St. Sabas
439 - 532
Sabas was born at Mutalaska, Cappadocia, near Caesarea. He was the son of an army officer there who when assigned to Alexandria, left him in the care of an uncle. Mistreated by his uncle's wife, Sabas ran away to another uncle, though he was only eight. When the two uncles became involved in a lawsuit over his estate, he again ran away, this time to a monastery near Mutalaska. In time the uncles were reconciled and wanted him to marry, but he remained in the monastery. In 456, he went to Jerusalem and there entered a monastery under St. Theoctistus. When he was thirty, he became a hermit under the guidance of St. Euthymius, and after Euthymius' death, spent four years alone in the desert near Jericho. Despite his desire for solitude, he attracted disciples, organized them into a laura in 483, and when his one hundred fifty monks asked for a priest and despite his opposition to monks being ordained, he was obliged to accept ordination by Patriarch Sallust of Jerusalem in 491. He attracted disciples from Egypt and Armenia, allowed them a liturgy in their own tongue, and built several hospitals and another monastery near Jericho. He was appointed archimandrite of all hermits in Palestine who lived in separate cells, but his custom of going off by himself during Lent caused dissension in the monastery, and sixty of his monks left to revive a ruined monastery at Thecuna. He bore them no illwill and aided them with food and supplies. In 511, he was one of a delegation of abbots sent to Emperor Anastasius I, a supporter of Eutychianism, which Sabas opposed, to plead with the Emperor to mitigate his persecution of orthodox bishops and religious. They were unsuccessful. Sabas supported Elias of Jerusalem when the Emperor exiled him, was a strong supporter of theological orthodoxy, and persuaded many to return to orthodoxy. He was a vigorous opponent of Origenism and monophysitism. In 531, when he was ninety-one, he again went to Constantinople, this time to plead with Emperor Justinian to suppress a Samaritan revolt and protect the people of Jerusalem from further harassment by the Samritans. He fell ill soon after his return to his laura from this trip and died on December 5 at Laura Mar Saba, after naming his successor. Sabas is one of the most notable figures of early monasticism and is considered one of the founders of Eastern monasticism. The laura he founded in the desolate, wild country between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea, named Mar Saba after him, was often called the Great Laura for its preeminence and produced many great saints. It is still inhabited by monks of the Eastern Orthodox Church and is one of the three or four oldest monasteries in the world. His feast day is December 5th.
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St. Sabas, Thanks for making me understand the value of prayer; a withdrawal into our inner self to meditate upon our relationship with the Eternal Self; as a means to reflect and understand the value of our own selves!
Happy Dec. 5th--please pray for me and my family
st,sabas please pray for me and my family god bless you
Amen
5th dec 2012:st sabas pray for us!
Happy feast-day st. Sabas. Pray for the faithful to be like more and more like Jesus. Give us great devotion to the Blessed Sacrament of Holy Eucharist. Amen.
Very...Very interesting....i had tears in my eye when i was reading the history on my family name...were pertains to our lives...maybe i am the only one who prayed him on Dec 04 feast..11...Pls allow me to spread your name st SABAS... who needed spiritual graces and your devine help...ST SABAS...PRAY FOR US... I would like to thanks papa Jesus and his Devine mother...for all yhe blessings i have tru my life...i pray you my God...not for the materials you give to me but i am your son...from inside and out to all remebered since i was a boy...I love you...
Dear St.Sabas, Pray for us to understand the virtue of withdrawing unto ourselves, at times, to reflect, meditate and understand our relationship with our Creator.
St. Saba, happy feast day. While reading about your life of contemplation and prayer, I'm reminded of the life of my dear Poor Clare sisters in Windhoek, Namibia, Remarkably, they were always joyful in prayer and austere in lifestyle. It shocked me that they never leave their enclosure. Yet many Catholics in the neigbourhood, who needed spiritual graces and divine help went to them for their prayers.
St. Sabas pray for us, that through your intercession, I may receive the graces I need to be a true witness of Jesus in my family, school and church community. Grant me the answer I need for my fund raising efforts.
I would like to thank Jesus and His Blessed Mother for the kind graces offered to me for the recent success of the Debating Competition that I organised. Amen.
Aren't there orders of religious who are contemplatives who give their lives to praying for the rest of us? I think this is an important ministry.
YOU NEED THIS FOR SUNDAYYYYYYYY
interesting...any thoughts on how this pertains to our lives? I thought we were supposed to spread the good news by living and conversing with others.