Saint our righteous father, one with God, Saint Saba the sanctified
Saint Saba was born in the Cappadocian region in the year 439 AD, to Christian parents who were among the rich and nobles of that country. He was raised to love virtue from an early age. He fled to the wilderness and entered a monastery there to worship God in peace and tranquility, so he began to maintain prayers and obedience. He carried out his duties with all honesty and activity, to the point that he surpassed the monks of the monastery in his humility, obedience, and detachment, and he became an example for everyone. He lived in the monastery for ten years in continuous jihad, and his soul longed for solitude and a solitary life, so he asked his superiors for permission to allow him to go to the Palestinian wastelands to live the life of asceticism, and they allowed him. By travelling, he came to Jerusalem and visited the holy places, then he went down to the wilderness and came to the monastery of Saint Euthymius the Great and asked to be accepted into the ranks of the hermits. Euthymius was happy with him, but due to his young age, he sent him to the monastery of Saint Theoktistus, where the novices were preparing for the unique ascetic life administered by Saint Euthymius himself. He lived there, continuing his monastic devotions and following the path of evangelical perfections. During this time, Saint Theoctistus fell asleep in the Lord. Saba asked his successor to allow him a life of seclusion, and he allowed him to do so. So he went and lived in a cave where he practiced severe ascetic activities. He spent five days of the week in complete solitude. Persevering in meditation and prayer, he worked by making baskets and selling them to support himself and give alms to the poor.
On Saturdays and Sundays, he would go to church to listen to spiritual instructions, attend the divine sacrifice, and receive the holy sacraments. Then he would return to his solitude, and Saint Euthymius would invite him, the young man, for his sobriety in his life and his beautiful virtues and character. Ascetics and monks came to Saba asking for his guidance and he took it. Many people became his disciples, so he established rituals for them and guided them. When their number increased, he built a monastery for them in which they lived. The rest of the saint, our righteous father, became famous for his holiness and virtues, and spread throughout the country. Patriarch Salatus ordained him a priest despite his humiliation and reluctance, and assigned him general leadership over the rituals in Palestine. His mother came to him, bringing him a lot of money from his family’s inheritance, and asked him to allow her to reside under his care for some time. She had her life remaining, so he allowed her to take care of his mother in her last days, and when she died, he established a hospital for the sick next to the monastery with the money that his mother had brought him, and another hospital in Jericho and a guest house for visitors near the monastery, and the money went to serve the relative. Envy took hold of some of the monks, so they undermined his dignity and demonstrated against his authority. He preferred to stay away from the monastery rather than doing evil to evil. He went into the desert, where he found a cave. He entered it, and as soon as he stayed in it, he saw a huge lion entering him, because that cave was his den. Saba was not disturbed. When he saw him, he said to the lion, “Do not be angry, for the place is large enough for you and me.” The lion stared at him, waved his tail, and left the cave, leaving Saint Saba in his den and departed. But the monks spread rumors that the lion had preyed on him, and they asked the patriarch to appoint another in his place. When it was the feast of the renewal of the Temple of Resurrection, Saba came, as was his custom, to Jerusalem to attend the feast. The patriarch saw him, took hold of him, and returned him to his monastery and his work, despite Saba’s apology for that and his claim of lack of knowledge in management. The affairs of his monks, but because of his meekness, humility, and love of peace, he remained silent about their disobedience and continued to watch over them.
Saint Saba headed a delegation of monastery heads to travel to Constantinople to appear before the king and present to him letters from Elijah, Patriarch of Jerusalem, to relieve the hardship on Palestine. The guards did not allow him to enter the palace because they thought he was one of the servants because of his humility. When the king read the letters, he asked about Saba, so they told him. He summoned him, exaggerated his honor, and sent his workers to ease the burden on the country. He was satisfied with Patriarch Elijah and granted Saba a thousand dinars in gold to help his monasteries.
In his life, Saba was distinguished by meekness, humility, and intelligence. He was compassionate toward his neighbor, a servant of the weak and the stranger, and he performed many mortifications and fasts. For this reason, God granted him the ability to perform miracles, and he rested in the Lord among his children, having reached the age of ninety-two. Saint Saba fell asleep on the fifth of December of the year 522 AD, at the age of ninety-four. His body remained in the Lavra Monastery until the Crusaders took it with them to Venice. But he was returned to his monastery in October 1965 AD.
Our Orthodox Church celebrates his memory on the fifth day of Eastern December (December 18) every year.
The monastery founded by Saint Saba, “the Lavra,” has survived to this day, and a large number of those who studied there became famous, the most important of whom were: Saint John of Damascus, his brother Cosmas, Bishop of Mayum, and Andrew of Crete...
It is known that the most important and oldest Typikon - the book that organizes services and rituals in the Orthodox Church - is attributed to Saint Saba. As for the Typicon in force today in the Orthodox Church, it is the Typicon of Constantinople, which was originally taken from the Typicon of Saint Saba, with some additions and modifications.
From the news of Saint Saba
One of the monks was entrusted with managing the guesthouse, and he had to prepare food for the monastery’s visitors. Once he had cooked a large amount of beans, more than he needed, so he threw the leftovers out the window. Saint Saba noticed him, so he quietly got down from his frying pan and carefully collected the scattered beans and scattered them on a rock until they dried, then he collected them and kept them with him until an appropriate time.
After a while, Saint Saba called the monk who had thrown the beans out of the window and made him a plate of beans. While the two sat down to eat, Saint Saba said to the monk: “Forgive me, my brother, because I do not know how to season beans well, and perhaps you do not like them.” The monk replied: “No, this food is very delicious. I have not tasted such good cooking for a long time.” The saint replied, saying: “Believe me, my son, these are the beans that I threw out the window.” Know that someone who does not know how to prepare a pot of cooking to meet the needs of those in his charge without wasting anything from it is not fit to be responsible. The Apostle Paul said: “If someone does not know how to manage his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?” ” (1 Timothy 3:5).
His troparion:
For the unfruitful wilderness you have poured forth with streams of your tears, and with sighs from the depths you have yielded fruit with your labors a hundredfold. You have become a star for the inhabited world, shining with wonders, O our righteous father Saba, so intercede with Christ God to save our souls.
