Saint Savvas the Sanctified

Who they were

Sabbas was born in 439 at Mutalasca near Caesarea in Cappadocia and entered a monastery young. In 457 he went to Jerusalem, then to the abbot Theoctistus near the Dead Sea; from 473 he lived as a solitary in a tower, and in 478 settled in a cave in the Kidron valley.

Others seeking God filled the caves around him, and he founded the Great Lavra, a form of monastic life typical of the East, where hermits lived apart and met for prayer. When he died on 5 December 532 he left seven lavras, eight monasteries and three hospices.

The miracles

There was never a formal cause: Sabbas has been honoured as a saint since his death, in East and West. Stories such as the lion who shared his cave come from his Life and were never formally examined.

Why that counted as sanctity

Sabbas sought God in the desert and became a father to a great number of monks, building up the monastic life of the Holy Land.

Connected on this site

• Flavian II of Antioch Saint Teacher