Saint Sabbas was born in 439 in Mutalascus in Cappadocia. While still very young, he embraced religious life in the monastery of Flvinia in Cappadocia. In 457, at the age of eighteen, he went to the monastery of Passarion in Jerusalem. Saint Euthymius, who had remarked about him for his eminent virtue and called him the "young old man," directed him to Saint Theoktistos in 458. After Saint Euthymius' unexpected death in 473, he spent five years in solitude. He then went to take up his abode in 478 in a grotto on the left bank of the Cedron River opposite the monastery which today bears his name. As several monks came to place themselves under his direction, he erected a tower on the right bank of the torrent and made the water gush forth over this arid land by his prayer. A vast grotto transformed into a church was blessed in 491 by Sallustos, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, who conferred priestly ordination upon Saint Sabbas at the same time and named him the archimandrite of all the hermits of Palestine. The Saint undertook upon the request of the Patriarchs of Jerusalem two ambassadorships to Emperors Anastasius I, in 512, and Justinian, in 531. Reaching a great old age, he died on December 5, 532, at the age of ninety-three. The Typikon of Ecclesiastical Offices and the Typikon of Monastic Life which were preserved in his name still come from his famous laura. Pope Paul VI returned
Saint Sabbas' relics to the monastery of Mar Saba in Jordan-Palestine on October 24, 1965.
Saint Sabbas the Sanctified (439 - 532), a Cappadocian-Greek monk, priest and saint, lived mainly in Palestine. He was the founder of several monasteries, most notably the one known as Mar Saba.
Sabbas was born at Mutalaska, near Caesarea of Cappadocia, the son of John, a military commander, and Sophia.
Journeying to Alexandria on military matters, his parents left their five-year-old son in the care of an uncle. When the boy reached eight years of age, he entered the nearby monastery of Bishop Flavian of Antioch. The gifted child quickly learned to read and became an expert on the Holy Scriptures. In vain did his parents urge Sabbas to return to the world and enter into marriage.
When he was seventeen years old he received monastic tonsure. After spending ten years at the monastery of Bishop Flavian, he went to Jerusalem, and from there to the monastery of Saint Euthymius the Great. But Euthymius sent Sabbas to Abba Theoctistus, the head of a nearby monastery with a strict cenobitic rule. Sabbas lived in obedience at this monastery until the age of thirty.
After the death of the Elder Theoctistus, his successor blessed Sabbas to seclude himself in a cave. On Saturdays, however, he left his hermitage and came to the monastery, where he participated in divine services and ate with the brethren. After a certain time Sabbas received permission not to leave his hermitage at all, and he lived in isolation in the cave for five years.
Euthymius attentively directed the life of the young monk, and seeing his spiritual maturity, he began to take him to the Rouba wilderness with him. They set out each January 14 and remained there until Palm Sunday. Euthymius called Sabbas a child-elder, and encouraged him to grow in the monastic virtues. When Euthymius died (c. 473), Sabbas withdrew from the lavra (a cluster of cells or caves for hermits, with a church and sometimes a refectory at the center) and moved to a cave near the monastery of St. Gerasimus of Jordan. After several years, disciples began to gather around Sabbas, seeking the monastic life. As the number of monks increased, the Great Lavra sprang up. The traditional dating of the founding of this lavra in the Kedron Valley, south of Jerusalem, is 484. Because some of his monks opposed his rule and demanded a priest as their abbot, the opposition continued and he withdrew to the New Lavra which he had built near Thekoa. In the lavras the young monks lived a cenobitical life, but the elders a semi-eremitical one, each in his own hut within the precincts of the lavra, attending only the solemn church services.
A strenuous opponent of the Monophysites and the Origenists, he tried to influence the emperors against them by calling personally on Emperor Anastasios I at Constantinople in 511 and on Justinian I in 531.[1]
The relics of St. Sabbas in the Catholicon (main church) of Mar Saba monastery, West Bank.
Sabbas founded several more monasteries. Many miracles took place through the prayers of Sabbas: at the lavra a spring of water welled up, during a time of drought they received abundant rain, and there were also healings of the sick and the possessed.
Patriarch Salustius of Jerusalem ordained him in 491 and appointed him archimandrite of all the monasteries in Palestine in 494. Sabbas composed the first monastic rule of church services, the so-called Jerusalem Typikon, for guidance of all the Palestinian monasteries. He died in the year 532. His feast day is on December 5.
Sabbas' relics were taken by Crusaders in the 12th century and remained in Italy until Pope Paul VI returned them to the monastery in 1965 as a gesture of good will towards the Orthodox.
His Great Lavra long continued to be the most influential monastery in those parts, and produced several distinguished monks, among them St John of Damascus. It is now known as the monastery of Mar Saba. The church of San Saba in Rome is dedicated to him.
Sabbas' Life was written by his disciple Cyril of Scythopolis. The chief modern authority is A. Ehrhard in Wetzer and Welte's Kirchenlexikon (ed. 2) and Römische Quartalschaft, vii; see also Pierre Helyot, Histoire des ordres religioux (1714), i.C.16, and Max Heimbucher, Orden u. Kongregationen (1907), i, §10.
(Wikipedia)
The Venerable Sabbas the Sanctified was a Palestinian monastic who is credited with composing the first monastic rule of church services, the so-called "Jerusalem Typikon". He was a staunch opponent of the heretical Monophysites and Origenist movements. His feast day is on December 5.
Life
He was born in Mutalaska, near Caesarea in Cappadocia of pious Christian parents, John and Sophia, during the year 439. His father was a military commander. Traveling to Alexandria on military matters, his wife went with him, but they left their five-year-old son in the care of an uncle. When the boy reached eight years of age, he entered the monastery of St. Flavian located nearby. The gifted child quickly learned to read and became an expert on the Holy Scriptures. In vain did his parents urge St. Sabbas to return to the world and enter into marriage.
When he was seventeen years old he received monastic tonsure, and attained such perfection in fasting and prayer that he was given the gift of wonderworking. In 456, after spending ten years at the monastery of St. Flavian, he traveled to Jerusalem, and from there to the monastery of St. Euthymius the Great (January 20). But St. Euthymius sent St. Sabbas to Abba Theoctistus, the head of a nearby monastery that practiced a strict cenobitic rule. St. Sabbas lived in obedience at this monastery until the age of thirty.
After the death of the Elder Theoctistus, his successor blessed St. Sabbas to seclude himself in a cave. On Saturdays, however, he left his hermitage and came to the monastery, where he participated in divine services and ate with the brethren. After a certain time St. Sabbas received permission not to leave his hermitage at all, and he struggled in the cave for five years.
St. Euthymius attentively directed the life of the young monk, and seeing his spiritual maturity, he began to take him to the Rouba wilderness with him. They set out on January 14, and remained there until Palm Sunday. St. Euthymius called St. Sabbas a child-elder, and encouraged him to grow in the monastic virtues.
When St. Euthymius fell asleep in the Lord (+473), St Sabbas withdrew from the Lavra and moved to a cave near the monastery of St. Gerasimus of Jordan (March 4). In 478, he moved to a cave on the cliffs of the Kedron Gorge southeast of Jerusalem. His hermitage formed the foundation of the monastery later named after him (Lavra Mar Saba) and known in ancient sources as the Great Lavra. After several years, disciples began to gather around St. Sabbas, seeking the monastic life. As the number of monks increased, the lavra came into being. When a pillar of fire appeared before St. Sabbas as he was walking, he found a spacious cave in the form of a church.
In 491, Patriarch Salustius of Jerusalem ordained him a priest. In 494, the patriarch named St. Sabbas the archimandrite of all the monasteries in Palestine. St. Sabbas founded several other monasteries. Many miracles took place through the prayers of St. Sabbas: at the Lavra: a spring of water welled up, during a time of drought, there was abundant rain, and there were also healings of the sick and the demoniacs. St. Sabbas composed the first monastic Rule of church services, the so-called "Jerusalem Typikon", that became accepted by all the Palestine monasteries. St. Sabbas died in his lavra on December 5, 532 and is buried in a tomb in the courtyard between two ancient churches in the midst of the remnant of the great Lavra Mar Saba monastery. His relics had been taken to Italy in the twelfth century by Crusaders, but were returned to the monastery by Pope Paul VI in 1965 in a goodwill gesture toward the Orthodox.
St. Sabbas championed the Orthodox cause against the monophysite and Origenist movements of his day, personally calling upon the Roman emperors in Constantinople, Anastasius in 511 and Justinian in 531, to influence them in opposing the heretical movements.
(Orthodoxwiki)
A brief reading of our holy father Savvas the blessed.
This saint lived during the period of the great Justinian in (527-565), and was from Cappadocia, from the village by the name Mutalaski and was the son of pious parents, John and Sophia. Immediately therefore, at the beginning of his life, he run to the community of monks and entered a monastery by the name Flavianes. There he became so αbstemious and glorious from an early age, that once seeing an apple in the garden and while he wished to eat it, he took it in his hands and said: "It was very beautiful, both to see it and to eat it, this fruit that killed me". Then he dropped the apple and trampled it with his feet. From then on he placed a rule and a decision on himself never again in his life to eat apples. Once the saint entered an operating oven and came out without being touched by the fire, both himself and his clothes. In his 16th year the saint went to the Great Euthymius who then sent him to the cenobic monastery of Saint Theoktistu, because he had yet to grow a beard.
There he lived the godly Savvas and was benefitting from all the brothers, because he imitated the virtuous and God pleasing way of life of each one. For this the Great Euthymius used to call him "Child elder".
As the years went by, Euthymius would take him with him when he withdrew in silence during the period of the Great Tesseracost (40 days after Pascha). As he was growing, so also was his virtue. The Lord thus gave him the grace to do miracles, and he performed many wondrous things, for in dry areas with his prayer, water will spring out of the ground. He also became a teacher and Abbot of many monks and twice he was sent as ambassador to Constantinople, to the then kings, namely to Anastasius who reigned during (491-518) and to Justinian, after being prompted for this by the Patriarch of Jerusalem at various times to attend to important matters. Reaching therefore very old age, he departed to the Lord at 94 years of age.
What we wrote up to here, suffices to show his great grace and frankness of the saint towards the Lord. However, let us say a few things on his path to Byzantium. During the reign of king Anastasius (491-518), there was a heated argument between the Clergy, and some who belonged to the Monophysite heresy of Dioscorus and Severus as well as the king who raised to the hierarchal thrones those who anathematized the Synod of Chalcedon and exiled the Orthodox as he unjustly exiled the blessed Elijah, the Archbishop of Palestine, who begged the great Savvas and some other virtuous Fathers to go to the king and beg him to peacefully stop the scandals. Even the Patriarch wrote a letter which said: "Longliving king, I send you ambassadors and mediators to your country, the inhabitants of the desert and especially the Great Savvas, the Head of the ascetics. Have respect therefore for their effort and their godly sweat and cease your war on the Churches. Do not allow the evil to continue, friend of Christ, if you wish to please the Lord who granted you the kingdom and the crown".
When therefore the saints arrived at the Capital, the Most Good God who glorifies those that glorify Him, let the king have a vision about the Saint, for which he honoured him greatly. When the Fathers entered the palace, the guard let everybody in except Savvas, seeing him poorly dressed with worn out clothes, kept him standing outside. He was then 73. The king having read the letter, asked who was Savvas and when he learned he was kept outside, he sent the guards to find him. When the saint entered the palace, the king saw a bright angel with a brilliant uniform walking ahead of the saint and clearing the way so that he could proceed unobstructed. These visions the king saw not because he was virtuous - for as heretic he was not worthy to see such wonders - but to learn that Savvas was a holy man, so he immediately got up from his throne and honoured him greatly. When all the saints sat down, the king asked them what each one wished from him, and they having neglected the common matter of the Church, asked for worldly gifts and presents. The king satisfied all their requests but wondered about Savvas who hadn't said anything: "You, honourable Father, why have you toiled so much to come to us and yet you do not ask for anything?" He then answered : "I, almighty king, I came first to venerate your piety, before I die, and then to beg you not to have any displeasure against the Holy City of Jerusalem and its Archbishop and to pacify the Churches. When you do these things you'll become dear to God and He will forgive your sins, granting you also victories against the enemies.
The king marveled at the frank speech of Savvas and for not asking temporary and inconsequential things but only the pacification of the Church and having sent away the others, he gave him one thousand florins to spent on his monasteries and he gave him authority to enter unobstructed the palace whenever he wished. The patriarch Elijah however, the king accused and was very angry with him but the blessed Savvas with great knowledge and frankness managed to cool his anger and convinced him to reconsider his unjust decision to exile him (the patriarch) for life and thus permitted him to remain on his throne for the love of Savvas. As the Saint successfully completed his mission, he did not depart immediately from Constantinople because it was winter but remained at a suburb outside the City called Rufino. Many went there from the City to visit him and many of them became his pure disciples and especially the grand daughter of king Valentine Juliani and wife of Pompius, son of the king, called Anastasia who later became a monastic at mount of Olives and struggled greatly and accomplished amazing feats for the glory of God.
During that period there was a great famine and disease in the areas around Jerusalem and with the passing days this terrible evil continued to grow and spread to many areas of the Byzantium. Due to this condition many houses were deserted and remained uninhabited. So that the services of the kingdom and the king himself may not suffer, and the country's treasury not become depleted, the king passed a law that required the surviving neighbours to pay the taxes owed by those who had died. When Savvas heard of this illegitimate and ruthless law, he went again to the king and explained that this law was illogical and proved to him that it would completely destroy the poor and would not be beneficial to the kingdom but to the contrary it would cause great damage and destruction. For it was indescribable injustice for those who survived the two calamities of famine and deadly epidemic to be made by the Country to further
suffer, by having to pay such an unjust tax. And while they pressed the people by force they may end up revolting, which would further damage the Country. Thus speaking Savvas begged the king wholeheartedly and with many supplications to repeal such illegitimate decision.
As the king respected the Saint, he intended to satisfy his wish. But the devil again opposed, because a great lord and chief adviser to the king called Marino, opposed him, the thrice cursed, by saying: "King the majority of the people in Palestine are Nestorians and therefore you should not grant them such grace". The Saint then told him angrily: "Stop inflaming the old war to the king and repent for the words you spoke, for in a few days your remembrance will be lost with clamour, and all your glory will disappear". Marino however remained firm in his evilness, without considering at all the soul benefitting admonition of the Saint. The Saint having received a further gift of one thousand drachmas, left for Palestine. The unjust law remained in effect until the death of Anastasios and the succession of Justinian 1st (527-565) who completely repealed it. And as of the wretched Marino, few days after the Saint's prophesy, there was a riot in the City and they grabbed his fortune and burnt his house and he was almost beheaded had he not then repented and cried for his sins remembering the words of the Saint. This many narrate at Byzantium and especially the son of the king Pompius and his wife Anastasia, wondering at the visionary grace of the Saint.
Afterwards those that followed the views of Severus departed and were trying to inflame by any means the anger of the king against the Holy Patriarchs of