Have you ever heard of the Saints Sidonia en Nina?
I hadn’t. At least not until I arrived in Georgia and visited the Svetitskhoveli cathedral in Mtskheta. Let me share their story with you.
When Yeshua bin Joseph - aka Jesus / Christ - was walking the earth, news about him and his ministry spread far and wide. It triggered many within the Jewish community to travel to Jerusalem to see the Son of God for themselves.
Among the many who wished to investigate the stories about Christ, were the Georgians Saint Longinoz and Saint Oziel. The latter being the brother of Saint Sidonia.
Saint Oziel’s mother, Sarra, asked her son to stay at home as she had had a vision about the upcoming crucifixion. In vain.
The two Georgian men arrived in Jerusalem, where they witnessed the crucifixion. Remembering the request of his mother and sister, to bring home a relic, Saint Oziel managed to acquire the last clothes worn by Yeshua.
Upon his return to Georgia, Oziel’s sister informed him that while the crucifixion took place, their mother had died of grief. Showing his sister the garments of Christ, Sidonia kissed the robe, embraced it tightly and full of emotions passed away. No-one managed to take the garment from her embrace, and finally it was buried along with her. Her grave became a place of miracles.
Over time, with the fading of faith in Georgia, the location of Christ’s garments was equally forgotten.
Almost three hundred years had past when Saint Nina started her search for Christ’s garment. Nina’s teacher had told her the seamless robe, made by Yeshua’s mother Mary, was in Georgia.
Around that time Saint Nina had a vision in which the Mother of God appeared to her and asked her to evangelize in what is nowadays called Georgia. During that vision, Mother of God gave Nina a cross made of grapevine, which she fastened with her own hair. Considering it a strong protection and a token of love and care of God’s Mother, she carried the cross with her on her quest to Georgia.
The cross is still worshipped in the Sioni Cathedral in Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital.
Saint Nina faced many challenges on her way and finally arrived in Georgia. Even though she met a descendant of Saint Sidonia’s family, no-one was able to shed a light on the whereabouts of Christ’s garments.
Nina continued her mission to bring Christianity to Georgia and the construction of a church was started in Mtskheta. In the royal garden of the town stood a large cypress tree where people came for healing. From this tree pillars were cut for the construction of the church. No matter how hard the workmen tried, the last of the pillars could not be moved from its position. It stood as rooted to the ground.
During a night of prayers, an angel revealed to Saint Nina that this was the burial place of Saint Sidonia and Christ’s robe. The angel moved the pillar and healing myrrh flowed from its foundation. The church was built on that same spot, and called Svetitskhoveli, which means Life-giving Pillar.
Just as Saint Sidonia is still holding Jesus’ garments in her embrace, the cathedral in Mtskheta is holding in its embrace the place where the cypress tree stood, on the resting place of Saint Sidonia and the robe of Christ.
Saint Nina successfully continued the evangelization of the Georgians.
The cathedral in Mtskheta is still a pilgrimage site, frequented by both pilgrims and tourists. Nowadays the cathedral is surrounded by a bazaar. The presence of all the vendors could easily have resulted in me turning around and abandoning the idea of visiting. It didn’t. The pull of the cathedral was stronger.
While most people went straight for the entrance, I spent time walking and sitting in the garden surrounding the cathedral. Away from the crowds I connected with the energy of the site before visiting the lavishly decorated interior.
Much to my surprise, one of the wall paintings features multiple dragons.
Days later, returning from Vardzia, driver Avantandil spontaneously took me to a lakeside nunnery, built on a site, where Saint Nina stayed while she was on her quest to find the garments and to evangelize the people. The nuns are dedicated guardians of the energy of this holy place.
While the story of Saint Sidonia, Saint Oziel, Saint Nina and the last garments of Jesus may not be known around world, it is very much part of Christianity in Georgia.
Sharing my recent post about the Toast Master, with driver Avtandil - who was the source of inspiration for the post - he happily gave me valuable feedback and a few more details about the wine making and wine traditions in Georgia, which I have added to the post.
Also, if you are interested in using Avtandil’s services when traveling to Georgia, his contact details are now listed below the post.
Upcoming events
24 September: Basic Healer Workshop (in person, in Dutch, in The Netherlands)
30 October – 9 November: Siwa Retreat
6 - 20 February 2027: Siwa Art Retreat