Martyr Stefan Uroš III Dečanski, King of Serbia

Holy Martyr Stefan Uroš III Dečanski, King of Serbia, was born around 1285, the son of King Stefan Uroš II Milutin and Anna of Bulgaria. As a young man he was held hostage by the Mongol Khan Nogai, and later governed Zeta. Around 1314, on a false accusation of conspiracy, his father ordered him blinded en route to the Pantocrator Monastery in Constantinople. According to tradition, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker appeared to Stefan and said: "Fear not, Stephen, your eyes are kept safe with Me." Stefan spent five years at the monastery in meekness and patience, earning the respect of the brotherhood, and in 1320 his sight was miraculously restored. After his father's death in 1321 he was crowned king, and in 1330 he won a decisive victory over the combined Bulgarian-Byzantine army at Velbužd, annexing part of Macedonia to Serbia. Stefan built the monastery of Visoki Dečani, one of the finest monuments of Serbian church architecture, which became his burial place. A conspiracy led by his own son, Stefan Dušan, resulted in the king's imprisonment at Zvečan Castle, where he was strangled on his son's orders on November 11, 1331. His incorrupt relics rest at Dečani Monastery and are venerated to this day, including by the local Muslim population. Feast: November 11/24.