Holy King Milutin

Life

Son of Uros I and Queen Helena, and brother of Dragutin. He waged many wars in defense of his faith and his people. He warred against Michael Palaeologus because the latter had accepted the union and was forcing all the peoples of the Balkans and the monks of Athos to recognize the Pope. He warred against Shishman, Tsar of Bulgaria, and Nogai, Khan of the Tatars, in order to defend his lands. All his wars were successful, for he ceaselessly prayed to God and placed his trust in God. He built more than forty churches. Besides those in his own land — such as Treskavac, Gracanica, Saint George in Nagoricino, the Holy Theotokos in Skopje, Banjska, and others — he was a builder of churches outside his own land as well, in Thessalonica, Sofia, Constantinople, Jerusalem, and on the Holy Mountain. He reposed in the Lord on October 29, 1320. His body soon proved to be incorrupt and wonderworking. As such, it rests to this day in Sofia in the church of "The Holy King."