Gavrilo I Rajić (died 1659) was

Archbishop of Peć and Serbian Patriarch This is a list of heads of the Serbian Orthodox Church, since the establishment of the church as an Autocephaly, autocephalous archbishopric in 1219 to today's patriarchate. The list includes all the archbishops and patriarchs that led the Se ...

between 1648 and 1655. He was murdered by

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic of Turkey * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic lang ...

and therefore celebrated by the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

as a ''

hieromartyr In the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox tradition, a hieromartyr is a martyr (one who dies for his beliefs) who was a bishop or priest. Hieromartyrs do not constitute a special rank of saint and are commemorated at the Divine Liturgy toge ...

''. His

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

is celebrated on December 13.

Metropolitan

Gavrilo was born around 1605–1610 in the region of

Stari Vlah Stari (Slavic languages, 'Old One') may refer to: * Stari, a rural locality in Babushkinsky District of Vologda Oblast of Russia * Stari, a nickname of Đuro Pucar * Stari, a nickname of Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип � ...

(present-day Serbia) into the noble Rajić family. He entered into church service and became Metropolitan of Smederevo. In 1643, he was elected Metropolitan of Raška. Around 1644, he rebuilt the Monastery of the Holy Archangels in the Kovilje Mountains. After the death of Serbian Patriarch

Pajsije Pajsije of Janjevo (; Janjevo, 1542? – Peć, 2 November 1647) was the Archbishop of Peć and Serbian Patriarch from 1614 to 1647, seated at the Patriarchal Monastery of Peć. He was also a writer, poet, composer, educator, and diplomat. The ...

on November 3/13 1647, Gavrilo was elected new patriarch in 1648.

Patriarch

In 1653, he decided to travel to

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to ask for material support for the

Serbian Patriarchate of Peć Serbian Patriarchate of Peć (, ''Srpska patrijaršija u Peći''), or simply Peć Patriarchate (, ''Pećka patrijaršija''), was an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate that existed from 1346 to 1463, and then again from 155 ...

. After meeting with Metropolitan Arsenije of Herzegovina on

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, he went first to

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ; : , : ) is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Munteni ...

and arrived in

Trgovište Trgovište ( sr-cyr, Трговиште) is a town and municipality located in the Pčinja District of southern Serbia. According to 2022 census, the population of the town is 1,711, while population of the municipality is 4,316. Settlements As ...

where he tried to reconcile the Wallachian Prince

Matei Basarab Matei Basarab (; 1588, Brâncoveni, Olt – 9 April 1654, Bucharest) was the voivode (prince) of Wallachia from 1632 to 1654. Reign Much of Matei's reign was spent fighting off incursions from Moldavia, which he successfully accomplished in 1 ...

with the Cossack Hetman

Bohdan Khmelnytsky Zynoviy Bohdan Mykhailovych Khmelnytsky of the Abdank coat of arms (Ruthenian language, Ruthenian: Ѕѣнові Богданъ Хмелнiцкiи; modern , Polish language, Polish: ; 15956 August 1657) was a Ruthenian nobility, Ruthenian noble ...

. From there, Gavrilo traveled to Russia in 1654, taking with him two books for printing: ''Lives of Serbian Emperors and Patriarchs'' and ''Typikon against Latin Heresy of Saint Nil Kabasilas''. He was welcomed by Russian Patriarch

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and Russian Tsar

Michael Romanov Michael I (; ) was Tsar of all Russia from 1613 after being elected by the Zemsky Sobor of 1613 until his death in 1645. He was elected by the Zemsky Sobor and was the first tsar of the House of Romanov, which succeeded the House of Rurik. ...

. He also participated in the famous Moscow Synod in 1658 which approved Nikon's reforms. Since he decided to stay in Russia, he wrote to Serbian metropolitans to elect a new patriarch. Soon after, he changed his mind and left Russia arriving back in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

in 1659. Upon return, he was accused by the Turks of being responsible for the Russo-Turkish War. he was also accused of attempting to convert some Turks to Christianity. Brought before the tribunal, he was ordered to embrace

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

. After Gavrilo refused, he was sentenced to death. He was executed in

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on July 18, 1659.

Presbyter Presbyter () is an honorific title for Christian clergy. The word derives from the Greek ''presbyteros'', which means elder or senior, although many in Christian antiquity understood ''presbyteros'' to refer to the bishop functioning as overseer ...

Pavle took his remains and buried them. He was entered on the list of Serbian

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

References

Sources

* *

External links

Official site of the Serbian Orthodox Church: Serbian Archbishops and Patriarchs
{{authority control

Gavrilo I Gavrilo I Rajić (died 1659) was Archbishop of Peć and Serbian Patriarch between 1648 and 1655. He was murdered by Turks and therefore celebrated by the Eastern Orthodox Church as a '' hieromartyr''. His feast day is celebrated on December 13. ...

1659 deaths 17th-century Serbian people Serbian saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church Persecution of Christians in the Ottoman Empire Persecution of Eastern Orthodox Christians Eastern Orthodox saints from the Ottoman Empire

Metropolitan

Patriarch

See also

References

Sources

External links