died 744
Catholicos of Georgia in the eighth century, remembered as a wise shepherd of the Georgian Church.
Our Father among the Saints Mamai, Catholicos of Georgia
Saint Mamai was Catholicos of Georgia in the eighth century, leading the Georgian Church from 731 to 744. Before his elevation to the catholical see he had been abbot of Zedazeni Monastery, one of the centers of Georgian monastic life, and tradition remembers him as a shepherd of marked spiritual wisdom and holiness.
He occupied the see during a period of repeated foreign invasion, when the catholicos and the Georgian king were frequently among the first to fall to invading armies. According to the tradition preserved in the Georgian and Orthodox synaxaria, Mamai himself died a martyr for Christ. The surviving record of his life is acknowledged to be scarce, and his commemoration rests chiefly on this memory of faithful leadership and martyrdom.
In truth you were revealed to your flock as a rule of faith,
an image of humility and a teacher of abstinence;
your humility exalted you;
your poverty enriched you.
Hierarch Father Mamai,
entreat Christ our God
that our souls may be saved.
Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).
Mamai's tenure fell in an era when Georgia faced relentless incursions, and the catholicos and the king were often the first victims of invading forces. The sources present him as both a spiritual leader and a guardian of the Georgian people through this turmoil, though they are explicit that the documentary record of his life is limited.
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