Commemorated October 24/November 6
George Karslidis was born in 1901 in Chadik, Tsalka, Georgia. His grandparents were refugees who had come from Gümüşhane, Ottoman Empire, following the Crimean War. At a young age, he was orphaned, losing both his father and his mother on the same day. Wounded by the abusive treatment given to him by his older brother, he escaped, alone, to the mountains, where he was saved by Turkish villagers, who took him with them back to Pontos. He is known to have been in Georgia, Armenia, and Russia before spending most of his life in the village of Taxiarches (Sipsa), in Drama, Northern Greece. He founded the Monastery of the Ascension of Christ in the village of Taxiarches (Sipsa), which was officially consecrated in 1939, and became the spiritual leader of the community of Drama. Like other contemporary elders and many saints throughout Christian history, Karslidis is said to have sometimes been seen levitating in prayer during the Divine Liturgy.
Karslidis' relics are kept in the Monastery of the Ascension of Christ, in Taxiarches (Sipsa), Drama, and he is one of few saints known to bear an imprint of the sign of the cross on his skull. He was glorified on Sunday November 2, 2008, during the visit to the city of Drama of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, and his Feast Day is celebrated every year on November 4.
The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church decided at its meeting of December 24, 2008 to add Karslidis' name to the menology of the Russian Orthodox Church, establishing his feast day on October 24/November 6.
