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Saint

Jefrem
Јефрем
Saint; Jefrem; Јефрем
	Fresco of Jefrem from the Patriarchal Monastery of Peć
Serbian Patriarch
Venerated in	Eastern Orthodox Church
Church	Serbian Patriarchate of Peć
See	Patriarchal Monastery of Peć
Installed	1375; 1389
Term ended	1379; 1390
Predecessor	Sava IV; Spiridon
Successor	Spiridon; Danilo III (patriarch)
Personal details
Born	c. 1312; Balkans
Died	1400; Serbia
Buried	Patriarchal Monastery of Peć
Denomination	Eastern Orthodoxy
Residence	Patriarchal Monastery of Peć
Sainthood
Feast day	June 15/28
Canonized	1407; by Patriarch Sava V

Jefrem (Serbian Cyrillic: Јефрем; Ephraem; c. 1312 – died 1400), also known as Elder Jefrem (старац Јефрем) and Jefrem of Serbia, was the Patriarch^[1] of the Serbian Orthodox Church twice, in 1375–1379 and 1389–1392, and also a renowned poet.

Biography

Born into a priestly family, of Bulgarian origin,^[a] he became a monk around 1335 at the age of 23.^[2] He moved to Mount Athos, where he stayed at Hilandar, then Zograf, and later lived as a hesychastic ascetic in the mountains of Athos.^[2] In around 1347, he left Athos on a river island of the Maritsa near Plovdiv where he became a hegumen.^[2] He then moved to Serbia, and stayed in the Patriarchal Monastery of Peć.^[2] He lived in a cave-church near Visoki Dečani, and Patriarch Sava IV built an ascetic cell for him in Ždrelo near the Patriarchal Monastery of Peć. When unrest broke out in the state and Church, the Synod chose Jefrem to succeed as patriarch on 3 October 3, 1375. To protect the Church from interference from feudal lords, he renounced his throne and turned it over to Spiridon,^{[clarification needed]} becoming 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 Patriarchal Monastery of Peć.^[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

^ 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)-->
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Gavrilović 1981, p. 14.
^ ^a ^b Popović & Skerlić 1941, p. 206.
^ Историјски часопис 33 (1986): Historical Review 33 (1986). Istorijski institut. 1 August 1987. pp. 21–. GGKEY:580S3RBJUZP.
^ ^a ^b Dimitrije Bogdanović; Milorad Pavić (1991). Stara srpska književnost. Dosije. p. 162.
^ Pajsije Svetogorac (2005). Sveta Gora i Svetogorci. Manastir Svetog prvomučenika i arhiđakona Stefana.

Sources

Books

Purković, Miodrag (1976). Srpski patrijarsi Srednjega veka. Srpska pravoslavna eparhija zapadnoevropska.
Gavrilović, Slavko (1981). Istorija srpskog naroda. Vol. 2. Srpska književna zadruga.

Journals

Vizantološki institut (2006). Recueil de travaux de l'Institut des études byzantines. Vol. 43. Vizantološki institut, SANU. pp. 116–120.
Popović, Bogdan; Skerlić, Jovan (1941). Srpski književni glasnik. Vol. 62.