Life
Saint Basil of Ostrog the Wonderworker was born on December 28, 1610, in the village of Mrkonjići in Popovo Polje, in eastern Herzegovina, in the devout family of Petar and Anastasia Jovanović. At baptism he received the name Stojan. His childhood was spent in the time of harsh Turkish rule, when the Orthodox Serbs in Herzegovina lived under constant pressure of Islamization and poverty, while monasteries were the last strongholds of faith and literacy. Even as a boy Stojan displayed exceptional piety — he fasted, learned to pray and to read, and spent much time in the neighboring sanctuaries.
In youth he went to the monastery of Tvrdoš near Trebinje, the seat of the then metropolitans of Herzegovina, where he received the monastic tonsure with the name Basil, in honor of Saint Basil the Great. He advanced quickly in ascetic practice and learning — he mastered Church Slavonic, Greek, and the foundations of theological knowledge. He was ordained a hieromonk and then traveled to Russia to seek assistance for the suffering Church and for the printing of church books. On his return he was consecrated bishop of Trebinje, and was later elevated to the rank of Metropolitan of Herzegovina.
As a hierarch, Saint Basil tirelessly visited his diocese, encouraging the people to persevere in the faith despite Turkish pressure, building churches, ordaining priests, opening schools in monasteries. The Turks pursued him several times and threatened him with death because of his zeal, while domestic traitors slandered him before the Turkish authorities. When the monastery of Tvrdoš was destroyed, Saint Basil withdrew with the monastics to Montenegro, to the monastery of Ostrog, which he himself renewed, and in the cliff above the abyss he built the upper monastery — the Upper Ostrog — a true eagle’s nest of prayer.
In Ostrog he spent the last years of his life in strict ascetic labor — fasting, prayer, and tears for the people. He reposed on April 29, 1671, in the sixty-first year of his life. He was buried in the cave church of the Presentation of the Most Holy Theotokos in the Upper Ostrog. Seven years later, at his request as revealed in a dream to the abbot of the Monastery of Saint Luke near Nikšić, his relics were discovered — incorrupt, of a gentle golden hue, with an indescribable fragrance of myrrh. From that day to this the relics of Saint Basil rest in Ostrog and remain a source of unceasing miracles.
The monastery of Ostrog is today the greatest pilgrimage site on the Balkans, and probably in the entire Christian world — it is visited annually by millions of pilgrims, among them not only Orthodox, but Roman Catholics and Muslims as well. It is not rare for Jewish pilgrims to come before the relics of this holy wonderworker, because Saint Basil makes no distinction as to who turns to him with faith — he heals, consoles, and helps all.
Saint Basil of Ostrog is one of the most significant and venerated saints of the Serbian Orthodox Church, a symbol of the steadfastness of faith in the most difficult times and a living proof that holiness is not a matter of the past but of living power even today.
Tropar (Tone 8)
From thy youth thou didst devote thyself wholly to the Master Christ, appearing in piety and goodness as a teacher; and governing Herzegovina, thou didst ceaselessly lead the souls of the Serbian people. Therefore, in thy relics in Ostrog we call upon thee with love even today: O WONDERWORKER Basil, pray to Christ God to save our souls.
About the Feast
Saint Basil of Ostrog is celebrated on May 12 by the New (Gregorian) calendar, corresponding to April 29 by the Old (Julian) calendar. A second, also very well-attended assembly at Ostrog is held on the Saturday before Holy Trinity Sunday (the Sunday of Pentecost) — pilgrims then come from all sides to venerate the relics in anticipation of Pentecost.
The feast of Ostrog is celebrated throughout the Serbian lands — in Herzegovina, Montenegro, Bosnia, Dalmatia, the Lika, but also in central Serbia, Vojvodina, and the Serbian diaspora. Many families who were once delivered from illness, infertility, wartime dangers, or other misfortune, having made a vow before Saint Basil, adopted his feast in gratitude and pass it down from generation to generation.
Traditional foods for the feast of Saint Basil of Ostrog: since it falls in the spring period, most often outside the major fasting seasons (unless it falls within the Great Fast — which is rare, only when Pascha is very late), the feast table is usually unrestricted. The slava bread and wheat (koljivo) are the central items; alongside them are served roast lamb, stuffed cabbage of young cabbage or vine leaves, young salad, young cheese and cream, spring vegetables, spring onions and radishes, as well as traditional Herzegovinian and Montenegrin specialties — prosciutto, kashkaval cheese, and fritters. The host lights the slava candle, and the priest cuts and wets the bread with a prayer to Saint Basil, invoking his protection over the home.
The pilgrimage to Ostrog is traditionally made on foot — many faithful cover the last part of the way, from the foot of the mountain to the Upper Monastery, barefoot, as a vow to the holy wonderworker.