Life
Saint King Vladislav of Serbia, the third son of the holy First-Crowned King Stefan and grandson of the founder of the Serbian state Stefan Nemanja, ruled the Serbian state from 1234 to 1243. Although his reign was neither long nor particularly distinguished by military exploits, Vladislav occupies a special and unrepeatable place in Serbian history and spirituality: he is the king who translated the relics of Saint Sava to Serbia and built the monastery of Mileševa, which to this day is one of the most precious sanctuaries of the Serbian people.
Vladislav ruled in complex circumstances: Bulgaria was a powerful neighbor and rival, Hungary threatened from the north, and the internal Serbian situation was unstable. He married the Bulgarian princess Beloslava, daughter of Tsar Ivan Asen II, which brought a temporary stabilization of relations with Bulgaria. This marriage bond had a practical dimension of inestimable value for the Serbian Church: it was precisely through the good relations with the Bulgarian court that Vladislav was able to negotiate the translation of the body of his uncle, Saint Sava, who had died in Tarnovo in 1236.
Saint Sava had died on his way home from the Holy Land, at the court of the Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Asen II, and was temporarily buried there. Vladislav invested great diplomatic effort and brought the saint’s body to Serbia, placing it in the monastery of Mileševa which he himself had built in the Polimlje region, in the gorge of the Mileševa River. This act was of immense spiritual and state significance: the relics of the founder of the Serbian Church were now on Serbian soil, and in the foundation of the living Serbian king, which gave Mileševa special splendor and authority.
The monastery of Mileševa, which Vladislav built as his foundation and burial place, today preserves frescoes that rank among the masterpieces of Byzantine and Serbian thirteenth-century painting. Especially famous is the fresco of the “White Angel” — a depiction of the angel at Christ’s tomb — which in 1962 was one of the first television images broadcast via satellite in Europe and became a symbol of Serbian cultural heritage in the world.
Vladislav abdicated around 1243 when his brother Uroš I deposed him from the throne. The remainder of his life he spent in seclusion and, according to tradition, in piety and repentance. He was buried in the monastery of Mileševa, beside the relics of his uncle Sava. The Serbian Orthodox Church enrolled him among the holy righteous, esteeming his role in the translation of the relics of Saint Sava and the building of Mileševa as an inestimable contribution to the spiritual life of the Serbian people.
Saint King Vladislav is celebrated on September 24 by the Julian calendar. His relics rest in Mileševa together with the relics of Saint Sava — which were, sadly, burned by the Turks in 1595 on the hill of Vračar in Belgrade, on whose site the Cathedral of Saint Sava was built. Vladislav’s relics, however, were preserved and to this day are a source of grace and healing for the faithful who come to venerate them.
Tropar (Tone 4)
Ruler of Serbia and builder of churches, translator of the relics of Saint Sava, who didst adorn thy foundation of Mileševa with radiant beauty — O holy Vladislav, righteous king, pray to Christ God to enlighten and save our souls.
Kontakion (Tone 2)
O Vladislav, adornment of holy kings, who didst raise Mileševa to God and with reverence didst translate within it the relics of the Apostle of Serbia, Sava — receive the homage of our hearts, and pray for us to Christ, to grant us peace and salvation.
About the Feast
Saint King Vladislav is not a common patron feast among Serbian families, but his veneration is vivid in the Polimlje region and in families from the surroundings of Prijepolje and Priboj, where the monastery of Mileševa is located. The local people especially venerate this saint as the protector of their homeland and the builder of one of the most beautiful Serbian monasteries.
The monastery of Mileševa organizes a liturgical celebration on September 24, and the fresco of the “White Angel” continues to attract pilgrims and visitors from across the world, reminding of the greatness of the spiritual and artistic heritage that Saint King Vladislav left to the Serbian people.