Stragari, Šumadija and Western Serbia, Serbia, March 25, 2025
Photo: eparhija-sumadijska.org.
A beloved abbess from the Serbian Orthodox Church departed to the Lord last week.
On Friday, March 21, Abbess Salafaila of the Holy Annunciation Monastery in Stragari, 55 miles south of Belgrade, peacefully reposed at the age of 85, reports the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Šumadija.
She spent 67 years laboring in asceticism, including 10 as abbess.
Photo: Facebook
The funeral for Mother Salafaila was served following the Divine Liturgy on Sunday. A large number of pilgrims and admirers of the departed abbess attended the services.
Abbot Seraphim from the Diocese of Prespa and Pelagonia of the Macedonian Orthodox Church-Ohrid Archbishopric concelebrated at the service, and the sisterhood from the Slepče Monastery of St. John the Baptist near Demir Hisar, North Macedonia, was also present.
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Photo: eparhija-sumadijska.org.rs/
Abbess Salafaila (Bashtovanović) was born on June 16, 1939, in the village of Rača near Bajina Bašta, to respectable farmer parents. Her mother, Mother Pelagia, was a nun of this monastery. She completed her primary education in Rača and Bajina Bašta.
She came to the Annunciation Monastery of Rudnik near Stragari on September 15, 1957. She was tonsured on August 13, 1960, at the monastery by Bishop Valerian (Stefanović) of Šumadija, and received the lesser schema on March 11, 1984, from Bishop Sava (Vuković) of Šumadija.
After the repose of the Abbess Mihaila on December 17, 2014, with the blessing of Bishop Jovan of Šumadija, Mother Salafaila was elected abbess. She reposed in the Lord on March 21, 2025, at the Annunciation Monastery of Rudnik where she was also buried.
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