The Monastery of Saint Sava the Sanctified was repeatedly ravaged by the Arabs, but it was always restored and preserved to this day. The Arabs also attacked it during the time of Emperor Constantine and Empress Irene. The monks consulted with Abbot Thomas and remained in the monastery. They fled from the world into the desert for the love of Christ, and remained to suffer for the sake of that same Love. The Arabs killed some of them with arrows, and others they imprisoned in the cave of Saint Sava the Sanctified, then lit a fire in front of it and suffocated them with smoke. They suffered before Easter in 796. And the wild attackers, returning to their tents, quarreled and killed each other. In this monastery, Saint Sava the Serbian received the icons of the Three-Handed One and the Milkmaid, and a crutch.

Holy Martyr Photina. Easter Lent.