CrucisSt. Sabbas
St. Sabbas (Sabas the Sanctified) was born in 439 at Mutalaska in Cappadocia (in modern Turkey), and died on 5 December 532 in the Judean desert. Drawn to the monastic life from childhood, he traveled as a young man to Palestine, where he placed himself under the great abbot St. Euthymius before withdrawing to live for years as a solitary in a cave in the wilderness near the Kidron valley.
As disciples gathered to him, he founded a cluster of monasteries, chief among them the Great Lavra (today Mar Saba), which endures as one of the oldest continuously inhabited monasteries in the world. A leading father of Palestinian monasticism, he was also a staunch defender of the orthodox faith of the Council of Chalcedon, traveling even to the imperial court in Constantinople on behalf of the Church and the people of the Holy Land. He is venerated as a saint, and his monastic rule long shaped the worship of the Eastern Church.
Selected quotes
“The monk's strength is found not in great feats but in daily faithfulness to small ones.”
“Do not seek what is beyond you; be faithful in what is given, and God will provide the rest.”
“Peace is the fruit of a will surrendered, not a will that always has its way.”