Venerable Shio of Mghvime (VI)
The Venerable Shio of Mghvime, one of the thirteen Syrian fathers, was a native of Antioch. His parents, devout aznaurs, gave their only son an excellent education. The humble, kind and God-loving Shio especially loved to read the Holy Scriptures. At twenty Shio heard of the great ascetic John (commemorated 7 May), who was living in the desert with his disciples, and without his parents’ knowledge he went to see him. Saint John, who was gifted with the grace of foresight, received Shio with joy, blessed him, and said to his disciples: “This youth shall be a son of God and a father of many monks, for God has chosen him”; and he promised Shio to number him among his disciples on condition that he return home and obtain his parents’ permission.
Time passed. Shio’s parents went into a monastery to labour there. Shio sold the house, set all the slaves free and went to Father John.
The Venerable John received Shio with joy, tonsured him a monk and allowed him to remain in the desert.
For twenty years the Venerable Shio stayed in the desert with Father John. For his selfless labour and obedience he received the gift of healing.
Then the Venerable John saw a vision from on high: to choose disciples and go to Iberia to strengthen the faith of the Georgians. Among the twelve fellow-strugglers whom the holy father took with him was Shio.
Having come to Georgia, the fathers settled on the mountain of Zedazeni, and then, with the blessing of Catholicos Evlavios and on the advice of Father John, went out to various regions to preach.
Shio, a lover of stillness, asked his spiritual father’s leave to go into the desert. Near Mtskheta, in the rock of Sarkineti, he found a cave and began to labour. At that time the place was inaccessible, waterless and full of wild beasts. Father Shio suffered many privations and fears here, but he bore everything and overcame every temptation. Like the holy Elijah the Tishbite (commemorated 20 July), the venerable father was brought his food by birds.
The monastery of Shiomghvime
Once, after fervent prayer lasting the whole night, at daybreak a wondrous light spread over the whole gorge, and the all-holy Theotokos appeared to Saint Shio together with Saint John the Baptist. The all-holy Virgin promised the holy monk strength in his trials and gave him as food something like snow. After this the Venerable Shio laboured in that gorge, quite alone, with still greater zeal.
Once Evagrius, the spaspet of King Parsman and lord of Tsikhedidi (commemorated 4 February), went hunting in the mountains of Sarkineti; here he came to know the venerable father and stayed with him to labour.
The whole country soon heard that the famous spaspet had gone into the desert. Many pilgrims came to the Venerable Shio and Evagrius. Many of them followed the example of the Venerable Evagrius and began to labour in the desert.
Once the Venerable Shio stood to pray and besought God to reveal to him a place to build a church. Instead of a censer the saint offered incense on the palm of his hand. The fire did not burn his hand. The saint followed the trail of the incense, and where the smoke rose straight up towards heaven he marked out the place of the church with his staff. So the Lord showed Saint Shio where he was to build the church.
When King Parsman learned that Evagrius had become a monk, he was greatly grieved and went himself to Shio’s desert. The king saw such wondrous grace on Saint Shio’s face that he took off his crown and knelt before him. Father Shio reverently blessed the king, raised him up and with his own hand set the royal crown on his head. The king’s companions too bowed down before Father Shio and received his blessing. Among them was a nobleman whose right eye had been injured by an arrow. He knelt before Shio, touched Shio’s foot with his eye and was healed.
King Parsman asked the venerable father what the desert needed. Saint Shio answered: “My lord king! The hearts of kings are in the hand of God; do as seems good to thee.” The king offered for the building of a church in the desert a great sum of money, four villages, a chalice and paten, a golden cross, and the beautifully adorned Gospel book of King Vakhtang Gorgasali (commemorated 30 November).
When the building of the church was finished, King Parsman came down to the desert, this time together with the catholicos and the bishops. Saint John of Zedazeni himself came too and consecrated the newly built church.
After this the number of desert-dwelling brethren reached two thousand. Many people came to the desert to see the wonderworking hermit and to receive his blessing and healing.
The grave of Saint Shio of Mghvime
Saint Shio worked many miracles. Once a wolf took to attacking the monastery’s donkeys and tore many of them to pieces. When Saint Shio heard of this, he prayed and asked the Lord that this wolf might become the donkeys’ shepherd; and so it came to pass — after this the wolf faithfully herded the donkeys.
Once Saint John of Zedazeni called his disciples and bade them show what measure of spirituality they had attained. Saint Shio placed a burning coal on the palm of his hand and put incense on it. The people who saw the miracle glorified the Lord in amazement.
At last Saint Shio, with the blessing of his spiritual father John of Zedazeni and of the catholicos of Georgia, gathered his disciples, gave them a rule, appointed the Venerable Evagrius as their superior, and withdrew into the cave that he himself had dug.
Buried alive for the love of Christ, the Venerable Shio lived for fifteen years in the cave in fasting and prayer. At last, after God had revealed to him the approach of death, he received Holy Communion, raised his hands and peacefully gave up his soul to the Lord with the words: “O Lord! Into thy hands I commend my spirit.”
During one of the Persian invasions Shah Abbas’s horsemen carried off the holy bones of Shio of Mghvime to Iran. That year a terrible pestilence ravaged Persia. The frightened Persians held their disrespect towards Saint Shio’s relics to be the cause of it, and brought them back to the monastery.
