On February 15th, 2011, on the feast of the Meeting of the Lord, Holy Trinity Monastery received a visit from the Rev. Peter Svanidze, a priest from the Republic of Georgia. 

Fr. Peter served the festal Vigil and Liturgy alongside the brotherhood clergy, pronouncing the exclamations and prayers in the Georgian language. On the following morning Fr. Peter met with the seminarians, faculty members and brotherhood to talk about the Georgian Orthodox Church and to answer any questions that they might have.

Fr. Peter presented a brief history of the Georgian Orthodox Church after the fall of the Soviet Union, its renovation of both men’s and women’s monasteries, the spiritual growth of the Georgian people and the relationship between the Russian and the Georgian Orthodox Churches. Fr. Peter warmly encouraged everyone to make a pilgrimage to Georgia in order to visit the churches and holy sites. He promised a warm reception by the Georgians and gracious hospitality to whomever chose to come and visit.

Fr. Peter, a father of seven children, has been living in America for two years serving as a means of support to the Georgian Orthodox communities of Northern America.  On Saturdays he serves the Divine Liturgy at a Georgian Orthodox church in Washington D.C. and on Sundays he serves at another Georgian Orthodox parish in New Jersey.  There is also a small church in New York City dedicated to St. Nina the Enlightener of Georgia, which is under Fr. Peter’s care. Fr. Peter stated that his Holiness Ilia II, Patriarch of all Georgia, would like to strengthen and unite the Georgian Orthodox communities living in America.

We wish Fr. Peter God’s blessings and help in his endeavors and hope that he will soon be able to come and visit Holy Trinity Monastery again.