Gavrielia Papagianni

Gerontissa Gavrielia (Mother Gabriela), also known as Saint Gabriela of the Ascetic of Love (15 October 1897 – 28 March 1992) was a Greek Orthodox nun, known for her care of the poor and sick. She was the second woman to be admitted to a Greek university and was a trained physiotherapist prior to taking up her religious calling at the age of 60. She was canonized by the Holy synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople on 3 October 2023. as the youngest child of Helias and Victoria Papayannis, a wealthy Greek family. She grew up in Constantinople and lived there until her family was deported during the 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey and sent to Thessaloniki. She entered the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, becoming the second woman ever admitted to a Greek university, |group="notes" and after accepting tonsure became a nun. After her three-year novitiate, Papayannis took the name Gavrilia.

Sister Gavrilia was sent to the Taizé Community in France by the Patriarch Athenagoras I of Constantinople, though her assignment there was brief. She was then sent to the United States, where she toured ethnic Greek communities in seventeen states and accompanied many mentally ill patients to psychiatric hospitals in Europe. After nearly a decade of touring, speaking, and helping the sick, she was sent to East Africa for three years to do missionary work. Following a brief assignment in Germany, Sister Gavrilia was sent back to India, where she remained for three years. In 1979, she was given use of an Athens apartment and became a "Gerontissa" (elder), counseling disciples and helping the sick over the next ten years. Near the end of her life, she retreated to a hermitage in Aegina, but when she developed Hodgkin's disease she returned to Athens. After a miraculous healing, she left Athens two years before her death and moved to the island of Leros. Gerontissa Gavrielia died on Leros on 28 March, 1992.

Legacy In 1996 a biography of her life entitled I Askitiki tis Agapis was published in Greek, in 1999 the book was translated into English, and in 2000 into Russian. It has since had 14 Greek editions, 2 English editions, and has been translated into Arabic, French and Serbian.

Canonization Elder Gavrielia was canonized by the holy synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople on 3 October 2023.

The relics of Saint Gavrielia may also be venerated at the Greek Orthodox Church of Prophet Elias in Frankfurt, Germany.