Sava Dečanac

Sava Dečanac
Bishop of Žiča
Native name
Сава Дечанац
DioceseEparchy of Žiča
Installed3 July 1889
Term ended17 May 1913
PredecessorNikanor Ružičić
SuccessorNikolaj Velimirović
Previous postadministrator of Vranje
Orders
Consecration3 July 1889
RankMetropolitan
Personal details
BornĐorđe Barać
(1831-10-01)1 October 1831
Gnježdane, Ottoman Empire
Died17 May 1913(1913-05-17) (aged 81)
Čačak, Kingdom of Serbia
BuriedŽiča (1913), Dečani (1936)
NationalitySerbian
DenominationEastern Orthodoxy
EducationKiev Theological Academy

Đorđe Barać (Serbian: Ђорђе Бараћ; 1831–1913), known as Sava Dečanac (Сава Дечанац), was a Serbian Orthodox priest who notably participated in wars and rose to the rank of bishop.

Early life

Barać was born on 1 October 1831 in the village of Gnježdane near Novi Pazar. He received primary education at the Dečani monastery where he took monastic vows, as Sava, on Christmas 1854.[1] He was ordained a deacon at Deževo on 2 March 1855 by Metropolitan Melentije of Raška-Prizren and as a hieromonk on 5 March at the Church of the Holy Apostles, thereafter serving as the spiritual director (duhovnik) of the Dečani metochion in Pirot.[1] In 1861 he moved to Belgrade and entered the Seminary.[1]

During his studies at Belgrade, a conflict broke out with the Turks in June 1862, and he participated in the battles at the barricades.[1] Other notable people who participated in the barricades were Miloš Milojević and Kosta Šumenković, who Sava befriended.

Upon finishing his studies he became a teacher in Peć in the Kosovo Vilayet.[1] Supported by Metropolitan of Belgrade Mihailo, Sava enrolled at the Kiev Theological Academy, where he graduated with a degree in theology in 1871.[1] In August 1871 he was appointed the rector at the Prizren Seminary.[1] Due to Muslim oppression (zulum) he was forced to leave his position on 1 January 1873.[1]

Wars

During the Serbian–Ottoman Wars (1876–1878) he was a commander in the Deževo-Ibar volunteer detachment led by Miloš Milojević.[1]

Among those active in the Serbian–Ottoman Wars (1876–1878) with mobilizing volunteers who illegally crossed the Ottoman–Serbian border to join Serbian forces were especially Todor Stanković (1852–1925), Miloš Milojević, Sava Dečanac, Aksentije Hadži Arsić, teacher Despot Badžović (1850–1930), Kosta Šumenković (1828–1905), Gligorije Čemerikić, and others.[2] A secret committee named "Board for Old Serbia and Macedonia" (Одбор за Стару Србију и Македонију) was established in the beginning of 1877, with initiatives for liberation of Macedonia and solving the Macedonian question.[3][4] Members included Kosta Šumenković from Struga, Todor Stanković from Niš, professor Miloš Milojević, archimandrite Sava Dečanac, Aksentije Hadži Arsić, Despot Badžović and his brother Kuzman Badžović, Gligorije Čemerikić and others. They also informed representatives of the Great Powers and the Russian Empire of their demands.[5] Sava was in the delegation of "Serbs of Old Serbia" that petitioned the Serbian government on 2[6] and 20 May 1877 for the liberation and unification of Old Serbia with the Principality of Serbia.[5] As "representatives of Old Serbia", Sava, Arsić, Stanković and Badžović asked for financial support in their work, in a letter dated 7 June 1877 to Jevrem Grujić, a representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.[7] They received financial aid on 15 June, 4 and 24 August 1877.[7] On 10 July 1877, with the crossing of Russian troops at the Danube, the Board feared for Bulgarian propaganda in Old Serbia and wrote a letter, one of many, to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.[8] On 25 May 1878, the Board asked that Sava represent Old Serbia in the international talks of the Congress of Berlin.[9] He participated in the talks.[1]

On 5 April 1879 Matija Ban warned Minister Ristić about aspirations and agitation from Bulgaria, Greece and Austria-Hungary in Macedonia, and suggested that a Board for Macedonia be established in Belgrade, with members Đorđe Maletić, Miloš Milojević, archpriest Jakov Pavlović, Đorđe Popović, Matija Ban, and for the Boards outside Belgrade he suggested Dimitrije Aleksijević in Niš, and archimandrite Sava Dečanac and Despot Badžović in Vranje.[10]

In 1881, Czech-born compositor Vićentije Petrik composed the March of Miloš S. Milojević; the illustration made by Miroslav Jorgović on the front page depicts commander of Deževo-Ibar corps Miloš Milojević and his commanders archimandrite Sava Dečanac of the Podbukovica corps, Kosta Šumenković of the Jeleč corps, Milojko Veselinović of the Kopaonik corps, Jovan Bidić of the Podgora-Deževo corps, Atanasije Jungić of the Poibarje corps, Despot Badžović of the Borjan corps, Sima S. Milojević of the Brda battery, chief of staff Aleksa M. Cvetković, Todor Stanković of the Koviljača camps, commander-adjutant Radoje Krasić, commander-adjutant Jovan Tasunović and cheta-leader Sima Damjanović.[11] The lithograph was most likely done after a photograph dated 22 July 1876 in Dobrič.[12]

After the wars he served as the administrator of the Eparchy of Vranje and was a member of the Užice and then Niš consistoriums.[1]

He participated in the Serbo-Bulgarian War (1885) as the commander of the 2nd Volunteer Detachment.[1]

Eparchy of Žiča

After the dismissal of Nikanor Ružičić, Sava was consecrated bishop of Žiča on 3 July 1889.[1] He reported on his travels and gave valuable information on monasteries and churches in the land.[1] Sava also wrote pastoral epistles.[1] He worked actively for the improvement of Serbs in the Kosovo Vilayet.[1] With the outbreak of the First Balkan War (1912), he held a speech rallying the people.[13]

He died on 17 May 1913 in Čačak and was buried at the Žiča monastery. His wish was that his remains be buried at Dečani, which was done on Vidovdan (St. Vitus Day) in 1936.[1]

Work

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Sava 1996, САВА (Бараћ).
  2. ^ Lekić, Đorđe (1995). Kosovo i metohija tokom vekova: zublja. NILP "Panorama". p. 39. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  3. ^ Arhiv Srbije 1983, p. 18.
  4. ^ Dragoslav Srejović; Slavko Gavrilović; Sima M. Ćirković (1983). Istorija srpskog naroda: knj. Od Berlinskog kongresa do Ujedinjenja 1878-1918 (2 v.). Srpska književna zadruga. p. 291. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
  5. ^ a b Mitrović 1996, p. 68.
  6. ^ Lilić 2015, p. 161.
  7. ^ a b Vojinović 2016, p. 110.
  8. ^ Vojinović 2016, p. 111, Lilić 2015, p. 162
  9. ^ Vojinović 2016, p. 112.
  10. ^ Jagodić 2011, pp. 439–440.
  11. ^ Cvetković 2019, pp. 388–391.
  12. ^ Cvetković 2019, p. 392.
  13. ^ Dečanac, Sava (1913), Беседа епископа жичког Саве Дечанца: на дан објаве рата 5. октобра 1912. г., Штампарија Љубе Ј. Бојовића, Београд

Sources

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