Sava of Chilandari, Saint (†1236)
Saint Sava – called Rastko before becoming a monk – was born in 1169, the child of Stefan Nemanja, the Grand Prince of Serbia. At the age of sixteen he ran away from the palace and went to Mount Athos where he was tonsured a monk at the old Monastery of Saint Panteleimon and was given the name Sava. A few months later he attended a Feast at the Monastery of Vatopaidi, where he settled for the next twelve years. He provided rich donations to the Monastery and for improvements for its buildings. During this time, communication was restored with his father Stefan, who himself gave up the throne and received the monastic Great Habit in 1196, with the name Symeon. The following year, at the invitation of Sava, Symeon went to Vatopaidi, where he was received with great honors. The two Serbian rulers continued with the benefactions towards the Holy Mountain and towards Vatopaidi, from which they sought and received the ruined Monastery of Chilandari, where the Vatopaidi apiary was located. They rebuilt the monastery, retaining its former name, and it was certified by an imperial document in 1198. Since that time the Monasteries of Vatopaidi and Chilandari have been considered sister monasteries. Symeon reposed in 1199 and was interred in the katholikon church of Chilandari. Sava continued his dynamic efforts towards the organization of the Serbian Church, having Hilandari as the center of his activity. In 1219 he was consecrated Archbishop of Serbia in Nicea, in the presence of the Emperor Theodore I Laskaris. On 14 January 1236 he reposed at Turnovo, Bulgaria.
