[1] As a young man with a passion for Jesus, he left his home and moved to the Ibar river valley, to the mouth of the Crna Reka river, to the narrow cave in which, according to the tradition, St. Peter of Koriša previously lived.
However, when his fame began to spread among the people, he fled to Drenica, and hid in the dense Devička forest.
According to the tradition, Serbian Despot Đurađ Branković brought him his mad daughter, who was healed by the Saint.
Devič Monastery was burned in 1941 by Albanian extremists and reconstructed in 1945.
The marble tomb of St. Joanikije was desecrated by local Albanians in June 1999.