Hierarch Saint Arsenije I (Sremac), Archbishop of Serbia

Saint Arsenije I (Sremac), Archbishop of Serbia (c. 1200 – October 28, 1266), was the second archbishop of the autocephalous Serbian Church, closest disciple and successor of St. Sava. Tradition holds he was born in the village of Dabar near Slankamen in Srem.

As a young man he took monastic vows, likely at St. Demetrius Monastery in Sremska Mitrovica, and came to Žiča Monastery to study under St. Sava, who entrusted him with governing Žiča and consulted him on major church affairs. When Hungarian forces threatened the region, Sava charged Arsenije with finding a safer archiepiscopal seat; he chose Peć, where a monastery was founded that became the Serbian people's spiritual center and later the seat of the Patriarchate of Peć.

Sava had already designated him successor before departing for Jerusalem. After Sava's repose (1236), Arsenije led the Church as archbishop 1233–1263/64. He suffered a stroke in 1263 and was succeeded by St. Sava II. He reposed October 28, 1266; his relics rest at the Patriarchate of Peć.