January 8th
He sewed rags together in order to make his clothes, and his meals consisted of dried leftovers from the community kitchen that he ground into thick, tasteless cakes. Disdaining oil, butter and wine, he lived what some Church historians believe may have been the most ascetic life of any monk who ever belonged to the Holy Church.
Venerable George the Chozebite, a native of Cyprus, left his native village after the death of his parents and entered a monastery in Palestine with the permission of his guardian-uncle. Here, at the highly regarded Hozeva Monastery located between Jerusalem and Jericho, the youthful contemplative would amaze his fellow monks with his fiery zeal and his determination to give up all forms of comfort and pleasure for the greater glory of God.
Venerable George, who would one day become the abbot of his own monastery, set a high standard for self-denial, while often remaining in a standing-in-position vigil throughout the night and going for days at a time without food. Rather than becoming weakened and frail as a result of these ordeals, however, he became stronger with each passing day. In addition, he seemed to grow increasingly joyful as his self-prescribed mortifications increased. According to the Church Fathers, Venerable George was a powerful example of the great paradox that has been encountered by many holy ascetics during the life of the Church: The more these self-denying saints deprive themselves of earthly goods and pleasures, the more contented and satisfied they become! TAKEN FROM
St. George, the son of pious Christians, had an elder brother named Heracleides who traveled to the Holy Land and inspired his sibling to do the same. Soon after his parents’ death, the fervent young man rejected his guardian’s suggestion that he marry and instead left Cyprus forever and journeyed to the Holy Land. There he joined his brother briefly at the Lavra of Kalamon in Palestine.
Eventually, this spiritually minded George found himself living as a monk at Hozeva. Humble and soft-spoken, the earnest monastic obeyed every order he received without complaint . . . and suffered greatly at the hands of his stern and harsh mentor, as a result. On one occasion, while the two of them were working as gardeners on the monastery grounds, the elder monk became so impatient that he wound up striking his companion in the face.
What followed was a shocking scene . . . as the elder devotee’s arm shriveled completely, leaving it grotesquely shrunken and useless. Terrified by this display of heavenly justice, the older man apologized profusely and begged St. George’s forgiveness. The kind-hearted youth readily forgave his tormentor, of course, and as the two of them knelt in prayer, the damaged arm was suddenly restored to its normal size!
For the humble monastic from Cyprus, the incident of the shrinking arm was only one in a series of miracles that defined his long and austere life of ascetic piety. On another remarkable day, the fearless saint opened the front door of the monastery . . . and found an enormous lion blocking his path. His reaction was surprising: Instead of quaking in fear, St. George simply pushed the great cat out of his path and went on his way! Although the legend of the man who did not fear lions soon spread throughout the region, the humble George saw nothing unusual in his behavior. So great was his faith that he simply assumed that God would protect him from the huge animal, and didn’t give him a second thought!
During a long and extraordinarily disciplined life, St. George the Chozebite wore rags to church, ate the leftovers from the monastery tables and spent many nights shivering in his cell in cold, rainy weather. He also performed more than a few miracles . . . including one in which a neighboring desert-dweller left a deceased infant in a fruit basket on the doorstep of the monastery. Responding to the discovery with typical humility, St. George first prayed to God to protect him from false pride, if he should succeed in reviving the dead child. He then asked God to intervene – and he wasn’t at all surprised when the baby began to wail lustily from his makeshift crib!
When he finally died in old age – soon after the Persian invasion of Palestine in 614 A.D. – he was regarded throughout much of the Holy Land as a great spiritual Father of the Holy Church. By the end of his time on earth, St. George had helped to establish a new standard for both self-denial and humility in the service of Almighty God, even as he served willingly in the role of abbot at Hozeva.
The life of Venerable George the Chozebite illustrates a compelling truth: the fact that self-denial for the greater glory of God invariably leaves the ascetic feeling thankful and reverent, rather than deprived. So vast and generous is the love of God that those who deny themselves in order to praise the deity soon discover the greatest form of happiness a human being can know!
Apolytikion in the First Tone
Thou didst prove to be a citizen of the desert, an angel in the flesh, and a wonderworker, O George, our God-bearing Father. By fasting, vigil and prayer thou didst obtain heavenly gifts, and thou healest the sick and the souls of them that have recourse to thee with faith. Glory to Him that hath given thee strength. Glory to Him that hath crowned thee. Glory to Him that worketh healings for all through thee.
Kontakion in the Second Tone
Armed with purity of soul and holding firmly to unceasing prayer as to a spear, thou didst defeat hosts of the demons, O George, our father. Intercede unceasingly for us all.
