The life of St Arsenius of Serbia
His strict keeping of the monastic rule brought him to Sava's notice, and Sava made him igumen of that monastery.
When Hungarian forces threatened the Serbian lands, Sava sent Arsenije south to find a safer seat for the young Church, away from the exposed border at Žiča. Arsenije chose the site at Peć, where he raised a monastery and a church, dedicated first to the Holy Apostles and later to the Ascension of the Lord. Before leaving for Jerusalem, Sava named Arsenije as his successor, and word soon reached Serbia that Sava himself had reposed on that same journey.
As archbishop, Arsenije governed the Serbian Church for thirty-three years. In time the monastery he had raised at Peć, at Sava's own direction, also became the seat of the archbishopric itself, a move tradition dates to 1253.
Arsenije reposed on October 28, 1266, and was buried at Peć. He is remembered as the disciple who carried Sava's founding work forward and gave the Serbian Church the seat it would keep for centuries after him.
