Until the twelfth century, Serbs lived in separate Balkans in separate regions. Christianity on the peninsula was, but in its infancy. The people lived under the yoke of Byzantium, the emperor did not need to form and develop a nation paying him tribute.
Independence became a powerful incentive for the development of writing and religion. The struggle with the Byzantine emperor began the dynasty of princes Raska. The name Nemanichy is associated with independence, the development of culture, education, law and the organization of autocephaly. According to historians, the most prominent representative of the dynasty was St. Sava of Serbia.
Prince Rastko
The ascetic's father was Stefan Nemanja, who made a huge contribution to the development of Raska, part of the principality from the eleventh to the thirteenth century. The Serbian state soon collapsed, and the region passed under the rule of the Byzantine emperor. Stefan became the prince of Raska, and he really did not like the amount of taxes imposed by the invader. After paying the tax, the population was below the poverty line. There was nothing to feed the children and themselves, they did not even dream of stocks. Stefan decided to fight the Byzantine yoke and succeeded. The prince managed not only to defend independence, but also to join other regions in the Balkans, in which the Serbs lived, to Raska.
Stefan married with Anna Nemanich, the daughter of one of the Balkan rulers. Six children appeared in this union, one of whom was Rastko, known to us as Saint Sava of Serbia. The exact date of birth of the ascetic is unknown, historians mention the years from 1169 to 1175. The childhood of the future elder passed in the mountains, on the territory of present Podgorica. Before the eyes of the boy was a Christian example of his parents, brothers and sisters, so Rastko's only desire was monasticism.
The Blessed Virgin Mary
In the life of St. Savva of Serbia it is said that, becoming a young man, he went to Mount Athos to take monastic tonsure in the Russian monastery of St. Panteleimon. In the twelfth century, the Serbs on Mount Athos did not yet have their monastery. Panteleimon Monastery often took novices from the Balkan Peninsula into its ranks. Subsequently, Saint Sava of Serbia labored with the Greeks. Russian monks willingly shared knowledge and experience with the young man, which later affected his writings.
At the end of the twelfth century, Dobrynya Yadreikovich, a Novgorodian who later became Archbishop Anthony, also visited the Holy Mountain. Telling his friends about the trip, he also remembered Savva, an amazing young monk who lives in the monastery of Our Lady of Evergetida. The monk tried not to stand out, but that all the Athos inhabitants knew that he was the son of the Serbian great jupan. The Russian pilgrim was infinitely surprised by the prince’s deed - a voluntary renunciation of the world and high social status at such a young age. In addition, having become a monk, Saint Sava of Serbia forever refused his personal life, family. He devoted himself fully to the service of the Lord.
The life of St. Sava of Serbia was composed by Father Superior Dometian in 1243. Towards the end of the twelfth century, the prot. Of the Holy Mountain ordered the noble monk to go to Vatoped, a monastery of Greek monks. Three years later, the father of St. Sava of Serbia, Stephen, came to the same monastery. The Great Zhupan handed over the reins of government to his eldest son and went to the monastery of Studenica, where he received tonsure with the name Simeon. His wife, the mother of St. Sava of Serbia, also followed her husband and took tonsure in Toplice. The monastery of the Blessed Virgin Mary became a home for Anna, in the monasticism of Anastasia, until the end of her days.
The Orthodox people composed such verses about St. Sava of Serbia:
A little boy prays in the temple
Evening service has been going on for a long time.
Near father is the good Stefan Nemanja,
Elder brothers and other people.
The child’s look is deep and clear,
Reason sparkles in it beyond its years.
The boy’s simple name is Rastko,
He knows psalms and can read himself.
Just does not know little Rastko:
He will become a monk in the future.
Secretly leave his state
In cell went to live on Athos.
To lose wealth and glory,
To gain the glory of the holy forever.
To with the monastic name of Savva
The faith of Christ to carry to all Serbs.
Together with the old father on Athos
They will erect a marvelous monastery.
Stefan Nemanja, forgetting the throne,
A meek monk will appear here.
Rastko prays, does not know in thoughts:
Through dozens of volatile years
There will be an archbishop in Serbia,
Savva, who grants light to wisdom.
Stephen, brother, crowns the crown,
Build many monasteries.
The heart will console human sorrows
The elder is native to ordinary people.
The boy does not see: animal hordes
Serbia will be filled with barbarism.
To destroy Serbian pride
The yoke is agonizing.
Thousands of thousands of brutally murdered
Beggars refugees, temples on fire,
But the prayer of Christ will not abate
In a poor, utterly devastated country.
And the rebelled Serbs will stir up,
Centuries later, freedom will be returned!
The earth will be cleansed of filth
Justice will happen!
The people will triumph - the winner!
Not afraid of new adversity!
In the Kingdom of Heaven, Sava Saint
Serbia will be saved by pure prayer ...
... The service is over. Alone in God's temple
Rastko prays, does not want to leave.
As if he sees everything and understands everything,
Everything that happens must come ...
Hilandar Construction
According to God's providence, Savva planned to create a Serbian autonomous monastery on Holy Mountain. To help himself, the monk invited his father to Mount Athos. Monk Simeon arrived on the peninsula in October 1197 and, together with his son, begins preparations for the construction of the monastery.
The monastery was not built from scratch, the Greeks gave the Serbs the ruins of Hilandar, standing in the east of Mount Athos. In 985, Rev. George Hilandarios built a cloister between Zograf and Karia, a small town considered the capital of the Holy Mountain. The place for construction was not very well chosen for that time. The monastery, standing half an hour walk from the coast, was constantly attacked by sea robbers. By the time Saint Sava of Serbia came to Mount Athos, the churches and hostels of Hilandar were destroyed to the ground.
Simeon, possessing sufficient experience in the construction of churches, understood that according to the documents Hilandar still belongs to the Greek monks, and the construction of the Serbian spiritual center is under threat. Father and son prayed to the Lord and His Mother for the best solution to the problem. God heard them, and soon Savva receives a task from Hegumen Vatopeda: to go to Constantinople to solve some urgent issues of the Greek monastery. The Serbs understood that the Lord gives a chance, and use it without delay.
Stephen, the new great zhupan and brother of the saint, was married to the daughter of Constantinople Emperor Alexei III. Savva went to the courtyard with a request to publish a drawing of Hilandar’s transfer to Watoped. The saint did not expect any obstacles from the side of his native monastery. But Vatoped, unexpectedly for the Serbs, refused to give up the ruins of Hilandar. Then Savva and Simeon were forced to turn to the capital's prot, and later to Kinot. Savva was not able to address the emperor directly. Then, the Holy Kinot interceded for the Serbs, asking Alexei III to publish a new chrisovul, in favor of the saint and his father.
Gift of the king of Byzantium
The emperor treated his relatives with great respect, carefully studying the intricacies of a complicated case. Having understood, the king even awarded Hilandar the title of imperial laurel. According to the laws of Byzantium, the monastery was now subordinated to the Zigu monastery, located in the east of the Holy Mountain, several kilometers before the border of the "monastic republic." This is the only monastery on Athos, accessible to both men and women.
The imperial patronage allowed the Orthodox Serbs to get out of the jurisdiction of the Svyatogorsky prot and become completely independent. Saint Sava and his father, the monk Simeon, with the support of the great zupan Stefan, rebuilt Hilandar, drew up a charter, and began to accept the inhabitants. Monarchs and rulers who ascended the throne after the Nemanich dynasty also helped the monastery in everything. Today, the monastery is rightfully considered the pearl of the Serbian Orthodox Church. More about Hilandar and who Saint Sava of Serbia is in this video:
Father's death
Having finished the construction of the monastery, Simeon died at the age of 85. Savva buried his father and wanted to retire to pray for the deceased parent. For this, the saint built in 1199 a cell in Karey. In complete solitude, Savva carried out a strict monastic rule daily, read the Psalter as a whole, and ate food once a day, observing a particularly strict fast on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Once during a prayer for his father he had a vision: Simeon in a cloud of uncreated light, surrounded by saints and the righteous. The father told Savva that he had received the reward from the Lord, and his fate was blessed.
He also promised the mercy of God to his son. Savva was glad and thanked the Lord. In his silence, as he called the holy cell, he compiled a detailed biography of his father and asked the hegumen of the Holy Mountain to make a lithium on his grave. Savva believed that the Lord would reveal the righteous. And so it happened. During the service, Simeon’s grave was filled with peace, fragrance spread around. The Athos inhabitants of the new saint unanimously recognized and glorified him. Saint Sava wrote about what happened to his native Serbia, which pleased his brothers and sisters a lot.
Transferring the relics of Simeon to Serbia
The new century has brought many troubles to the earth. In 1202, Constantinople was captured by the Catholic crusaders and the Latin Empire formed. The emperor and the Byzantine Patriarch took refuge in Nicaea, and a Catholic threat hung over Athos. There was no calm in the Balkans either: the elder brother of Savva Vukan rebelled against Stephen, to whom his father handed over the reins of government.
The rebel took two regions from Serbia and declared himself king, with the support of the Pope. The fraternal enmity began to threaten the Orthodox faith in Serbia, as the Pope, through the self-proclaimed king, instilled Catholicism in the Balkans. Stefan, with difficulty restraining his brother, wrote to Athos to Saint Sava. In a letter, he asked to bring his father's relics to his native land in order to reconcile the brothers and stop the feud.
The Consolation of the Brotherhood
From the biography of St. Sava of Serbia it is known that he spent twenty years on Athos. The holy mountain became his home, it was not easy to leave it. But for the sake of brothers and peace in their native land, they had to raise their father from the grave and go on a journey together with several fathers of the Holy Mountain. The Chilandar inhabitants were inconsolable, but Simeon appeared to the abbot Methodius in a dream and said that a vine would grow from the empty tomb, and while it continues to bear fruit, the blessing of the saint rests at the monastery and its inhabitants.
Soon, a grape bush really grew on the grave and to this day bears fruit, although its age has already exceeded eight centuries. Sometimes she is mistakenly considered the vine of St. Sava of Serbia, although in fact it grows at the burial place of his father, Simeon.
In Serbia, the delegation was received with great respect, the relics of Simeon were put in the monastery that was once built by him, Studenica. Sava daily performed the Divine Liturgy with local priests. After the service, the saint delivered heartfelt sermons, urging people to reconcile and end the civil war. The people, remembering their good ruler, received support and hope for a peaceful life.
Peacemaker and Preacher
Savva spoke daily with his brothers, Wukan and Stefan, in the hope of reconciling them. And God, through the prayers of the saint, enlightened the warring. In the memory of the Serbian people, they forever remained reconciled brothers. Coincidence or not, but after this the relics of St. Simeon were again pacified. Savva was going to return to Athos with his fathers, the Holy Highlanders, but the great zupan begged him to stay.
Seeing in these persuasions the will of God, the saint decided to continue his father’s work to spread Christianity in his native land, becoming the builder of temples and monasteries. Some Athos monks remained with him, while the rest, richly gifted by the great zupan, returned to the Holy Mountain.
Savva, elevated to the rank of archimandrite, began his activity with Studenica, becoming his rector. The monastery lived according to the charter of Hilandar, the Holy Mountaineers taught new recruits who wanted to devote their lives to serving the Lord. Pilgrims from all over the Balkan Peninsula flocked to Studenica: everyone wanted to listen to the prince, who had proved by his own example that the kingdom of God was accessible to the rich.
Pilgrims traveled to pray at the relics of St. Simeon, to confess sins and receive instruction. The monastery grew rich and expanded. Under the guidance of St. Savva, residential buildings for monks, monastery hotels and archondarics, farm buildings, cattle pens and vast granaries were built. Cargo was regularly sent to Hilandar to support the monks.
Ally attack
As soon as the monastery’s life improved, Savva shared with his brother Stephen the idea of ​​building a monastery in the town of ić. But the discussion of the details was interrupted by the news of the attack on Serbia by the rebellious Bulgarian prince Stresa. The Great Zhupan established diplomatic relations with Bulgaria. For a long time the two states did not conflict. Bulgarian king Kaloyan waged war against the Latins and was killed during the siege of Thessaloniki. The heir to the kingdom was his nephew Borilo. But Stres, vassal Kaloyan rebelled against the new ruler.
Desiring to expand the borders of Bulgaria, the rebel attacked Serbia. Saint Savva went to the camp of the enemy alone and in every possible way exhorted Stresa to stop his rampant lifestyle and mockery of prisoners. Not having achieved the remorse of the Bulgarian, the archimandrite went to the place of accommodation. After midnight, a man came running from the palace and told about the death of Stresa. Dying, he shouted that a certain youth sent by Savva pierced his heart with a spear.
The saint understood that it was an angel of the Lord. The warriors, who learned in the morning of Stresa's death, left the camp and returned home. After miraculously getting rid of the adversary in Serbia, peace was established for a long time. Savva and Stephen began the construction of the monastery. In fulfilling his plan, the saint did not leave missionary service: he continued to prepare the monks for enlightenment work and service in the parishes. On Sundays, Savva taught literacy to peasant children.
While traveling around the country, he talked with ordinary people, instructing and blessing them. People from all the outskirts flocked to the new monastery in Zhiche. Everyone was attracted by the glory of Sava as a prayer book and miracle worker. Especially the flow intensified after the archimandrite healed a paralyzed person. Ordinary peasants quickly spread the message of healing, and weak, weak and relaxed inundated the monastery, asking for health and forgiveness of sins.
Death of an Ascetic
The difficult life of St. Sava ended unexpectedly. In order to reconcile the two warring parties, Nicaea and Bulgaria, he went on a journey. With God's help, he managed to convince the two kings to abandon the war. Asen, ruler of Bulgaria, invited Savva to stay with him, wait until spring to return home. The saint agreed and every evening talked with the king, instructing him in faith and piety. On the Feast of the Epiphany, Savva began to have a fever. The saint took this as a sign of imminent death, hastened to complete earthly affairs and partook of Christ's Secrets.
On January 14, 1235, the disciples who were near Savva heard a voice: “Rejoice, My servant who has loved the truth!” - and, a little later: “Come, My good and beloved servant, accept the reward that I promised everyone who loves Me.” At that moment, the saint, with a smile, surrendered his soul to the Lord.
The return of relics
Savva of Serbia was reposed with honors in a church in Bulgaria. King Vladislav, the nephew of the saint, wrote a letter to the Bulgarian ruler asking him to give the honest relics of the saint, which he was refused every time. Asen and Patriarch Joachim believed that the saint, by the will of God, rested in Bulgaria, and not in Serbia, which means that his relics should also be on this earth. Citizens of King Vladislav were indignant, demanded to return the shrine, the specter of a civil war was again approaching the Balkans. Then the ruler of Serbia went to Bulgaria, to the temple of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, where the honest relics of Saint Sava were laid and prayed to him:
I know that my sin made you leave Serbia and led to death in a foreign land. But forgive me for the love of your brother, and my father. Do not forget your people, for which you suffered so much, and do not cover me with shame and grief. Pray to God and with your prayers turn the heart of King Asen, may he allow me to take your body; for my people will despise me if I return without you.
On the same night, Saint Sava appeared in a dream to the King of Bulgaria and asked him to give his body to the Serbs. Asen, rightly fearing the wrath of the Lord, agreed to solemnly transfer the relics of Savva to his homeland. At the opening of the sarcophagus, a fragrance spread throughout the church and numerous miracles took place, and the saint himself seemed asleep.
Throughout its history, Serbia has not known a more significant and solemn event than the transfer of the relics of St. Sava from Bulgaria to Serbia. They laid the relics in the same place where Rastko Nemanich was born and raised - in Herzegovina, in the town of Mileshevo.
Turkish yoke
Peaceful life in the Balkans ended with the advent of the Turks. The Ottoman Empire attacked the peninsula and established its own rules; many Serbs were forcibly converted to Islam. The Turks were afraid to touch the monastery in Jiche, because so many miracles were performed from the tomb of the saint that the candlestick with the relics was never empty, even in the most mournful times for the Serbs.
The biography of St. Sava of Serbia, compiled by his disciple, hegumen Domenian, who was the abbot and confessor of the Chilandar Athos Monastery, tells about the largest events of this kind. Until the end of the sixteenth century, in Jiche they sought the intercession and help of the saint. Everyone, young and old, knew what Saint Sava of Serbia helps and who he is. After spending more than one hundred and fifty years under the oppression of the Ottoman Empire, the Serbs began to organize uprisings, gradually getting out of the control of the invaders.
Burning of relics
The Turks rightly believed that the partisan spirit was being heated in the cloisters and monasteries. The bloodthirsty khan Muhammad the Third gave the order to suppress the resistance, destroying the shrines. The monastery in Jiche was surrounded, the monks were forced to give a wooden casket with the relics of St. Sava. The coffin was taken to Belgrade and burned in public. After this blasphemous act, repression of the highest church hierarchs followed. Bishop Theodore of Vrsack received a martyrdom, and torturers made a drum out of his skin. Patriarch John was chained, brought to Constantinople and hanged at the Adrianople Gate.
Temple in Belgrade
At the end of the nineteenth century, on the site of the burning of relics, the construction of the church of St. Sava of Serbia in Belgrade began. This building has not been fully completed to this day. In 1894, discussions began on numerous projects, disputes and discussions about the choice of architectural style, builders and materials.
The final project was approved only in 1935, at the same time the foundation was laid for the future church of St. Sava of Serbia in Belgrade. In 1939, it was possible to build walls 12 meters high. And on the first of September 1939 the Second World War began, so the construction of the temple of St. Sava of Serbia had to be frozen.
Construction work resumed only in 1986. It was the day of St. Sava of Serbia. Three years later, the dome was completed. The official opening of the temple took place in 2004, in the spring of 2008 the chapel was consecrated in honor of the holy martyrs Yermil and Stratonik.
In Russia, Saint Savva of Serbia is revered no less than in Serbia. In 2015, the president of our country appointed Rossotrudnichestvo as the general coordinator of work on the decoration of the interior of the cathedral. Russian and Serbian experts jointly mosaic the main dome with a total area of ​​1230 square meters, and in December 2018 installation of the mosaic in the altar began .
In Russia, Saint Sava Serbian is very revered. Many childless couples ask him for help in conception. Unjustly offended and oppressed ask for help in getting rid of tyranny. How does Saint Sava of Serbia help? He was a great ascetic, calming civil wars, alone entering the camp of the enemy, healing the sick and building temples. Therefore, the saint helps those who turn to him with any problem. Need help with faith and hope. On the feast day of St. Sava of Serbia, an akathist read in the temples and pray:
O sacred head, glorious miracle worker, Hierarch of Christ Savo, Serbian land prince of the throne, guardian and enlightener, all Christians trustworthy before the Lord to the representative, we fall and pray to you: give us to be a partaker of your love for God and neighbor, her holy life is full of you speed up.
Illumine us with truth, enlighten our mind and heart with the light of Divine teachings, teach us to imitate you correctly, to love God and our neighbor and make the commandments of the Lord sinless, let us be thy child not only by name, but by our whole life. Pray, holy to the bishop, for the saints of the Orthodox Church and your earthly homeland, in the presence of reverence for love. Take kind consideration to every soul of your faithful readers, seek mercy and help, be a healer for all of us in pain, a comforter in sorrow, a visitor in sorrow, an helper in troubles and needs, and at the same time a gracious merciful patron and protector, yes, with the help of prayers of thy saints, we shall also be able to receive the sinful faithful salvation and inherit the kingdom of Christ. To her, holier of God, do not shame our hope, we firmly rest on thee, but show us your many-powerful intercession, let us glorify and sing wondrous things in His saints, God the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, always, now and ever and ever and ever. Amen.
In church shops it is not difficult to find the face of the saint, as well as his works, in order to replenish the home library. In the online store of the Sofrino art-production enterprise, the icon of St. Savva of Serbia can be ordered online with delivery. Masters will make a face of any size, in a case, in salary or without it.
The icon of St. Savva of Serbia must have families with children, as well as introduce the younger generation to the life of the great ascetic. Savva Serbian is an excellent role model: courageous, loyal, meek, educated and persistent. They pray to the saint for health, help in matters, and the resolution of difficulties in work and construction.