Saint Nikanor of Hilandar (+ 1990)

St. Nikanor of Hilandar (Feast Day - March 4)

By Monk Moses the Athonite

The late Elder Nikanor was born in Divci, near Valjevo of Serbia, on August 13, 1903 to pious and simple parents. From a young age he had the zeal of the early Christians. In the world he was known as Nikola Savic.

He came to the Sacred Monastery of Hilandar, which was founded by his compatriots and in which many live until today, on August 17, 1927. There he was tonsured a monk on September 15, 1929. He was elected abbot of the monastery of his repentance, which he fervently loved and tirelessly served, on December 31, 1941. In 1963 he was the First Administrator of the Holy Mountain, and for several years a commissioner and representative of his monastery in the Sacred Community. He also worked in the vineyards and the chestnut groves of the monastery.

Saint Varnava of Hvosno Resource Page

St. Varnava of Hvosno (Feast Day - November 12)

 

Holy New Confessor Varnava (Nastic), Bishop of Hvosno (+ 1964) 

 

Serbian Church to Honor Gary-born St. Varnava 

 

Saint Varnava Nastic's Homily on the Episcopal Office (Spoken at his Ordination as Bishop of Khvostansky)

On the Dangerous Vice of Pride (St. Varnava Nastic) 

 

Is God Out of Date? (A Homily by St. Varnava Nastic) 

 

A Letter About Music (St. Varnava Nastic)

 

Saint Maksim of Serbia, Archbishop of Wallachia (+ 1516)

 

St. Maksim of Serbia (Feast Day - January 18)

 

Saint Maksim was the son of the Despot of Serbia, Saint Stephen the Blind (Dec. 10) and of his wife Saint Angelina (July 30). He was born in 1461, while his parents were residing in the region of Skadar, and he was baptized with the name Dorde Bramkovic. The family later moved to northern Italy and acquired castle Belgrado in the region of Friuli. His father, Despot Stephen died in 1476, and young Dorđe became his principal heir. In 1479, Emperor Friedrich III granted them castle Weitensfeld in Carinthia, and Đorđe moved there with the rest of family.

Holy New Martyr Bosiljka Rajicic of Pasjane (+ late 19th cent.)

 

St. Bosiljka Rajicic (Feast Day - October 13)

By Monk Sophronios (Copan)

In a small, humble village in Kosovo, a great event in the life of the Church took place on Sunday, May 20, 2018. On this day, the first Divine Liturgy glorifying the memory of the newly-canonized St. Bosiljka the Martyr of Pasjane was held, with the local bishop, His Grace Teodosije of Raška-Prizren, along with many priests, monks, nuns, and a multitude of the faithful in attendance. At the most recent Holy Synod meeting in Belgrade, Martyr Bosiljka, who has been venerated by the local faithful for many years, was finally officially canonized. With great joy, the faithful for the first time sang the troparion and kontakion to the saint they had for many decades venerated locally, and her holy presence and protection were strongly felt by all.

Saint Nicetas, Bishop of Remesiana (+ 414)

St. Nicetas of Remesiana (Feast Day - June 22)

Saint Nicetas was born around 335 in the Roman province of Dacia. He was probably either a Goth or a Thracian. Around the year 370 he was made the Bishop of Remesiana (present-day Bela Palanka, Serbia). In 398, Nicetas made a pilgrimage to Nola to visit the grave of Felix of Nola and he had gained the friendship of Paulinus of Nola.

He was engaged in active missionary work among the peoples to the northeast, not yet enlightened by the light of Christ. The lands and peoples covered by his apostolic preaching lay on both sides of the Danube. This points to the land and population of Dacia Trajan, Thrace, Mysia and Lesser Scythia - the territory now divided between Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova and Ukraine. Saint Nicetas became the founder of not only new communities and temples, but also new dioceses, or diocesan centers. Because of his missionary activity, his contemporary and friend, Paulinus of Nola, lauded him poetically for instructing in the gospel those barbarians changed by him from wolves to sheep and brought into the fold of peace, and for teaching bandits to sing of Christ with a Roman heart, who previously had no such ability. Paulinus glorified Nicetas as the “father of the whole north” and the “good servant of Christ”. He also came to be known as the Apostle to the Danube.

Saint Nikodim, Archbishop of Serbia (+ 1325)

St. Nikodim of Serbia (Feast Day - May 11)

Saint Nikodim was a gifted writer of the Church and a learned theologian. Like many Serbian bishops, he was tonsured at Mount Athos and was abbot of Hilandar Monastery from 1312 to 1316.

While still abbot of Hilandar, Blessed Nikodim, at the request of the kings Milutin and Dragutin and the entire Serbian land, went to Constantinople to the Patriarch Nikon and Emperor Andronikos in order to promote the reconciliation of the warring brothers. The Saint, with the dignity of an archbishop, was at the head of the embassy of the Hilandar Monastery, who arrived in Serbia to ask King Milutin for the forgiveness and the return from exile of his son - Stephen Decanski. This is reported by the ecclesiastical writer Archbishop Daniel II, who also took part in the cause of reconciliation. Milutin was persuaded and allowed his son to return. Later, on January 6, 1322 Nikodim crowned Stephen Decanski King.

Holy New Martyr George of Kratovo (+ 1515)

St. George of Karatovo (Feast Days - February 11 and May 26)

Verses

George not being afraid of the fire,
Remained unconsumed by the fire.

The Holy New Martyr George was born in 1497 in Kratovo of Serbia. His parents were Demetrios and Sarah. Young George received a fine upbringing, he attentively studied the Holy Scriptures, and he was pious and chaste. His father died when he was ten, so he had to support his family by taking on the trade of a goldsmith. Being a handsome young boy, in order to avoid being abducted, molested and indoctrinated by the Turks, he fled with his mother's approval to Sofia in Bulgaria when he was twelve. There he lived with a devout priest named Peter.

Holy New Confessor Varnava (Nastic), Bishop of Hvosno (+ 1964)

St. Varnava of Hvosno (Feast Day - November 12)

Saint Varnava was born Vojislav Nastić in Gary, Indiana on January 31, 1914 into a family of Serbian immigrants. His father and mother were Atanasije and Zorka Nastić and the family attended the Saint Sava Serbian Orthodox Church of Gary, Indiana which is now located in Merrillville, Indiana. This was the place where Varnava was baptized, served as altar boy, and was first recognized as a youthful prodigy in reciting Serbian folklore and old ballads.

Saint Joannicius, First Patriarch of Serbia (+ 1354)

St. Joannicius II, Patriarch of Serbia (Feast Day - September 3)

Saint Joannicius was born to devout parents in his native city of Prizren in Serbia. At first, he served as a logotet, royal chancellor, to the Serbian King Stephen Urosh IV Dushan.

Archbishop Danilo II died on December 19, 1337. Although he was still a layman, Joannicius was elected Archbishop of Serbia on January 3, 1338. He continued the work of his predecessors, and had the Monastery of Peć, which was the seat of the Archbishop built by Nikodim and Danilo I, further worked on, adding icons and frescoes and other things.

Synaxis of the Holy Serbian Hierarchs (Enlighteners and Teachers)

Synaxis of the Holy Serbian Hierarchs (Feast Day - August 30)

The Synaxis of the Holy Serbian Enlighteners and Teachers was established in 1769. The Saints commemorated on this day are: Sava, first Archbishop and Enlightener of Serbia (Jan. 14); Arsenius, his successor, a great hierarch and wonderworker (Oct. 28); Sava II, son of Saint Stephen, the first-crowned King of Serbia (Feb. 8); Nicodemus, About of Hilandar, later Archbishop of Serbia (May 11); Joannicius, Archbishop, later Patriarch from 1346 to 1349 (Sept. 3); Patriarch Ephraim, an ascetic, who crowned Prince Lazarus, and later left the patriarchate to live in solitude (June 15); Spyridon, Ephraim's successor, who reposed in 1388; Macarius, who printed many church books in Serbia and abroad, was very zealous in renovating and adoring churches, and reposed in 1574; Gabriel, Archbishop, who took part in the Church Council of Moscow during the patriarchate of Nicon, for which the Turks accused him of treason and hanged him in Prusa in the year 1656. Also commemorated are Eustathius (Jan. 4), James, Daniel (Dec. 20), Sava III, Gregory, Cyril (Patriarch), John, Maximus, and Nicon. Many of them labored in asceticism on the Holy Mountain, and all were "good and faithful servants, good labourers in the vineyard of the Lord."

Saint Simeon of Dajbabe (+ 1941)

St. Simeon of Dajbabe (Feast Day - April 1)

Our Venerable Father Simeon was born on 19 December 1854 in Cetinje of Montenegro, where he completed his primary education. Later he studied at the Kiev Theological Seminary, then at the Kiev Spiritual Academy, where he was inspired by the lives and examples of the fathers of the Kiev Caves Lavra.

In Kiev he was ordained a hieromonk, and in 1888 he returned to Cetinje, where he served in the Saint Nicholas Monastery on Vranjina Island, and one year later in the Ostrog Monastery, where he was a lecturer in its monastic school, which had been founded by Metropolitan Mitrophan Ban of Montenegro.

Saint Nikolai Velimirovich, the Serbian Chrysostom (+ 1956)

St. Nikolai Velimirovich (Feast Day - March 5)

Saint Nikolai of Zhicha, “the Serbian Chrysostom,” was born in Lelich in western Serbia on January 4, 1881. His parents were Dragomir and Katherine Velimirovich, who lived on a farm where they raised a large family. His pious mother was a major influence on his spiritual development, teaching him by word and especially by example. As a small child, Nikolai often walked three miles to the Chelije Monastery with his mother to attend services there.

Sickly as a child, Nikolai was not physically strong as an adult. He failed his physical requirements when he applied to the military academy, but his excellent academic qualifications allowed him to enter the Saint Sava Seminary in Belgrade, even before he finished preparatory school.

After graduating from the seminary in 1905, he earned doctoral degrees from the University of Berne in 1908, and from King’s College, Oxford in 1909. When he returned home, he fell ill with dysentery. Vowing to serve God for the rest of his life if he recovered, he was tonsured at the Rakovica Monastery on December 20, 1909 and was also ordained to the holy priesthood.

Holy New Martyr Gregory of Pec

St. Gregory of Pec (Feast Day - January 22)

Saint Gregory of Pec (17th-18th cent.) was a young monk of the Monastery of the Patriarchate of Pec. He was handsome in appearance, and because of this the Turks sought to convert such men to Islam. Knowing this, Gregory rarely made his appearance in public, and when he did he tried not to stand out and took roundabout ways where there were as few people as possible.

However, the daughter of a certain known and noble Turk noticed him. The girl was captivated with the beauty of the ascetic, so her father with his companions sought for a way to get him to become a Muslim to marry his daughter. At first they tried to deceive him by promising him a high position if he converted to Islam and the opportunity to marry his beautiful daughter, but the monk refused the offer. Seeing that he was steadfast, they turned to using threats, but he remained unmoved.

Saint Nicodemus of Tismana (+ 1406)

St. Nicodemus of Tismana (Feast Day - December 26)

Even today, Saint Nicodemus (Nikodim) of Tismana is a very prominent and respected Saint among Serbs and especially Romanians. He is best known as the founder of the Vodita and Tismana monasteries, but he was also a well-known copyist and translator, which made him one of the forefathers of literacy and literature in the Middle Danube region. Nicodemus was also one of the most prominent followers of the monastic learning and tradition known as hesychasm, which spread from the Roman/Byzantine Empire to other Orthodox counties and regions in the 14th century. According to Dimitri Obolensky, Nicodemus of Tismana was a lively example of a cosmopolitan culture centered in Byzantium that was solidified by hesychasm, and had both permeated and connected the Eastern European Orthodox lands. Saint Nicodemus was also a very important figure for Serbian medieval history as well, both as a conveyor of hesychastic monastic traditions, and as a member of an important diplomatic and ecclesiastical mission to Constantinople in 1375, and has thus been held in high regard in Serbian Orthodox tradition throughout the centuries.

Saint Daniel II, Archbishop of Serbia (+ 1337)

St. Daniel II of Serbia (Feast Day - December 20)

Saint Daniel (Danilo) of Serbia, the only son of rich and renowned parents, was a close associate of the Serbian king Stephan Urosh Milutin. Having renounced a secular career, he received monastic tonsure from the abbot of the Saint Nicholas Monastery at Konchul near the River Ibar. Saint Daniel’s ascetic life was an example for all the brethren.

Archbishop Eustathius of Serbia ordained him presbyter and took him into his cell. When it was time to choose the abbot for the Hilandar Monastery on Mount Athos, Saint Daniel received the appointment. The Saint was abbot at a most difficult time for the Holy Mountain. After the Crusaders were expelled from Palestine, they joined with the Arabs to plunder and loot the Athonite monasteries, “not sparing anything sacred.”

Holy New Hieromartyr Gabriel, Archbishop of Serbia (+ 1659)

St. Gregory the Archbishop of Serbia (Feast Day - December 13)

By St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite

Verses

Lifted up you were hanged mimicking Gabriel,
He who hung on the wood, and crowned with a double crown.

At one time, Gabriel, the angelic-named Archbishop of Serbia, found himself in dire straits, as he was unable to pay the debts of his diocese. He went to Wallachia, and from there to Moscow to receive alms and aid in order to satisfactorily manage his eparchy. During the time that Gabriel was absent from Serbia, a certain Maximos seized the opportunity to usurp the archbishop's throne. When Gabriel returned from abroad, he discovered Maximos in his stead. Therefore he sought to dethrone Maximos and recover his see.

Saint Gregory the Hesychast, Founder of Gregoriou Monastery (+ 1406)

On the seventh of December we commemorate the Venerable Gregory the Hesychast, Founder of the Athonite Sacred Monastery of Saint Nicholas, which came to be known as Gregoriou Monastery.

Verses

You were seen to be the founder of Nicholas's Monastery,
Therefore you dwell in celestial mansions.

Saint Stephen Urosh V, Emperor of Serbia (+ 1371)

St. Stephen Urosh (Feast Day - December 2)

Saint Stephen Urosh (Stefan Uroš), the second Emperor (Tsar) of the Serbian Empire (1355–1371), was the only son of Emperor Dushan Nemany (1346-1355), by Helena of Bulgaria, the sister of Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria, and was born in the year 1337. He had been crowned as king (second highest title) in the capacity of heir and co-ruler after Dushan was crowned emperor in 1346. Dushan sought the daughter of the French king for his son, but the Pope of Rome insisted that the princess not change from the Latin confession. Dushan did not want to see a Catholic in his family, and because of this Saint Stephen Urosh entered into marriage with the daughter of Vlad, Prince of Wallachia.

Saint Stephen the Blind, Prince of Serbia (+ 1476)

St. Stephen the Blind (Feast Day - October 9)

Saint Stephen Brancovich (Branković) was the son of the Despot Durad Brancovich and Queen Irene Kantakouzene, a granddaughter of Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos, and lived in the fifteenth century. He and his sister Mara lived in the court of Sultan Murat II. Saint Stephen and his brother Gregory were blinded at Jedrene in 1441 by the Turkish Sultan for some perceived offense. Since he was innocent, he bore his affliction with courage.

Saint Stephen Stiljanovich of Serbia (+ 1543)

Sts. Stephen and Elizabeth Stiljanovich (Feast Day - October 4)

Stefan Štiljanović was born in Paštrovići (modern Montenegro). Paštrovići was mentioned in 1377 as one of the Serbian opština, and in 1423 they became subjects of the Republic of Venice after signing a treaty amid the Ottoman expansion. He was elected the knez of Paštrovići in the Rezevici monastery, and would be the last and most celebrated one. Štiljanović had seven mills in his possession. He left his possessions to his people for Syrmia (modern Serbia) after a feud with the Republic of Venice, in 1498. The same year he had the town of Morović built, where he would have his residence. In 1507 he gained the town of Siklós in Baranya by Louis II of Hungary.