Who Is Saint Sava of Serbia? (St. Nikolai Velimirovich)

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

SAINT SAVA is the spiritual revivalist of the Serbian people.

SAINT SAVA is the founder of the national Church of the Serbian people, its first archbishop and organizer.

SAINT SAVA is the strengthener of the Orthodox faith in the Serbian people. He eradicated and rejected Western and other heresies from the Serbian people and established his people in Eastern Orthodoxy. Thus, he most powerfully influenced the determination of the historical destiny of the Serbian people.

The Fate of the Relics of Saint Sava of Serbia

Saint Sava, Archbishop of Serbia, reposed in the Bulgarian capital of Tarnovo on 14 January 1235. He was respectfully buried there at the Holy Forty Martyrs Church by Saint Joachim the Archbishop of Tarnovo. After being there for over two years, on 6 May 1237 the Serbian King Vladislav had the relic of the Saint transferred near Prijepolje, in southwest Serbia, to Mileseva Monastery, built by Vladislav in 1234. Saint Sava was then canonized, and his incorrupt relic was the source of many miracles.

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 Anastasia of Serbia, Mother of Saint Sava (+ 1200)

St. Anastasia of Serbia (Feast Day - June 22)

Saint Anastasia was the mother of Saint Sava of Serbia (Jan. 14). She came from a noble family, though her origins are unknown, and received the name Anna when she was baptized. Later, she married the Serbian Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja (Sept. 24), making her the princess consort of the Serbian Principality around the year 1150.

Saint Sava of Serbia Resource Page

St. Sava, Archbishop of Serbia (Feast Day - January 14)

Verses

Seen as a luminary that enlightened Serbia,
By your works and words Sava you are a boast of Serbians.

 

Saint Sava, Archbishop and Enlightener of Serbia (+ 1235) 

 

Saint Sava, Enlightener of Serbia

 

Who Is Saint Sava of Serbia? (St. Nikolai Velimirovich)

 

Saint Anastasia of Serbia, Mother of Saint Sava (+ 1200)

The Miraculous Vine of Saint Symeon the Myrrhgusher at Hilandar Monastery

The Fate of the Relics of Saint Sava of Serbia

History of Saint Sava Cathedral in Belgrade

The Pateritsa (Staff) of St. Savvas the Sanctified

Panagia Galaktotrophousa (Milk-Feeder) of Hilandari Monastery

The Hand of St. Thekla in Sarajevo

Icon of Saint Sava of Serbia Issuing Myrrh

Three Medieval Monasteries in Serbia