A SHORT LIFE OF SAINT BASIL OF OSTROG
From the Prologue of Ochrid
Saint Basil was born in Popovo Polje, a village in Hercegovina, of
simple and God-fearing parents. From his youth he was filled with love
for the Church of God and when he reached maturity he entered the
monastery of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos in Trebinje and
there received the monastic tonsure. As a monk he quickly became
renowned because of his genuine and infrequently-found ascetic life.
Saint Basil took upon himself mortification upon mortification, each one
heavier and more difficult than the last. Later, against his will he
was elected and consecrated as bishop of Zahumlje and Skenderija. As a
hierarch he first lived in the monastery of Tvrdosh and from there, as a
good shepherd, he strengthened his flock in the Orthodox Faith,
protecting them from the cruelty of the Turks and the cunning ways of
Latins. When Basil was exceedingly pressed by his enemies and Tvrdosh
destroyed by the Turks*, he moved to Ostrog, where he lived an austere
ascetic life, protecting his flock by his ceaseless and fervent prayer.
He fell asleep peacefully in Lord in the sixteenth century, leaving
behind his incorrupt Relics, incorrupt and miracle-working to the
present day. The miracles at the grave of Saint Basil are without
number. Christians and Muslims alike come before his Relics and find
healing for their gravest illnesses and afflictions. A great people’s
assembly (sabor) occurs there annually on the Feast of Pentecost.
-St. Nicolai of Zicha
*A new church was built in our day upon the ruins of the Old Tvrdosh
monastery by Nikola Runjevac from the village of Poljica near Trebinje –
a wonderful and glorious monumental church (zaduzbina) before God and
before his people.
St. Basil of Ostrog, the Wonderworker (source)
THE GLORIFICATION OF ST.BASIL OF OSTROG
Immediately after the falling asleep of St.Basil in 1671. people started
coming in great numbers to pray at his grave, just as they were
accustomed to doing during his earthly life. Many miracles began taking
place at the site of his grave and they have not ceased to this day.
Seven years after giving up his soul to God, in 1678., St.Basil appeared
in a dream to father Rafailo (Kosijerevac) the Abbot of the St.Luke
Monastery in Zhupa near Nikshich, and ordered him to go to Ostrog and
open up the saint’s grave. The Abbot paid no attention to the dream and
did not go. He had the same dream again but he again ignored it. St.
Basil then appeared to the Abbot a third time, dressed in a bishop’s
vestments, with a censer in his hand. The Abbot woke up in fear and
trepidation and told the brotherhood of his monastery about his dream.
They agreed at once to make a hasty journey to Ostrog.
Upon their arrival they first informed the Ostrog monks of the Abbot’s
dream and then look upon themselves a strict fast, all the while serving
the complete cycle of daily prayers with Holy Liturgy. They did so for
seven days. On the seventh day, they censed the Saint’s grave and opened
it.
Before them appeared the Saint in a glorified body the colour of pure
wax, giving out the fragrance similar to that of basil leaves. Then the
monks placed his incorrupt body in a case and took it to the Upper
Monastery, to the church of the Presentation of the Most Holy Theotokos,
where it rests to this day.
The wonderworking Holy Relic of St. Basil of Ostrog, incorrupt to this day (source)
News of the glorification of St.Basil’s body quickly spread and people
began to flock in great numbers to venerate his holy and wonderworking
Relics. Not only Orthodox Christians, but also Roman Catholics and
Lutherans, and even Muslims came to seek help at the great Sanctuary of
Ostrog. According to their faith in the mercy of God and that of
St.Basil they received help and found consolation.
Even today pilgrims from all parts of the country, of all nationalities
and religions come before the Wonderworker of Ostrog. Many people travel
to Ostrog from abroad. From the holy reliquary arise prayers in many
languages. Many parents bring their children to be baptised before the
relics of St.Basil and many name their offspring after the Saint. Many a
marriage ceremony has been performed at Ostrog, countless confessions
have been made and many people have partaken of the Holy Mysteries
before the Holy Relics, while countless others have asked for prayers to
be read for their health and salvation.
Many sacrifices and donations are brought to the Holy Father at the
Ostrog monastery, but the greatest sacrifice of all is that of sincere
repentance and the will to cleanse one’s heart before God and Saint
Basil. Even the godless and atheists respect and honour St.Basil and
utter his name with fear. For, as everyone knows, one did not make light
of St.Basil while he lived, and one certainly does not make light of
him now when he is glorified.
Before the merciful Ostrog saint the Serbs pour out their sorrows and
pains and offer warm prayers for their living and departed relatives.
Having prepared for this encounter by fasting and prayer, pilgrims from
near and far, on feast days and on weekdays gather at Ostrog in great
numbers to venerate the Saint, to tell him of their sorrows, to weep
before his Reliquary and to confess their sins and receive a blessing.
Besides the regular church fasts the people often promise to take on a
special fast. This fast is called “the week of the Holy Father Basil”,
and it usually precedes his Feast Day. Pronouncing the Saint’s name is
traditionally accompanied by the words, “Glory and mercy be upon him”.
Many an oath has been sworn before the relics of St.Basil, many a
promise made …
Ostrog Monastery high on the mountain (source)
The Power of God and the Temptations of History
During his earthly life the Saint was never left in peace but was
persecuted by many enemies of God and by the chief enemy of our
salvation. After his repose his holy Relics were not spared by the evil
one, either.
The first time that the Ostrog monks had to conceal the Relics of
St.Basil was in 1714., when Numan-pasha Chuprilich attacked and
devastated Montenegro. The monks buried the relics below the monastery,
near the Zeta river. The river overflowed and flooded the area where the
relics were buried, but miraculously the water penetrated neither the
reliquary, nor the relics of the Saint.
The second time the relics had to be hidden was during the siege of
Ostrog in the winter of 1852. The Turkish commander Omar Pasha encircled
the monastery and the siege lasted for nine days. Thirty Montenegrins,
headed by the great vojvoda (duke) Mirko Petrovic, father of prince
Nikola, courageously defended the monastery. When they succeeded, with
the help of St.Basil, in driving away the Turks, they served a
thanksgiving molieban to God, the Most Holy Theotokos and St.Basil in
the little church of the Presentation. After that the Montenegrins took
the Saint with them to Cetinje and placed him in the Church of the
Nativity of the Holy Virgin, near the Relics of St.Petar of Cetinje.
There they remained until the spring of 1853, when they were again
returned to Ostrog. During the war with the Turks the monastery of
Ostrog was burned and looted. Many Ostrog treasures, as well as
documents dating from the time of St.Basil, disappeared forever.
The third time the relics of the Saint were transferred was during the
war in 1876-1877. They were again taken to Cetinje, where they remained
for about a year. They were brought back to Ostrog in a majestic
procession in 1878.
During World War II, in February 1942, when enemy grenades rained upon
Ostrog, the monks, fearing that the Church of the Presentation might be
hit and destroyed, took the holy Relics into a little cave behind the
monastery building. This fear proved to be unfounded, for the grenades
flew all around the monastery and fell and exploded, but the monastery
itself was never hit, nor was anyone injured during these attacks. The
Saint guarded his flock as he had always done before …
Archimandrite Justin of Chelije
See the source site for numerous miracles of St. Basil of Ostrog, taken from the excellent book: Healings
of Soul and Body, St. Basil of Ostrog, translated by Ana Smiljanic,
published by Svetigora in 2003, filled with over 300 pages of
astonishing miracles of the Saint.
St. Basil of Ostrog, the Wonderworker (source)
TROPARION OF SAINT BASIL - Tone 4:
From your youth you gave yourself entirely to the Lord, remaining in
prayer, labor and fasting, O God-bearing Father. Because you were an
example of virtues and good works to your flock, seeing your good work,
God established you as a pastor and good hierarch of His Church. And
after your repose, He kept your body incorrupt, O Holy Basil. Therefore,
with boldness pray to Christ God to save our souls.
Kontakion of Saint Basil -Tone 8:
Even as a youth, you served the Lord, O Wise one, belaboring your body
with prayer and vigil. Because you were shown to be a precious vessel
of the Holy Spirit, He established you as a pastor of His Church which
you tended well. And as such, you departed to the Lord whom you loved.
We pray to you to remember us who keep your memory with faith, that all
may shout unto you: Rejoice, O most honorable Basil.
(source)
St. Basil of Ostrog, the Wonderworker (source)
Christ is risen from the dead, by death, trampling down upon death, and to those in the tombs, He has granted life!
Truly, the Lord is risen!
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