Saint Sava

In Christianity, a person that becomes a saint is one who did good things for the love of God, and performed miracles. Years after his death people remember his good deeds and miracles. After a certain amount of years the person becomes a candidate for a saint, and the process of becoming one, canonization, begins.

One of the most famous Eastern Orthodox saints was Saint Sava from Serbia. Saint Sava lived from 1175 to 1235 A.D. He was originally the youngest of three brothers who's father was a Serbian ruler. At a very young age he became a monk and changed his name from Rastko Nemanjic to Sava. He had many accomplishments which earned him great respect in Serbia. His accomplishments include spreading of education and literature, publishing the first civil laws of the newly formed Serbia to ensure order, although his greatest achievement was establishing the Serbian Church as an independent one in 1217 A.D. He also set up the Monastery Hilandar on Mount Athos which still exists today. His importance and contribution to Serbia is still visible today. The largest Easter Orthodox church in the world is named after him. The Saint Sava slava is celebrated throughout Serbia on January 27th and is the day when Serbian schools have assemblies the whole day celebrating Saint Sava.