Kopaonik, February 26, 2021 Today, on Kopaonik, at the location of Jaram, the glory of Saint Simeon the Myrrh-bearer was celebrated.

The religious rite and the cutting of the feast cake were performed by the priest Milovan Sokolović, and then the kolačar Sasa Maksimović, from Vlajkovci, handed over the pastry to Slavko Kostić, from Brzeće.

Orthodox churches, which adhere to the old Julian calendar, mark the Day of Saint Simeon the Myrrh-bearer on February 26, that is, Stefan Nemanja, the founder of the Serbian ruling lineage of Nemanjić, who died on this day in 1200.

Stefan Nemanja was born in the vicinity of today’s Podgorica in 1114, and he ruled the eastern Serbian lands.

He managed to expand the then Serbian state, actively fought against the bogomils and is considered one of the founders of the Serbian Orthodox Church because, according to the Byzantine model, he established Orthodoxy as the state religion.

Four years before his death, in 1196, he abdicated the throne in favor of his son Stefan and became a monk the next day. As a monk, he first went to the Vatopedi monastery on the Sveta gora.

Stefan Nemanja died in the Serbian monastery of Hilandar, which he founded together with his son Rastko, the monk Sava.

Sava transferred his remains to Raška in 1208, in order to reconcile his older brothers Stefan and Vukan, who fought for power, and his relics were then placed in his endowment, Studenica, where they are still located today.