Saint Sava (1174 –1236), known as the Enlightener, was a Serbian prince and Orthodox monk, the first Archbishop of the autocephalous Serbian Church, the founder of Serbian law, and a diplomat. Sava, born as Rastko, was the youngest son of Serbian Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja but he didn’t want to stay at his father’s court and become a ruler. He left for Mount Athos, where he became a monk with the name Sava. At Athos he established the monastery of Hilandar, which became one of the most important cultural and religious centres of the Serbian people.

In 1219 the Patriarchate exiled in Nicea recognized him as the first Serbian Archbishop, and in the same year he authored the oldest known constitution of Serbia, thus securing full independence; both religious and political. Sava is regarded as the founder of Serbian medieval literature. He is widely considered as one of the most important figures of Serbian history. The Church of Saint Sava in Belgrade is dedicated to him, built where the Ottomans burnt his remains in 1594. The church is one of the largest church buildings in the world. Saint Sava is the patron saint of Serbia, Serbs, and Serbian education and that’s the reason why all schools in Serbia celebrate Saint Sava’s day every year on January 27th.

Our students prepared and performed a school show in honour of Saint Sava at Ćićevac Culture Centre on January 27th. The school choir opened the show with a famous hymn to Saint Sava. Then the choir sang other songs dedicated to this saint. A group of eight grade students performed a play about the life of little Rastko with his family at the court. Our student Jovana Janev recited a famous poem about Saint Sava. Then our third grade students performed a play and a national dance called ’kolo’. After the show,the celebration continued at our school „Dositej Obradović“. A religious celebration bread ( in Serbian called ’kolač’ ) was cut at the school with the presence of all employees, representatives of the municipality and,of course,the priest of the Ćićevac church which also bears the name of our patron saint- Saint Sava.

As for Pločnik,a small village in our municipality, their village school of only ten students also celebrated this day in a beautiful and festive way. This show also began with a hymn to Saint Sava. After that,young students recited and acted in a play and were awarded with a big round of applause. After the school show, students’ mothers served various treats for everyone to eat. The priest said the prayer and cut the religious celebration bread (’kolač’). Then people chose a family which will be the main host of the school celebration next year.

Next year, on January 27th, another heartfelt celebration of one of our nation’s greatest saints awaits us, to whom we owe a great deal of respect and dedication.

Journalists – Aleksandra Jeremic and Mina Stojanovic

Original article published in the online digital newspaper: djackaiskra