“Miracles happened even during his earthly life, others – already after his blessed repose.”
Elder Gabriel Urgebadze left behind not only the memory of a holy life, but also many testimonies of his remarkable clairvoyance and help to people. Some miracles happened even during his earthly life, others – already after his blessed repose. These stories tell of how the Lord, through His faithful servant, brought people back to faith, saved them from spiritual fall, and showed His mercy in the most unexpected ways.
“I will become your guide”
Monk Gabriel (Natenadze) recalls:
In my youth, I considered myself a believer only because I had been raised that way. I rarely entered church and without much desire. Each time, some invisible force stopped me at the church threshold: now shame, now inner resistance prevented me from taking that final step.
One day, a friend literally talked me into going with him to the Sioni Cathedral. It would have been awkward to refuse, so I agreed. We lit candles, and at that moment someone gently touched my back. I turned around and saw a monk.
His hand felt surprisingly heavy, and his gaze – penetrating into the very depths of my soul.
— Brother in Christ, — he said, — heavy and sweet is your cross. May the Archangel be your helper and protector. Ask – and you shall receive. But when you are called – come. I will become your guide.
After these words, the elder prayed for a while, and then unexpectedly turned to me:
— Stand up, my Gabriel, and preach my thoughts!
I wanted to ask why he called me by that name, but the elder only laughed loudly and left the church.
That was Father Gabriel Urgebadze.
From that meeting, my life began to change. I began to regularly attend services, learned to pray, and thought about God more and more often. However, soon my prayers took an unexpected direction: I began to ask not for spiritual gifts, but for material well-being.
And indeed, things quickly took off. I got a job at one of Tbilisi’s most prestigious restaurants, built a career, and gradually forgot about church. In place of prayer came money, entertainment and temptations. Life became filled with lies, vanity and sin.
Sometimes the smiling elder would appear to me in my sleep, but I paid no attention to it.
One night, returning home, I found armed robbers in my apartment. They took all my belongings, leaving me with nothing.
This shock made me cross the church threshold once again.
Gradually, awareness came: the Lord had not turned away from me. Through trials, He was bringing me back to Himself.
Soon I lost my job, but gained something far more valuable – the opportunity to once again live a church life.
Some time later, I had an unusual dream. Elder Gabriel stood on the church dome in distant Javakheti and said sternly:
— It is time. Come down, Gabriel. It is time.
This dream changed everything. I went to Javakheti, met Bishop Seraphim, and received spiritual guidance that finally strengthened me on the path to Christ.
On the feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, I took monastic vows with the name Gabriel.
Thus the words of the elder, spoken many years ago in the Sioni Cathedral, were fulfilled.
“Christ is the true God. Believe me”
Zachariah Chugoshvili recounts:
When I was just beginning my church life, my faith was still very fragile.
One day on a bus, I met a young woman holding a Gospel. Deciding that she was a sincerely believing person, I struck up a conversation with her.
However, it soon turned out that she belonged to a sect. Cleverly picking out individual phrases from Scripture, she tried to convince me that Christ is not God, and that the Church does not matter.
Her words deeply wounded me.
When I entered the Sioni Cathedral, my heart was filled with doubts and heaviness. It seemed that my faith was crumbling before my very eyes.
I fell to my knees and bowed my head almost in despair.
At that moment, someone placed a hand on my shoulder.
Before me stood Father Gabriel.
He looked me straight in the eyes and calmly said:
— The Jews did not accept Christ as God and therefore remained in darkness. Christ is the true God. Believe me.
After a short pause, he added:
— Now do you understand?
Having said this, the elder disappeared into the crowd of worshippers.
In that very instant, it was as if heavy chains fell from my soul. The doubts vanished, the fear left. My heart was filled with extraordinary joy and peace.
From that day on, Father Gabriel became my spiritual mentor, and his words remained forever in my memory as a saving gift from God.
“Return the icon – and everything will change”
Servant of God Guram recalls:
I always considered myself a believer, but I rarely attended church.
During a trip to Western Georgia, our group stopped near a roadside wayside cross. In a small icon case there were candles and several icons.
Among them, I especially liked a small image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
Looking around and seeing no one nearby, I decided to take the icon home. It seemed to me that it would be better preserved that way.
Two weeks later, severe pain began in my chest area.
Tests showed nothing. Doctors shrugged, and the attacks became more and more agonizing.
One day, relatives suggested going to the Samtavro Monastery and praying at the grave of Elder Gabriel.
I refused.
But that same night, something amazing happened.
In a dream, Father Gabriel himself entered my room.
At first he smiled, and then said sternly:
— If Guram does not go to Gabriel, then Gabriel will come to Guram himself!
Then, narrowing his eyes, he added:
— Does your head hurt? You should be rejoicing! That means there’s a brain in your head!
I was even taken aback by the surprise.
But then the elder spoke seriously:
— Who allowed you to take someone else’s icon?
I began to make excuses, assuring him that I had wanted to preserve the holy object.
— Even with good intentions, one cannot take church things without a blessing, — he answered. — Return the icon to its place. Then the pain will disappear and your life will improve.
With these words, he made the sign of the cross over me and left.
When I woke up, I immediately understood what I had to do.
That very morning we set out for Western Georgia and returned the icon to where it had been before.
When everything was done, a priest came up to us.
After listening to my story, he smiled and said:
— I had long noticed that this icon was missing and prayed for the person who took it. Since you returned the holy object on the instruction of Father Gabriel, I now bless you to take it back. And also accept as a gift an icon of the elder himself.
From that day on, the pain disappeared completely.
But the main miracle was not the healing of the body, but the return of the soul to God.
Since then, I regularly attend church, live a church life, and remember with gratitude that day when Elder Gabriel came to me precisely when I least expected it.
These stories remind us once again: God’s love knows no boundaries of time or space. The Lord works through His saints even today, strengthening the faithful, comforting the sorrowful, and bringing the lost back to the path of salvation.
Truly, the ways of the Lord are inscrutable.
