Jefrem (patriarch)

Saint
Jefrem
Serbian Patriarch[1]

Fresco of Jefrem from the Peć Monastery
Church Serbian Orthodox Church
See Patriarchate of Peć
Installed 1375; 1389
Term ended 1379; 1392
Predecessor Sava IV; Spiridon
Opposed to Spiridon; Danilo III
Personal details
Born ca. 1312
Balkans
Died 1400
Serbia
Buried Peć Monastery
Denomination Eastern Orthodoxy
Residence Peć
Sainthood
Feast day June 15/28
Canonized 1407
by Patriarch Sava V

Jefrem (Serbian Cyrillic: Јефрем; Ephraem; ca. 1312–d. 1400), also known as Elder Jefrem (старац Јефрем), was the Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church twice, in 1375–79 and 1389–92, and a poet.

Born into a priestly family, of Bulgarian origin,[a] he became a monk in ca. 1335 at 23 years of age.[2] He moved to Mount Athos, and stayed at Hilandar, and later at Zograf and as a hesychastic ascetic in the mountains of Athos.[2] He left Athos in ca. 1347 for a monastery on a river island of the Maritsa near Plovdiv where he became a hegumen.[2] He then moved to Serbia, and stayed in the Peć Monastery.[2] He lived in a cave-church near Visoki Dečani. Patriarch Sava IV built an ascetic cell for him in Ždrelo near the Peć Monastery. When unrest broke out in the state and Church, the Synod chose Jefrem to succeed as patriarch on 3 October 3 1375. He managed to save the Church from interference from feudal lords by renouncing his throne and turning it over to Spiridon, and became an ascetic. Following the death of Spiridon in 1389, Jefrem again took office. However, he once again renounced the throne in 1392, and then retired to Ždrelo. He died in the evening of 14 June 1400, and was buried the next day at the Peć Monastery.[3] According to the hagiography of Jefrem, Sava V was present at the burial.[4] Jefrem left a large original poetry work, preserved in a 14th-century manuscript from Hilandar.[5]

In 1406 or 1407 ("seven summers after ascendance") he was proclaimed a saint by Sava V after showing signs of sainthood.[3] Bishop Marko wrote the Service to St. Jefrem and Life of St. Jefrem. His feast day is celebrated on June 15/28, together with St. Lazar and St. Spyridon.

Annotations

Historiography treat him as being of Bulgarian origin.[2][5] Another source claim that he was from Thessaly.[6]

References

  1. Leontije Pavlović (1965). Kultovi lica kod Srba i Makedonaca: Istorijsko-etnografska rasprava. Narodni Muzej. <--ЈЕФРЕМ, ПАТРИЈАРХ (умро 1400. г.) У житију се назива „свети отац наш Јефрем патријарх",1) а у служби „преподобии и богоносни Јефрем патријарх српски".2)-->
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Gavrilović 1981, p. 14.
  3. 1 2 Popović & Skerlić 1941, p. 206.
  4. Историјски часопис 33 (1986): Historical Review 33 (1986). Istorijski institut. 1 August 1987. pp. 21–. GGKEY:580S3RBJUZP.
  5. 1 2 Dimitrije Bogdanović; Milorad Pavić (1991). Stara srpska književnost. Dosije. p. 162.
  6. Pajsije Svetogorac (2005). Sveta Gora i Svetogorci. Manastir Svetog prvomučenika i arhiđakona Stefana.

Sources

Books
Journals
Religious titles
Preceded by
Sava IV
Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church
1375–79
Succeeded by
Spiridon
Preceded by
Spiridon
Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church
1389–92
Succeeded by
Danilo III
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