The Ždrebaonik Monastery (dedicated to Saint Michael the Archangel) is located in Bjelopavlići, only two kilometers from the center of Danilovgrad, and is one of the most important spiritual centers in the central part of Montenegro.
Here are key historical and spiritual facts about this monastery:
Origin and tradition: According to folk tradition, there was an endowment of Nemanjić in this place as early as the 13th century (time related to King Milutin or Archbishop Arsenio). The very name Ždrebaonik comes from the monastery estate (metoh) where the monastery foals and horses were bred and kept.
Holy of Holies — Relics of Saint Arsenius: The monastery is widely known because it houses the incorruptible and miraculous relics of Saint Arsenius of Srem, the second Serbian archbishop and the immediate successor of Saint Sava on the throne of the Serbian Church. Throughout history, the relics were transferred and sheltered from the Turks in several places (including the Patriarchate of Peć, Doblja and Morača), until in 1856 they finally came to rest in Ždrebaonik.
Construction and renovation: The older monastery temple was destroyed several times during the Ottoman campaigns. Today's monastery church was built in 1818 on the foundations of the old temple, during the time of Metropolitan Petar I Petrović Njegoš (Saint Peter of Cetinje), while more extensive additions and arrangements were made during the time of Prince Danilo.
Architecture: The church is a spacious one-nave building with a large semicircular apse and a bell tower "on a horsehair" with three bells. The interior is decorated with a valuable iconostasis and a sarcophagus (life) with the relics of Saint Arsenius, to whom many pilgrims pay their respects.
Relics of St. Fevroni: In addition to the relics of St. Arsenius, part of the relics of St. Venerable Martyr Fevroni are kept in the monastery.
Today's life: Today, Ždrebaonik is an active and extremely organized women's monastery of the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral. The sisterhood deals with icon painting, making embroidered church vestments, making medicinal herbal preparations and agriculture.
The temple celebration of the monastery is Arandjelovdan (November 21), while the feast of Saint Arsenius of Sremski (November 10) is celebrated in a special way, when a large number of believers and clergy gather.
