An icon of Saint Gabriel with relics brought from Georgia to Prague
In the Prague Cathedral of Saints Cyril and Methodius, the faithful venerate an icon of Saint Gabriel Urgebadze with relics.
On July 2, an icon of Saint Gabriel Urgebadze with relics, as well as an icon of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, were placed for veneration in the Prague Cathedral of Saints Cyril and Methodius, according to the SPJ editorial office in the Czech Republic.
The holy objects were solemnly carried into the cathedral, where the faithful had gathered. Many of them formed a queue to venerate the icon of Saint Gabriel, the image of the Mother of God, and the holy relics.
Archbishop of Prague and the Czech Republic Mikhail was present at the service. The Divine Liturgy in the cathedral is celebrated in Georgian and Czech.
The SPJ editorial office in the Czech Republic noted that this event holds special spiritual significance for the Georgian Orthodox community in Prague. The faithful were given the opportunity to venerate the holy objects associated with one of the most revered Georgian saints.
Saint Gabriel Urgebadze, known in the world as Goderdzi Urgebadze, was born in 1929 in Tbilisi and reposed in 1995 at the Samtavro Monastery in Mtskheta. During the Soviet era, he suffered for his faith after publicly burning a portrait of Lenin and declaring: «A crucifix of Christ should hang there, not a portrait of Lenin».
