St Savva Storozhevsky Monastery, Zvenigorod
St Savva of Storozhevsky, a disciple of St Sergius of Radonezh and the confessor of Grand Prince St Dmitri Donskoi, is considered by many Orthodox believers to be the heavenly patron of warriors. Unlike his renowned teacher, St Sergius of Radonezh, St Savva of Storozhevsky was little known for quite some time, although the monastery he founded near the city of Zvenigorod on the Storozhi Kholm, or watching hill, became the first Lavra in the region. There is a long record of miracles worked by St Savva, who was a model of meekness and humility. He died in 1407 at the age of 80.
The first uncovering of his relics was initiated by Tsar Aleksei Mikhailovich; this took place in January 1652 in the presence of the Patriarch Iosif of Moscow and all Russia and Metropolitan Nikon of Novgorod. The body of St Savva was exhumed and all those present saw that it was incorrupt. The relics were brought with due respect to the St Savva of Storozhevsky Monastery, which he founded near the city of Zvenigorod, and for almost 300 years they were seen as one of the greatest Orthodox holy objects.
Early in the 20th century, the monastery where the saint’s relics were kept was closed down and devastated by the atheistic authorities, the relics were confiscated. For a long time, they were thought as lost forever. Later, it turned out that an employee of the Historical Museum, Mikhail Uspensky, kept them in his country house. The Abbot of the St Savva of Storozhevsky Monastery, Fr Savvas Fateyev, believes that the second finding of the relics of St Savva of Storozhevsky is a genuine miracle, similar to those worked by St Savva himself. He said, “In the 1920s, Mikhail Uspensky worked for the State Historical Museum. Once, he was summoned by a KGB official who showed him a dish covered with a cloth and said, ‘Take it; this is all that was left of St Savva. Do whatever you wish with this’. Until 1985, Mikhail Uspensky kept the relics at his home”.
Only in 1998 were the relics handed over to the St Daniil Monastery in Moscow, later in a wooden case they were forwarded to Zvenigorod. Since then, numerous Orthodox pilgrims came to St Savva of Storozhevsky Monastery to venerate the relics of the saint. The tenth anniversary of the second finding of the relics of the saint is going to be marked for several days. This is because St Savva was much respected at all times by Russian Orthodox believers and the story of the return of the relics to the Church is most unusual. Divine services were held in many churches of the country. Thousands of believers went in a religious procession from Moscow to Zvenigorod carrying the icon of St Savva. The religious festivities culminated with a liturgy served outdoors at the St Savva of Storozhevsky Monastery by Metropolitan Juvenaly of Krutitsa and Kolomna.
26 August 2008
Voice of Russia World Service
http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=31646&cid=59&p=26.08.2008 (in English)
