Basil of Ostrog

Bishop (Eparch) Basil of Ostrog
Bishop of Zahumlje and Herzegovina
Serbian icon of Saint Basil of Ostrog.
Diocese	Zahumlje and Herzegovina
See	Trebinje
Installed	1639
Term ended	1649
Predecessor	?
Successor	?
Personal details
Birth name	Stojan Petrović Stojanović Jovanović
Born	December 28, 1610 Mrkonjići, Sanjak of Herzegovina, Ottoman Empire
Died	1671
Buried	Ostrog Monastery
Nationality	Serbian
Denomination	Serbian Orthodox
Residence	Tvrdoš Monastery in Trebinje
Parents	Petar Stojanović Jovanović
Education	Zavala Monastery, Tvrdoš Monastery

Basil of Ostrog (Serbian: Vasilije Ostroški/Василије Острошки, pronounced [sʋɛ̂ːtiː ʋǎsiːlijɛ ɔ̌strɔʃkiː], December 28, 1610—1671) was a Serbian Orthodox bishop of Zahumlje and saint venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Life

Early life

Stojan Jovanović (Јовановић) was born on December 28, 1610, in the village of Mrkonjići at the bottom of the Popovo field in the Ljubinje nahija (Herzegovina), at the time part of the Ottoman Empire. His father was Petar Stojanović and his mother was Ana. He was a diligent and obedient child, and he inherited his graciousness and benevolence from his parents. Having raised cattle on the Herzegovinian hills and mountain slopes, he shared all of his food with poorer people. The Ottomans started to notice him, unenthusiastically monitoring this gifted young man. His parents, in order to avoid any danger, took him to the nearby Zavala Monastery, where his paternal uncle, the hieromonk Serafim served as the hegumen of the monastery. There he would study, and be protected.

Studies

Having a rich library at his hands, the young Vasilije especially liked the cells dug into the rocks above the monastery church of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. His character quickly made him a master of the Bible and basic Christian mysteries. After a while his uncle sent his protégé to the Monastery of the Most Holy Mother of God, the Tvrdoš Monastery in Trebinje, for further spiritual and theological studies.

Bishop of Zahumlje

St. Basil's modesty made him reluctant to occupy high positions. However, his piety, humility and dedication to the Church made him well suited for the role and he was elected as Bishop of Zahumlje and Skenderija, which he reluctantly accepted in 1639. He retired from the position ten years later in 1649.

Legacy

After his death in 1671 he was buried at the Ostrog Monastery he had founded in Montenegro, and his tomb in a cave-church soon became a site of pilgrimage for Christians (both Orthodox and Roman Catholic) and Muslims drawn by reports of miracles occurring through the intercession of the saint. The Monastery of Ostrog is now one of the major pilgrimage sites in the Balkans, and large numbers of pilgrims gather particularly at Pentecost. St. Basil of Ostrog is commemorated in the Serbian orthodox liturgical calendar on April 29 (May 12 in the Gregorian Calendar).

The Orthodox seminary in East Sarajevo (Pravoslavni bogoslovski fakultet Sveti Vasilije Ostroški), part of the University of East Sarajevo, is named after him. A church in Nalježići, in the Grbalj region is named after him.

External links

• St Basil the Bishop of Ostrog in Montenegro, Serbia Orthodox icon and synaxarion
• Text about St Basil in montenegrin language