Mar Saba (St Sabbas the Sanctified)

Monk and founder of monasteries in the Judean desert · Feast: 5 December

Mar Saba (St Sabbas the Sanctified)
St Sabbas the Sanctified, icon with saints in the margins; old icon, possibly from the monastery of Mar Saba in the Judean desert. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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Word for the day

“Be still, and know that I am God!” Psalm 46:10

Life

Sabbas was born in 439 in Cappadocia, in present-day Turkey. As a boy he entered a monastery, and at about eighteen he went to Jerusalem and the desert of Judea, where he lived under the guidance of great monks such as St Euthymius.

After years of solitude in a cave above the Kidron valley, disciples gathered around him, and in 483 he founded the Great Lavra, a community of hermits who lived alone during the week and gathered for worship. The monastery, known as Mar Saba, still exists and is one of the oldest inhabited monasteries in the world.

Sabbas founded several other monasteries, was appointed leader of the hermits of Palestine, and travelled to Constantinople to defend the faith of the Council of Chalcedon and to intercede for the people. He died in 532, aged about ninety-three.

Lessons

Silence and prayer

The desert teaches us to listen to God.

Community and solitude

Both are needed in the spiritual life.

Serving the Church

Even a hermit served the wider Church.

Stories

The Great Lavra (history)

The monastery founded by Sabbas in 483 clings to the cliffs of the Kidron valley and has housed monks almost continuously for over fifteen centuries.

Homily

1. Be still

Silence is the school of prayer.

2. Alone and together

The rhythm of the Lavra.

3. The desert blooms

Prayer bears fruit for the Church.

Dear friends, Mar Saba left his home as a youth and went to the desert of Judea to seek God in silence. The psalm says: be still, and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10).

Many came to learn from him, and he founded the Great Lavra, where monks lived alone during the week and gathered on Saturdays and Sundays for the Holy Qurbono. That monastery still stands today, after fifteen centuries.

Mar Saba was not cut off from the Church. He travelled to the emperor to defend the true faith and to help his people. Prayer made him strong in service.

During this fast, let us find a little desert each day: ten minutes of silence, without phone or noise, to be still before God. Amen.

Prayer

Lord, through the prayers of Mar Saba, teach us silence and prayer, and keep us faithful to your Church. Amen.