Житие святого Евстафия, архиепископа Сербского 245

Saint Eustathius lived and labored in the second half of the thirteenth century, during the days of the pious Serbian king Stefan Urosh II Milutin, who ruled Serbia from 1262 to 1320. He was born in the Budiml region 246 from pious parents. Fervently loving his parents, from early childhood he strengthened his love for God: avoiding vain amusements, he tried to learn good morals, constantly went to church and listened with pleasure to Divine singing and reading, memorized what he heard, and tried to understand the meaning of it. One day he comes to his parents and says: - I have a strong desire to learn, send me to study book words. The parents, hearing such words, rejoiced, thanked God, who had inspired such a good desire in their child, looked for a teacher, and gave their son to him to learn book wisdom. Promoted by the grace of the Holy Spirit, he soon learned in such a way that, as a young student, he became more knowledgeable than the many-wise teachers. The young man did not think or care at all about food, drink, clothing, he even thought little about his parents, but completely directing his mind to Divine teaching, he placed all his heartfelt love and trust in the Lord. Having reached greater maturity and strictly thinking about his calling, he decided to leave his parental home and go on the path of the Lord. He went to the Zeta region 247, to the monastery of the Archangel Michael, where the Zeta episcopal see was located. Here he received monastic vows from Bishop Neophytos and began an ascetic life, strictly fulfilling his monastic vows. Distinguished by abstinence and purity of life, exhausting himself with fasting and vigil, he strictly hurried to church for day and night services, strictly observed the cell prayer rule, and the rest of the time he indulged in contemplation of God and mental prayer. Having no property, he tried to save his monastic share of food and clothing for distribution to the poor. Asceticizing in monastic silence with complete humility, he soon, however, became known throughout that country as a great ascetic who imitated the ancient fathers. Not content with monastic asceticism in his monastery, Eustathius was eager to visit the holy city of Jerusalem to venerate the Holy Sepulcher and other shrines at the site of the Passion of the Lord. Without revealing his intention to anyone, he turned with fervent prayer to the Lord Jesus Christ, so that He would grant him the opportunity to safely travel to the holy city and see the place where He shed His blood for the salvation of the human race and where He performed great miracles. The saint's prayer was heard. When he was thinking about where he could find God-fearing companions, two monks appeared to him, as if sent by the Lord Himself, and announced in conversation that they were going to Jerusalem to worship the Holy Sepulcher and the honest passion of Christ. Having thanked the Lord God and worshiped His most pure image and the image of the Archangel Michael, with joy and joy in his heart he set out on the long-desired path. With God's help, he easily and safely completed the journey and reached Jerusalem. Here he reverently bowed to the Holy Sepulcher and all the shrines at the site of the Passion of the Lord; he slowly walked around all the holy places and enjoyed their contemplation. He visited all the outskirts of Jerusalem, where the venerable and God-fearing ascetics lived, observed and learned their rules of life and exploits. Having spent a long time in the Holy Land, he set off on the return journey, but not directly to his homeland, but to the holy Mount Athos, wanting to see the monastic life there and enjoy soulful conversations regarding asceticism and purity of soul and body. Arriving at the holy mountain, the Monk Eustathius settled in the Serbian Monastery of the Most Holy Theotokos of Hilandar, built by Saint Simeon, in the world - the great Serbian župan Stefan Nemanja, and his son Sava, the first Archbishop of Serbia. Here he devoted himself with great zeal to monastic deeds, humbly and obediently performing all the work that was assigned to him in obedience, unforgivingly attending all church services and indulging alone in night prayer and contemplation of God. He spent many years in this way and became famous among all the Athonite ascetics. Many ancient elders, and not just younger monks, often came to Eustathius and had soul-saving conversations with love and spiritual consolation. After several years of such an ascetic life, with the general advice and conviction of the council of the entire holy mountain, Eustathius was elevated to the rank of abbot of the Hilandar monastery. Having become the ruler of the monastery, Eustathius began to strive even more diligently, setting an example in all work and virtue, teaching in word and deed. Having occupied such a prominent place and leading a virtuous life, the Monk Eustathius acquired great fame and universal love not only among Athonite ascetics, but also among the laity, not only among ordinary people, but also among nobles and kings. Everyone was in a hurry to honor Eustathius and gave generous gifts. But he did not collect these gifts for himself, but with a generous hand he distributed to the poor, widows, orphans, those without food and shelter. It is not surprising that with such merits and virtues, the Monk Eustathius was elected and ordained bishop of the Zeta diocese, in which he took monastic vows. Having become a ruler, experienced in spiritual life and in church affairs, Eustathius carried out his pastoral duties with great success, became the most outstanding Serbian bishop, and when the Serbian Archbishop Ioannikis died, the pious Serbian king Stefan Urosh Milutin convened a council of bishops, abbots and boyars, and this council unanimously elected him to the Serbian archbishopric throne St. Savva of this pious Zeta bishop Eustathius. The Monk Eustathius, in his humility, tried to refuse such a high rank, which was associated with great responsibility, but they did not listen to his words, and he was soon solemnly elevated to the archbishop's throne in front of the entire council. St. Eustathius submitted to the providence of God and thanked the Lord God in fervent prayer for his great mercies, of which he considered himself unworthy. Working tirelessly for the salvation of his soul, Saint Eustathius took ardent care for the good of the Serbian church entrusted to him. The Serbian archbishop's see already possessed great wealth, and Saint Eustathius made every effort to ensure that not a single church in his region lacked essential needs, generously devoting from the savings of his see to the needs of the churches of the poor. Saint Eustathius ruled the Serbian Church for a few years: seven years after his accession to the high see, he fell into illness and saw his death approaching. Being in his dying illness, he did not grumble, but joyfully awaited his departure from this earthly world to the heavenly abodes. While then in his archdiocese, in Zhiche 248, he diligently prepared and prayed to the Lord to grant him a peaceful death. The entire Serbian church council gathered around the patient’s bed: the surrounding bishops, abbots of monasteries and monks, and the entire church clergy; everyone cried, seeing the approaching death of their teacher and archpastor. But the patient, getting out of bed, turned to the crying: – Leave such pity, “Magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together” (Ps. 33:4). All those present turned from crying to prayer and chants for the exodus of their souls. Then Saint Eustathius partook of the Holy Mysteries and, after some rest, addressed those around him: - Go, beloved, let us give each other the last kiss, for I am already parting from you. This farewell caused a lot of sobbing among the spiritual children of Saint Eustathius. Finally, raising his hands to the sky, he said: - Knowing the end of everyone’s life, God of gods and Lord of lords, I commit my spirit into Your hands! Thus Saint Eustathius reposed gracefully and gloriously, rejoicing in the Lord. The clergy gathered at the tomb, together with the laity, performed a solemn burial in Zhich, in the Church of the Savior, placing the body in a marble shrine, which Eustathius himself had previously prepared for himself. Soon after the burial, inside the aforementioned church of the Savior, signs and wonders began to be performed at the shrine of the deceased. Sometimes they saw what looked like burning candles near the shrine, sometimes at night they clearly heard some speeches and chatter at the coffin, as if many thousands of people had gathered there. One man who served at the Church of the Savior suffered from a nose disease. He tried a lot of remedies and spent a lot of money on treatment, but there was no benefit. Having lost hope in earthly means, the patient turned with fervent prayer to the Lord God and His Most Pure Mother in the Church of the Savior, standing tirelessly at every divine service at the shrine of St. Eustathius. One night the patient sees in a dream that he is standing, as usual and in reality, next to the shrine of Eustathius; A splendid husband in holy clothes appears to him and asks what he needs. The patient told everything in order. Then the husband who came says: “The Lord sent me to heal you, just don’t sin again, so as not to suffer worse.” With these words, he crossed the sick man and touched his wound. The patient asked: -Who are you, Lord Saint? - I am a servant of Christ, a monk named Eustathius, lying in this place. The patient woke up and was horrified; With trepidation, he hurried to the then Archbishop Jacob and informed him and the entire cathedral about this wonderful vision. The sick man was then completely healed, and everyone glorified the Lord and his saint Eustathius. Miracles at the tomb of Eustathius began to multiply. One day they found three flowers of wondrous beauty growing on his marble crayfish, although it was a completely dry stone - there was no earth, or even any moisture on it. This miraculous sign led everyone to the idea that God was glorifying His saint and renewing his body with incorruption. Then one of the monks of that monastery, the ecclesiarch, in a night vision appears to a certain terrible young man with a flaming weapon in his hands and says with anger: - Why are you negligent when you see such signs? Or don’t you understand that the body of the deceased is not destined to see decay, but must be removed from the earth? All these miracles were announced to the pious king Urosh Milutin, who, after consulting with the archbishop, ordered the solemn opening of the shrine, in which the body of St. Eustathius was found incorrupt and laid open in a new shrine. After some time, due to the danger from enemy invasions, the relics of Saint Eustathius, through the efforts of Archbishop Jacob, were transferred from Zhicha to Ipek (or Pech) 249 and placed in the local archiepiscopal cathedral church of the holy apostles Peter and Paul. The Life of Saint Eustathius was written by his younger contemporary, Saint Daniel II, Archbishop of Serbia, and was included in his “Genealogy” or “Tsarostavnik”. Best edition in the book: Lives of the King and Archbishop of Serbia, published by Danicic in 1866 (pp. 292–319). Life of St. Daniel, see under December 20 The Budiml region, or “župa,” was located where the Serbian Vasojevic tribe now lives in northeastern Montenegro. Nowadays the village of Budiml exists there. In ancient times, the Budimla diocese had a see in the monastery of St. George, which still exists in semi-ruins north of the town of Gusinye in the village of Berane. Zeta region, Zeta, or in ancient times Dioclea, now Montenegro. Monastery of St. Michael's was located on the eastern shore of the Bay of Kotor, not far south of the city of Kotor. The Žića Monastery (Žitča, Židča), which exists to this day, is located on the right bank of the Ibra River, not far from its confluence with the Serbian Morava, within the boundaries of the present Serbian Kingdom. Ipek, Pest, Pec - the second seat of the Serbian archbishops; the city with the monastery still exists and is located in Old Serbia (belonging to Turkey) on the river Bystrica, which flows into the White Drin in its upper reaches. You might be interested in: