ABSTRACT
The Georgian life of Saint John Damascene, which can be ascribed to Ephrem Mtsiré, 2 ends with the following colophon: 3 'Pray, friends of Christ, for John, brother and monk, who instructed me, the unworthy Ephrem Mtsiré, to translate from Greek this short Life of the great John Damascene, which was skilfully written even now in our own times, by Michael, the priest of Saint Simeon, in order to give thanks for having been delivered from captivity. For the Turks of Soliman, having arrived on the first of December, seized the town in one day and then on the day of the feast of saintjohn Damascene, the fourth of the same December, caused the people of the mountain to descend. The priest Michael, a brother of Saint Simeon, whom we mentioned above, was guarded from all evil along with the whole people. Then, when he found himself in the town, he wrote this work in Arabic. Then, Samuel, the holy metropolitan of Adana, translated it into the language of the Greeks, and embellished it (seamko): and it is this version which has now been translated into Georgian, thanks to the prayers of our Fathers Sabas and Anthony, on the orders and with the support of the above-mentioned John, and of Cyriacus, the illustrious priest. May the Lord reward this work and expense with His grace!'
