SABBAS OF ZVENIGOROD

Sabbas Storozhevsky (+1407), or Sabbas of Storozhi, so called by the name of the monastery he founded, was one of the closest students and successors of St. Sergius (1322–1392). Sabbas’ spiritual closeness to the “abbot of all Rus’” is evidenced by the fact that it was under Sergius that Sabbas was elected confessor of the monastery. Thus, following the ancient practice of cenobitic monasteries, in the monastery of Sergius they tried to separate confession and general administration. We know nothing about the origin and date of birth of Sabbas. Most likely, Sergius and Sabbas were about the same age.

The charisma of St. Sergius’ holiness was so great that none of his closest disciples wanted to become his successor. Thus, Nikon (1352–1426), who, according to his life, was appointed abbot by Sergius himself, immediately after his exodus went into seclusion. Then the position of abbot passed to Sabbas. However, he soon left the monastery too, following the invitation of Prince Yuri Dmitrievich (1374–1434) to establish a new abbey in the vicinity of Zvenigorod, 130 km from the Sergius Monastery, which at that time was a huge distance.

Just as the gospel stories about the Lord Jesus represent an Easter reading of the deeds and words of Christ in the light of the accomplished Resurrection, the lives of great saints, as a rule, are written in the perspective of their canonization that has already taken place. This, or something like this, happened with St. Sergius. All the more precious for the Church are the stories about Sabbas and saints like him. These stories are of a more everyday and instructive nature, where in the features of Sergius the true character of the teacher imprinted in the disciples is visible.

One of the important moments of the subsequent glorification of Saint Sava and the prosperity of the Storozhevsky monastery is associated with the reign of the Moscow Tsar Alexei Romanov (1629–1676). Around 1652, he was hunting in the vicinity of the monastery and was saved from a bear that attacked him by the appearance of the saint. In response to the ruler’s question who he was, the saint himself called himself “Sabbas.”

As it turned out, the ruler did not know about the great Russian saint from these places with that name. Moreover, he thought that the saint was talking about a living monk and began searching for him. It turned out that less than three centuries after the founding of the monastery of St. Sabbas, there was not a single monk in the monastery who was named after the founder. So, it was established that it was not one of the monks who appeared to Alexei, but the saint Sabbas himself. At the same time, his relics were found (memory January 19 (February 1)). At the same time, in connection with this event, the appearance of Saint Sabbas to Tsar Alexei Romanov, his relics were found (comm. January 19 (February 1)).

Probably, if the great Russian writer Andrei Platonov (1899–1951) had written a story about this, he would have said that the bear that appeared to Tsar Alexei was the great-grandson of the bear that St. Sergius once fed. But the people of the coming New Time in Russia ceased to remember the saints, so they were no longer recognized by animals.