03 — Return to Serbia

Sava’s homecoming: how, after his father’s death on Athos, he returned to a Serbia torn by civil war between his brothers, bearing the myrrh-streaming relics of Symeon; how those relics, laid in Studenica, became the instrument of reconciliation; and how Sava, as archimandrite of Studenica, became the spiritual arbiter of the realm.

Tradition: Serbian Orthodox

Files

File	Description
bringing-back-symeon.md	The death of Symeon at Hilandar (1199); Sava’s return c. 1206–07 with the relics; the myrrh-streaming tradition, pinned to source
reconciling-the-brothers.md	Mediating between the warring brothers Stefan and Vukan; Sava as archimandrite of Studenica

See Also

• 02 — Hilandar and Athos — the Athonite years that preceded the return
• 04 — The Autocephalous Church — the church Sava built once Serbia was at peace
• 06 — The Royal Saint-Maker — the cult of Symeon and the holy dynasty