Venerable (Monastic) 20th century

Saint Simeon of Dajbabe

1854 – 1941

Also known as Симеон Дајбабски · Savo Popović

Founder and elder of the Dajbabe Monastery near Podgorica, which he hewed and decorated himself. He reposed in 1941.

Feast Day

March 19

Draft

Draft — pending review. Not yet verified for publication.

Hymn / Apolytikion Icon gallery Video / Media

Commemorated as

Our Venerable Father Simeon of Dajbabe

Life

Saint Simeon of Dajbabe (born Savo Popovic) was a Serbian Orthodox hieromonk who founded and served as first abbot of the Dajbabe Monastery, set in a cave near Podgorica in present-day Montenegro. Born on 19 December 1854 in the Donji Kraj locality of Cetinje, he received his primary education at the Cetinje Monastery and went on to study at the Theological Seminary and the Spiritual Academy in Kiev, where he was drawn to the example of the ascetics of the Kiev Caves Lavra. He was tonsured a monk with the name Simeon, ordained hieromonk, and returned to Montenegro in 1888.

After serving for two years at the Vranjina Monastery and then for some eight years as a lecturer in the monastic school at Ostrog, Simeon established the Dajbabe Monastery in 1897, dedicating its cave church to the Dormition of the Mother of God. By the accounts of his life, the foundation followed visions and the report of a young shepherd who described a forgotten church in a cave at Dajbabe. Simeon hewed and decorated the cave church himself and remained there for the rest of his life as its abbot.

He was regarded by those who knew him as a man of prayer and ascetic discipline, and the tradition surrounding him holds that he received gifts of discernment. In 1921 the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church chose him to become bishop of the Eparchy of Zahumlje and Raska, but he declined. He reposed on 1 April 1941. His relics were exhumed in 1996, and the Serbian Orthodox Church canonized him on 2 May 2010 as Saint Simeon of Dajbabe; he is commemorated on March 19.

Timeline 8 moments Read Hide

1854 Birth at Cetinje Born Savo Popovic on 19 December 1854 in the Donji Kraj locality of Cetinje.
1879 Studies in Kiev Studied at the Theological Seminary and Spiritual Academy in Kiev and was tonsured a monk.
1888 Return to Montenegro Returned from Kiev and served at the Vranjina Monastery, later teaching at Ostrog.
1897 Founds Dajbabe Monastery Established the cave monastery at Dajbabe, dedicating its church to the Dormition of the Mother of God.
1921 Declines episcopacy Chosen as bishop of the Eparchy of Zahumlje and Raska by the Holy Assembly of Bishops, but refused.
1941 Repose Reposed on 1 April 1941 at Dajbabe.
1996 Relics exhumed His relics were exhumed and placed in the monastery church.
2010 Glorification Canonized by the Serbian Orthodox Church on 2 May 2010.

Contributions & Legacy

2 contributions Read Hide

Founding of Dajbabe Monastery

The Dajbabe Monastery, the work for which Simeon is best remembered, was founded in 1897 at a cave site in the village of Dajbabe near Podgorica. The accounts of his life relate that he was led to the place by visions and by the testimony of a young shepherd who described a man in vestments speaking of a forgotten church in a cave that was to be restored. Simeon built within the cave a church dedicated to the Dormition of the Mother of God and became the monastery's first abbot.

According to the tradition, Simeon shaped and adorned the cave church largely with his own hands. He spent the remainder of his life at Dajbabe; among those who came to visit him was Archimandrite Justin Popovic, with whom he would later share the act of canonization in 2010.

Repose, relics, and glorification

Simeon reposed on 1 April 1941. His relics were exhumed in 1996, an effort associated with Metropolitan Amfilohije, and were placed in the monastery church, where the faithful venerate them and where, by the accounts of the monastery, they are reported to give off a fragrance.

He was formally glorified by the Serbian Orthodox Church on 2 May 2010, canonized together with Justin Popovic at the Cathedral of Saint Sava in Belgrade. His feast is kept on March 19.

Notes

Born 1854, Cetinje; reposed 1941 at Dajbabe (Montenegro). Glorified by the Serbian Orthodox Church in 2010.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_saints_of_the_Serbian_Orthodox_Church