Saint Pyrrhus of Breti was a sixth-century monastic of Georgia, numbered among the Thirteen Assyrian (Syrian) Fathers who, according to Georgian church tradition, came from Mesopotamia to strengthen Christianity in the country and are regarded as the founders of its organized monastic life. He was one of the twelve disciples who accompanied their leader, Saint John of Zedazeni, a Syrian ascetic schooled at Antioch who settled on Mount Zedazeni near Mtskheta.
Pyrrhus is remembered chiefly for founding a monastery at Breti, on the bank of the Jvaristsqali River, where his relics are said to rest. In the Georgian tradition he bears the epithet the "Divine Image of Repentance." Like the other Assyrian Fathers, he is commemorated on May 7, the shared feast of John of Zedazeni and his disciples.
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The Thirteen Assyrian Fathers
By Georgian tradition the Assyrian Fathers were a band of monastic missionaries who arrived from Mesopotamia in the sixth century to consolidate the Christian faith that Saint Nino had earlier brought to the country. They are credited with founding numerous monasteries and hermitages and with initiating the ascetic movement that shaped Georgian monasticism. Their leader, John of Zedazeni, is said to have been directed by a vision of the Theotokos to take twelve monks into Georgia; he settled on Mount Zedazeni near Mtskheta. The disciples named with him include Abibus of Nekresi, Anthony of Martqopi, David of Gareji, Shio of Mgvime, and Pyrrhus of Breti, among others.
The accounts of the Fathers survive in a cycle of medieval Georgian hagiographic texts whose dating and authorship are debated, and the surviving tradition names as many as nineteen monks, so the number "thirteen" is understood to be largely symbolic. The whole company is commemorated together on May 7.
Relics & Shrines
Pyrrhus founded a monastery at Breti, on the bank of the Jvaristsqali River, and tradition holds that his holy relics are buried in the church of that monastery.
6th century. Among the Thirteen Assyrian (Syrian) Fathers who came to Georgia in the 6th century; commemorated together on May 7. See the group row OS-1128.
