Akathist to Saint George the Pilgrim

Originally from the Transylvanian village of Sugag, Grandfather Gheorghe Lazar was born in 1846, in a family of working people. His parents married him at the age of 24, God giving him a family with five children. His occupation was raising cattle. In the family, he led a chosen Christian life, in work, fasting and almsgiving. He read the Psalter daily, and prayed in the garden at night. His face was always serene, despite the many worries and material needs that family life entails. Grandfather Gheorghe Lazar remained in the hearts of those who knew him, laymen and monks, as a saint of our days, a model of the true Romanian pilgrim. Honored as a saint not only in Romania, but also on Mount Athos, Grandfather Gheorghe Lazar was a man of prayer and spiritual needs. This charismatic layman, who received from God the gift of unceasing prayer and that of spiritual discernment, had many monks as disciples, including Father Ioanichie Moroi (became abbot of the Sihastria Monastery) and Protosinghel Damaschin Trofin (abbot of the Râşca Monastery). His grave is in the crypt under the altar of the Văratec Monastery Church, Agapia commune, Văratec village, Neamţ county.