On this day, June 13 according to the Julian (Old) Calendar — June 26 by the civil calendar — the Georgian Orthodox Church commemorates one of her most remarkable and beloved sons: Saint Anthimus of Iberia (Georgian: Antimoz Iverieli), Hieromartyr and Metropolitan of Wallachia, who gave his life for the Orthodox faith and the freedom of his flock.
Saint Anthimus was born around 1650 in the Samtskhe-Meskheti region of southern Georgia, receiving the baptismal name Andria. From his youth he displayed extraordinary gifts — a brilliant mind, a gift for languages, and a deep devotion to the Orthodox faith. At some point in his early life he was captured and taken to Constantinople, where he received a thorough education in theology, calligraphy, and the art of printing. It was there that he took monastic vows and received the name Anthimus.
His talent and learning brought him to the attention of the Prince of Wallachia (present-day Romania), and Anthimus was entrusted with leading the princely printing press. Over the following decades he transformed the spiritual and cultural life of an entire nation. He printed liturgical books in Romanian, Georgian, Arabic, and Greek — making Orthodox worship accessible to peoples who had never before heard it in their own tongue. He established the first printing press in Tbilisi in 1709 and oversaw the printing of the Georgian Gospel, a gift of immeasurable worth to his homeland. In 1708 he was consecrated Metropolitan of Wallachia, the highest ecclesiastical office in the land.
As a hierarch, Anthimus was tireless in defending his flock from Ottoman domination. He preached boldly, cared for the poor, and urged the Wallachian princes to seek their freedom. This courage made him enemies in high places. In 1716, the Phanariot ruler Nicholas Mavrokordatos, a servant of the Ottoman regime, accused Anthimus of conspiracy, had him defrocked by a corrupt council, and sentenced him to exile at the Monastery of Saint Catherine on Mount Sinai. He never arrived. Somewhere on the road to exile, Turkish soldiers ambushed and murdered the holy metropolitan, casting his body into the Tundzha River. He was approximately 66 years old.
The Georgian Orthodox Church commemorates Saint Anthimus on June 13 (Julian Calendar), honoring him as a martyr, scholar, and defender of the faith — a son of Georgia who bore witness to Christ not only with his learning and his pen, but with his very blood. In 1992 the Romanian Orthodox Church glorified him as a saint, and Georgia joyfully venerates him together with her Romanian brothers and sisters.
Troparion (Tone 4):
O godly-minded Anthimus, as a staunch defender of thy flock, thou didst eagerly shed thy blood for its protection. Unbending and wholly unafraid of all thine adversaries fearful threats, thou rejoicest now in Heaven, standing before the throne of the Most Holy Trinity. Glory to Christ Who gave thee strength. Glory to thy manly courage. Glory to thy patient endurance in martyrdom.
May the intercessions of Saint Anthimus of Iberia be with us all.