Shio of Mgvime
Shio on 14th-century triptych, kept at the Saint Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai
Bishop, Preacher
BornAntioch, Byzantine Empire
DiedMtskheta, Kingdom of Iberia
Venerated inGeorgian Orthodox Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
Major shrineShio-Mgvime monastery
FeastMay 22
PatronageGeorgia

Shio of Mgvime (Georgian: შიო მღვიმელი, romanized: shio mghvimeli; lit. 'Shio the caveman' or 'Shio of the Cave'[1]) (fl. 6th century) was an anchorite, desert father, thaumaturgus and one of the thirteen Assyrian apostles of the Georgian kingdom of Iberia. He is venerated as a saint who introduced the notion of a strict ascetic life to the Georgian Church.[2]

Life

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He was born in Antioch. At the age of 20, he became a disciple of the famous hermit John of Zedazeni,[3] distributed his property to peasants and monasteries, and became a monk himself.[4] In the middle of the 6th century, he lived in Mtskheta. Monk Shio separated from his brethren and founded the Shio-Mgvime monastery on Sarkine mountain.[5][6] Initially, Shio lived in a small cave, which was converted into a church around the 9th century, the monastery became a large organization during the time of Shio.[7] On his own initiative, the first church named after John the Baptist was built here. Shio performed an extraordinary feats of endurance,[8] by spending the last years of his life in total seclusion, in a 12 metre deep cave,[9] he was buried there.[10] His feast day is on May 22.

References

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  1. ^ Rapp, p. 99
  2. ^ Soltes, p. 104
  3. ^ Rapp, p. 100
  4. ^ Charkiewicz, p. 37
  5. ^ Rapp, p. 102
  6. ^ Tchekhanovets, p. 184
  7. ^ Charkiewicz, pp. 47-48
  8. ^ Soltes, p. 110
  9. ^ Tchekhanovets, p. 185
  10. ^ Charkiewicz, p. 52

Bibliography

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  • Rapp, S. H. Jr (2014) The Sasanian World through Georgian Eyes: Caucasia and the Iranian Commonwealth in Late Antique Georgian Literature, Ashgate Publishing, ISBN 978-1-4724-2552-2
  • Soltes, O. (1999) National Treasures of Georgia, Bloomsbury, ISBN 978-0-85667-501-0
  • Tchekhanovets, Y. (2018) The Caucasian Archaeology of the Holy Land: Armenian, Georgian and Albanian Communities Between the Fourth and Eleventh Centuries CE, ISBN 978-90-04-36555-1
  • Charkiewicz, J. (2005) Gruzińscy święci, Warszawa: Warszawska Metropolia Prawosławna, ISBN 978-83-60311-87-5