Joanikije of Devič ( sr, Јоаникије Девички), archaically also Janićije (Јанићије) was a 15th-century

Serbian Orthodox The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches. The majori ...

saint. He was a native

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

from the

Principality of Zeta The Principality of Zeta ( sr, Кнежевина Зета, Kneževina Zeta) is a historiographical name for a late medieval principality located in the southern parts of modern Montenegro and northern parts of modern Albania, around the Lake of ...

or, according to another source, a Serb from Austrian Dalmatia. As a young man with a passion for

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

, he left his home and moved to the

Ibar river The Ibar ( sr-cyrl, Ибар, ), also known as the Ibër and Ibri ( sq, Ibër, Ibri), is a river that flows through eastern Montenegro, northern Kosovo and central Serbia, with a total length of . The river begins in the Hajla mountain, in Rož ...

valley, to the mouth of the Crna Reka river, to the narrow cave in which, according to the tradition, St. Peter of Koriša previously lived. However, when his fame began to spread among the people, he fled to

Drenica Drenica ( al, Drenicë, Drenica, ), also known as the Drenica Valley, is a hilly region in central Kosovo, covering roughly around of Kosovo's total area (6%). It consists of two municipalities, Drenas and Skenderaj, and several villages in Kli ...

, and hid in the dense Devička forest. Joanikije spent years there in solitude, in silence and in

prayer Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified ...

. According to the tradition,

Serbian Despot The Serbian Despotate ( sr, / ) was a medieval Serbian state in the first half of the 15th century. Although the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 is generally considered the end of medieval Serbia, the Despotate, a successor of the Serbian Empire and ...

Đurađ Branković Đurađ Branković (; sr-cyr, Ђурађ Бранковић; hu, Brankovics György; 1377 – 24 December 1456) was the Serbian Despot from 1427 to 1456. He was one of the last Serbian medieval rulers. He was a participant in the battle of Anka ...

brought him his mad daughter, who was healed by the Saint. Out of gratitude, Branković built a monastery on that place, still known today as the Devič Monastery. He was known as the healer of all diseases, especially the "obsessed"."Constantinople Herald", Constantinople in 1900 This is where the relics of St. Joanikije rest, which Christians believe are miraculous. Devič Monastery was burned in 1941 by Albanian extremists and reconstructed in 1945. It was once again a target in 1999 during the

Kosovo War The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the wa ...

by the Kosovo Liberation Army. The monastery was vandalized and all food and two cars were stolen. The marble tomb of St. Joanikije was desecrated by local Albanians in June 1999. Since then it has been under the constant protection of French KFOR troops.

References

Literature

* Ohrid Prologue, Bishop

Nikolaj Velimirović Nikolaj Velimirović (Serbian Cyrillic: Николај Велимировић; – ) was bishop of the eparchies of Ohrid and Žiča (1920–1956) in the Serbian Orthodox Church. An influential theological writer and a highly gifted orat ...

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Serbian Saints Over the history of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the church has had many people who were venerated to sainthood. The list below contains some of those saints and their feast days. *Venerable Avakum (Deacon Avakum) – *Venerable Anastasia o ...

External links

Ohrid Prologue for April 26 (9 May)

{{Serbian Orthodox saints Podgorica Serbs of Montenegro Serbian saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church