8 April] 1752 in the village of Babina Luka, in the Valjevo nahija of the Sanjak of Smederevo (also known in historiography as the Belgrade Pashalik).

[7] That year, he was ordained a priest by Bishop Evstratije of Užice, at the Ćelije Monastery, and served in his home village.

[7] He remained there until 1788, the beginning of the Austro-Turkish War (1788–91),[13] or by 6 April 1789 at the latest,[7] when the Ottomans burned down the monastery, along with many others in the Belgrade Pashalik.

[15] Bogovađa was repaired by Hadži-Ruvim, hegumen Vasilije Petrović and jeromonah (priest-monk) Hadži-Đera over the years,[7] with work starting on 13 June 1791.

[13] One is that he went to collect funds for the reconstruction of Bogovađa;[13] that he feared for his life and took refuge in Bosnia; or that went to retrieve the stolen defter of Voljavča.

[16] An interesting note is that Hadži-Ruvim had signed himself as archimandrite already in 1790, which suggests that he had already been promised the title by the time the monastery was renewed.

[5] In 1801, renegade Janissaries known as the Dahije seized control of Belgrade and the Sanjak of Smederevo, and the Serbs' situation worsened once again.

[5] In early 1802, some Ottoman sipahi and Mustafa Pasha's men, in agreement with the Serbian knezes, attempted to remove the Dahije.

The Serbs, organizing themselves in western Serbia (where knez Aleksa Nenadović was the leading figure) and Šumadija, wanted as the sipahi to return the state of Mustafa Pasha's rule, but needed securities – the status of Christians in the Ottoman Empire, as history told, was never permanent.

The sipahi worked on one side, the Serbian seniors (starešine) and knezes (subject village heads) on the other.

[21] As a reputable church leader, protector of his people and great artist, Ruvim was for years targeted by the Dahije who tried to remove him by all means.

[24] Because of the conspiracy (which the Dahije later learnt of) and quarrel, Hadži-Ruvim was forced to hide in the monasteries of Nikolje, Studenica, and on Mount Athos.

[27] Upon his return to Bogovađa, Hadži-Ruvim received a message from Aleksa Nenadović asking him to flee, as the Turks wrongly accused him of writing that letter to the Austrians, which was intercepted on the Sava ferry[9] by the Dahije.

[24] The letter had been intercepted while Hadži-Ruvim was away from the Belgrade Pashalik, and his return might have been viewed by the Dahije as a signal for uprising, therefore they held him accountable.

[29] They then learnt of further plans after finding a corresponding letter between the chieftains and the Ottoman government in a frisking of a priest in Ostružnica.

[35] By 25 January, the Dahije decided that all notable Serbs were to be assaulted, so that what was left would become real "rayah, to serve the Turks well".

[36] According to contemporary accounts, heads were put on public display at the Valjevo town square to serve as an example to those who might plot against the rule of the Dahije.

One of Ruvim's crosses was used by hegumen Konstantin Vujanić from Čokešina to swear in and bless the hajduk band (četa) led by the Nedić brothers that fought the Turks in Vranjevac.

[43] A very literate and educated man, not only for commonfolk but for hierarchs as well, he collected books in which he drew initials, ornaments and miniatures.

[12] He recorded historical events and wars, the state of the Serbian people at that time in the Belgrade and Valjevo districts.

He engraved Krušedol Monastery, and the covers for the Gospel with twenty-eight scenes from the lives of Christ, Mother of God and St. Stevan.