Venerable Savva of Storozhevsky (or Zvenigorodsky)
The Monk Savva of Storozhevsky (Zvenigorod) is considered the closest in spirit disciple of the Monk Sergius of Radonezh.
The main source of information about the Monk Savva is his Life, written in mid. XVI century on behalf of Metropolitan Macarius, hagiographer and expert in hook singing, Markell Khutynsky (Bezborod). Brief mentions of the saint are found in the Life of his mentor, as well as in chronicles. Legends about the Miracles of the Zvenigorod ascetic have also been preserved.
Biographical information about the Monk Savva is very scarce, which the author of his Life complained about back in the 16th century. It is known that for most of his life St. Savva spent time in the Trinity Monastery, was elected confessor to the brethren and even to Abbot Sergius himself. Six months after the death of his mentor, Savva became hegumen of the Trinity Monastery, despite the fact that Sergius appointed another of his students to this position, Nikon of Radonezh . But he, having refused the abbess, went into seclusion and headed the monastery only 6 years later, after Savva left the Trinity Monastery in 1398. At the invitation of Prince Yuri of Zvenigorod and Galich, he founded the Mother of God Nativity (Savvino-Storozhevsky) Monastery in Zvenigorod, on Mount Storozhe, and became its first abbot. A young icon painter Andrei Rublev was invited to paint the temple. With the blessing of Savva, he created the now famous “Zvenigorod rite” of the iconostasis of the Assumption Church on Gorodok in the Zvenigorod Kremlin.
The Monk Savva of Storozhevsky reposed on December 16, 1407. At first he was venerated locally, and then canonized at the Church Council of 1547. The Life dedicated to him was included in the Assumption and Royal sets of the Great Menaions of the Four.
In 1919, the Savvino-Storozhevskaya monastery was closed, Savva’s relics were confiscated by the liquidation department of the People’s Commissariat of Justice and were stored in Lubyanka until the early 1930s. Only in 1998 did they return to the Nativity Cathedral of the monastery.
Reverend Savva is one of the most revered saints of Rus'. The monastery he founded was the first in the history of Rus' to receive the status of a Lavra. He was especially revered in the grand-ducal, and later royal, family. Having become a spiritual father for representatives of the grand ducal family, the Monk Savva was considered the “patron of kings” in later times. The author of the Life called him “the defender of Moscow”: Savva blessed the Zvenigorod prince Yuri for a campaign in Volga Bulgaria, and the complete victory of the Russian army in this campaign contributed to the salvation of Muscovite Rus' from the invasion of Tamerlane, which threatened the complete destruction of the state. The plot of the victory over the Volga Bulgarians and the ruin of Kazan, included in the Life of St. Savva, was especially relevant for the politics of Rus' in the middle. XVI century
The Life of St. Savva Storozhevsky in the Cultural History of Russia
Many famous Russian cultural figures turned in their work to monuments associated with the Monk Savva. Among them are I. I. Shishkin, F. I. Shalyapin, N. K. Roerich, A. M. Remizov, I. I. Levitan, A. P. Chekhov, M. M. Prishvin, I. S. Shmelev, M. A. Voloshin, A. I. Solzhenitsyn, Andrei Tarkovsky and others.
A.S. Pushkin also turned directly to the Life of St. Savva. In the early 30s of the nineteenth century. he translated this work into modern Russian. As researchers have determined, the text of A. S. Pushkin goes back to the Fourth Menaion of Metropolitan Dimitri of Rostov. The collection of Lives compiled by the Metropolitan was the poet’s constant reading throughout his life. While working on the translation, Pushkin worked hard on the style, correcting and selecting more precise words. It is important to note that the writer also made extracts from other hagiographic works placed in Demetrius’s Menaion, but only fully translated the Life of the Zvenigorod Ascetic. Interest in Zvenigorod is associated with the writer’s childhood memories, since he often spent the summer there on his grandmother’s estate. The Savino-Storozhevsky Monastery is the setting for his earlier works - the poem “The Monk” (1813) and the sketch “On the Quiet Shores of Moscow” (1823). For the first time, Pushkin's translation of the Life of Abbot Savva was published only in 1904. The writer's autograph is kept in the Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House) (code: PD, No. 1620). It was found in a block of 4 sheets, sewn by the gendarmes into the notebook No. 2386 B, which they artificially compiled.
Miracles and later legends about the Monk Savva of Storozhevsky
Markell the Beardless, following the canon of compiling a hagiographic work, accompanied the Life with Miracles. These texts were recorded by him from the words of the monks of the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery. The first miracles occurred at the end of the 15th century; the latter are contemporary with the creation of the Life and date back to the mid-16th century.
Traditions of later times are also associated with the name of the Monk Sava. There is a well-known legend about the salvation of the Zvenigorod saints Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich while hunting a bear. This plot was reflected in the poem by Lev Aleksandrovich May (1822-1862) "Deliverer", first published in the second volume of the book “Grand-Ducal, Tsarist and Imperial Hunting in Rus'” (1896-1911), where it was illustrated by the artist Nikolai Semenovich Samokish (1869-1944).
Appearance of St. Savva Storozhevsky to Eugene Beauharnais: legend and reality
Another legend tells of the appearance in 1812 of the Monk Sava to Eugene Beauharnais.
Prince Eugene Rose (Eugene) de Beauharnais(1781-1824) - stepson of Napoleon Bonaparte, Viceroy of Italy, heir to the Italian throne, military leader, division general. An engraved portrait of the prince can be seen in the Printmaking Department of the National Library of Russia.
In 1812, Eugene Beauharnais commanded the 4th (Italian) infantry corps of Napoleon's army. Protecting the roads to Moscow from Russian troops, in September 1812 the corps headed by Beauharnais settled down near Zvenigorod, in the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery. Tradition says that here an old man appeared to the prince in a dream, who turned to him with a request not to destroy the monastery and predicted that in this case he would avoid death, and his descendants would serve Russia. The next morning they explained to him that the elder was the Monk Savva himself.
Indeed, Eugene Beauharnais was almost the only one of Napoleon’s commanders who participated in the Russian campaign to return unharmed. Moreover, it was Beauharnais, after Murat’s unauthorized departure, who took command of the remnants of the Grand Army and brought it to Magdeburg. And the descendants of Beauharnais actually became related to the Russian imperial house.
In 1837, Eugene Beauharnais's son, Maximilian, Duke of Leuchtenberg, visited Russia to participate in cavalry maneuvers (this title was granted to Eugene Beauharnais and all his descendants in 1817). Here in August 1837, at a ball, he met the daughter of Emperor Nicholas I, Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna. In 1839 their wedding took place. Maximilian Leuchtenbergsky took an active part in the life of the Russian state: he was the president of the Academy of Arts, as well as the head of the Mining Institute, established a galvanoplastic plant and a hospital in St. Petersburg (which is still popularly called “Maximilianovskaya”), and was involved in the construction of the first railways in Russia. Upon the death of Duke Maximilian, Nicholas I included his children in the Russian imperial family and gave them the title of Princes of Romanov.
After the October Revolution of 1917, almost all the Dukes of Leuchtenberg left their homeland. Many of their family settled in France. Not far from Paris, a chapel was built in the name of St. Sava. Savva Storozhevsky is almost the only Russian saint known and revered by the French.
Of all the descendants of the Dukes of Leuchtenberg, only Daria Evgenievna (Dolly, Dora) Leuchtenberg
. Despite her origins, she worked for many years in Leningrad, at the Public (Russian National) Library, where she was accepted on the personal recommendation of M. Gorky. In 1937, Dolly Leuchtenberg was arrested and executed.
Publication of the legend
But let us return to Eugene Beauharnais’s vision of the Venerable Savva of Storozhevsky. The legend about this, preceded by the legend about the salvation of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, was first published in 1914. Duke George of Leuchtenberg called "Family Tradition". In the publication, the author gives different versions of the legend about the appearance of St. Savva: monastic ones and those that existed among members of his large family. In addition, he adds excerpts from the notes of participants in the Napoleonic campaign, in particular excerpts from the diaries of the adjutant of the Prince of Beauharnais, E. Labome, already published by that time (Labaume, S. 156).
Albrecht Adam and his drawings of the Zvenigorod Monastery
As an illustration, Georgy Leuchtenbergsky placed a black and white photo reproduction of the drawing with the caption: “Savvin, Storozhevsky, monastery. (Drawing of Adam, made from life on the day of the stay of the Viceroy of Italy, Prince Eugene of Beauharnais, in the monastery). This drawing was located in St. Petersburg, in the Mariinsky Palace, built after the wedding of Maximilian Beauharnais with Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna. To decorate the palace, the famous art gallery of the Dukes of Leuchtenberg was transported from Munich. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, after the Mariinsky Palace was bought by the treasury in 1884 and rebuilt for the State Council, the gallery was sold out. Some items from the Leuchtenbergsky collection ended up in the Hermitage, including the album “The Russian Campaign,” which included a drawing of the monastery.
The album “Russian Campaign” was created by a German battle painter and lithographer Albrecht Adam(1786-1862), who served in the troops led by Eugene Beauharnais, including participating in the campaign of Napoleon I to Russia. Throughout the campaign, he recorded in detail the course of events in drawings and diary entries. After returning to France, based on his sketches, Adam created a series of 83 sheets (the so-called “Russian Album”), executed in liquid oil on paper. Later he lithographed them and compiled an album: “Voyage pittoresque et militaire Willenberg en Prusse jusqu’ à Moscou fait en 1812 pris sur le terrain meme, et lithographié par Albrecht Adam. Verlag Hermann und Barth. Munich." 1827 (“Picturesque picture of a military campaign from Willenberg in Prussia to Moscow in 1812” (1827 - 1833). This album already consisted of 95 sheets, and each of them was accompanied by explanatory text in French or German from the camp journal the artist himself or quotes from the memories of war participants.
A series of drawings “Russian Album” by A. Adam is now in the State Hermitage Museum. The drawing we are interested in is “Napoleonic troops marching past the walls of the monastery” (Inv. No. 25996). The album contains the following caption under the picture: “Monastery in Zvenigorod. Main apartment September 13, 1812" (“Abbaye de Zwenigherod. Quartier General le 13 Septembre”) (Russian album of Albrecht Adam: catalog. P. 31, No. 81; the image is on the binding of the catalog). In the foreground, next to the tent, near which a staff officer from Beauharnais’s retinue reclines, Adam is depicted drawing with his back to the viewer.
An album of A. Adam's lithographs can not be found in all, even large, book depositories and museums. The Rossika department of the Russian National Library contains such an album of lithographs, one of which depicts the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery on the day when the army under the leadership of Beauharnais was there. The lithograph is called "Vue de ľabbaye de Zwenigherod le 10 Septembre". It is somewhat different from the pictorial drawing: it does not contain images of a column of troops, an artist and a tent, and in their place is a halt of the French linear infantry. In the caption to the lithograph, the time of action is referred to three days ago. In addition, it is accompanied by an excerpt, as it was established, from the work of E. Labome. The album contains a small fragment of the memoirs of this adjutant Eugene Beauharnais. In the book, Labom devoted much more space to visiting the Zvenigorod monastery.
The French officer told how he and his soldiers entered the monastery, where they were met by gray-haired monks. One of them spoke French and told Labom about the trials that befell the Russian people, about their desire for freedom, about the patience and courage with which the Russians overcame the invasions of enemies. The elder also told the Frenchman about the great role of the servants of the Orthodox Church in the struggle for the independence of their homeland. Labeaume “was imbued with respect for a nation that shows so much greatness in misfortune,” and told the Prince of Beauharnais about this when he arrived at the monastery.
Both the memoirs of E. Laboma and the drawing of A. Adam - all this testifies to a real visit by Eugene Beauharnais to the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery. Therefore, it can be assumed that the basis of the legend about the appearance of the Monk Sava to the French general Eugene Beauharnais is an event that actually happened, captured in the memoirs of his adjutant E. Labome.
Letters from Napoleon Bonaparte to Eugene Beauharnais
The legend about the vision of the Zvenigorod saint Eugene Beauharnais was passed on from mouth to mouth in the family of his descendants, the Dukes of Leuchtenberg. They also carefully preserved documents, paintings and memorial items associated with the name of their famous ancestor. Some items from the Mariinsky Palace ended up in the State Hermitage after the revolution.
Probably also two letters, which belonged to General Beauharnais and ended up in the OR RNB, also come from the family archive of the descendants of E. Beauharnais. Both are in f. No. 991 (General collection of foreign autographs); one came from Paris as a gift from A. Ya. Polonsky in 1985 and is listed according to inventory 3, without No., the other - according to inventory 1, No. 923, therefore, the second arrived at the Russian National Library earlier. 
These letters were addressed to the Viceroy of Italy E. Beauharnais and were personally endorsed by Napoleon Bonaparte. Both messages were drawn up in Fontainebleau, and both are dated September 1807: one on the 14th, the other on the 30th. The Emperor turns to his stepson with recommendations regarding the reception of the Russian squadron after the signing of the Peace of Tilsit (during the so-called Second Archipelago, headed by D.N. Senyavin expedition, campaign and strategic actions of the Russian Baltic Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea during the wars of the third and fourth anti-French coalition in 1805-1807 and the Russian-Turkish war of 1806-1812).
In another OR fund there is another document associated with the name of Beauharnais. This is a copy of a letter from the general himself about the redeployment of troops, dated October 9, 1812 (code: f. 859, collection of N.K. Schilder, room 42, no. 20).
Icon "Cathedral of Radonezh Saints"
Il. 1. Miniature “Reverend Sergius of Radonezh”. Service Rev. Sergius of Radonezh. Collection of services to the saints. XVII century
Code: OSRC, Q.I.85, l. 425 rpm
Views of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Drawings from I. F. Tyumenev’s album
"Across Rus'." Watercolor. Deut. floor. XIX century
Il. 2. l. 30 Bell tower from behind the garden
Code: f. 796. Tyumenev, unit. hr. 275
Il. 3. l. 25. View from the refectory gallery
Views of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Drawings from I. F. Tyumenev’s album “Across Rus'”. Watercolor. Deut. floor. XIX century
Code: f. 796. Tyumenev, unit. hr. 275
Il. 4. l. 27. North side. Walls
Views of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Drawings from I. F. Tyumenev’s album “Across Rus'”. Watercolor. Deut. floor. XIX century
Code: f. 796. Tyumenev, unit. hr. 275
Il. 5. l. 23. View of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra from a distance, from the Moscow road
Views of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Drawings from I. F. Tyumenev’s album “Across Rus'”. Watercolor. Deut. floor. XIX century
Code: f. 796. Tyumenev, unit. hr. 275
Il. 6. l. 26. Walls: East side
Il. 7. Miniature “Savior is in power”. "Pereyaslavl Gospel". Con. XIV-XV centuries Pereyaslavl-Zalessky. Scribe Deacon Zinovyshko.
Il. 8. Screensaver. "Pereyaslavl Gospel". Con. XIV-XV centuries Pereyaslavl-Zalessky. Scribe Deacon Zinovyshko.
Code: OSRK, F.p.I. 21 (from the collection of F.A. Tolstoy), l. 7 rev.
Il. 9. Screensaver. "Pereyaslavl Gospel". Con. XIV-XV centuries Pereyaslavl-Zalessky. Scribe Deacon Zinovyshko.
Code: OSRK, F.p.I. 21 (from the collection of F.A. Tolstoy), l. 79
Il. 10. Screensaver. "Pereyaslavl Gospel". Con. XIV-XV centuries Pereyaslavl-Zalessky. Scribe Deacon Zinovyshko.
Code: OSRK, F.p.I. 21 (from the collection of F.A. Tolstoy), l. 26
Il. 12. Screensaver and beginning of the manuscript.
Ladder of John of Sinai. 1422
Golutvinsky Epiphany Monastery (Kolomna).
Code: Weather. 73, l. 1
Il. 13. Scribe's note. Ladder of John of Sinai. 1422 Golutvinsky Epiphany Monastery (Kolomna).
Code: Weather. 73, l. 297
Il. 14. Miniature “Evangelist Matthew”. Four Gospels. 1610
Contribution to the Pavlo-Obnorsky Monastery.
Code: Weather. 163, l. 6 rev.
Il. 15. Record of the deposit of the manuscript in the Pavlo-Obnorsky Monastery. Four Gospels. 1610
Code: Weather. 163, l. 239 rev.
Il. 16. Miniature “Reverend Abraham of Galicia”. Service and Life of St. Abraham of Galicia (Gorodetsky or Chukhlomsky). XVIII century
Code: AN Lavra, A-69, l. 2
Il. 17. Miniature depicting a plot from the Life of St. Abraham of Galitsky. Service and Life of St. Abraham of Galicia (Gorodetsky or Chukhlomsky). XVIII century
Code: AN Lavra, A-69, l. 2 vol.
Il. 19. Prayers, as well as a record of manuscript contributions. Jerusalem Charter. 1412
Code: OSRC. F.p.I.25, l. 1 rev.
Il. 20. Savva Zvenigorodsky’s rescue of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich during a bear hunt. Illustration by N. S. Samokish for the poem “The Deliverer” by L. A. Mey. 1896-1911
Il. 21. Eugene Rose (Eugene) de Beauharnais (1781 1824) - stepson of Napoleon Bonaparte, Viceroy of Italy. Engraved portrait. Department of Prints of the Russian National Library
Il. 22. Portrait of the Duchess
Daria Evgenievna Leuchtenberg.
Hood. F. Flaming. France. 1896
Canvas, oil. State Hermitage Museum
Il. 23. Portrait of Albrecht Adam. Voyage pittoresque et militaire Willenberg en Prusse jusqu’ à Moscou fait en 1812 pris sur le terrain meme, et lithographié par Albrecht Adam. Verlag Hermann und Barth. Munich." 1827
(“Picturesque picture of a military campaign from Willenberg in Prussia to Moscow in 1812” (1827 – 1833)
Il. 24. A. Adam. “Monastery in Zvenigorod. Main apartment September 13, 1812" (“Abbaye de Zwenigherod. Quartier General le 13 Septembre”). Oil drawing from “Russian Album” by A. Adam. State Hermitage Museum, inv. No. 25996
Il. 25. A. Adam. “Monastery in Zvenigorod. September 10, 1812" (“Vue de ľabbaye de Zwenigherod le 10 Septembre”). Lithograph from the album “Voyage pittoresque et militaire Willenberg en Prusse jusqu’ à Moscou fait en 1812 pris sur le terrain meme, et lithographié par Albrecht Adam. Verlag Hermann und Barth. Munich." 1827 (“Picturesque picture of a military campaign from Willenberg in Prussia to Moscow in 1812” (1827 – 1833). Department “Rossika”, RNL
Napoleon's autograph signature.
Il. 26, 27. Letter from Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte addressed to the Viceroy of Italy E. Beauharnais. Fontainebleau. September 14, 1807
Napoleon's autograph signature.
Code: f. No. 991. General collection. foreign autographs, op. 3, without no.
Napoleon's autograph signature.
Il. 28, 29. Letter from Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte addressed to the Viceroy of Italy E. Beauharnais. Fontainebleau. September 30, 1807
Napoleon's autograph signature.
Code: f. No. 991 (General collection of foreign autographs), op. 1, No. 923
Il. 31. Funeral record. Canon. Con. XIV-early XV century and beginning XV century Simonov Monastery.
Code: OSRC. O.p.I.6 (from the collection of F. Tolstoy), l. 84
Il. 32. Life of St. Stephen of Perm, compiled by Epiphanius the Wise (“Sermon on the life and teaching of our holy father Stephen, who was a bishop in Perm”) Collection. Beginning XV century
Code: Elm. Q. 10, l. 129
Il. 33. Record of the scribe of the Life of St. Stephen of Perm, compiled by Epiphanius the Wise Collection. Beginning XV century
Code: Elm. Q. 10, l. 194 rev. (last line) 195 (three lines at the top in scribe's handwriting)
Il. 34. Message from Epiphanius the Wise to his friend Kirill in Tver.
Collection. XVII-XVIII centuries
Code: Solov. 15/1474, l. 130
Il. 35. Laudatory speech from Rev. Sergius of Radonezh, compiled by Epiphanius the Wise. Collection. 90s XV century
Code: Sof. 1384, l. 250
Il. 37. Life of St. Sergius of Radonezh (the closest text, compiled by Epiphanius the Wise). Start list XVI century
Code: OLDP. F. 185, l. 489 rev. 490
Il. 39. Ferapontov-Belozersky Monastery. Drawing from I. F. Tyumenev’s album “Across Rus'”. Hood. I. F. Tyumenev (?). Watercolor. Deut. floors XIX century
Code: f. : f. 796. Tyumenev, unit. hr. 271, l. 69
Il. 40. Ferapontov-Belozersky Monastery. Drawing from I. F. Tyumenev’s album “Across Rus'”.
Hood. I F Tyumenev (?). Watercolor. Deut. floors XIX century
Code: f. 796. Tyumenev, unit. hr. 271, l. 73
Il. 41. Below: Lake near the Ferapontovo-Belozersky Monastery. Above: Patriarch Nikon’s island Drawing from I. F. Tyumenev’s album “Across Rus'”. Hood. I F Tyumenev. Watercolor. Deut. floors XIX century
Code: f. 796. Tyumenev, unit. hr. 271, l. 84
Il. 42. Life of St. Sergius of Radonezh with miracles of 1449. Collection. Con. XV century
Code: Sof. 1389, l. 281 (upper foliation).
Il. 43. Preface to the manuscript. Great Menaion of Metropolitan Macarius (Mineaion for September). Ser. XVI century
Code: Sof. 1317, l. 3
Il. 44. Screensaver for the manuscript. Great Menaion of Metropolitan Macarius (Mineaion for September). Ser. XVI century
Code: Sof. 1317, l. 9
Il. 45. Life of St. Sergius of Radonezh, compiled by Pachomius the Serb Great Menaion of the Chapel of Metropolitan Macarius (Mineaion for September). Ser. XVI century
Code: Sof. 1317, l. 373 rev.
Il. 47. Sample of handwriting of assistant Dmitry Rostovsky. Menaion of the honor of Demetrius of Rostov. List of con. XVII century
Code: OSRC. F.I.651
Il. 48. Extracts from the Life of St. Sergius of Radonezh, made by Empress Catherine II. 1793 Copy of P. P. Pekarsky from Catherine’s autograph. Ser. XIX century
Code: f. 568. Pekarsky, units. hr. 466
Il. 49. Note in cursive writing: “Prologue of the Prilutsky Monastery.” Prologue. Con. XIV-early XV century Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery.
Code: SPDA. A.I.264 (2), l. 2
Il. 50. Screensaver with the image of Rev. Martinian Belozersky. Life of Rev. Martinian Belozersky. Beginning XVIII century
Code: Weather. 739.
Il. 51. Miniature depicting Rev. Kirill Belozersky. Beginning of the Rev. Service Kirill Life of Rev. Kirill Belozersky and Service to him. 1837
Code: Kir.-Bel. 58/1297, l. 4 rev.-5
Il. 52. Items from the sacristy of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery,
belonged to the Monk Kirill Belozersky.
Code: f. 796. Tyumenev, unit. hr. 271, l. 43
Il. 53. Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery. Church of Rev. Sergius in the Ivanovo Monastery.
Drawing from I. F. Tyumenev’s album “Across Rus'”. Hood. A. P. Ryabushkin. Watercolor. Deut. floor. XIX century
Code: f. 796.Tyumenev, units hr. 271, l. 33
Il. 54. First cell of St. Kirill Belozersky.
Drawing from I. F. Tyumenev’s album “Across Rus'”. Hood. A. P. Ryabushkin. Watercolor. Deut. floor. XIX century
Code: f. 796.Tyumenev, units hr. 271, l. 34
Il. 55. Beginning of the second Epistle of Metropolitan Cyprian to abbots Sergius of Radonezh and Fyodor Simonovsky. Helmswoman. Beginning XV century
Code: F.II.119
Reverend Savva Storozhevsky is one of the most famous and revered Russian saints. He is considered the first (in time and position) disciple of St. Sergius of Radonezh. Not so long ago (December 16, 2007, new style) the 600th anniversary of his death was celebrated. In 2008 (August 23, New Style), the 10th anniversary of the second discovery of the relics of the saint was celebrated.
Presumably, the monk Savva could have been by origin from an eminent boyar family of the Grand Duchy of Smolensk. His date of birth is unknown. But it is known that most of his life, apparently from his youth, Saint Savva lived in the Trinity Monastery with the Monk Sergius. He was elected confessor of the Trinity brethren, including Sergius himself, and after the death of St. Sergius of Radonezh (1392) he became abbot of the Trinity Monastery in his place (due to the temporary refusal of the abbot of Nikon of Radonezh).
The Monk Savva was the spiritual father of the widow of the blessed Prince Demetrius of Donskoy - Evdokia (in monasticism - Euphrosyne) and their third son (second by right of inheritance) - Yuri Dmitrievich of Zvenigorod and Galich (in the future also Grand Duke). The assumption that the Monk Savva could have been the abbot of the Dubensky Assumption Monastery, founded with the blessing of the Monk Sergius, is controversial, because its rector at that time was another Savva - Stromynsky.
According to new information, the first construction of the wooden Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary on Mount Storozhi near Zvenigorod was carried out in the early 1390s with the blessing of Savva and under the patronage of Prince Yuri Dmitrievich, who called for him to move to his estate. In 1395 (according to chronicles and other sources), the Monk Savva blessed Prince Yuri for a campaign in Volga Bulgaria (the territory of the Horde), which ended in complete victory and the capture of 14 cities, including the Great Bulgar, Dzhuke-Tau and Kazan. This campaign (unique in its speed and the furthest for Russian squads towards the East), with the insightful blessing of the elder, helped save Muscovite Rus' from the invasion of Tamerlane, which threatened the complete destruction of the state.
Immediately after the campaign, funds appeared for the grandiose construction that was carried out in Zvenigorod from 1396 to 1405. The foundation of the monastery on Mount Storozhi (the correct name of the mountain ending in “i”) can be dated back to the period 1396–1398. It was in the midst of construction and after the death of Vladyka Daniel of Zvenigorod, in 1398, that the Monk Savva left the Trinity Monastery and, at the invitation of Prince Yuri of Zvenigorod and Galich, came to Zvenigorod with the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God. At the same time, the construction of the stone Nativity Cathedral in the Storozhevsky Monastery, the Assumption Church on Gorodok in the Zvenigorod Kremlin, and later (after the death of Sava) - the Trinity Cathedral in the Sergius Monastery (where the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh are located today) are in full swing.
To paint these churches, built in the so-called early Moscow (or more correctly, it should now be called Zvenigorod) style, after 1395 a young icon painter Andrei Rublev was invited to Zvenigorod. With the blessing of Savva, he created a unique Zvenigorod rite, part of which was found by chance in 1918–1919 in Gorodok, including the famous “Spas Zvenigorodsky” (“Russian Spas”, now kept in the Tretyakov Gallery). Presumably, Elder Savva could bless the Monk Andrei Rublev to create the famous “Trinity” icon for the Trinity Cathedral in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra (now in the Tretyakov Gallery), built under the direct tutelage of Prince Yuri Dmitrievich. Thus, the Monk Savva played an important role in the fate of the icon painter and spiritually nurtured him in the early period of his creative development for several years. Saint Sava's spiritual son, Prince Yuri, also patronized the Monk Andrei Rublev.
The Monk Savva blessed the marriage of Prince Yuri Dmitrievich with the daughter of the last Prince of Smolensk Yuri Svyatoslavich Anastasia. Thus, the opportunity arose for the son of Dimitri Donskoy, Yuri, to inherit not only the Grand Duchy of Vladimir (including Moscow), but also more western lands. However, the pro-Lithuanian policy of his elder brother Vasily (married to Sofia, the daughter of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas), his surrender of Smolensk to Lithuania, bequeathing the throne to his son Vasily (in violation of the will of Dimitri Donskoy), and not to his brother Yuri, prevented the grandiose plans for the development of Ancient Rus', which planned by Prince Yuri and his spiritual mentor, Elder Savva Storozhevsky. After the death of Savva, disagreements began between the brothers on the issue of succession to the throne, which ended in the last two years of Yuri Dmitrievich’s life with the fact that he became the Grand Duke of Vladimir (Moscow) and therefore was buried in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. Yuri's children began a real internecine war for power, which ended in 1450 with their defeat.
Of particular interest may be clarification of the essence of the new concept that arose in those days in Rus' of the “Heavenly Zvenigorod” - a unique city, a prototype of the New Jerusalem and the city of Kitezh, which was based on the hesychast theory of “moral government”, or “pious reign” (these words belong to St. Savva of Storozhevsky and noted in his life), whose champion was also St. Sergius of Radonezh. On two neighboring Zvenigorod hills, a unique civilization was built - Zvenigorod Rus, an example of educated secularism and the embodiment of true spiritual asceticism. The Kremlin and the monastery were built simultaneously, as were two new stone cathedrals (on Gorodok and on Mount Storozhi). This was a new idea, a special undertaking, the successful completion of which could change the history of Rus', for example, free it from the Horde yoke much earlier.
The Monk Savva of Storozhevsky reposed on December 3 (old style), 1407. Later, almost everything that was connected with the transformative activities of Prince Yuri of Zvenigorod, and therefore the Monk Savva, was carefully erased from Russian chronicles (this was done by the ruling descendants of his brother Vasily). Zvenigorod fell into decay over the course of a century.
However, the Zvenigorod wonderworker was revered locally, and then he was canonized on the initiative of the monastery brethren and Metropolitan Macarius at the Moscow Council of 1547.
Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich paid special attention to the monastery on Mount Storozhi; on January 19, 1652, on his initiative, the relics of the abbot were found. In those same years, the monastery was rebuilt, the appearance of which has largely been preserved from that time to the present day. The Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery received the status of a lavra for the first time in the history of Russia.
Many miracles are associated with the monastery and the name of Savva, two of which became historical. The first is Elder Savva’s rescue of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich from a bear during a hunt (the spiritual and political significance of this event is important), and the second is the appearance of the Monk Savva to the stepson and heir of Napoleon Bonaparte, General Eugene Beauharnais, during the days of the French capture of Zvenigorod and Moscow in 1812. The last event is famous for the fact that Beauharnais, without destroying the monastery at the request of the elder, was the only one among Napoleon’s main commanders who remained alive at the end of the wars (as Savva predicted), and his descendants then became related to the Russian imperial family (Beauharnais’s son married the daughter of Nicholas I ) and lived in Russia until 1917 with the surname of the Dukes of Leuchtenberg.
After the October Revolution of 1917, the Zvenigorod monastery of St. Savva was deprived of its main shrine and closed. But the opened and stolen relics survived; they were today transferred to the Danilov Monastery, and in August 1998 they were solemnly transferred to their native monastery, to the Nativity Cathedral of the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery, where they rest. Nowadays, in terms of pilgrim attendance, the Zvenigorod Monastery is one of the three most famous, along with the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and the Seraphim-Diveevsky Monastery.
The life and works of many famous people of Russia are associated with the name of St. Savva, among them Pushkin (his work on the biography of Savva Storozhevsky), Shishkin, Chaliapin, Prishvin, Andrei Tarkovsky, Roerich, Remizov, Levitan, Solzhenitsyn, Chekhov, M. Voloshin, Shmelev and others. Each of them had their own attitude towards the heritage of the holy elder. And the royal family of the Romanovs, including the family of the murdered Emperor Nicholas II, considered him their patron.
The most famous and important source of information about the Monk Savva Storozhevsky is his life, written in the 16th century by the hagiographer and expert on hook singing Markell Khutynsky (nicknamed Bezborody), a modern translation of this life, based on strict historical and philological principles of the study of the Old Russian (Church Slavonic) language, is given on one of the pages of this site. The short life of Abbot Savva was also translated into contemporary Russian by the poet Alexander Pushkin.
The Monk Savva of Storozhevsky, Zvenigorod, left the world in his early youth, taking monastic vows from the Monk Sergius of Radonezh, and was one of his first students and associates. The monk loved a silent life, avoided conversations with people and remained in constant work, crying about the poverty of his soul, remembering the judgment of God.
The Monk Savva was for all people an image of simplicity and humility; he acquired such deep spiritual wisdom that even “in the monastery of Sergius he was the confessor of the entire brotherhood, a venerable elder and very teaching.” When Grand Duke Dimitri Donskoy, in gratitude for the victory over Mamai, built the monastery of the Dormition of the Mother of God on the Dubenka River, Savva became its abbot, with the blessing of St. Sergius.
Maintaining the simplicity of his ascetic life, he ate only plant foods, wore rough clothes, and slept on the floor. In 1392, the brethren of the Sergius Lavra, after the removal of Abbot Nikon to silence, begged the Monk Savva to accept the abbess at the monastery. Here he “kindly shepherded the flock entrusted to him, as much as possible and as much as his father, Blessed Sergius, prayed to help him.” Tradition dates back to the time of his abbess the discovery of a water source outside the walls of the Lavra.
Prince Yuri Dimitrievich of Zvenigorod, the godson of St. Sergius, treated St. Savva with great love and respect. He chose the Monk Savva as his confessor and begged him to come and give a blessing to his house.
The monk hoped to return to his monastery, but the prince begged him to stay and found a new monastery “in his fatherland, near Zvenigorod, where there is a place called Storozhi.” Striving for a solitary and silent life, the monk accepted the offer of the Zvenigorod prince Yuri Dimitrievich and before the icon of the Mother of God with tears he asked for Her protection in the deserted place.
On Mount Storozhevskaya, where the guards who guarded Moscow from enemies were once located, he founded a small wooden church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1377), and not far from it he erected a small cell for himself.
In 1399, the monk established a monastery here, lovingly accepting all those seeking a silent life. The Monk Savva worked a lot in establishing his monastery. He himself dug a well under the mountain, from where he carried water on his shoulders, surrounded the monastery with a wooden fence, and a mile away, in a ravine, he dug himself a cell for silent living.
In 1399, the monk blessed his spiritual son, Prince Yuri, who was leaving for a military campaign, and predicted his victory over his enemies. Through the prayers of the holy elder, the prince's troops were granted a quick victory. Through the labors of the Monk Sava, a stone cathedral church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built in the monastery. Saint Sava died at a ripe old age on December 3, 1406.
The news of the repose of the holy saint quickly spread throughout the surrounding area, and all the Christ-loving citizens of Zvenigorod, both nobles and ordinary people, gathered with great love for the burial of the deceased saint, bringing with them the sick and sick.
Having performed funeral chanting over the deceased, they buried him with honor in the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which he had created. To this day, the honorable relics of St. Sava exude many and varied healings to all who flow to them with faith, for the glory of Christ our God, who works through His saints, and after their repose, glorious miracles. Glory to our Lord, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Veneration of the monk by local residents began immediately after his death. The miraculous healing power flowing from the saint’s tomb and his numerous appearances convinced everyone that Abbot Savva “is truly a never-setting luminary of Divine light, enlightening everyone with the rays of miracles.”
In a charter of 1539, the Monk Savva is called a miracle worker. He was especially honored by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, who repeatedly went on foot to worship at the monastery of the saint.
Tradition has preserved for us a wonderful story about how the Monk Savva saved him from a ferocious bear. As the life of the Monk Savva, compiled in the 16th century, tells, at the end of the 15th century (1480-1490), an elder appeared to the abbot of the Savvinsky monastery Dionysius after the evening rule and addressed him: “Dionysius! Get up and paint my face on the icon.” When asked by Dionysius who he was, the one who appeared answered: “I am Savva, the head of this place.”
The old elder of the monastery, Avvakum, who saw the saint in his youth, described the appearance of the saint. This is exactly how he appeared to abbot Dionysius, who fulfilled the command and painted an icon of the Monk Sava.
The celebration of St. Savva was established in 1547 at the Moscow Council. On January 19, 1652, the incorruptible relics of the saint were found.
The Legend of the Miracles of Saint Sava
Many years after the death of Saint Sava, the abbot of his monastery, Dionysius, one night, having completed the usual rule, went to sleep. And then an honest monk, handsome and adorned with gray hair, appeared to him and said to him: “Dionysius, get up quickly and paint my image.”
Dionysius asked the elder:
- Who are you, father, and what is your name?
The noble old man answered:
- I am Savva, the head of this place.
Having awakened from sleep, Dionysius immediately called a certain elder named Avvakum, who was one of the disciples of the Monk Sava, and asked what blessed Sava was like. Avvakum told the abbot what his Abba and teacher was like and at what age he died. The abbot told him:
“This is exactly how the Monk Savva appeared to me that night and ordered me to depict myself on the icon.
Since Dionysius himself was an icon painter, he hastened to paint the icon of St. Sava.
A demoniac named Judas was brought to the monastery of the Monk Sava. While performing a prayer service to Saint Sava, the demoniac shouted:
“It’s hard for me: I’m burning,” and immediately I became healthy.
When asked why he screamed so loudly, he said:
“I saw a handsome old man.” He stood on the tomb of the Monk Sava, held a cross and overshadowed me with it. A great flame appeared from this cross and burned me all over. That's why I screamed, and this flame drove away the unclean spirit from me.
One day, the monks of the monastery of St. Sava grumbled against their abbot Dionysius. They made a false denunciation against him to Grand Duke John. The prince believed their slander and ordered the abbot to immediately appear before him. Having learned about this, the abbot was in great sorrow. And then at night, blessed Savva appeared to him in a dream and said:
- Why are you grieving, brother: go to the Grand Duke, and boldly tell him, do not indulge in doubt, for the Lord God will be with you and will send you help.
The saint of God also appeared to some of those who grumbled against the abbot and said to them:
“Did you withdraw from the world in order to accomplish your feat in grumbling?” You grumble, and the abbot prays for you with tears: what will prevail, your slander, or the prayers of your father?
When the abbot and brethren appeared before the prince and explained themselves in court, the slanderers were put to shame, and the abbot returned to the monastery with honor.
One of the monks of the monastery of the Monk Sava suffered for a long time and seriously from an eye disease, and was completely unable to look at the light. He came to the tomb of Saint Sava, fell on his knees before him and with tears asked for healing. He began to wipe his sore eyes with the cloth that lay on the tomb of the holy saint. Seeing this, another monk standing here began to revile him, saying:
- You will not receive healing, but will only dust your eyes with even more sand.
The monk, who fell with faith at the tomb of Saint Sava, received healing, and the brother who mocked him was suddenly struck by blindness and heard a voice saying to him:
“You received what you sought, so that through you others would be taught not to laugh and not to blaspheme the miracles that flow from the saint of God.”
Then, blinded, with great fear and sobbing, he fell before the tomb of the Monk Sava and asked for forgiveness, which he received, but not immediately, but after many prayers, tears and repentance.
One night, thieves came to the monastery, intending to rob the Church of the Most Pure Mother of God. But when they approached the window above the saint’s tomb, suddenly a huge mountain appeared before them, which was completely impossible to climb. Fear and trembling immediately fell upon them, and they left empty-handed. All this was later told by the thieves themselves, coming to the monastery with repentance, and they spent the rest of their lives in repentance.
After that, a certain boyar, Ivan Rtishchev, came to the monastery, carrying his sick son, George, on his bed, who could no longer speak from great weakness. Having performed a prayer service for George’s health, the monks poured monastery kvass into the patient’s mouth. The sick man immediately spoke, ate the bread from the monks' meal and became healthy. Greatly delighted by the healing of his son, his parent brought great thanks to God and His saint, Saint Sava, and said to the monk, as if alive:
- Reverend Father! I have many male and female slaves in my house who suffer from various ailments; I believe that if you want, you can heal them too.
Having asked the abbot for kvass, the boyar returned with his healed son. When he arrived at his house, he ordered one of his slaves, named Irina, who suffered from deafness and blindness, to be brought to him, poured monastery kvass into her ears and anointed her blind eyes with it. Immediately Irina began to see and hear. Everyone marveled in horror at the greatness of God.
Also, calling on one of his slaves, Artemy, who had suffered from deafness for seven years, the boyar poured the same kvass into his ears, and the slave received healing. After this, he brought a blind girl named Kikilia, and she received healing as soon as her eyes were anointed with kvass. But all such miracles were performed not from kvass, but through the prayers of the Monk Savva and through the great faith of the boyar Ivan. After some time, the boyar himself fell ill. He used the same medicine and he received healing.
Abbot of the monastery of St. Savva of Storozhevsky, Misail became seriously ill and, having lost all hope of recovery, was near death. One day the sexton of the monastery, Gury, went to ring for matins. When he passed the doors to the church, he was met by a handsome old man and began to ask him:
— How is your abbot’s health?
Gury told him about the abbot's illness. Then the magnificent old man said:
- Go and tell the abbot to turn with a prayer for help to the Most Holy Theotokos and the head of this place, Elder Savva, - then he will recover; You, brother, open the doors for me, and I will enter the church.
Gury doubted and did not want to open the door before the bell rang, but he did not dare to ask the elder who he was and where he was from. The elder who appeared, without saying another word, went to the church doors. The doors immediately opened on their own, and the elder entered the church through them. Gury returned to his cell in fear and began to reproach his assistant:
- Why didn’t you lock the church doors in the evening? Now I saw an unknown man enter the church through the open doors.
But Guria’s assistant swore that he had tightly locked the doors to the church in the evening. Then they lit candles, hurried to the church, and found that the doors were well locked, since Guria’s assistant had indeed closed the doors in the evening and locked them carefully.
At the end of Matins, Gury told the brethren everything that he had seen and heard. Everyone unanimously decided that the elder who appeared was Saint Sava himself. Abbot Misail, hearing about this, ordered himself to be carried to the saint’s tomb and earnestly asking for healing, and, through the prayers of the Most Holy Theotokos and the Monk Sava, he became completely healthy.
Many other miracles and healings took place from the tomb of the saint of God. And now they are given to those who come with faith, the grace of God and through the prayers of the Most Holy Theotokos and St. Sava, to whom we will pray that he will heal our mental and physical illnesses with his warm intercession to Christ our Lord God, to Him be glory forever. Amen.
Venerable Savva of Storozhevsky, Zvenigorod, in his early youth left the world, taking monastic vows from, and was one of his first students and associates.
The monk loved a silent life, avoided conversations with people and remained in constant work, crying about the poverty of his soul, remembering the judgment of God. The Monk Savva was for all people an image of simplicity and humility; he acquired such deep spiritual wisdom that even “in the monastery of Sergius he was the confessor of the entire brotherhood, a venerable elder and very teaching.” When Grand Duke Dimitri Donskoy, in gratitude for the victory over Mamai, built the monastery of the Dormition of the Mother of God on the Dubenka River, Savva became its abbot, with the blessing of St. Sergius. Maintaining the simplicity of his ascetic life, he ate only plant foods, wore rough clothes, and slept on the floor. In 1392, the brethren of the Sergius Lavra, after the removal of Abbot Nikon to silence, begged the Monk Savva to accept the abbess at the monastery. Here he “kindly shepherded the flock entrusted to him, as much as possible and as much as his father, blessed Sergius, prayed to help him.” Tradition dates back to the time of his abbess the creation of a water source outside the walls of the Lavra.
Prince Yuri Dimitrievich of Zvenigorod, the godson of St. Sergius, treated St. Savva with great love and respect. He chose the Monk Savva as his confessor and begged him to come and give a blessing to his house. The monk hoped to return to his monastery, but the prince begged him to stay and found a new monastery “in his fatherland, near Zvenigorod, where there is a place called Storozhi.” Striving for a solitary and silent life, the monk accepted the offer of the Zvenigorod prince Yuri Dimitrievich and before the icon of the Mother of God with tears he asked for Her protection in the deserted place. On Mount Storozhevskaya, where the guards who guarded Moscow from enemies were once located, he founded a small wooden church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1377), and not far from it he erected a small cell for himself. In 1399, the monk established a monastery here, lovingly accepting all those seeking a silent life. The Monk Savva worked a lot in establishing his monastery. He himself dug a well under the mountain, from where he carried water on his shoulders, surrounded the monastery with a wooden fence, and a mile away, in a ravine, he dug himself a cell for silent living. In 1399, the monk blessed his spiritual son, Prince Yuri, who was leaving for a military campaign, and predicted his victory over his enemies. Through the prayers of the holy elder, the prince's troops were granted a quick victory. Through the labors of the Monk Sava, a stone cathedral church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built in the monastery. Saint Sava died at a ripe old age on December 3, 1406.
Veneration of the monk by local residents began immediately after his death. The miraculous healing power flowing from the saint’s tomb and his numerous appearances convinced everyone that Abbot Savva “is truly an unsetting luminary of Divine light, enlightening everyone with the rays of miracles.” In a charter of 1539, the Monk Savva is called a miracle worker. He was especially honored by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, who repeatedly went on foot to worship at the monastery of the saint. Tradition has preserved for us a wonderful story about how the Monk Savva saved him from a ferocious bear. As the life of the Monk Savva, compiled in the 16th century, tells, at the end of the 15th century (1480-1490), an elder appeared to the abbot of the Savvinsky monastery, Dionysius, after the evening rule and turned to him: “Dionysius! Get up and paint my face on the icon.” When asked by Dionysius who he was, the one who appeared answered: “I am Savva, the head of this place.” The old elder of the monastery, Avvakum, who saw the saint in his youth, described the appearance of the saint. This is exactly how he appeared to abbot Dionysius, who fulfilled the command and painted an icon of the Monk Sava.
The celebration of St. Savva was established in 1547 at the Moscow Council. On January 19, 1652, the incorruptible relics of the saint were found.
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Moscow. XVII.St. Savva. Icon. Moscow. XVII century From the Church of the Resurrection of the Word on the Assumption Vrazhek in Moscow. Zvenigorod Monastery. |
Icon of the Venerable Savva the Sanctified
Chromolithography by N. Indutny
Imperial
Orthodox Palestine Society
A short version of the saint’s biography, often published in Orthodox church calendars, gives a general picture of the exploits of the saint. Savva.
“Reverend Savva the Sanctified was born in the 5th century in Cappadocia into the pious Christian family of John and Sophia. His father was a military leader. Having left for Alexandria on business, he took his wife with him, and left his five-year-old son in the care of his uncle. When the boy was eight years old, he entered the nearby monastery of St. Flavian. The gifted child soon learned to read and studied the Holy Scriptures well. In vain did the parents persuade Saint Sava to return to the world and marry.
At the age of 17, he took monastic vows and was so successful in fasting and prayer that he was awarded the gift of miracles. After spending ten years in the Flavian monastery, the monk went to Jerusalem, and from there to the monastery of St. Euthymius the Great. But the Monk Euthymius directed Saint Sava to Abba Theoktistus, the abbot of a nearby monastery with strict cenobitic rules. The Monk Savva remained in that monastery as a novice until he was 30 years old.
After the death of Elder Theoktistus, his successor blessed the Monk Savva to seclude himself in a cave: only on Saturday the saint left the seclusion and came to the monastery, participated in the Divine service and ate food. After some time, the monk was allowed not to leave the seclusion at all, and Saint Sava labored in the cave for 5 years.
The Monk Euthymius closely followed the life of the young monk and, seeing how he had grown spiritually, began to take him with him to the Ruv desert (near the Dead Sea). They left on January 14 and stayed there until the Week of Vai. The Monk Euthymius called Saint Sava a youth-elder and carefully raised him in the highest monastic virtues.
When the Monk Euthymius departed to the Lord (+ 473), Saint Sava left the Lavra and settled in a cave near the monastery of the Monk Gerasim of Jordan (+ 475; Comm. March 4). A few years later, disciples began to gather to the Monk Savva - everyone who wanted a monastic life. This is how the Great Lavra arose. According to instructions from above (through a pillar of fire), the monks built a church in the cave.
The Monk Savva founded several more monasteries. Many miracles were revealed through the prayers of the Monk Sava: a spring gushed out in the Lavra, heavy rain fell during a drought, healings of the sick and demon-possessed took place. The Monk Savva wrote the first charter of church services, the so-called “Jerusalem”, accepted by all Palestinian monasteries. The saint peacefully reposed before God in 532."
The most detailed life of the saint was described in 555 in the work of Cyril of Scythopolis, an ancient church writer, who in his works was based on the testimonies of the disciples of St. Savva. The Greek text of the life of St. Savva the Sanctified was contained in the book of Cyril of Scythopolis under the general title “Ecclesiae Graecae monumenta”. In 1823, this work was translated into Russian and published in the VII part of the “Christian Reading” of 1823, and then in 1895 in the 1st edition of the Palestine Patericon edition. The Palestinian patericon of the 1895 edition was published electronically on the official portal of the Jerusalem branch of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society.
Palestinian patericon
Cover of the 1895 edition of the IOPS
Photo archive of the Jerusalem branch
Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society
Inner cover
Photo archive of the Jerusalem branch
Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society
The description of this ancient hagiographer about the victory of St. Savva over the devil who tempted him in the desert.
“Then the great Savva, being thirty-five years old, saw that the way of life in the monastery had changed, since the fathers of the monastery had died; Therefore, he retired to that eastern Jordanian desert, in which then Saint Gerasim shone like a luminary and sowed the seeds of piety. While in the desert, Savva sang with his very life this Davidic saying; Behold, he went away in flight and settled in the wilderness (Ps. 54:8). There he occupied himself with rest, fasting and unceasing prayers, and in accordance with the words of Scripture: “Be still and know that I am God” (Ps. 45: 11), he made his mind a pure mirror of God and divine objects. The devil, wanting to distract him from such a life, out of envy, invented many temptations for him. So once upon a time at midnight Savva lay on the sand, and the devil, transforming into snakes and scorpions, tried to frighten him. Although Savva was at first much afraid, he soon learned that this was the trick of the devil. Why, having protected himself with the sign of the cross and driven away fear, he boldly stood up and said: “Although you are trying to frighten me, you yourself remain defeated; because the Lord God is with me. He gave us power over you with these words: “Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy” (Luke 10:19). As soon as he said this, these poisonous animals disappeared. Also, Satan once appeared to him in the form of the most terrible lion, who walked against him and threatened him with his ferocious appearance. Savva, seeing the beast approaching him terribly, said: “If you have received power over me, then why hesitate? If you have not received it, then why are you laboring in vain? You cannot distract me from God: “for He himself taught me courage with these words: you will step on the asp and the basilisk; You will trample the lion and the dragon” (Ps. 91:13). As soon as Savva uttered these words, the beast became invisible. And from that time on, God subjugated every poisonous and carnivorous animal to Savva, so that, handling these animals in the deserts, he did not suffer any harm from them.”
In the 19th century, this theme was continued by the Russian hagiographer, Saint Dmitry of Rostov, in his work “The Life and Deeds of our Venerable Father Savva the Sanctified.” The descriptions of the Rev.’s exploits are amazing. Savva in the hagiographic menaions of the Russian spiritual writer. They echo the life of St. Savva Cyril of Scythopolis and correspond to the iconography of the already modern monastery of St. Savva the Sanctified, which depicts St. Savva the Sanctified, taming the lion.
“Blessed Savva was thirty-fifth year old when he settled in the desert alone, practicing fasting and unceasing prayers and making his mind a pure mirror of divine objects. Then the devil began to plot against him. One day at midnight, when the saint was sleeping on the ground after his labors, the devil turned into many snakes and scorpions and, approaching Savva, wanted to frighten him. He immediately stood up for prayer, saying the words of the Psalm of David: “You will not be afraid of the terrors in the night, of the arrow flying by day... you will tread on the asp and the basilisk” (Psalm 90: 5,13). At these words, the demon and his horrors immediately disappeared. A few days later the devil turned into a terrible lion and rushed at the saint, as if wanting to eat him; rushing, he backed away, rushed again and backed away again. Seeing that the beast was rushing and then retreating, the monk said to him:
If you have the power from God to eat me, then why are you moving back? If not, then why are you working in vain? For by the strength of my Christ I will overcome you, O lion!”
And immediately the demon, appearing in the form of an animal, ran away in shame. From then on, God subjugated all the animals and snakes to Savva, and he began to walk among them, like between meek sheep.”
Icon of the Venerable Savva with images of two lions (aggressive and humble)
Chapel of St. Sava of the Sepulcher of St. Savva
The French writer and explorer of Palestine in the 19th century, Alphonse Couret, in his 1869 dissertation entitled “Palestine under the rule of Christian emperors,” which was translated into Russian in 1894 by the Russian Pilgrim publishing house, also left a biography of the exploits of Saint Sava:
"St. Savva located his monastery thirty stages east of the monastery of St. Theodosius, on a steep cliff of the Kidron stream, among the numerous caves that abounded in the surroundings of this stream. At the top of the cliff a tower was initially built and a chapel slightly lower, but soon they discovered a large cave in the shape of a cross; a passage formed by nature connected it with the tower, and a large opening on the side of the stream gave it light. St. Sava, having decorated the inside of the cave, turned it into a church. The lack of water felt in the laurel was miraculously eliminated. One night, while standing in prayer, the wondrous old man heard a noise in the depths of the gorge and saw a wild donkey, vigorously striking the ground with its hoof and falling towards a dug hole. St. Sava hurried with his monks to this place, they began to dig the ground and soon a spring burst out, which had not yet dried up. The Lavra of St. Sava, one of almost all the ancient Palestinian monasteries, with the blessing of its founder, continues to exist without interruption to this day, giving us a clear idea of what the ancient desert monasteries were known to us only from stories. Eleven laurels or monasteries, built by St. Sava and his disciples, gradually settled around the main monastery. The most beautiful of them was the Scholaria Monastery, built by St. Sava on that steep ledge where the tower of Evdokia once rose above the entire desert. Several heretical monks took refuge in this tower after the defeat of the Fekoian monastery by Markian. St. Sava returned them to Orthodoxy, erected a monastery around the tower and entrusted its management to John Scholarius, who became famous for the holiness of his life and gave his name to the monastery. Two other monasteries: the Cave monastery, so-called after the cave that served as its church, and the Castelian monastery, erected on the ruins of an ancient Roman castle, formed a kind of triangle with the aforementioned Scholaria monastery.
Kidron Gorge. On the left you can see the walls and buildings of the Lavra of St. Savva the Sanctified
At the bottom of the gorge, sewage wastewater is visible,
coming from the Arab villages of eastern Jerusalem from the 2nd half of the 20th century.
Until this time, there were no sewage waters or streams at the bottom of the gorge.
Map of ancient Byzantine monasteries around the Lavra of St. Savva the Sanctified
But it was not just the outer structure of so many monasteries that made both of them famous, St. Savva and Theodosius; They became even more famous for establishing internal monastic life. St. Sava owes the merit that he put together the statutes and rules brought by St. Chariton from Egypt, established by St. Euthymius and Theoktistos in their monasteries, added new ones to them, caused by the development of monastic life, and compiled the so-called type of St. Sava , which, consistently supplemented and revised by St. Sophronius of Jerusalem, John of Damascus and Nicholas the Grammar, Patriarch of Constantinople, gradually came into use in all Asian churches and at the end of the 15th century. Thanks to the efforts of Simeon of Thessaloniki, he was accepted as a guide for all Orthodox Christians."
In chapters XI and XII of his work, Alphonse Curet emphasizes the role of the Monk Sava in healing the schisms, strife and disputes raised by various movements of the Monophysites in the Eastern Roman Empire under Emperor Anastasia at the beginning of the 6th century. Why Rev. Sava had to personally come to Emperor Anastasius, with a request on behalf of “Jerusalem and its patriarch, to grant peace to the Palestinian churches, so that all of us, bishops and monks, can freely and calmly pray for your health.” And under Emperor Justinian (526-536), a 90-year-old elder, Saint Sava, managed to expose the Samaritan conspiracy:
“The Emperor, believing the slander, turned his anger against the Palestinian Christians and ordered them to be punished as severely as the rebels. This news plunged all of Palestine into horror. Patriarch Peter, the bishops and monks turned to their proven intercessor and begged St. Savva to go to Constantinople a second time in order to ward off this new threat and achieve relief from heavy taxes for the devastated First and Second Palestines. The ninety-year-old elder yielded to their pleas and appeared at the threshold of the palace in front of which he once stood to intercede with Emperor Anastasius for the Council of Chalcedon and Patriarch Elijah.
This time the guards not only did not stop him, but the imperial messengers came out to meet him, the Patriarch of Constantinople with the bishops of Ephesus and Cyzicus accompanied him to the emperor, who fell to his knees at the sight of the Saint.
It was not difficult for St. Sava to expose Arseny’s slander. The indignant Justinian ordered the execution of all the Samaritan leaders of the uprising in captivity in Constantinople, the closure of all synagogues and the subjection of all Samaritans to exclusive legislation, according to which their access to government positions was denied; the duties of the curia were entrusted to them, but without those advantages that softened their severity. Finally, the Samaritans were deprived of the right to alienate their property; they could neither give nor receive them by inheritance, will or gift. If they did not have Christian heirs, then their property went to the treasury. »
Also one of the most important studies of the life of St. Sava the Sanctified in the 19th century, is the work of Hieromonk Theodosius (Oltarzhevsky) (future Bishop of Orenburg and Turgai - Russian Orthodox Church), under the general title “Palestinian monasticism from the 4th to the 6th centuries”, published in the 44th issue of the Orthodox Palestine Collection in 1896 in St. Petersburg. We will present this study of the life of St. Savva the Sanctified as a separate main one. The remarkable Russian spiritual writer, being then still a hieromonk, devotes a significant part of this study to St. Savva the Sanctified. Summing up his work, Hieromonk Theodosius especially emphasizes:
“The Monastery of Sava the Sanctified was and is, as it were, under the special protection of its founder. Chrysanthus in his Proscinitary says that it was restored three times after repeated and destructive raids by barbarians, and yet it has always been the most revered, majestic and worthy of wonder among all Palestinian monasteries. Called mar-Saba, the ancient monastery of Saint Sava is still considered one of the most remarkable shrines of Palestine and attracts pilgrims of all faiths.”
