Saint Arsenije I Sremac

Saint Arsenije I Sremac, known as Arsenije the Syrmian, was a thirteenth-century Serbian Orthodox monk and hierarch who served as the second Archbishop of the autocephalous Serbian Church. He was born in the village of Dabar in the region of Srem (Syrmia), then under the Kingdom of Hungary but home to a substantial Serbian population. Almost nothing reliable is recorded of his family or the exact circumstances of his youth; his birth year is unknown. He entered monastic life and became a close disciple of Saint Sava, the first Archbishop of Serbia and the organizer of the autocephalous Serbian Church established in 1219. Arsenije was associated with the monastery of Žiča, which Sava had made the archiepiscopal seat.

In 1233, when Saint Sava left on pilgrimage to the Holy Land, he designated Arsenije as his successor. After Sava’s death in 1236 at Tarnovo in Bulgaria, Arsenije remained at the head of the Serbian Church. As archbishop he worked to consolidate the ecclesiastical organization Sava had begun, consecrating bishops, supporting monastic foundations, and maintaining the church’s independence in relation to Constantinople and to neighboring Latin and Hungarian authorities. During his tenure the Serbian lands were ruled by members of the Nemanjić dynasty, including King Stefan Vladislav and later King Stefan Uroš I.

Toward the middle of the thirteenth century the original seat at Žiča became exposed to military pressure, especially from Hungarian forces in the north. Around 1253 Arsenije transferred the archbishopric to the more secure monastic complex at Peć, which was subsequently enlarged. The churches of Peć remained the spiritual center of the Serbian Church for centuries afterward. In 1263 Arsenije suffered a stroke that left him paralyzed; he resigned and was succeeded by Sava II, a nephew of Saint Sava and son of Stefan the First-Crowned. Arsenije spent his remaining years at Peć.

He died on 28 October 1266 and was buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles at the Peć monastery. The Serbian Orthodox Church venerates him as a saint and commemorates him on 28 October (Julian calendar). His relics have been preserved at Peć. He is remembered as a faithful continuator of Saint Sava’s work in establishing a stable autocephalous church for the medieval Serbian state. Surviving sources for his life are limited, consisting mainly of later Serbian hagiographical and chronicle traditions rather than contemporary documents, so many personal details remain unknown.