From his youth, having loved a pure and chaste life and rejected the vain delights of the world, St. Savva came to St. Sergius of Radonezh and took monastic vows from him.
Under the guidance of the great mentor, the Monk Savva spent his life in strict abstinence and constant vigil, taking care of maintaining mental and physical purity. He constantly practiced church singing and reading, and in his free time from prayer and church services he was engaged in some kind of handicrafts, fearing the idleness — of the mother of vices. The ascetic loved silence and avoided conversations with others. Seeing the success of St. Sava in spiritual wisdom, St. Sergius made him the confessor of the entire brethren of the monastery.
In 1380, Grand Duke Dimitri Ioannovich, after defeating the Tatar Khan Mamai, came to the monastery of St. Sergius and asked St. Sergius to find a place for the monastery.
St. Sergius, having bypassed many deserted places, came to the Dubenka River, which flowed northwest of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. The Monk Grand Duke invited him here and, in accordance with his wishes, founded here the Church of the Assumption of Our Lady and a hostel monastery. The Monk Sergius chose the Monk Savva as the rector of the new monastery. Having accepted the blessing from the holy elder, the Monk Savva began to manage the Dubensky Monastery.
On October 8, 1392, St. Sergius reposed himself with the Lord. For some time after the death of the monk, the monastery was managed by his student —, the Monk Nikon. However, soon the Monk Nikon wanted to live in silence, and then the brethren elevated the Monk Savva to abbess. After 6 years, the Monk Savva, looking for silence, left the management of the monastery, after which the Monk Nikon was again elevated to abbess. The Monk Savva remained to work in the Trinity Lavra.
The humble old man succeeded in spiritual virtues and gifts. Waking above others, he was even more constantly and unrelentingly awake above himself. Its monastery was decorated, and the name of St. Sava was glorified everywhere around, as was the name of the Storozhevskaya monastery. Monks flocked to him from all sides, seeking guidance in spiritual life and monastic exploits.
The laity came to him asking for instructions. Fearing and avoiding earthly glory, the Monk Savva left for feats a mile from the monastery and there, in a deep ravine, under the shadow of a dense forest, he dug himself a cramped cave, where he prayed to the Lord in complete solitude and silence, in repentance with tears. The monk alternated prayer and thought of God with needlework and, despite his advanced summers, did not stop working for the monastery himself: with his own hands he dug a well under the mountain, which to this day delivers beautiful water for the monastery.
This is how he lived himself and, moreover, encouraged his disciples. He reached a very old age and rested peacefully on 16 December 1406 On 1 February 1652, after numerous miracles and healings performed through the prayers of St. Sava, at the request of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the grand opening of the holy relics of the saint of God followed.