SAINT GAVRIL OF VELICA – Father Gavril Galev
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THE “INVISIBLE” OF THE SAINTS
Monks are strange people. Rather, they are not ordinary earthly people, but heavenly ones,
who deliberately hide the light of their soul under a dark garment. (…)
They are armed by God with strength to withstand centuries and millennia. (…)
For them, who have stepped out of time and stepped into eternity,
the time of 2000 years is like one day[1],
and how much can a person change in one day?
– Venerable Gavril of Velica [2]
Of the holy person whom I dare to write, I am not even worthy to think of, and yet, I even bear his name. I am asking the Saint to forgive me, but also to bless me, and to enlighten my thoughts so that I can successfully finish writing this short hagiography of him as one of my smallest gifts and expression of gratitude towards him.
We come from the same city and even from the same neighbourhood, and, unfortunately, I do not remember him. I know that when I joined the church and when I started going regularly to church, reading spiritual literature, fasting and praying, I was compared to someone like Mijalche, and I did not know at all that Mijalche was, in fact, Father Gavril the Athonite and that one day I will be honoured by God to be the inheritor of his name (God willing, also inheritor of the way of his holy life, but I am far from that).
I had heard about him from my parents and the closest neighbours who knew him. They told me that once, when he came to the house where he was born, he noticed our childlike curiosity and called us to his house together with my friend, gave us candies and spoke to us. That is how time passed for a few days, and then he left and never came back. To my joy or regret, it is my only meeting with this holy man, who was close to us, yet so far away.
In the world
Mijalche (later Episcope of Velica, Gavril Athonite) comes from an old well-known family of artisans from Shtip, blacksmiths. He was born on March 10, 1926, in Shtip, to Orthodox parents Metodij (later monk Cyril) and Gora Parnadzievi. His father was a particularly pious man. He had this custom: every night, even though he was tired from the day’s work, and with deteriorating health, he would pray standing for two hours. And when he could not pray, due to fatigue or illness, then the next day he would have stood for four hours at prayer. In this way he tamed his body, while giving his son a true example of a pious Orthodox life.
He completed primary education and then high school in his hometown. Even as a young man, he was distinguished by special meekness and obedience. He has always been calm and withdrawn, but at the same time advanced and modern. In Shtip he had first the popular “fiko” (Fiat 500). From 1944 to 1947 he was in the army, a participant in PLW (People’s Liberation War). His Duty was as a scribe in his unit, as a strictly confidential person. Due to his great zeal in the service and exemplary behaviour, he was also proposed for admission to the CPY (Communist Party of Yugoslavia), but due to the fact that he was a “church goer”, he was not accepted as a member. He attained the rank of sergeant and was awarded the “Merits of the People” medal.
Two years after demobilization, he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Belgrade. After graduation, in 1955, he worked for four or five years as a professor of art and history of art at the High School (Gymnasium) and Teachers’ School “Goce Delchev” in Shtip. According to the assessment of the auditor, the famous artist Borko Lazevski, he was “one of the most capable pedagogues in Macedonia”. In addition to working at the school as a professor, Mijalce, together with his father Metodij, also worked as a sculptor. Their beautiful exhibits can be found throughout the parks in Shtip and its surroundings, as well as in other places.
His students speak of him with joy and describe him as a highly moral person. Even then, Father Gavril was noticed with a beard and a very quiet approach to everyone. “Everything he taught us as a professor, he wanted us all to know. What he had wanted us to learn (and hear from us), he wrote for us separately on a sheet of paper and he would give to each of us individually, just so we could understand and remember it. In the spring days, we students agreed to hold a lessons in nature (outdoors). We tried to maintain this practice, He never refused us. He always wanted us to be outside, not just sitting in the classroom, because; “Outside there was plenty to be seen, drawn and learnt,” says one of his former students.
In 1960, he moved to Skopje and worked there quite successfully as an independent artist. Over the course of his studies and pedagogical undertakings, he went abroad twice. First, as a student in the fifth year, he was on sabbatical leave in Paris, and then (in 1959), with a group of educators, he went to a world art exhibition in Brussels. The famous artist from Shtip, Todor Maksimov, said that the works of Mijalche Parnadzhiev are true masterpieces. Maximov often visited Father Gavril in the Lesnovo Monastery. But then Father Gavril no longer showed any interest in sculpture and art in general, but had completely surrendered himself to the monastic life.
While he was in the world, he had the habit of attending daily services in the Cathedral Church of Saint Nicholas in Shtip. His life was monastic in everything even before he became a monk. In his home, he constantly stayed in his room reading, praying and living for God. And when guests would arrive at his home, he greeted them courteously and politely and would then retreat to his room again. He considered virginity a great sanctity.
At that time of the strictest form of atheism together with organized persecution of the Church, he did not renounce God. He even taught his students in the faith. For Easter, he regularly gave them a red Easter egg and said to them: “Children, eat the eggs, crush the shell and scatter it around the city so that everyone can see that Christ is risen!”
On Mount Athos (Holy Mountain)
God’s love and kindness towards people is endless.
He loves us strongly, because we are His people (inheritance). Although we are every hour forsaking our belief in God,
He does not give up on us easily. But still, He is pleased when people personally turn to Him. (…) Man should separate himself from the world and set off to seek the Lord.
Only in the silence of solitude God engages in dialogue with man.
In a real, friendly and confidential conversation –
face to face, eye to eye, heart to heart!
• Venerable Gavril of Velika
In 1963, he left the world and the worldly service, and journeyed to the Holy Mountain to serve only God with his whole life. For his stay there, he received a direct blessing from the Abbess of Mount Athos – the Most Holy Theotokos. It is said that when he reached the monastic state, he came to the shore of the White Sea and wanted to splash his face. Then he saw a woman, who was looking at him dearly. After a while, the Woman left as she came. He thought and concluded that she was the Most-Holy Theotokos, because the access of women to Mount Athos is strictly prohibited. This event encouraged him in his further endeavour.
At Mount Athos, he was told that he could stay in the Serbian monastery of Hilandar, which enjoys the status of an autonomous Serbian territory under the auspices of Mount Athos, but later things turned out quite differently. It transpired that, for the duration of his stay, he was not there all the time. From time to time, he had to walk to Athens to extend his visa in order to stay on Mount Athos. Two incidents are mentioned, when on two different occasions they wanted to expel him from the Holy Mountain. In one case he entered a cave, where a spider wove such a large web that the pursuers did not see him, and in the other case, he was protected by snakes.
He visited all the monasteries on the Holy Mountain, and stayed mostly in the Russian skete “Kamena”. There, for some time he lived in ascetic struggle in a cave as a disciple of the 84-year-old Russian monk, Father Tatjan Ivanov, who in the meantime fell seriously ill, so Father Gavril had to take him to his domicile monastery of Saint Panteleimon. There, in the monastery hospital, after about two months, Father Tatjan reposed in the Lord, and the skete was inherited by the monk Gavril.
For the Holy Liturgy and Holy Communion, he often went to the monasteries “Hilandar” and “Saint Paul”, where, due to his exceptionally quiet character, he received the nickname “The Invisible”, because they neither would see him when he would come nor when he would leave; they could only see him when he would approach to partake of the Holy and Salvific, Life-giving Mysteries of Christ (Holy Communion). He was tonsured a monk in the Greek monastery of Saint Paul the Apostle with the monastic name Gavril, after the great leader of the heavenly army, Archangel Gabriel (Gavril).
All that time whilst he stayed on the Holy Mountain, he avoided contact with people. He believed that getting closer to God can be achieved most quickly by moving away from people. However, his stay there did not last long. His request to be granted Greek citizenship, a condition for remaining permanently in the Holy Mountain, was not granted, so he had to return to his native country.
In his native country
If the day would have three times 24 hours,
even then the monk would not be able to find time for worldly pastimes.
He sacrifices everything for prayer, and he does not sacrifice prayer for anything.
• Venerable Gavril of Velica
When he returned from Mount Athos, he was very thin and with an old, worn mantle. He never gave his body rest – he almost never slept, and even when he did, he always laid on the ground or on a hard mat. He had a blanket, hand-embroidered with crosses. He did not pay attention to his appearance at all. He did not bathe, and he hardly washed his clothes, unless it rained, and then he used the rainwater for washing. But even so, he never emitted an unpleasant smell, but on the contrary, a fragrance of incense and basil spread from him, and people were glad to stand by him.
When he would have caught a flea, he would not have killed it. He would have released it out into nature and would only say: “Let everything that breathes praise the Lord”, even though his whole body was covered with wounds from flea bites. He kept the strictest fast. He never ate meals prepared with oil, and ate only one prosphoron (small loaf of leavened bread) a week. On feasts (holy-days), out of obedience to church rules, he would have just tapped his finger in the bowl of the lamp, which contained oil for the flame, and licked it. In addition, in order to make his ascetic endeavour even greater, and as he himself said, to “constantly remember God and thank Him”, he sewed on his trousers, on the monk’s belt, which he always wore, and on the shoes underneath small pebbles. It became known about this ascetic struggle of his only after his death. He never used heating nor the light bulb.
Although he fasted very strictly and was very thin, he possessed great vitality and energy. He did not like to ride in a car, so he mostly walked. He walked very fast. He walked from the monastery to Probishtip, Zletovo, and even to Shtip, which is about forty kilometers away from Lesnovo Monastery. In one case, a priest from Strumica met him near Zletovo and offered him to get into the car so that he would not struggle to go up on foot to the Lesnovo Monastery. Father Gavril refused and left on foot to go over the mountain. When the priest arrived at the monastery, he was surprised to see Father Gabriel standing at the gates and welcoming him.
He regularly performed all divine services in the Monastery and worked tirelessly in the ascetic struggle of the prayer of the mind in the heart (Jesus prayer). Silence and solitude were his constant companions, is for that purpose that he often used the two nearby caves. Also, there was a miraculous occurrence that happened at the Holy Mountain. There was a meadow near the cave where he was practicing his asceticism. One day, horses were playing in the meadow, which were loud and disturbed him in his prayer. He could not stand it and finally succumbed, so he went out and chased them away. But when he returned, he saw a snake in the cell. He said to himself: “That is right, Gavril.” The horses were bothering you, now God has sent you a snake. “Do not pursue her and you will live with her.” And that’s what he did.
Temptations
Because he lived in a time of antitheism, he was often exposed to temptations (tribulations) from worldly people who did not respect the sanctity of the Orthodox faith. Once a teacher wanted to organize a secular concert in the monastery, to which Father Gavril did not agree. But due to her persistence and most polite entreaties, he withdrew and went to pray. As soon as the stage was set up and the performance started, a heavy rain poured down and everyone ran away. There are many other similar examples (occurrences).
The Lesnovo monastery, over time, became a hive for all the God-seeking people at that time. People came from all over the country, even from abroad, from a broad variety of profiles and professions. Father Gavril became the beloved spiritual father of many who sought God. He also restored the destroyed old lodging in the monastery and built the Church “The Assumption of the Most-Holy Theotokos” in Probishtip, which is the first and only church in the city.
He was completely devoted to the work of rebuilding the lodgings. Since it was an atheistic time, some chose to despise and mock the father, so they hindered his work. Because of that, he often had to personally go to Maleshevia and make objections, and often he had to spend the night there. In one such case, it was winter and quite cold. He came to the factory, but no one was there. There was a football match on at the time, and all the workers were in the TV room. Since he was not interested in that, he had to wait for them in the workshop. It was quite cold. Suddenly, the furnace ignited by itself, so strongly that when the workers returned, they praised him for considering to light it to keep them warm, but he knew that the fire was not from him, but that God had given it to him as a consolation.
When he started working regarding the monastery, he had no money. But God Himself sent people to donate and help, and even performed miracles in order to help him. It is said that although he was constantly spending money on materials, the balance of his bank account did not change. How it was possible only God knows.
The doors of his monastery were wide open to any well-intentioned visitor. It was obligatory for every visitor to regularly attend divine-services and receive obedience (to be obedient to Father Gavril, in regards to given chores) in the monastery. He was especially strict about attending divine-services. He also gave everyone the opportunity to actively participate in them. There were also such cases when he entrusted all the keys and responsibilities for the monastery to someone he had seen for the first time. Such openness of his in those persons awakened a turning point in their life, so faith in God and in man was kindled in them.
In addition to all his achievements and responsibilities, he was one of the first to graduate from the Faculty of Theology in Skopje. He also wrote books and published essays in several church newspapers. At the same time, in his pastoral and spiritual activity, he had outlined three goals:
• reconstruction of the Lesnovo monastery;
• restoration of monasticism;
• holy (hallowed) celebration of the jubilee of 2000 years of Christianity.
He had established relations with many important people from the world, including the British and Swedish queens. He also had personal contacts with the then US President Ronald Reagan, the British diplomat Margaret Thatcher and many others. His Reverence was also respected outside our Church. Many testify to this, and the testimony of the blessed, deceased Patriarch Paul of Serbia is particularly impressive, when he saw Father Gavril from the premises of the Patriarchate in Belgrade, he called everyone to come to the window, saying: “Come and see how a saint walks on earth!”
Before he returned from the Holy Mountain, the Serbian Orthodox Church wanted to make him its bishop, and he was also very close to Father Emilian from Simonopetra (monastery), who was the abbot of Meteora Monasteries at that time. He wanted to keep Father Gavril as the abbot of one of the monasteries there, and later they wanted him to be the abbot of the hermitage of Saint Chariton the Confessor in Jerusalem.
The Venerable Father felt a particularly great love for the Holy Land, and so he visited the holy city of Jerusalem several times, and for three months he was the guardian of the Holy Sepulchre. In 1987, at Easter, he brought the blessed fire from Jerusalem to Macedonia for the first time.
Gifts full of grace
From God he received the gift of foresight and miracle-working. He knew the names and even the origins of many who came to the monastery even though he saw them for the first time, as was the case with one visitor who had royal origins, but wanted to remain anonymous. But Father Gavril, through the gift of foresight saw this, and honoured her like a princess.
Then, a boy recounted that in his youth he was faced with questions that he could not answer, so he came to Father Gavril for spiritual advice. The father, had his back towards him, did not even look at him, told him the questions and the answers. The boy was so amazed that he even checked the questions, which he had personally written on paper, several times. There are numerous testimonies about the holiness of his life and his thirst for God. Once a man, who knew him very well, told me: “I have never seen a man who loved God so much”.
When he returned from Mount Athos in 1971, seeking peace so that he could constantly pray to God, he changed several monasteries: the Most Holy Theotokos – Pobozhje, Saint Dimitrij – Markov Monastery, the Most Holy Theotokos – Matka, so that in 1975 he settled on a permanent basis in the monastery of Saint Gavril of Lesnovo in the village of Lesnovo, which at that time was part of the Zletovo and Strumica diocese, where he knowingly, he often withdrew from the monastery, for days at a time, to settle in two nearby caves, where his namesake Saint Gavril of Lesnovo had also practiced asceticism.
In the monastery of Most-Holy Theotokos in Matka, his father joined him in his ascetic endeavour, he received the name Cyril during his monastic tonsure. Thus, the parent became a disciple of his own son, and, in turn, the son, as an experienced spiritual father, humbly guided his own father. His father was also a zealous monk and a strong man of prayer.
Once Father Cyril was praying in the temple for the people who, deceived by the devil, came during the day, being sent by soothsayers and seers. With tears in his eyes, Father Cyril prayed for them, so that God would forgive their sin: “Lord, forgive everyone who has sinned today. They do not know. Out of naivety and lack of knowledge, they go there and are deceived by them. Forgive them, Lord.” He prayed for everyone, and the prayer addressed by this righteous man, was so pleasing to our Most Holy Sovereign Lady, that suddenly a great light came out of Her pure face and the whole inside of the monastery was illuminated. From the icon of the Mother of God, it seemed as if a flame was issuing forth. And then Father Cyril fell to his knees and began to cry like a child, but also to rejoice. Then he got up and once more, and once more, that light illuminated the monastery three times.
Also, while they were in the monastery in Matka, the following temptation beset them. Early one morning, around two a.m., according to Mount Athos custom, Father Gavril and Father Cyril conducted Divine service in the temple. As soon as they left the temple after their prayerful work, the police came in order to expel them from the monastery. Father Gavril stood with the prayer rope in his hand while the police was persistently repeated that they were required to leave the monastery. “Get out of the monastery, quickly collect your things and be gone”, were their words. And Father Cyril said to that: “Okay, the monastery is for the monks, why are you expelling us, and yet we guard the monastery…” – “We better not see you here anymore, get out!” One of the policemen pushed Father Cyril, and he fell to the ground and wept. Father Gavril just remained silent and prayed with his head bowed. “Tomorrow we will come again and we better not find you here”, the policemen threatened, and left.
That whole night Father Gavril spent in prayer. Then it snowed so much that the next day the whole city of Skopje was covered and no one could go to work, even the children did not go to school, but everyone cleared the snow on the streets. And Father Cyril said to Father Gavril: “Gavril, you see, my tear did not fall in vain. Let them now come and persecute us.” But seeing God’s providence in everything, they left the monastery and, guided by God’s care and protection, settled in the monastery of Saint Gavril of Lesnovo.
Father Gavril always avoided crowds and inconveniences. On another occasion, a group of soldiers came to his monastery. Then he locked himself in his cell and for a whole week while they were there he did not come out, dwelling in the silence of the unceasing prayer of the mind in the heart, Jesus prayer. They wondered where the “old man” was and what was happening to him, because he had not come out of his cell for a whole week, and they even knocked on his door in order to check if he was alive.
He had great love for the faithful people. He often gathered people for major holy days and held all-night vigils for them. He was strict with himself and gentle with others. He taught everyone meekness, love, long-suffering, self-sacrifice, zeal for God, faith, prayer. He taught them how they should be as Christians in society in order to witness Christ with dignity through their behaviour, attire, speech and actions. He encouraged young people to study and finish the highest level of schooling possible. He taught the parents to raise their children in an Orthodox spirit, and the elderly to go to church as often as possible and to bring their grandchildren with them. He acted according to the words of St. Apostle Paul: “I became all things to all, so that by any means I might save someone” (1 Cor. 9, 22).
Witness of God
Father Gavril was worthy of the honour to be a bearer of the grace of the Holy Spirit and a witness of God even during his life here on Earth. In addition to the many gifts he possessed, the Almighty God also gave him the gift of miracle-working and healing through prayer. There are numerous examples of the miraculous nature of his prayer. We will mention only some of them.
The grandson of one of his spiritual children was very sick and had to undergo a serious operation, for which the doctors could not guarantee that he would survive. In those difficult moments of grief, the spiritual child forgot about her spiritual father, but before the very day of the operation, in extreme confusion, she got an enlightening thought to go to Elder (“Dedo”) Gavril (as many affectionately called him) and immediately left. Father Gavril greeted her at the gates with the words: “Go home, your grandson is healthy.” And when she returned home, she was told about the miraculous healing of her grandson, which even the doctors themselves were very surprised.
Also, a child is still a living witness that through Father Gavril’s prayers, his tongue was freed and he began to speak. That child, named Georgi, from a village near Strumica, could not speak, so his parents often took him to Father Gavril to pray for him. Once, when he was taken to him in the monastery, he took the child to the temple during the Vespers service and read prayers for him. The next day Father Gavril celebrated the Holy Liturgy and prayed for the child all the time. After taking communion and after the Liturgy ended, the child raised his hands up and said: “Mother!” All those present in the temple rejoiced and were amazed, and gave glory to God, who works miracles through His servants.
There is also a miraculous icon of the Most-Holy Theotokos in the monastery. Specifically, it is the fresco on the back south pillar in the church. Before her, he prayed for someone close to him, who drank a lot. He beseeched the Most-Holy One to give him a sign that she forgives his sins. Suddenly a flame appeared from the fresco, traces of which are still visible today.
The Venerable Father Gavril was lover of mankind and very merciful towards his fellow man. Once, a family came running in a panic because their son had been hit by a car. Then Father Gavril entered the temple, immediately began to pray and did not come out for a long time. When he came out, he said to them: “Go, the child will be home, healthy and alive.” But that is it, you worked on Sundays. Pay attention to Sunday and to the Divine service. Did you work today?” Then they answered him: “Yes, we worked, we worked…” – “Well, next time you won’t work on Sunday” – Father Gavril said to them.
Afterwards, there was no rain in Lesnovo for a long time, so the villagers came to ask Father Gavril to pray to God in order to send them rain. “Come, let us all pray to God …”, he told them, and in the middle of the prayer, to everyone’s surprise and joy, it started to rain. The villagers began to thank him for his prayers, and Father Gavril humbly addressed them with the words: “Never take credit for the miracles yourself … It’s not me… The monastery is miraculous and holy, and those who come receive healing!” (There were more such cases of him praying for rain and his prayer being answered.)
Ordination
In 1981, on August 28, on the feast of the Assumption of the Most-Holy Theotokos, he was promoted to archimandrite by the Synod of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, and in 1989, again on the feast of the Assumption of the Most-Holy Theotokos, he was ordained as Bishop with the title of Episcope (Bishop) of Velica. Although he had always longed and resorted to solitude and silence, yet out of obedience he accepted to be ordained a Bishop.
During his ordination, his tears flowed on their own, and that brought tears to the eyes of all those present in the Church. The grace of the Holy Spirit filled the whole church. Tears flowed from his eyes. Tears prompted by deep humility that he is not worthy to bear this exalted office, but also out of gratitude for God’s immeasurable love and mercy. However, they were also another kind of tears. He knew that he would soon leave all those who had come to rejoice because of him.
On the day of the ordination itself, after the Liturgy, while the others were preparing to take a joint photo in order to remember this holy event in perpetuity, Father Gavril stayed in the church and could not contain his tears for half an hour. To the few who remained with him he said, “You have come to my funeral,” whereupon they rebuked him, and told him that it was a day of joy for all, and that he ought not to speak thus. “No, no, you came to my funeral today,” were Father Gavril’s words. He foresaw his imminent death and he himself conducted forty Liturgies for the departed (in this case, for himself).
In the days before he passed away, he started preparing his own funeral, made preparations in the monastery and bought all that was needed for the funeral. As it was widely known that he was a very thrifty man, people were surprised to see him carrying bags of beans to the monastery, as if he was cleaning up and “spending money”. But he did not tell anyone anything. He just left a note on which was written: “Make the food without oil.” He even made the grave himself. It was a simple flat slab and a simple cross carved out of stone, much more modest than his father’s tomb, whose tomb he had also made himself.
On January 12, 1990, with the Gospel, which he read constantly, and with the cross on his chest, and a rosary in his hand, he peacefully surrendered his soul to God. His funeral was attended by several bishops and numerous clergy. He was buried behind the altar of the monastery, next to his physical father and spiritual son, Father Cyril.
In eternity
He reposed, but did not leave his spiritual children. After his departure to Upper Jerusalem, he appeared to many in a dream. To one of his spiritual children, whose vision suddenly began to weaken, he appeared in a dream, healed him and sent him to the church of Ascension of Christ in Shtip. In the home of one of his spiritual children holy myrrh began to flow from the photo of him, which he had given her while he was alive. Even to this day, miracles happen at his grave, from where a pleasant fragrance permeates the air, and the villagers say that after his repose in the Lord, they saw a light in the form of a pillar of fire at his grave.
After his ascetic and much-suffering life, together with the saints, he now intercedes before the throne of God for the faithful people, as well as for all who call upon him with faith. His holy image is depicted in all of the newly built churches; his holy image is depicted almost everywhere, his icons are painted and his miracles are recorded.
His official hagiography, service, akathist are composed and his day of celebration is the day of his repose, January 12. After his holy relics were removed from his tomb in the Lesnovo Monastery, they were prepared for his official canonization which occurred on 28 May 2017 in the church od St Nicholas in his native city Shtip. Now his holiness is officially recognized and his name is included in the diptych of the saints.
Through the prayers of our holy father Gavril Athonite, bishop of Velica, Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us! Amen.
Father Gavril Galev
Abbot of the monastery “St. Clement of Ohrid”,
Kinglake, Melbourne, Australia
Troparion, Tone 8
Having the world’s glory, you have left the world. And on the way to Mount Athos, you received an Abbess’s blessing from the Mother of God.
With fasting, vigil and prayer, you kept the chastity, God-fearing Gavril.
Pray now to Christ, our God, to multiply the monasticism,
To protect our Church and to save the world.
