Memorial Day of St. Savva the Illuminated

The monk was born and lived in the 5th century His father was an important military leader, and therefore his parents were often on the road Little Savva remained in the care of his uncle, and having mastered reading and writing early, he became addicted to reading holy scripture At the age of 8, the future saint enters a monastery The parents hoped to return their son to worldly life, but a different path was prepared for him A legend has been preserved related to Savva’s difficult choice between worldly life and serving the Lord in the monastery Walking through an apple orchard, the young man wanted to pick and eat the fragrant ripe fruit But he was immediately struck by the thought of the sinfulness of Adam, who gave preference to the pleasure of the womb rather than spiritual bliss From that second the monk decided to become a monk and never ate apples again A few years later, Savva goes to Jerusalem, where he becomes a disciple of Elder Theoktistus and Saint Euthymius Together with his teacher, he often retired to the desert, where he spent time in incessant prayer For such zeal, the monk was called “old youth” and received permission to retire to a cave Six days a week, Savva lived in complete solitude, went without any food and occupied his hands with weaving palm leaves Only on Sundays did he come to the monastery brethren to participate in the liturgy A few years later, the saint heard the Divine command to instruct disciples After which he organizes a special cave monastery, where the number of his followers soon reaches 150 monks The monk always preferred solitude, but with the meekness characteristic of saints, he took care of his followers, although he was forced to endure their impatience and imperfections Saint Sava did not seek fame and veneration, but pilgrims began to flock to his cell, having heard about the miraculous deeds of the hermit He found sources of fresh water, begged for heavenly rains, and healed physical and spiritual illnesses Further, fate connected Saint Sava with the political events of his time He had the opportunity to get closer to the emperors of Byzantium, as a result of which the saint could influence the true understanding of the Christian faith and fight various heresies The saint's earthly life ended at the age of 94 His holy relics remained for a long time in the Jerusalem Lavra he founded During the era of the Crusades, the relic was taken to Venice, and in the mid-20th century it was returned to the holy lands