Saint Davit of Gareji's miracle in the wilderness

St. Davit of Gareji was a disciple of St. John of Zedazeni who went with the elder from Syria to Georgia.  St. Davit settled on a mountain above Tbilisi with his disciple, St. Lukiane.  The region was plagued by Persian fire-worshippers, so St. Davit spent many hours each day in fervent prayer for the people of the city of Tbilisi.  He and St. Lukiane would go down into the city every week and preach.  His popularity grew, alarming the Persians.  They accused St. Davit of adultery with a prostitute.  When they presented the prostitute to bear witness, the saint touched his staff to her swollen belly and commanded the unborn child to proclaim the true father's name.  The child did so from out of the womb.  The fire-worshippers were infuriated with this and stoned the prostitute to death.  St. Davit begged them to cease, but they would not.  Troubled by this event, St. Davit and St. Lukiane moved to a small cave in the wilderness.  They ate nothing but herbs and tree bark.  When the herbs withered from the summer heat, God sent deer to give them milk.  St. Lukiane milked the deer and presented it to St. Davit.  St. Davit blessed it by making the sign of the cross over it and it miraculously turned into cheese.  St. Lukiane was awestruck by the miracle and told him, "Even if my body rots and wastes away from hunger and thirst, I will not permit myself to fret over things of this temporal life."  While tracking the fathers' deer, local hunters saw St. Lukiane milking them as if they were cow.  The hunters paid respect to St. Davit and returned home.  They told others what they had seen and many came to the wilderness to draw nearer to God.  A monastery was built there that stood for centuries as a center for the Faith in Georgia.  A serpent lived in a cave not far from their own cave.  This serpent killed many of the animals that lived around them.   St. Davit commanded it to leave the place and it obeyed.  St. Davit decided to go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.  He asked St. Lukiane to take care of the monastery in his absence.  Once he arrived at the "Ridge of Grace" overlooking Jerusalem, he stopped and could go no further, because he felt unworthy to walk in the footsteps of Christ.  His companions went down into the city and visited the Holy places.  He took three stones from the Ridge and turned to return home when his companions were finished.  That night an angel appeared to the patriarch of Jerusalem, telling him that St. Davit had taken the holiness of Jerusalem with him in the form of three stones.  The patriarch sent messengers to St. Davit requesting him to return two of the stones, keeping only one for himself.  St. Davit did so and brought the one stone back with him to the monastery.  The stone has proven to be a source of many miracles even to this day.  The monastery doubled in size and St. Davit ministered to them all.  God told St. Davit that he was going to depart from this life, so he gathered the priests of the wilderness and instructed them one last time.  He encouraged them not to fall into confusion, instead to hold fast to the Faith for the salvation of their souls.  He received Holy Communion, lifted his hands to Heaven, and gave up his spirit.  St. Davit's relics are especially known for restoring sight to those that have been blind since birth.  

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