Saint Sava

Saint Sava (Serbian Cyrillic: Свети Сава, romanized: Sveti Sava, Serbian pronunciation: [sʋɛ̂ːtiː sǎːʋa]; 1169 or 1174 – 14 January 1235), known as the Enlightener or the Illuminator, was a Serbian prince and Orthodox monk who became the first Archbishop of the autocephalous Serbian Church. He was also a writer, diplomat, and the founder of Serbian law.

Sava, born as Rastko Nemanjić (Serbian Cyrillic: Растко Немањић), was the youngest son of Serbian Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja (founder of the Nemanjić dynasty), and ruled the appanage of Zachlumia briefly in 1190–92. He then left for Mount Athos, where he became a monk and took the monastic name Sava (Sabbas). At Athos he established the monastery of Hilandar, which became one of the most important cultural and religious centres of the Serbian people. In 1219, the Patriarchate exiled in Nicea recognized him as the first Serbian Archbishop, and in the same year, he authored the oldest known constitution of Serbia, the Zakonopravilo nomocanon, thus securing full religious and political independence. Sava is regarded as the greatest figure of Serbian medieval literature and author of the first Serbian "biography". Specifically, he wrote the life of his father, the Serbian ruler Stefan Nemanja.

He is widely considered one of the most important figures in Serbian history. The Serbs regard Sava as what Averroes is to the Muslims and Maimonides is to the Jews by virtue of their respective lives and achievements.

Saint Sava is venerated by the Eastern Orthodox Church on January 27 [O.S. January 14]. Many artistic works from the Middle Ages to modern times have interpreted his life. He is the patron saint of Serbia, Serbs, Serbian education, and medicine. The Church of Saint Sava in Belgrade is dedicated to him, built on the site where the Ottomans burnt his remains in 1594, during an uprising in which Serbs used icons of Sava as their war flags; the church is one of the largest church buildings in the world.

To distinguish him from other saints and canonized Serbian archbishops of the same name, he is also posthumously titled Saint Sava I of Serbia.

Rastko Nemanjić (Serbian Cyrillic: Растко Немањић, Serbian pronunciation: [râstkɔ nɛ̌maɲitɕ]), a diminutive of Rastislav, was born in 1169 or 1174, in Gradina (modern-day Podgorica). As the youngest son of Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja and his wife Ana, Prince Rastko belonged to the first generation of the Nemanjić dynasty, alongside his brothers Vukan and Stefan. His biographers mention that he was born after a hiatus in the couple's childbearing and was therefore especially dear. At the Serbian court the brothers received a good education in the Byzantine tradition, which exercised great political, cultural and religious influence in Serbia. He grew up in a time of great foreign relations activities in Serbia. Rastko showed himself serious and ascetic; as the youngest son, he was made Prince of Hum at an early age, in c. 1190. Hum was a province between Neretva and Dubrovnik (Ragusa). Having his own court with magnates (velmože), senior officials and selected local nobility, the governance in Hum was not only an honorary title but constituted a practical school of state administration. Teodosije the Hilandarian said that Rastko, as a ruler, was "mild and gentle, kind to everyone, loving the poor as few others, and very respecting of the monastic life". He showed no interest in fame, wealth, or the throne. The governance of Hum had previously been held by his uncle Miroslav, who continued to hold at least the Lim region with Bijelo Polje while Rastko held Hum. After two years, in autumn 1192 or shortly afterwards, Rastko left Hum for Mount Athos. Miroslav may have continued as ruler of Hum after Rastko had left. Athonite monks were frequent visitors to the Serbian court – lectures perhaps made him determined to leave.

Upon arriving at Athos, Rastko entered the Russian St. Panteleimon Monastery where he received the monastic name of Sava (Sabbas). According to tradition, a Russian monk was his spiritual guide or mentor and was said to have had earlier visited the Serbian court with other Athonite monks. Sava then entered the Greek Vatopedi monastery, where he would stay for the next seven years, and became more closely acquainted with Greek theological and church-administrational literature. His father tried to persuade him to return to Serbia, but Sava was determined and replied, "You have accomplished all that a Christian sovereign should do; come now and join me in the true Christian life". His young years at Athos had a significant influence on the formation of his personality, it was also here that he found models on which he would organize monastic and church life in Serbia.

Stefan Nemanja took his son's advice – he summoned an assembly at Studenica and abdicated on 25 March 1196, giving the throne to his middle son, Stefan. The next day, Nemanja and his wife Ana took monastic vows. Nemanja took the monastic name Simeon and stayed in Studenica until leaving for Mount Athos in autumn 1197. The arrival was greatly pleasing to Sava and the Athonite community, as Nemanja as a ruler had donated much to the community. The two, with consent of the hegumen (abbot) Theostyriktos of Vatopedi, went on a tour of Athos in late autumn 1197 in order for Simeon to familiarize with all of its churches and sacred places; Nemanja and Ana donated to numerous monasteries, especially Karyes, Iviron and the Great Lavra.