Our Father Among the Saints Zosimas II, Bishop of Kumurdo
Life
Zosimas II of Kumurdo was a Georgian hierarch active from the close of the fifteenth century through the first half of the sixteenth. Known in secular life by the name Zebede, he was raised in a princely household and entered monastic life in 1515, the same year in which he is believed to have been consecrated bishop of the Kumurdo see in the south-western Georgian region of Javakheti.
Beyond his pastoral and church-building work in the Kumurdo diocese, he was an educator and scribe who compiled a handwritten anthology of ecclesiastical writings, and he undertook efforts on behalf of the Georgian Church in the Holy Land. The Georgian Orthodox Church numbered him among the saints in 2002, reinstating the ancient Kumurdo bishopric at the same time. His feast is kept on May 1.
Timeline 3 moments
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1515Monastic tonsure and consecrationZebede was tonsured a monk and given the name Zosimas. According to the tradition recorded by the Church, he was consecrated bishop of Kumurdo in the same year.
1537Compilation of a handwritten anthologyHe compiled a handwritten anthology of prayers, homilies, and other writings, a collection that concludes with two of his own wills.
October 17, 2002CanonizationThe Georgian Orthodox Church canonized him and, on the same occasion, reinstated the historic bishopric of Kumurdo.
Contributions & Legacy
2 contributions
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Background and Episcopate
In the world the saint bore the name Zebede and, according to the accounts preserved by the Church, was raised by Princess Ketevan, a daughter of King George VIII of Georgia, whose reign is dated to 1446–1466. This connection places his upbringing within the royal circles of late-medieval Georgia.
His tenure as bishop of Kumurdo is attested by an inscription preserved at the Kumurdo church, which records the petition, 'May the Lord have mercy on Zosimas, bishop of Kumurdo.' Kumurdo was a historic episcopal see in the south-western part of Georgia, later named among the principal sees of the modern Eparchy of Akhalkalaki, Kumurdo and Kars.
Scholarly and Church Activity
Alongside his pastoral, educational, and church-building work in the Kumurdo diocese, Zosimas was active as a compiler of ecclesiastical literature. The handwritten anthology he assembled in 1537 gathered prayers, homilies, and other writings, and is notable for closing with two testamentary documents attributed to him.
The accounts also record that he labored in the Holy Land at Jerusalem, where he is said to have worked to defend Orthodox Christian rights over Golgotha against Roman Catholic claims; in recognition of this, two vigil lamps were reportedly hung in his honor.
