Sava saint

Holy Sava of Serbia , in the world Rastko Nemanjić is the junior by wire of the large duke Stefan Nemanja. It was born with the neighborhoods from 1169 and it died on January 14th 1236. He is the father of the Serb Church and most popular of the saints of Serbia. The Church the festival the January 14th.

The vocation

It accepted from his father the title of prince on the area of Zahumlje, current the Herzégovine. He refused the capacity and left to the mount Athos, where he accepted his monastic name of Sabas. The legend tells that he would have fled the court of Serbia during a hunting. It would then have received monks athonites a icon of the Virgin Mary to Three-hands ( Bogorodica trojerucica ): an old prophecy was carried out. It had been announced indeed that this icon, one of the most crowned orthodoxe Église, was to be given to a monk of royal blood.

The Monastery of Hilandar

Sava invited his/her father who had also taken to him the dress of monk under the name of Siméon, to join it on the mount Athos. This one, accepted and left the Monastère of Studenica to join it in 1197.
Over there the father and the son revolutionized the daily life of the monks, while organizing using rich person donations, of many constructions and repairs of several monasteries, they strongly started again the spiritual life. This spiritual rebirth made of Sava saint and Saint Siméon the second founders of the mount Athos, title recognized by all the monks of the Mount.

They then decided to give to the Serbia a monastery on the mount Athos, among the abandoned monasteries of the mount which were to be restored, it chose that of Hilandar , ( chilandari ) which was abandoned of all. With the authorization of Constantinople, they made it increase and restore with such a success that it gave to the Serbia famous considerable in everyone orthodoxe. The emperor Alexis III Angel (1195-1203) gave to the Hilandar a full autonomy like the most important monasteries of the Mont Crowned. He added that he gave Hilandar and the neighbouring grounds, to Siméon and Sava " like a gift eternal with the Serb ".

The icon of the Mother of God to the three hands, one of the icon the most crowned Christendom is on the Hilandar, it would have been brought by Sava saint.

Hilandar protected during centuries from all the external disorders, dynastic changes, wars, social disturbances and other invasions became with time, the center of the spiritual and cultural life of the people Serbe.

The Serb orthodoxe Church autocéphale

In 1217, the brother of Sava Saint, Stefan Ier Nemanjić was the first crowned Serb king, but it was it by the pope Honorius III. Sava was on the Mount-Athos, it was irritated by the crowning of his/her brother by the pope, the two large churches Christian which were right rivals became enemy since 1204. But quickly, Sava forgave and was reconciled with his/her Stefan brother, and left for Nicée as agreed with his/her brother for meeting the emperor Theodore Ier Lascaris.

Indeed, the plundering of Constantinople by the crusaders in 1204, had moved the court of Constantinople with Nicée in Asia Mineure.

Over there, it obtains for Serbia in 1219 the autonomy of the Serb Church orthodoxe, the autocéphalité.
One does not know detail them exact negotiations between saint Sava and the primus inter pares , the oecumenical patriarch Manuel summer indeed the only honorary authority able of given its swallows for the autocéphalité.
It is imagined that Sava had to play of the political disturbances of the time for already convincing the emperor of his support then with the assistance of the emperor, had to convince Manuel that it be in measurement of " to bring back his/her brother towards the orthodoxie" whereas this one had been crowned by the pope.

Sava was thus indicated like the Serb first archbishop. The Serb Church be independent with respect to the oecumenical Patriarchate and of the Emperor of Byzantine Greek.

Sefan Nemanjic and its Sava brother have perfectly benefits from the situation of Serbia at the time, the crown of Stefan had been given by the catholic Roman pope and the autocephality had been obtained from the orthodoxe Byzantine emperor.

The Code of Sava Saint

With an aim of consolidating the knowledge of the orthodoxe Christianity within the Serb people . Saint Sava organized the Serb Église, it establishes also the Code of Sava Saint, Krmcija or Nomocanon , it had started to write it on the mount Athos, then with Salonique. He finished it in 1220. He has as a base of the Serb and Byzantine laws and was adapted to the needs for the Serb church. This text is composed of civil and ecclesiastical laws.

This text respects and rests on the rule of orthodoxe Christianity establishes under Constantin Ier, the work of consensus between the religious authorities and laic , concept which was very expensive with Sava saint and who will leave a trace in medieval and even modern Serbia. Even if at the time, holy Sava was in contradiction with a new policy of the Patriarche of Constantinople, which, influenced to him by Rome, pushed with omnipotence spirituelle.
Thereafter, the concept of consensus will dominate again with Constantinople and today still, Greek the Prime Minister goes regularly on the mount Athos to receive the homages of the monks as the orthodoxe sovereigns at the time of Sava saint did it.

With Zica, in 1221, Sava published an handy guide of the true orthodoxe faith of the Serb Church . Where it establishes like only authority, the ecumenical councils and the lesson of the Pères of the Church like single règle.
In same time, he condemned the lesson Hérétiques Bogomiles, more known in Western Europe under the name of Cathare S, which originated in the Bulgaria and the Bosnia.

The Guide and the code of Sava Saint are the column of the orthodoxe autocéphalie Serbe.

Religious and laic Schools of Sava saint

Sava appeared among more the scholars of the Byzantine world and thus of Europe. It wrote several biographies of a literary high-quality, of which that of his/her father, Life of saint Siméon . Texts treating of the governorship, the military conquests and the methods of foundation of a Monastery.

It organized also schools around the monasteries, most known are those of Hilandar, of course, but also Studenica, Zica, Mileseva, or of the monks gave the instruction to young people of all social origins.

It developed also public schools for the adults and the teenagers. It was installed, generally, in the cities and the large villages, like in the residences of the members of the nobility Serbe.

The death of Sava Saint

In 1234, it renonça with its title of archbishop of Serbia to give it to the hiéromoine Arsene de Syrmie. It then made its last pilgrimage on the tomb of the Christ to Jerusalem. On the way of the return, it made a halt with Trnovo where it informed the Bulgarian emperor, Jean II Strikes, of its efforts to make recognize the Bulgarian Patriarcat. It did not leave Trnovo, where it died the January 14th 1236. It was buried in the church of the Forty martyrs.

After difficult negotiations, the king of the Serbes Vladislav succeeds in 1237 bringing back the Reliques of his uncle in his pious foundation of Mileševa, in order to bury it there.

But the April 27th 1594, the Turkish pasha ordered that one transports the remainders of the saint to Belgrade to burn them. Indeed, the people Serbe still remained in very great majority faithful to the Christianisme. To force the Serb to recognize the Turkish power and thus to push them to convert itself into mass with the Islam, the pasha had decided to burn the remainders of Sava saint.

Today, with the site of roughing-hew, draws up one of the largest Christian temples in Europe, the " Temple of Saint Sava ". Its personality and its work do of Sava saint one of the famous characters most respected by the Serbes today.

Internal bonds

History of Serbia
List of the sovereigns of Serbia

Sources

Dusan Batkovic, History of the Serb people , editions the age of man

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