We present memories from the servant of God Teimuraz Bochoidze, who shares amazing stories from his life, connected with 
St. Gabriel (Urgebadze)
“>St. Gabriel (Urgebadze).
St. Gabriel (Urgebadze)
My family and I revered and loved Elder Gabriel even before his glorification as a saint. He played a big role in my life. I met my future wife while visiting his grave in 2003. We got married a year later. The amazing thing is that I proposed to my wife on November 2—now the feast day of Elder Gabriel. His lampada oil was the treatment for all diseases in our family—both spiritual and physical.
We named our firstborn Alexander. When he turned four, he was diagnosed with allergic asthma. He was suffocating and he lost consciousness due to lack of air. Of course, we went to the doctors and he started taking medicine regularly. When we first started treatment, he made a little progress, but after a bit, the attacks started up again. The doctors put him in the hospital under constant supervision, conducted a course of treatment, and advised us to take him to a resort where there are many pine trees.
A few days later, we were heading for the resort city of Surami, where there are pine forests. The day after we arrived in Surami, our son got a fever and we had to return to Tbilisi. Along the way, my wife suggested that we stop at Samtavro Monastery. Our son was very weak, unable to stand from his fever and weakness. It was hard for him to breathe and he was in a half-asleep state the whole time. We got to the monastery and we carried our Alexander in our arms and placed him on the grave of Elder Gabriel. Mother Paraskeva anointed him with oil from the Elder’s lampada, we prayed, and got back in the car.
A few minutes later, Alexander asked for some food. We immediately fed him and were very glad that he had revived a little. We got to Tbilisi and went straight to the children’s hospital. The doctors examined him, put him in a room, and told us he didn’t have a fever, his blood oxygen saturation was normal, and his heartbeat was excellent.
The next morning, we went home. It’s been almost thirteen years since that day and our Alexander hasn’t had any attacks—his asthma has disappeared. All of this is thanks, of course, to the prayers of Elder Gabriel!
***
Here’s a story that happened to my cousin Guram.
One time he was sent on a business trip to Racha1 for a week. On the last day of the trip, he and some co-workers decided to visit the Nikortsminda Cathedral.2 They prayed and lit some candles. At some point, a monk came into the church. My cousin went over to get a blessing, and the monk started asking him where he came from, where he works, and where he lives. This was in 2010.
According to Guram, the monk was dressed strangely and was making peculiar gestures. When they were getting ready to leave the church, the old monk said to Guram, “My brother and neighbor! I have a humble request for you. A relative of mine and his wife recently came to see this old man. They brought some groceries and warm clothes and quickly left, since they were in a big hurry. In the fuss, the wife, Natalia, left her bag in the church. I’ll call them to arrange with them when my assistant arrives, and tomorrow they’ll be in Samtavro, in Mtskheta, at exactly four o’clock. Can you give them the bag?”
My brother asked for the number of the owner of the bag, but the monk said he didn’t know it, only his assistant, who would be returning to the church fairly late. He asked my brother to leave his number and promised to call as soon as his assistant arrived. So Guram took the purse, and they went to Tbilisi. To his great surprise, no one called or gave him the number of the owner of the bag. Still, the next day, he went to Mtskheta.
When he arrived at Samtavro Monastery, he walked around the yard for a long time, with no clue how, among so many people, to find the woman named Natalia to whom the purse belonged. Guram wasn’t a church-goer then, and he was very surprised to see so many people kneeling at a certain grave. He went over to the grave, and this is what he told me:
Teimur, I was nearly paralyzed when I saw a photo of the monk who had given me the bag. And the inscription on the tombstone said: “1929–1995.” I gathered my strength and said loudly: “Who here is named Natalia?” And a woman responded. I went over to her and asked whether she had left her purse in Racha. She looked at me in surprise and said: “No, I haven’t been to Racha for many years, but I lost my purse a month ago. Why do you ask?” I told her about how an old monk, who must be a relative of hers, gave me her bag. The woman listened and, with bated breath and tears running down, repeated: “It can’t be…” And when I showed her the bag, she fell to her knees at the Elder’s grave and began sobbing uncontrollably.
It turns out that this was the same Natalia who had lost her bag, where, besides her personal belongings, there were letters written by her since-deceased father to her when she was living abroad. According to her, she didn’t have any monk relatives, but she had asked Fr. Gabriel to help and at least find the letters that were so precious to her as a memory of her reposed father. No one could explain it, and it was hard to believe that Elder Gabriel had a one-on-one conversation with Guram in 2010 and handed over Natalia’s lost bag.
After this incident, Guram still had some doubts, and soon went to Nikortsminda with the hope of seeing that old monk. But, as you can probably guess, he didn’t find such a monk there, and the other clergy also confirmed that they had never seen such a monk.
The main thing in this story is that Guram started going to church and became deeply religious. He went to church, received Holy Communion, and never forgot about this miracle. He soon fell ill and departed to the Lord. Before death, he was praying on his prayer rope and said, “My elder came, he didn’t abandon me…”
Thus, through the Elder’s prayers, the Lord revealed a great miracle! And Elder Gabriel, obviously, didn’t allow Guram to leave this world without becoming an active believer and receiving Communion! And he saved his soul in such an amazing way.
***
Fr. Gabriel doesn’t abandon anyone. I can say this for sure. To this day, he makes every effort to save our souls, showing through living examples the essence of Orthodoxy and the essence of love, humility, and meekness of soul. I remember how one of my friends was fired because he was found drunk at work several times. I got very angry and started condemning his behavior in front of his family and mutual acquaintances.
“How dare he! Has he lost all shame?! Drinking, and at work too! What a disgrace!” Several months passed, and I was vacationing with my family at our dacha. We were celebrating our nephew’s birthday, enjoying each other’s company, drinking Georgian wine, and having fun. The next day, our neighbors invited us to a family celebration. And there we had to drink too. So it ended up that for several days in a row, there happened to be a number of feasts that we either hosted or were invited to. And I had to drink several glasses, because I was appointed toastmaster everywhere.
One day, my wife and I went to the market. We happened to meet some acquaintances, including a coworker. “How’s your vacation going?” the coworker asked. “Well,” my wife jumped in, “he’s been leading feasts every day. He’s been toastmaster for five days in a row already, so he has to drink.” And then my coworker said in a preachy tone: “Learn to say no sometimes, or your liver won’t last long. You Georgian men can’t go without wine. You know, you could just sit and spend some time together…”
I felt uncomfortable about what he said but I didn’t respond. That evening, my coworker called me and said: “Teimur, what are you doing! Why are you worrying your wife? You’re supposed to get back to work soon. Get yourself together, you know the boss doesn’t like seeing employees hungover.” It turned out that this coworker we met at the market told her version of the story to all our coworkers. I didn’t pay much attention to it, although I really disliked this gossip.
Agitated and annoyed, I sat in my armchair, took out my phone, opened it, and found myself on a social media page about Elder Gabriel. And there was his photograph, and below it, one of his teachings: “If you see a murderer, or a prostitute, or a drunkard lying on the ground, don’t judge, for God has loosened their reins while keeping yours tight. If He loosens yours too, you might end up in an even worse position and even perish: For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged (Mt. 7:2).”
And I immediately remembered my friend whom I had judged so harshly and whose behavior had outraged me. That’s how, by a living example, Elder Gabriel showed that we must never judge! Glory and thanksgiving to the Lord God for all things! Pray to God for us, our venerable Elder Gabriel!
***
Appeal to the readers of OrthoChristian.com
Dear brothers and sisters!
First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to all of you for your support in our common work of making a film about the great saint of our time Elder Gabriel.
With God’s help, we’re completing filming on the third documentary about our beloved Elder. A lot of work has been done, but there is still some important work ahead.
We appeal to all of you with a request to contribute whatever amount you can to continue the filming—even the tiniest contribution often proves decisive in such a great work.
Donations can be sent via PayPal to diademas@yahoo.com.
When donating funds, please indicate your names in Holy Baptism, and also the names of your departed relatives. A moleben will be served for all donors at the relics of St. Gabriel in Samtavro Monastery, and all names will be commemorated at the 
“Elder Gabriel Has Come with Our Seraphim”No matter where we took the icon and the relics of Elder Gabriel, people everywhere loudly exclaimed: “GLORY TO GOD!”
“>wonderworking icon of Sts. Gabriel and Seraphim of Sarov.
Names can be sent in an email to diademas@yahoo.com.