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The Twenty-First Day of Christmas Advent. Venerable Savvas the Sanctified

Commemorated on December 5 Saint Savva the Sanctified was born in the fifth century at Cappadocia of pious Christian parents, John and Sophia, and his father was a military commander. Journeying to Alexandria on military matters, John and Sophia left their five-year-old son Savva in the care of an uncle. When the boy was eight years old, he entered the nearby Monastery of Saint Flavian. The gifted child quickly learned to read and became an

The Twenty-First Day of Christmas Advent: Saint Savas the Sanctified

Saint Savas the Sanctified (439–532), a Cappadocian-Greek monk, priest and saint, lived mainly in Palaestina Prima. He was the founder of several monasteries, most notably the one known as Mar Saba. The Saint’s name is derived from the Hebrew meaning “old man”.  St. Savas was born at Mutalaska, near Caesarea of Cappadocia, the son of John, a military commander, and Sophia. Journeying to Alexandria on military matters, his parents left their five-year-old son in the

Saint Savvas the Sanctified

The unknown village of Mutalaska, in the province of Cappadocia, became famous through this great luminary of the Orthodox Church. Savvas was born there of his parents John and Sophia. At the age of eight, he left the home of his parents and was tonsured a monk in a nearby monastic community called Flavian’s. After ten years, he moved to the monasteries of Palestine and remained longest in the Monastery of St. Euthymius the Great