St Sabas

Sabas was born into a military family; his father was an officer with the army. When Sabas was only 8 years old, his father had to leave him to go to Egypt to serve in the army. He left Sabas with an uncle who had agreed to take care of him, but Sabas’ aunt did not treat him well. Sabas left and went to stay with another uncle, but then his two uncles started to fight over who got to have Sabas’ money and belongings. When Sabas saw how his uncles were fighting over him, he ran away and joined a monastery. Sabas finally found peace in the monastery and he became a monk. Later, Sabas joined a monastery in Jerusalem and, when he was 30 years old, he became a hermit, wanting to live alone with God. After 4 years of being alone, people started to hear about how holy Sabas was and they wanted to learn from him. So even though Sabas really just wanted to live by himself, soon he was taking care of 150 other monks who had come to live and learn with him. He was ordained a priest and guided his community well. He built many hospitals, as well as another monastery in Jerusalem. He was then put in charge of all the hermits that were living throughout Palestine, helping them to get closer to Jesus. He met with leaders of the Government at the time, helping to bring peace to his country. Under his guidance, many people came to know God very well and many Saints have come from the monasteries that he started. His monastery in Jerusalem still has monks living in it; it is one of the oldest monasteries in the world.