On this day, June 27 according to the Julian Calendar (July 10 civil calendar), the Georgian Orthodox Church commemorates Venerable Severus the Priest of Italy, a sixth-century holy man renowned for his piety and the miraculous works God performed through him.
Venerable Severus the Priest served God in the village of Interoclea in Italy during the sixth century, and was distinguished for his godly and devout life. One day, while he was gathering the grape harvest, he was summoned to bring Holy Communion to a dying person. With only a few bunches of grapes remaining to be harvested, he called to those who had come for him to go ahead, saying he would follow. When he arrived at the home of the sick person, he learned that the dying man had already departed this life. Saint Gregory the Theologian records that through divine grace the dead man was restored to life in order to receive the Holy Sacraments, a testimony to Severus’s fervent faith and to God’s mercy toward those who seek the sacraments of the Church.
May the intercessions of Venerable Severus the Priest be with us all.