Enlightener and First Archbishop of the Serbs
(+1235)
Seek ye first the kingdom of God,
and His righteousness; and all these 
things shall be added unto you.
Matthew 6:33 

St. Sava I - The First Archbishop of Serbia   The Serbian Grand Zhupan (Patriarchal leader) Stephen Nemanja had two sons, Stephen and Vukan; yet, he and his wife Anna desired, if it be God's will, to have another child. Their pious prayers ascended before God, Who heard their petition and blessed them with their last child, a son who was born in the year of our Lord 1175. At baptism the child was given the name Rastko, a name derived from the Old Slavonic verb "rasti" which means "to grow." And grow divinely he did. There were many special things about Rastko: he was a lovely child, with pronounced features and smooth skin, and possessed, already in his childhood, an unusually alert and pious demeanor. Little did Rastko's parents and all those of the Royal Court (and even the entire Serb nation) realize that his birth and baptism into Orthodoxy would providentially set in motion their own historical and spiritual journey, which would result in the blossoming of their Christian faith, nation hood and total Christian cultural orientation. This young child, Rastko, whose monastic name later was Sava, became and still remains the most beloved of all Serbian Orthodox saints, considered by all Serbs everywhere and at all times as the ultimate _expression and example of what it means to be fully human, that is, what it means to be a devout and committed follower of Jesus Christ.

Rastko was provided the best education of his day. He succeeded in all subjects as he was a quiet and introspective boy, preferring to read and to probe into the meaning and nature of things than to find passing pleasure in mundane children's games. Being of royal lineage, Prince Rastko was given, at age 15, the territory of Zahumlje (later called "the Hercegovina of St. Sava") to rule as his own. When he was 17, his parents arranged for Rastko to be married; but Rastko's innate disposition towards the quiet solitary life led him to never even consider such an event taking place. According to St. Sava's biographers Dometian and Theodosius, when Rastko Nemanjich was 18 years old, a Russian Orthodox monk from the Monastery of St. Panteleimon on the Holy Mountain came to visit the Royal Court of Grand Zhupan Stephen Nemanja to ask for alms for his monastery. After meeting the monk, Prince Rastko went into a private room with him and questioned him about the way of life on the Holy Mountain. As the monk spoke about the peace of God exhibited by the ascetics, and about the hope of eternity and the priceless treasure of salvation found in the monastic way of life, Rastko seemed to have been baptized once again. The Holy Spirit filled Rastko's heart with internal stirring and commotion, sensitizing him to a deep desire which the Lord God had implanted within him: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, that I may behold the delight of the Lord, and that I may visit His holy temple (Ps. 26:4). Rastko knew at that very moment that in order to fulfill this desire he had to travel to the Holy Mountain. God was calling him there. Yet little did Rastko realize that this rebirth experience would prove to be the first step of a more encompassing and profound journey, one which entailed eternal ramifications, that is, a spiritual movement toward the sanctification of an entire race—the Serbian people. To Rastko, marriage and all worldly knowledge, authority or possessions could not compare to what he had experienced while in conversation with this unknown and simple monk from the Holy Mountain.

" But how can I face my parents?" thought Rastko to himself. "How will I ever make such a journey to the Holy Mountain?" Pondering this dilemma, Rastko, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, came up with a solution. He organized a hunting trip and at an opportune time fled his homeland with the monk to make the long journey to the Holy Mountain.

Discovering his flight, Rastko's father, Zhupan Stephen Nemanja, quickly assembled his best soldiers of the Royal Court and ordered them to the seaport city of Thessalonica, where he hoped they would catch up with Rastko. Stephen also sent a letter with his troops which they presented to the military governor of the city; in it the Grand Zhupan threatened violence to the city if his son was not safely returned. However, these efforts were unfruitful, as Rastko traveled quickly through Thessalonica and arrived by boat at the Russian Monastery of St. Panteleimon on the Holy Mountain.

When the soldiers arrived at the monastery, the all-night vigil had just begun. The soldiers, not wishing to disturb the Divine Service, entered the Catholikon (main church) and sat in the stalls along the inner walls of the church. Spotting Rastko, they decided to wait patiently until the end of the vigil service and then order Rastko back to his father.
However, the soldiers never expected the all-night vigil to last over six hours! As time passed, due to their being physically and mentally exhausted from the grueling journey from Serbia to the Holy Mountain, each of the soldiers fell fast asleep in his stall. Taking advantage of the situation, Rastko and an elder hieromonk (priest monk) quickly left the church and climbed to the top of the bell tower in the monastery courtyard. During the rest of the night and early morning, the blessed elder instructed Rastko concerning the monastic life and, just prior to the completion of Divine Liturgy (as Divine Liturgy follows every vigil service) the elder received Rastko into monasticism, tonsuring him and giving him the name of Sava, after the great ascetic and holy man of Jerusalem, St. Sava the Sanctified (tS32; honored Dec. 5th). When the soldiers awoke from their sleep in the morning, they quickly went to search for Sava. High up in the air from the window of the bell tower, Sava revealed himself, and then went on to explain to them that his monastic tonsure was completed and that they should not harm any of the monks. Then he threw down his shorn hair and civilian clothes; saying, "Please take this to my parents as a remembrance of my youth." This took place in 1193, when Sava was just 18 years old.

Sava was not the first Serb to become a monk on the Holy Mountain, as there were Serbs there prior to his arrival. However, there was no Serbian monastery. Serbian monks found shelter and lived in the existing Greek, Russian, Bulgarian or Georgian monasteries, or eventually lived in caves, leading the life of a solitary or hermit. Only a few months after his tonsure, Sava was invited to the Greek Monastery Vatopedi for the celebration of its patronal feast, the Annunciation of the Theotokos (March 25th). It was here that Sava first began his true entrance into the profound spiritual life of monasticism. In leaving the Panteleimon Monastery, Prince Rastko was no more; now only Sava the monk was alive in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Sava quickly proved to be a relentless warrior and ascetic for Christ. He kept constant vigil over his body, thoughts and passions—his total person. At times, the abbot of Vatopedi had to restrain Sava from excessive ascetic practices, for fear that he might harm his health. Also, as time passed, Sava's parents and brothers began to accept his new life and provided him with abundant financial support, which he unselfishly distributed to the various monasteries on the Holy Mountain. He had especial love for Vatopedi, providing it with assistance for both a new roof for the main Church of the Annunciation and for, the building of three small chapels. Vatopedi at this time was a kind of Byzantine university, as the monastery was lavishly supported by the Byzantine  emperors as well. It possessed a large libraty full of all the ancient writings of the Fathers of the Church on the various theological topics of Christian life: Scripture, liturgy, asceticism, doctrine, sacraments, Lives of Saints, icons and architecture, and canon law.
At Vatopedi Sava learned the ancient Greek language perfectly. (He had previously learned the contemporary Greek language from his mother Anna— named Anatasia as a monastic later in her life [see June 21st]—for she was Greek by birth, the daughter of the Greek Byzantine Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes [1068-1081].) Studying the writings of the Fathers of the Church, along with practicing the strict ascetic life and participating fully in the communal liturgical/sacramental life of the monastery, the image of God in Sava began to slowly shine forth, transforming him into a spiritual man of God, whose sole longing was to be with the Lord Jesus Christ in the bosom of God the Father, enlivened by the Holy and Gracious and Life-creating Spirit.

In 1196, when Sava was 21 years of age, he received the greatest gift of his life: his father, Stephen Nemanja, decided to abdicate the throne of the Kingdom of Serbia and become a monk in Studenitsa Monastery on Mt. Radochelo in Rashka He took the name Simeon. To replace him on the Royal Throne, the Grand Zhupan appointed his second oldest son, Stephen, as the heir. This news thrilled Sava, as it was for him a spiritual blessing for his many prayers, ascetic efforts and even letters he had sent to his father urging him towards monastic life. Along with his father, Sava's mother Anna, on the same day—the Feast of the Annunciation, March 25, 1196—also received the monastic tonsure and was given the name Anastasia, retiring to the Monastery ofthe Holy Virgin in Kurshumlija near Toplica.

At his son's request, the monk Simeon-Stephen Nemanja, only a few months after his monastic tonsure, left Serbia and traveled to Vatopedi Monastery. There for the first time in three years he met his favorite child, Sava, who by this time was an experienced and well-respected monk. The reunion was incredible. The biographer Theodosius writes: "They were both speechless; and, had not someone supported his father, he would have fallen. After he regained his composure, he poured many tears over the much longed-for and saintly head of his beloved son, embracing and kissing it and pressing it to his chest." Thus Sava's dream was coming true. Simeon's "conversion" and total acceptance of the monastic life marked a beginning once again, not only for the two saints, but perhaps more importantly, fot the entire Serbian race. By this act, Simeon, the most powerful and influential man of the Serbian kingdom, was solidifying Serbia's ties with the treasury of spirituality of the Holy Mountain, as well as paving the way for all future royalty rulers of the Kingdom of Serbia to accept and acknowledge Orthodoxy as the way and ultimate criterion for the total christianization of the Serbian people. Simeon was like the Holy Byzantine Emperor of old, Constantine the Great (+337), paving the way for Orthodoxy to be the foundation and basis for all Serbian culture, history and civilization.

The most wonderful element in the legacy of the monks Sava and Simeon son and father was their joint effort to bring to the Serbian nation a spiritual center in which prayer and committed Christian life would be the eternal flame and vigil lamp guiding the Serbian people to the Kingdom of God. This eternal torch and divine light was Hilandar Monastery. Hilandar Monastery was once a small monastic settlement which had fallen into ruin for many years. The property was owned by Vatopedi Monastery. Due to Sava's virtuous life and his representation of the Vatopedi brotherhood at the Imperial Court in Constantinople, and also because of Simeon's generous material support of the Monastery, the ruins of Hilandar, by Imperial decree, were given to the Serbs as an independent and self-governing property to be used as a monastery. This was made official by two foundational charters: the chrysobull of Byzantine Emperor Alexis III Angelos of Constantinople in June 1198, and the charter of Hilandar Monastery's co-founder, Zhupan Stephen Nemanja monk Simeon in late 1198. Hence, the idea of a Serbian monastery on the Holy Mountain became a reality when father became obedient to son, when both of these spiritual pillars of the Serbian people became totally dedicated to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and Holy Orthodoxy.

Hilandar - the Serbian Monastery on Mount Athos

St. Sava's hermitage near Studenica

As newly elected abbot of Studenitsa, Archimandrite Sava personally went on several missions throughout the territories, preaching and teaching the Word of God in the churches as well as renewing and creating monasteries, building many churches, opening iconography schools, and in general establishing and confirming the populace in the Orthodox faith. Sava was concerned not only with the spiritual welfare of the kingdom, but also with the material condition of the people, as he constantly advised his two older brothers, especially King Stephen, on how to better feed, clothe and administer the people. It is believed that through the monasteries in Serbia at this time, Sava was able to put the kingdom's economy in order by raising to the highest level the production of food, wine, honey, fish, vegetables and livestock, not only sustaining the monastics but also benefitting thousands of Serbs: pilgrims, visitors, and especially the sick and aged. Truly St. Sava carried out and actualized the great commandment of Christ: Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself. These missionary efforts were for Sava, as always, ascetic exercises allowing him to be more fully immersed in the eternal grace, love and beauty of the Holy Spirit of God. These acts demonstrated his tremendous love for his people. Sava was fast becoming a great Serbian ecclesiastical leader; and in the ensuing years his continual wise leadership would enable him to become a well- respected international ecclesiastical figure as well.

The international situation, as mentioned, was also in disarray. The increasing papal power in the East could no longer be ignored. Byzantium was fighting a losing battle. The Byzantine Empire, like Serbia, was divided in two, with one political center at Constantinople and the other at Thessalonica; with the two rival factions, the Niceans and the Epirotes, fighting for political control over the Empire. The Patriarchate of Constantinople, the ultimate ecclesiastical administrative overseer of Serbia, was split in three, with centers at Nicea, Trebizond and Ochrid. As a result of this confusion and turmoil, King Stephen, at the advice of his wife, Queen Anna, decided to ally Serbia with the Pope of Rome in order to stem the tide against the attacks of the Hungarian King Andreas III and those of the Latinophiles in Constantinople. This decision on the part of Stephen angered his brother Sava, who, due to his loyalty to Orthodoxy and the Byzantine State, decided to return to the Holy Mountain. Hence, in 1217, at age 42, after thirteen years of missionary activity in his homeland, Sava traveled once again to his true spiritual home, Hilandar Monastery on the Holy Mountain, in order to be alone with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And, like his Savior so often did, Sava too "departed from his flock for a little while" in order to rest in the bosom of the Father, and to retreat from the world and its passing struggles and desires. Yet this was only for a short while, for the Lord had many tasks still ahead for Blessed Sava to fulfill. Sava spent a little less than two years at Hilandar after his departure from Serbia (1217-1219). The moment he left, Serbia's situation worsened both domestically and internationally. The miracle-working oil exuding from the holy relics of his father Simeon stopped flowing. The people were outraged at King Stephen for driving Sava away.
Under no terms would they accept the Pope's support and disavow Orthodoxy. As a result, Stephen wrote to Sava imploring him to return. Stephen also renounced his western ties and attempted to reconcile with the Byzantine emperor in Nicea, Theodore Laskaris (1204-1222). Spending his days and nights in prayer and vigil, guarding his soul from all passions, and incessantly petitioning the Lord in behalf of his Serbian people, Sava was elated to receive his brother Stephen's repentant letter. When he heard from Stephen, Sava immediately went to his cell and prayed tearfully to his father Simeon: "O Saint, having been commanded by God and implored by us, please disregard our transgressions. For whatever we are, we are still your children. Allow, therefore, the myrrh to flow again from your body in the tomb as before, to bring joy and relief to your people now in mourning." This prayer, which Sava sent to King Stephen in a letter, was read aloud before the tomb of Simeon in Studenitsa Monastery and was then published throughout the land. The letter also disclosed plans Sava had received in a dream from Almighty God: to obtain from Nicea the independence of the Serbian Orthodox Church. When the letter was read aloud in Studenitsa, immediately the miraculous myrrh from the relics of the holy patriarchal leader Simeon began to flow once again. Thus, by the will of the Lord, Sava set out to journey homeward for a second time from Hilandar in order to heal his people and to bring them glad tidings of salvation, faith and unity.

Prior to his return, Sava traveled eastward to Nicea, the city where the Imperial Patriarch Manuel Sarantenos (1215-1222) resided, the highest ecclesiastical authority permitted to grant independence to a local Church. Sava, who also brought with him several monks of Hilandar, discussed his vision with the Patriarch and Emperor Theodore. At first, the Patriarch was reluctant to grant Sava's request. Why hadn't Sava, he thought, petitioned through the Archbishop of Ochrid, who was the immediate jurisdictional authority over the Church of Serbia? But after a careful review of the polilical and ecclesiastical difficulties in the Balkans—not only in Serbia but also between Nicea and Epirus—this request on the part of Sava began to make perfect sense to both the Patriarch and the Emperor. By granting autonomy to the Church of Serbia, Rome and the West's attempts to capture the Balkans could be thwarted. Also, the Archbishop of Ochrid was becoming too powerful; with independence granted to the Serbs, his power would diminish. The Serbian Orthodox Church, now independent, would remain under the direct jurisdiction of the Patriarchate. (As is well known, the Serbian Orthodox Church did not receive her own Patriarch until over one hundred years later, becoming autocephalous on Palm Sunday, April 9, 1346.) Thus, the situation was quite favorable to all involved. At Patriarch Manuel's request, Sava was selected to be elevated to Archbishop. At first, Sava vehemently refused this offer on the grounds that he felt he was truly unworthy for such a position and calling. He offered several of the monks from Hilandar who were present as potential candidates for the position. In the end, Sava accepted and was consecrated in Nicea on the Feast of St. Nicholas, December 6, 1219, becoming the first Archbishop of the newly autonomous Orthodox Church of Serbia. He was 44 years old at the time. The following are the exact words of the Greek text of Patriarch Manuel's decree elevating Sava to Archbishop, thus granting autonomy to the Serbian Church:

I, Manuel, the Ecumenical Patriarch and the Archbishop of the City of Consrantinople, New Rome, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, have consecrated Sava, Archbishop of all the Serbian lands, and have given him in God's name the authority to consecrate bishops, priests, and deacons within his country; to bind and loose sins of men, and to teach all and to baptize in rhe name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Therefore, all you Orthodox Christians, obey him as you have obeyed me.

After his consecration, Sava returned to the Holy Mountain in order to say farewell to Hilandar and to receive the blessing and prayers of the entire monastic community of the Holy Mountain. This was the most emotional moment in Sava's life. To the Holy Mountain (and Hilandar in particular), his true spiritual home, the holy place where he had spent over twenty-five years of his life and which he thought he would never leave, Sava now had to bid farewell. Although the monks welcomed him and treated him with the highest dignity and respect accorded his ecclesiastical position, they all nevertheless were saddened by the loss of their beloved brother and friend, the simple monk Sava. And if there is anything that shines forth and is easily ascertained from Sava's personality and character, it is precisely this: no matter what position or accolade or accomplishment Sava attained or achieved, he never forgot his spiritual core and roots, which were to love and live with Christ in simplicity, in common friendship and in humble love.

The newly consecrated Archbishop Sava then traveled by boat to Thessalonica, where he tarried awhile at Philokalos Monastery. At Philokalos, he, along with a few others, made a translation from Greek into Slavonic of the Byzantine ecclesiastical law book The Rudder or Nomocanon of St. Photios the Great (9th century). Called Kormchaja  Knjiga (Book of the Pilot) in Slavonic, this translation contained not only the ecclesiastical canons—including the dogmatic decrees of the Seven Ecumenical Councils—with commentaries by the best medieval Greek canonists, but also numerous precepts of the Fathers of the Church along with several of the imperial edicts of the great Byzantine Emperor Justinian (6th century). This work was one of Sava's greatest literary and political feats, for it enabled the kingdom of Serbia to be greatly influenced by the highly cultured and civilized Byzantine state, whose vision of society and human life was primarily motivated and governed by the Orthodox faith. For example, Sava divided the kingdom into nine dioceses according to the civil boundaries of the land, which was the Byzantine way of ecclesiastical division. Each episcopal seat was located in the capital of the said territory, which enabled both the civil and ecclesiastical leaders to work harmoniously for the material and spiritual benefit of the Serbian people. Each diocese residence was established in a monastery, with the headquarters of the Archbishop at Zhicha Monastery. (Also, it is worthy to note that this Slavonic translation, St. Sava's Nomocanon, became the basis of the civil and ecclesiastical constitution of the kingdoms of Bulgaria and Russia throughout the entire Middle Ages.) When he arrived in Serbia, Sava, the first Archbishop of the Serbs, was greeted with open arms by his brother King Stephen and his nephews (Stephen's sons), Princes Radislav (1228-1233) and Vladislav (1233-1243). Sava went straightway to Studenitsa to venerate his father Simeon's myrrh-flowing relics. After a short stay there, he left in order to ascend his archiepiscopal throne in the newly consecrated Zhicha Monastery, the foundational monastery of King Stephen, located on the right bank of the Ibar river only five miles southwest of Kraljevo. The architectural style of Zhicha Monastery was of the school of Rashka or the Serbo-Byzantine style, characterized by the semi-circular apse at the eastern end of the main church, a separated narthex (entrance area or vestibule on the west end where in the monasteries the Divine Services of Compline, Midnight Office, Hours and the Litya on the eve of Great  Feasts are said), along with a large dome joining the two ends to focus the worshippers to the center of the church. A unique feature of the main church of Christ the Savior in Zhicha was the brick and stone construction of the church which was plastered over and colored red, after the model of the Holy Mountain monasteries, symbolizing the blood which our Savior and His beloved followers, the holy Martyrs, shed "for the life of the world."

As the spiritual center of Serbian Orthodoxy, Zhicha Monastery would once again lead the efforts toward the total enculturation of the Serbian people into the Orthodox vision and way of life. To establish Zhicha as the religious and political center of the kingdom of Serbia, Sava decided that on the first day of his archiepiscopacy in Zhicha, the Feast of the Ascension, 1220, he would, as the newly consecrated Archbishop of Serbia, coronate his brother Stephen as the first Serbian King. Even though Stephen had previously assumed the throne in 1 196 after his father Stephen Nemanja- St. Simeon had abdicated, nonetheless his coronation at this time officially proclaimed him, before all countries, as the rightful Orthodox King of Serbia. This coronation marked the end to any western ties by the Nemanja dynasty. Accordingly, Stephen received the title "Kralj Stephen Prvovenchani" (King Stephen the First - Crowned).

As during his earlier stay in Serbia, Sava met with difficulties. The Roman Pope Callistus III as well as Archbishop Demetrius Homatian of Ochrid were not pleased, to say the least, with the elevation of Sava to Archbishop and the new status of the Serbian Church. Sava spent the first ten years of his archiepiscopacy (1219-1229) primarily in organizing the Church, setting up dioceses, renewing monasteries and strengthening the populace against all pressures from both the Greeks and the Latins. It must be noted that never once did Sava call for any retaliation or hostilities against the Greek or Roman dioceses in Serbia. Also, during this time, Sava experienced another setback. His brother, King Stephen the First-Crowned, fell asleep in the Lord in late 1228. Prior to his death, Stephen received the monastic tonsure and the name Simon. After the King's death, his son Radislav came into power. Unfortunately for the Serbs, Radislav favored his Greek mother Eudokia's side. As a result, the newly coronated King Radislav, against the wishes of Sava, called for a return of the fledgling Serbian Church to the protectorate of the Greek Archbishop of Ochrid. This political maneuver was too much for Sava, and he once again had thoughts of fleeing his homeland. But where could he go? He was now their permanent Archbishop and could not possibly go back to Hilandar. After some deliberation, Venerable Sava decided to visit Jerusalem and the Holy Land. Thus, in 1229, after ten years of dedicated hard work and fruitful labor in the vineyard of the Lord in his homeland, Sava decided to renew his own spirit by pilgrimaging to the cradle of Christianity itself, Jerusalem, where the Lord first brought salvation to the world.

In Jerusalem, Sava purchased the house in which, according to some records, Jesus Christ and His disciples celebrated the Passover in the year he was crucified. He bought it from a Moslem and returned it safely into the hands of the Orthodox Church in Jerusalem. Also, Sava made arrangements which facilitated visitations by Serbian pilgrims to the Holy Land. He paved the way for Serbian monastic colonies to settle and flourish in Palestine and the surrounding desert areas during the time of the Serbian Medieval State (early 13th to mid l5th centuries). Sava also built new churches, renewed existing ones, financed monasteries, and spent many hours in conversation with the great ascetics of the deserts of the Middle East, learning more of the art of prayer, fasting, and the taming of the passions of the flesh. In particular, Sava visited the monastery of his namesake, St. Sava the Sanctified of Jerusalem, where his episcopal ministry was confirmed by his fulfilling a seven hundred-year-old prophecy whereby he received two famous miraculous icons, the Miraculous Icon of the Theotokos "With Three Hands" (called "Troiruchica" in Slavonic; see July 12th) and the Miraculous Icon of the Theotokos "The Nursing Virgin" (see July 3rd), and brought it to Hilandar and placed it in his typicaria. 

When it was time for Sava to leave the Holy Land for Serbia, he decided to go by way of Nicea. He did this to further solidify the promise made by Patriarch Manuel in 1219 to keep the Serbian Church autonomous. There he met with John, the new Emperor of Byzantium (1222-1254) now residing in Nicea, who succeeded Theodore Laskaris. He also met Germanus, the new Patriarch who succeeded the late Patriarch Manuel. Irene, Emperor John's wife and the daughter of the deceased Theodore Laskar, is, was present at these meetings, and she recalled memories of Sava's first visit to Nicea. Sava at this time petitioned for autocephaly, i.e., the right of the Serbian bishops to select and consecrate their own Patriarch. This promise was made to Sava in 1219, and he was in Nicea to renew this pledge. Although this latter request was not granted, Sava nevertheless confirmed the independence ofthe Serbian Church from the Archbishop of Ochrid. Hence, the plans of the new King Radislav were thwarted. Also, unfortunately for Radislav, his military prowess waned as well, for in a fratricidal civil war against his younger brother Vladislav during the summer of 1233, he was defeated and exiled to Durazzo, Albania. Although Sava was unsuccessful in reconciling these brothers—who were both disloyal to their grandfather St. Simeon's call for unity—nevertheless he knew it was better for the country to be ruled by Vladislav. Several years later, as a result of his negotiations with King Vladislav, Sava was able to obtain safe conduct for Radislav, who was allowed to return to Serbia. Unfortunately again for Radislav, his wife had eloped with a French duke during his exile in Albania. Radislav then decided to become a monk, and Sava tonsured him, giving him the name John.

In the spring of 1234, Archbishop Sava, age 59, only five years after his first trip to the Holy Land, decided to make a second pilgrimage to Jerusalem. This time he had particular goals in mind. He wanted to garner support for the Bulgarians who were seeking the ecclesiastical status of autocephaly. Previously, the Imperial Patriarch residing in Nicea had recognized this new situation in Bulgaria, but the Patriarchs of Jerusalem, Alexandria and Antioch had not followed suit. Sava also hoped to seek this same type of support from these Patriarchs in behalf of his own autonomous Serbian Orthodox Church. His mission was to promote the federation of Orthodox sister churches with Jerusalem as the eternal mother Church. There is no doubt that these ecclesiastical missions demonstrated a far-reaching and even prophetic insight on the part of Sava. For the Serbs, he was setting in motion something which would come about only one hundred years later—the autocephaly of the Serbian Church. Sava was a man of his times with a clear vision of the future! Yet there was something even more special about Sava which was personally exhibited by him just ptior to his second trip to the Middle East. For no apparent reason, Sava decided to abdicate his archiepiscopal throne. He appointed one of his younger disciples, Arsenius, to be the Archbishop of Serbia. In accordance with the canons of the Orthodox Church, Arsenius was then elevated by the assembly of bishops gathered at Zhicha. This was confirmed by the Imperial Patriarch in Nicea. Sava, like the saints of old, displayed prophetic insight far beyond human wisdom and reason, as no one at this time realized that when they escorted their beloved Saint to the Serbian kingdom's border so that he could begin his trek to Palestine, they would never again see him alive in this world. Sava knew the Lord would soon call him home to the Heavenly Mansions of the righteous, and thus, as a good archpastor, he lovingly prepared his spiritual children for their own future. Upon arrival inJerusalem, Sava lodged at the St. George Monastery in Akre, a monastery he had purchased from the Latins during his first pilgrimage. Sava visited Patriarch Athanasius of Jerusalem and then went by boat to Alexandria, Egypt, to meet  with Pope Nicholas, "Patriarch of Alexandria and all Africa." He then went to St. Catherine's Monastery on Mt. Sinai, where he spent Great Lent of 1234. This was a most blessed Paschal journey for Sava, for he climbed the heights where the great man of God, Moses the God-seer and Deliverer of his people, had spent many hours speaking to the Lord God face to face as a friend converses with a friend. Sava, too, had been a "Moses" to his people, pastoring, leading and organizing them into a community of God. After the Paschal celebration of 1234, Sava returned to Jerusalem and then traveled to Antioch. After visiting Constantinople, Sava intended to visit the Holy Mountain and Hilandar, but "it did not please the Holy Spirit." Instead, he left for Trnovo, Bulgaria, the capital of King Ivan Asen II's Bulgarian kingdom.

Sava arrived in Trnovo on January 1, 1235. He was received with great honor and dignity, not only because of his efforts on behalf of the Bulgarian ecclesiastical authorities while in the Middle East, but more importantly because he was truly the most respected and venerated person of his era. At the request of King Ivan Asen II, Sava stayed at the Royal Palace in Trnovo. Many state dignitaries, monastics, clergy and pious faithful came to venerate this holy pastor and to receive his blessing. Sava officiated at the Divine Liturgy on Epiphany, January 6, 1235, in the Royal Cathedral of the Holy Forty Martyrs in Trnovo. As was the custom, he participated in the service of the Blessing of the Waters held outside the Cathedral, at the nearby Jantra River. After the Divine Service, the Saint caught a cold which developed into pneumonia, eventually causing his death during the night between Saturday and Sunday, January 14, 1235. He was 60 years of age.

The news of St. Sava's death was a shock for both the Serbian and Bulgarian nations, as well as for the entire Byzantine commonwealth. The saint received a most honorable Christian burial and was laid to rest in the Cathedral of the Holy Forty Martyrs in Trnovo. He remained in Trnovo for over two years, until May 6, 1237 when, after the personal visit of the Serbian King Vladislav, a solemn procession from Trnovo to Mileshevo Monastery returned the Saint to his rightful homeland. Mileshevo Monastery, located only a few miles east of the Lim River near Prijepolje, was founded by King Vladislav (1234-1243). Although renowned for its beautiful icons and frescoes—the Angel at the Tomb of Christ for example—the Monastery could never have imagined the attention it would receive after the placing of the body of Sava in the main church. Upon opening the casket, Sava's body was found completely intact, fragrant, exuding myrrh, looking simply as if he was comfortably sleeping. Thousands of pilgrims—Serbs, Roman Catholics, and even Jews—came to venerate the divine Sava. To all, he was a source of unity, healing, wisdom, joy, and spiritual strength, uniting the various tribes of Serbs into a cohesive nation of Orthodox believers. As a result, only eighteen years later, in 1253, the Orthodox Church of Serbia officially canonized their beloved St. Sava (see April 27th and May 6th).
 

Mileseva Monastery

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Sveti Sava - život i delo
14 Januar (27 Januar po Gregorijanskom)

Prosvetitelj i Prvi Arhiepiskop Srpski
(+1235)

Najmlađi sin Stefana Nemanje, velikog srpskog župana, zvao se Rastko. Rodio se 1169. godine i još od detinjstva je pokazivao da je obdaren izvanrednim darovima. Kad mu je bilo 15 godina, otac mu dodeli jedan kraj u svojoj državi, gde bi se učio upravljanju; a kad mu je bilo 17 godina, roditelji su već pomišljali i da ga žene, mada je on već počeo misliti kako da se odvoji od sveta i ode u manastir, da se posveti Bogu. Jednom, kad su ga roditelji pozvali u dvor, verovatno radi ženidbe, dođu i neki kaluđeri iz Svete Gore, a među njima je bio i jedan Rus. Rastko se upozna s njim, raspita se kako se živi u Svetoj Gori, pa kad je saznao da je tamo upravo onako kako je on želeo, dogovore se da zajedno idu u Svetu Goru.
Rastko zamoli roditelje da ga puste u lov na jelene, pa dok je bio u lovu u planini, iskrade se od društva, i sa duhovnikom Svetogorcem i nekoliko vernih slugu ode u Aton. Izgubljenog Rastka nigde nisu mogli naći, te se konačno zabrinuti roditelji dosete da je mogao odbeći sa onim Svetogorcem. Zato Nemanja otpremi jednog vojvodu sa nekoliko vojnika u Svetu Goru da mu vrate sina, a u dvoru je za to vreme vladala velika tuga i žalost.
Vojvoda pohita što brže može i preko Soluna dođe u Svetu Goru. Tu se stane raspitivati za Rastka i dozna da je on u manastiru svetog Pantelejmona. Vojvoda pronađe Rastka i reče mu da će ga vratiti ocu milom ili silom, makar i vezanog. Rastko se učini kao da se pokorava vojvodinoj naredbi i zadrža vojvodu do sutra, pa da se onda svi vrate. Uveče Rastko zamoli igumana da za vojvodu i pratnju pripremi dobru večeru, a posle večere odoše u crkvu na bdenje. Bogosluženje je bilo dugo, vojvoda i pratioci umorni od puta i malo pripiti od vina, te zadremaše u crkvi. Rastko se lagano iskrade sa jednim duhovnikom, ode na visoku manastirsku kulu, gde ga taj duhovnik postriže i obuče u kaluđersko odelo.

Hilandar
Kad se bdenje završi i Srbi vide da nema Rastka, opasno se naljute na igumana i kaluđere i ko zna šta bi bilo da Rastko sa kule ne viknu na vojvodu da se ostavi kavge, jer je on tu i sutra će se videti. Srbi se smire i postave stražu oko kule.
Sutradan zovne Rastko vojvodu i pratnju i pokaže im se sa kule u kaluđerskom odelu. Kad ga videše zakaluđerena, vojvoda i njegova pratnja briznuše u plač. No Rastko ih uteši, rekavši im da je to volja Božja i spusti im sa kule svoje svetovno odelo i odstrižene vlasi da odnesu roditeljima i uvere ih da je on već duhovnik, a uz to im preda i svojeručno pismo za roditelje. Vojvoda se sa pratnjom vrati u Srbiju. Nije dugo prošlo, a po Svetoj Gori se raščuje da je sin srpskog vladara došao da živi među isposnicima, a svako je želeo da ga vidi. Rastko je stupanjem u monaški red dobio ime Sava. Protat svih svetogorskih monaha, saznavši ko je i čiji je Sava, premesti ga u najveći manastir Vatoped, gde je Sava proizveden u jeromonaha.
Roditelji pak Savini, doznavši šta je njihov sin uradio, dugo su ga žalili i u znak žalosti crno odelo nosili, ali su se na kraju pomirili s time, verujući da je to Božja volja. Nemanja se počne dopisivati sa sinom i s vremena na vreme mu je slao mnogo novaca, da ne bi ni u čemu oskudevao. Sava je sve te novce delio manastirima i pustinjacima. Jednom zamoli svog igumana da obiđe sve manastire i pustinjake po Svetoj Gori, i kad dobi dozvolu, obiđe ih sve, idući bos. Kada se vratio u manastir Sava reče igumanu da želi i on da ispašta u samoći kao što ispaštaju isposnici, ali mu iguman ne dozvoli. Ipak, Sava se hranio samo suvim hlebom i vodom, a vrlo retko je kušao po malo vina i zejtina. Svaku noć, do neko doba, molio se Bogu i metanisao, a uoči nedelje, provodio je na molitvi dok ne ogreje sunce. Išao je lako odeven i bos i zimi i leti, a od takvog hodanja koža na tabanima mu je tako odebljala da je mogao ići po najoš trijem kamenju. Sava je postao ugled svim kaluđerima i isposnicima svetogorskim. Posle nekoliko godina i Savin otac, Stefan Nemanja, zakaluđeri se u Studenici i dođe svome sinu u Svetu Goru.

Manastir Studenica
Do tada u Svetoj Gori nije bilo srpskog manastira. Stefan Nemanja, koji je u monaštvu dobio ime Simeon, proputuje sa svojim sinom svu Svetu Goru, deleći milostinju manastirima i isposnicima, i tom prilikom nađe jedno zgodno mesto gde je bio jedan porušeni manastir i izmoli od grčkog cara odobrenje da može manastir osnovati. Car im pokloni zemlju i izda hrisovulju kojom njihovu zadužbinu oglašava kao manastir prvog reda - carsku zadužbinu - u nasleđe njihovim potomcima, i još im pridoda i jedan svoj manastir, Žig. Tako Sava sa svojim ocem, a uz pomoć tadašnjeg srpskog župana Stevana Prvovenčanog, podiže Hilandar, ogradi ga tvrdim gradom i u gradu podiže kulu kao carski dom i mnoge ćelije. Tu se Sava i Simeon nastaniše, živeše i Bogu moliše.

Hilandar
Nije prošlo mnogo vremena, a Hilandaru beše prirodato četrnaest manastira i toliko zemlje da je dve stotine kaluđera moglo u njemu živeti. No, Simeon je u Hilandaru živeo samo osam meseci, pa umro. U Hilandaru je Sava prikupio mnogo pobožnih i u bogoslovskoj nauci učenih ljudi, da se brinu o duhovnoj nastavi, te uskoro Hilandar postade kao neka duhovna akademija za sve one koji su želeli dobiti više bogoslovsko obrazovanje. Tu je Sava sastavio pravila po kojima se imaju vladati kaluđeri i ta su pravila poznata pod imenom

Tipik svetog Save.
U Svetoj Gori napisao je Sava i žitije svoga oca, prepodobnog Simeona. Tipik svetog Save U to vreme u Srbiji se desiše ozbiljni događaji. Vukan je ustao na svoga brata Stevana Prvovenčanog, oteo mu presto, a zemlja je zbog rata i pustoš enja opustela, te zavladala velika glad. Stevan posla pismo Savi u Svetu Goru, i zamoli ga da pohita i dođe u Srbiju, i donese telo očevo, ne bi li nad mrtvim očevim telom izmirio braću. Sava požuri te krene u Srbiju i ponese očevo telo, koje je potom sahranjeno u Studenici. Savi pođe za rukom da izmiri braću, i Stevan u znak izmirenja, počne zidati crkvu Žiču. Za to vreme Sava je već bio postao arhimandrit. Sava je mislio da se odmah vrati u Svetu Goru, ali ga događaji zadržaše, te se prilično zadrža u Srbiji. U to vreme, napade na srpske zemlje bugarski vlastelin Strez i Sava ode napadaču da ga nagovori da odustane od rata. Strez nije hteo ni da čuje te mu Sava naposletku reče: "I mi imamo konja i junaka, a Bog će videti ko je kriv: mi ili ti". Te noći Strez naprasno umre, i u obe vojske, i srpskoj i bugarskoj, verovalo se da ga je Sava ukleo. Za vreme svog boravka u Srbiji Sava je nastojao da se podižu crkve, uređivao je službu u crkvama, po ugledu na službe u Svetoj Gori, uvodio je lepe običaje, a štetne iskorenjivao. Posle toga Sava se vrati u Svetu Goru, a odatle ode u Nikeju grčkom caru Todoru Laskaru i patrijarhu Manojlu, jer su u to vreme Latini (krstaši) bili zauzeli Carigrad i u njemu vladali. Sava im objasni da je Srbima teško da dolaze čak u Nikeju radi postavljanja episkopa, već ih zamoli da oni za Srbiju postave arhiepiskopa, a da ubuduće sami srpski episkopi biraju arhiepiskopa. Car i patrijarh prihvate ovaj Savin predlog, ali s tim da njega proizvedu za arhiepiskopa. Sava se u početku opirao, ali na kraju pristade, jer je to bila zgodna prilika, i tako je Sava uspeo da srpska crkva postane autokefalna, tj. nezavisna. Bilo je to 1219. godine.
Pri povratku u Srbiju, Sava, sada kao arhiepiskop, svrati opet u Svetu Goru, još jednom obiđe sve manastire, u svakom služeći, i proizvodeći dostojna lica za sveštenike i đakone. Rastajući se sa tugom od svoje omiljene Svete Gore, on sa sobom povede nekoliko svojih najboljih učenika, da ih posveti za episkope. Došavši u Srbiju, Sava, u dogovoru sa Stevanom i vlastelom, razdeli Srbiju na dvanaest eparhija i ustanovi episkopske stolice, a za arhiepiskopiju odredi Žiču. U svim ovim eparhijama postavi episkope, za protopopijate protopope; prepiše svima zakonske knjige i uputi ih kako da zavode red. U ovim crkvenim reformama, Sava je zabranio prinošenje krvnih žrtava u crkvi i svetkovine pred crkvom, te svečare uputio u domove, stvorivši tako osnovu za proslavljanje Krsnog imena ili Krsne slave. Kad je uveo red, Sava uoči Spasovdana, 1220. godine, sazove sabor kod Žiče, pa tad tronoše Žiču i svog brata, dotle velikog župana Stevana, miropomaže i venča kraljevskom krunom. Tako Stevan posta prvi kralj srpski. Posle svega ovoga, krene Sava u "kanonsku vizitaciju" po celoj državi i svuda je učio, upućivao i jeretike (bogumile) obraćao u pravoslavlje.

Manastir Žiča
Posle nekog vremena, krene na Srbiju ugarski kralj Andrija, sa velikom vojskom. Sava ode k njemu da ga odgovori od rata, a kralj mu reče: "Kad si svetitelj, učini kakvo čudo, pa ću ti poverovati i poslušati". Sava se pomoli Bogu, te usred najžešće letnje vrućine pade krupan grad, od kojeg i ugarska vojska nastrada; i kralj videvš i to čudo, vrati se natrag.
Sveti Sava je umro 12. januara, i u crkvenim knjigama toga dana se beleži i spominje, ali se spomen njegov čini 14. januara po starom kalendaru - 27. januara po novom. Neki misle da je to stoga što je proteklo dva dana od smrti njegove dok je glas o smrti stigao u Srbiju, i da je spomen njegov počeo da se obavlja svake godine onog dana kada je glas stigao. Drugi opet misle da je sveti Sava sahranjen 14. januara i da mu se zato u taj dan čini spomen. Treći smatraju da je Sava umro u subotu 12. januara 1236. godine, a srpska ga crkva slavi 14. januara zato što, po crkvenom ustavu, ni jedan svetac ne bi mogao imati samostalne službe u poprazništvu nedelju dana od Bogojavljenja. Da ne bi osnivač srpske pravoslavne crkve ostao bez samostalne službe, srpsko sveštenstvo je odavno premestilo praznovanje njegove uspomene od 12. na 14. januar, to jest prvog dana u koji, po Bogojavljenju, može biti samostalne službe. Svetog Savu slave i drugi pravoslavni narodi, Rusi, Bugari, Grci...

Himna svetom Savi

Uskliknimo s ljubavlju Svetitelju Savi Srpske crkve i skole Svetiteljskoj glavi. Tamo venci tamo slava Gde nas srpski pastir Sava. Pojte mu Srbi, Pesmu i utrojte! Blagodarna Srbijo, Puna si ljubavi Prema svome pastiru Svetitelju Savi. Celo Srpstvo slavi slavu Svoga oca Svetog Savu. Pojte mu Srbi, Pesmu i utrojte! S neba salje blagoslov Sveti otac Sava; Sa svih strana svi Srbi s mora i Dunava

K nebu glave podignite Savu tamo ugledajte. Savu srpsku slavu, Pred prestolom Tvorca! Da se srpska sva srca S tobom ujedine, Sunce mira, ljubavi, Da nam svima sine, Da zivimo svi u slozi, Sveti Savo ti pomozi. Pocuj glas svog roda, Srpskoga naroda! Pet vekova Srbin je u ropstvu camio Svetitelja Save Ime je slavio. Sveti Sava Srbe voli I za njih se Bogu moli. Pojte mu Srbi, Pesmu i utrojte!