The Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church has approved the inclusion of St. Gabriel the Confessor of Georgia (Urgebadze) in its official liturgical calendar, marking a significant gesture of spiritual friendship between the Romanian and Georgian Orthodox Churches.

The decision was announced following a session of the Holy Synod held at the Patriarchal Palace in Bucharest on June 3, 2026. The Synod also approved liturgical texts dedicated to the saint’s veneration. His feast day will be observed annually on November 2 beginning next year.

According to the Romanian Patriarchate, the initiative emerged after a delegation of the Romanian Orthodox Church participated in memorial events connected with the death of Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II of Georgia. During the visit, Romanian representatives also traveled to the Samtavro Monastery in the historic city of Mtskheta, where St. Gabriel spent the final years of his life.

Church officials described the decision as a symbol of mutual spiritual respect between the two Local Orthodox Churches. They noted that the Georgian Orthodox Church had previously included several Romanian saints in its own calendar.

Veneration of St. Gabriel of Samtavro has steadily expanded beyond Georgia in recent years. In 2022, the Paltin-Petru Vodă Monastery in Romania received a relic of the saint, donated through a Romanian Orthodox parish in the Italian town of Montecatini Terme.

Born on August 26, 1929, in Tbilisi, the future saint was baptized with the name Goderdzi. From an early age, he displayed a deep commitment to the Christian faith and became known for preserving icons during the Soviet Union’s anti-religious campaigns, when many sacred images were being destroyed.

After completing military service in the Soviet Army, he entered monastic life and received the name Gabriel. He became widely known throughout Georgia in 1965 when he publicly burned a large portrait of Vladimir Lenin during an official public event, denouncing state-imposed atheism.

The act led to his arrest, trial, and confinement in a psychiatric hospital for seven months. Despite persecution by Soviet authorities, he continued his ministry and eventually became one of Georgia’s most respected spiritual fathers.

In his later years, Fr. Gabriel lived at Samtavro Monastery, where a growing circle of disciples and pilgrims gathered around him. Many believers attributed acts of spiritual guidance, healing, and prophetic insight to the monk, whose reputation for holiness spread across the Orthodox world.

St. Gabriel died on November 2, 1995, and was buried within the grounds of Samtavro Monastery. The Georgian Orthodox Church canonized him in 2012. Two years later, his relics were uncovered and transferred to the Monastery’s Church of the Transfiguration for public veneration.

Today, St. Gabriel of Georgia is regarded as one of the most beloved and widely venerated modern saints of the Georgian Orthodox Church, with devotion to him continuing to grow internationally.