Sava,
born in 1174, was the youngest of the three sons of Stephen I, founder
of the Nemanyde dynasty, of the independent Serbian State. At the age of
seventeen he became a monk on Mount Athos, on the Greek peninsula.
Abdicating the throne in 1196, his father joined him and together they
established the thriving monastery of Khilandari.
Sava returned to Serbia in 1207 to help settle an inheritance dispute between his two brothers.
As
his brother Stephen took the throne, Sava set to work to revamp the
faith in his country which was lax and mixed up with paganism.
With
the help of missionary monks from Khilandari, he established several
important monasteries in Serbia. He also convinced the Eastern Emperor
Theodore II, a relative, to establish Serbia’s own bishopric in order
that its clergy might be better managed. The emperor established the
prince-monk Sava as Serbia’s first Metropolitan of the new hierarchy.
Under
Sava, his brother, Stephen II was duly recognized by the Holy See and
though already crowned by a papal legate in 1217, was again crowned by
his brother as Archbishop in 1222 with a crown sent by Pope Honorius
III.
Thus, the retiring young prince, who left home to become a
monk, succeeded before the age of fifty in consolidating, both civilly
and religiously, the country founded by his father.
St. Sava died with a smile on his face on January 14, 1237 and is the patron saint of Serbia.
Thursday, January 14, 2021
St. Sava of the Serbs
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