The Life of the Holy and Right-Believing Stefan the Tall, Despot of Serbia

he blessed Đurađ to the lordship, saying: ‘From now on acknowledge this man as lord in my place.’ Then he also made a prayer over him with the laying on of hands, and bound them all by oath to be faithful to him, and cursed those who would rise against him. Then he bound him too by oath not to scorn his teaching, ‘but as I myself have taken thought for all things, so do you also. And reward all who have served me, to whom I did not manage to give a reward.’ And there he instructed him much in piety (that is, in the true faith) and in the commandments. Therefore from then on the younger ones obeyed their lord far more faithfully than before. And then the pious one, having recovered from that illness, went about doing good.” And truly, wherever he went, the holy Despot only “did good,” for he had a merciful heart and “an openly most generous, open right hand,” as “an ineffable keeper of the secret of almsgiving.” But by the unsearchable judgments of God it was permitted that he, through the human weakness of Adam’s nature, should fall into a grave sin. And this came about thus. While he was staying, as usual, in Belgrade, one day (at the beginning of 1427) news suddenly reached him from the mine of Srebrenica in Bosnia that certain “restless spirits” had rebelled there, and in that revolt had killed the overseer of the mine appointed by the Despot, the young man Vladislav, and thrown him from the top of the palace. This news angered the Despot exceedingly, both because of the murder of an innocent youth, and because, even if there had been some injustice, they ought to have turned to him and to his just judgment. For he was always a lover of justice, and examined every matter precisely and dealt justly with each. As soon, then, as he heard of this misdeed, he rushed there swiftly with some troops, and seizing the culprits of that deed, punished them very severely. But in that exceeding wrath, which does not work the righteousness of God, he in his haste punished some innocent men as well. And the punishment was that their hands or feet were cut off. When the Despot saw what he had done, his conscience rose up within him, and he began to repent bitterly and shed many tears. And his repentance was so mighty and sincere that on many days of the Great Fast, which was then, he often wept and lamented. And not only in secret in his home, but also openly in church before all, to which the whole church fullness of the people was witness. And he in no way dared to approach the awesome Mysteries of Christ, for he said that he was unworthy, and sobbing he would leave the church. “And it was Great Thursday,” the biographer Constantine relates of this, “when at the service that hymn is sung, ‘Of Thy Mystical Supper, O Son of God, receive me today as a communicant’ (that is: ‘Receive me today, O Savior, as a partaker of Thy Mystical Supper’). And he, unable to restrain himself, began to sob bitterly. And going out of the church, he wept much from the depth of his soul. Then, having washed his face, he went in again. And again he began to weep mightily… For he remembered what had happened, and unable to restrain himself before others, he sobbed aloud. And from that moment, who opened his right hand more widely to the poor? And who condemned himself more than he? And because of his guilt he cried out: ‘I am not worthy, and as one unworthy I will not touch the Body and Blood of the Lord, for whoever does so eats and drinks judgment to himself, according to the word of the Apostle’ (1 Cor. 11:29).” Such, then, was the repentance of the holy Despot, and thus he humbled himself for his sin before God and men, which is by no means easy for rulers. Moreover, he resolved, for the greater expiation of this sin of his, to raise yet another divine temple, but God accepted his very desire and embraced his intention, while the fulfillment itself was prevented by his approaching death. Meanwhile the time of Stefan’s blessed departure to the better and imperishable kingdom drew near. He was then only forty-nine years old, and in this too the saint was likened