Nicodème de Tismana

Nicodème de Tismana is named Nicodim the Piles by the Roumanians. It is an orthodoxe saint Rumanian founder of monasteries. He has succeeds has to make build churches and monasteries which became centers of culture, national unit and religion. The orthodoxe Church celebrates its festival the December 26th. The orthodoxe calendar mentions " to date; Saint Nicodème de Tismana".

Its life in short

It is still said that Nicodème was born in 1320 with Prilep from Macédonie, but last research showed us that it was born in Prilep from Kosovo. This locality is located at 5 km of the monastery of Dechani and at 20 km of the patriarchate of Petch Ipek where it is supposed that its coffin is. It was related with the family of the reigning princes Basarab of Romania like to the family of the Serb despot Douchan. Saint Lazare of Serbia was the cousin of Nicodème. The Nicodème young person, at the sixteen years age, leaves to become monk with the Mont Athos. Thanks to its exceptional intelligence and with its desire to follow the lives of the saints, Nicodème learns the languages quickly Slavic and Greek. In little time, he becomes a pious and deep theologist, a man of letters, a perfect speaker, a painter miniaturist and an exceptional calligrapher. He was also a very good organizer. During a few years, it directs with the title of " Starine" the monastery athonite of Hillandar. It could be shown near to all, emperors and people simple. All helped it, even those which did not share its faith in orthodoxy (it was the case of the emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg).

Perfect monk, Nicodème came in Valachie where it founded monasteries similar to those of the Mont Athos.

Cousin with Lazare, the king of Serb, it meets in the year 1375, the patriarch Philothée de Constantinopole, to raise the anathema which struck the Serb people. Why an anathema did strike the Serb people in 1346? One knows that this year, at a meeting with Skopje, Etienne Douchan proclaims, with the agreement of the patriarch of Tirnovo and the patriarch of Ochrid, Ioanichie the second like " métropolite" with authority not only in Serbia but also and in the territories conquered by Etienne Douchan. Calist, patriarch of Constantinopole, protested. But in vain because the Serb ones do not take account of this protest. Then the patriarch anathématise Serb people. He was used as intermediary between old the athonite Isaïe of the Mont Athos and the partriarche Philothée de Constantinopole. On this occasion, Nicodème makes good impression by its culture. Speaker and man of letters, man with the holy life devoted to the construction of two monasteries in Romania (Tismana and Voditsa), Nicodème can attract himself the sympathy of each of the two men and the meeting is crowned success (comp. Zivoti Kraljeve I Archiepiskopa srpskih ED. G. Daniecic, pag. 382; Starine XVI, vita S. Epharaemii tertii patriarchae Serborum p.38: Starine Hilandarske von NR. Ducic, S.75).

For this fact and others, in 1377, the patriarch raised the monastery of Tismana in Romania to the row “of archimandrie”, species of primatie compared to the existing Rumanian monasteries in the surroundings, such as: Voditsa, Gura Motrului, Topolnita, Prislop, Visina, hermitages of: Teius, Mocirlita, Plostina Dragoiestilor, Aninoasa, Jupanesti.

But its more beautiful work remains, by far, the Monastère of Tismana where he lived most of his life. This holy place " In the cascades or Pisetori" , he discovered it that after a long research.

As it is seen, the natural framework is exceptional. Here the air is miraculous for health

In Tismana, Nicodème lives like a hermit, while requesting during whole days in a cave close to the monastery and by making innumerable miracles. It is deceased on December 26th, 1406, in company of its disciples. The following centuries, its disciples built more than one hundred monasteries.

Although for a long time regarded as saint by Rumanian people and the Serb people, he was proclaimed holy only on October 26th, 1955 by the orthodoxe Église of Romania. Its relics disappeared - except a finger - during the turco-Austrian war from the 19th century. It is said that the Serb monks of the monastery took the coffin and are enfuits, and that they found refuge with the patriarchate of Petch to the Kosovo.

Source

An article of Nicolas Tomoniu - Tismana, Romania

External bond

to see its life, the site is in Roumain
the monatère of Tismana, in Rumanian

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