Life
Saint Eustathios II was one of the greatest ecclesiastical pastors of the Serbian people in the thirteenth century, a successor in the long line of saints-archbishops that Saint Sava the Serbian had founded. The origin and youth of Eustathios are not described in detail in the sources, but the tradition of the Church testifies that he spent his youth in monastic houses, formed in the spirit of the Serbian-Athonite monastic tradition. He received the monastic tonsure and the education characteristic of the spiritual heirs of Saint Sava — theological seriousness, canonical thoroughness, and missionary zeal.
Eustathios ascended the archepiscopal throne of the Serbian Church in 1279, succeeding Eustathios I. His archpastoral service took place in a dynamic yet turbulent period of Serbian history — during the reign of King Dragutin and then of the powerful King Milutin (Stefan Uroš II Milutin). It is precisely alongside King Milutin that Eustathios II accomplished the most important ecclesiastical works of his archpastorate. Milutin’s time was a golden age of Serbian ecclesiastical and cultural renewal: churches and monasteries were being built, relations with Byzantium were being established, and the Serbian Church was extending its organization.
The most important ecclesiastical struggle of Eustathios was the suppression of the Bogomil heresy, which in the thirteenth century still persisted in certain Serbian lands. The Bogomils rejected the church hierarchy, sacramental life, and the material world, and constituted a serious threat to the orthodox community. Eustathios conscientiously organized church councils, sent missionaries to the affected regions, and wrote pastoral letters calling for a return to the true faith. He did not resort to violence, but to persuasive speech and prayerful intercession — which is the characteristic of the saintly approach to church governance.
Beyond the struggle with heresy, Eustathios attended to the ordering of the Church from within: he confirmed the canonical order in the dioceses, cared for the education of the clergy, and instructed the people. He cooperated with the Byzantine ecclesiastical authority, preserving the canonical standing of the Serbian Archbishopric. He restored or damaged churches and gave typika and blessings to new monasteries. He died at the close of 1286 or the beginning of 1287 at the monastery of Žiča — the mother church of the Serbian Archbishopric, built by Saint Sava as the foundational church of all Serbian dioceses. The holy relics of Eustathios II are preserved in the Patriarchate of Peć, the center of Serbian ecclesiastical memory and devotion.
The Church commemorates him on January 4 by the Julian calendar, in the series of holy Serbian archbishops who from Saint Sava onward built the spiritual house of the Serbian people. Eustathios II is a model of an archbishop who quietly and patiently guards the flock, combats false teachings, and builds the Church not with words but with deeds.
Tropar (Tone 4)
Adorned with the archiepiscopal crown, O holy Archbishop Eustathios, who didst wisely and God-fearingly shepherd the Serbian Church and didst overcome the Bogomil heresy with true faith — intercede with Christ God to grant the Serbian Church peace and unity, and to the souls of the faithful eternal salvation.
Kontakion (Tone 3)
Successor of Sava and guardian of true faith, O blessed Eustathios, thou who didst rest as archpastor in Žiča while thy relics are laid in Peć — strengthen the Serbian Church in faith and intercede for thy people who call upon thee with devotion.