Over the course of 14 days of October 2003, our American group of pilgrims was able to visit and pray at holy sites and before holy relics of that much-suffering land. We were accompanied everywhere by Ljubomir Panic, a young employee of Dobrochinstvo, the official pilgrimage service of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Every day, he would greet us with the words “May God help!” Soon, Veljko Sikirica, our kind Washington parishioner and organizer of the pilgrimage, taught us that one should respond to that greeting with “God help you.” Each morning, while in the bus, we would read the Morning Prayer rule, the appointed passages of Divine Scripture, and wonderful chapters from the Prologue by the Serbian Holy Hierarch, St. Nikolaj Velimirovic, which remarkably “coincided” both thematically and spiritually with the holy places and sites we visited.
Our visit to Serbia began in Belgrade, the nation’s capital. On Sunday, October 19th, our group prayed at the Liturgy in the Cathedral of the Holy Archangel Michael, the Cathedral Church of His Holiness Patriarch Pavle. The church was erected in 1840 by Prince Mikhajlo Obrenovic. Near the entrance are buried Milosh Obradovic, the famous Serbian educator and Vuc Karadjic, the father of contemporary Serbian orthography. In the church itself rest the remains of Tsar Urosh and Despot St. Stefan Stiljanovic. Across from the Cathedral Church is the administrative center of Serbian Patriarchate. At the Liturgy, the sounds of both Serbian and Russian chant were heard. It is worth noting that although one may still hear Church Slavonic in places, as before, Serbian has become the generally accepted liturgical language of the Church. By the way, this did not prevent me from serving in Church Slavonic in three ancient monasteries.
After lunch following the Liturgy, we went to the great cemetery of Novo Groblje, where we encountered a little bit of bygone Russia. Here, far from the hubbub and vanity of the great city, and in the dense shade of tall, widely spreading trees, stands the Iveron Chapel. The chapel is small and bright, its exterior marked by graceful, elegant columns, with two tall icons gracing its Southern and Northern walls.
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In a crypt beneath the Iveron Chapel, the resting place of [Metropolitan Antony Khrapovitsky], the founder of the Russian Church Abroad, we served a solemn Panikhida. Before the service, we placed a wreath on his grave. The wreath was a gift from G. V. Nazimov, a resident of California who, in his youth, had served with the late Vladyka. Affixed to the wreath was a ribbon of white, blue and red, with the words “From a Russian Without a Homeland.”
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Archpriest Vitaly Tarasiev, rector of the Holy Trinity Church in Belgrade told us that the Russian Embassy and the City of Belgrade have allotted funds to restore the Iveron Chapel, and to renovate and maintain the Russian graves at the Novo Groblje Cemetery. Currently, the Church of the Holy Trinity, which suffered damage during NATO bombing in 1999, is being completely renovated.
A few steps from the Iveron Chapel stands the memorial to Russian glory. It is in the form of a shell, topped by a sculpture of Archangel Michael. Carved into the monument are the Russian Emblem and several inscriptions. One of them says in Russian: “Memory eternal to Emperor Nicholas II and the 2,000,000 Russian soldiers in the Great War.” Another says in Serbian: “To the Russian brethren who courageously fell on the Thessalonika front, 1914-1918.” Under the steps leading up to the monument there is a crypt chapel in which rest remains of soldiers who fell on the Thessalonika front, and of officers and soldiers of two Russian artillery units who gave their lives in the defense of Belgrade.
Looking upon the many graves of Russian people in the Serbian cemetery, you cannot help but think about the many, many centuries filled with joy and sorrow, about the rich history of Serbia and Russia, and you begin to comprehend the strong bonds that unite our peoples.
We may begin by noting that the hagiographer of St. Seraphim of Sarov, Holy Russia’s igumen, a great man of prayer who mustered the Russian lands, was a Serb named Pakhomiy. He also authored lives of Holy Hierarch Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow, and Venerable St. Kirill of Belozersk.
At the close of the 12th century, Prince Rasko, youngest son of Stefan Nemanja, founder of the Serbian state, was tonsured with the name Savva in the Russian Monastery of St. Panteleimon on holy Mt. Athos. He was the first leader of the Serbian Orthodox Church, and was later glorified as a saint by that Church.
Since long ago, Russia has taken under its patronage its brother Slavic peoples, including the Serbs. It offered refuge to those seeking an escape from their homelands’ poverty and oppression. For example, in the 18th century during the reign of Elisaveta Petrovna, several thousands of Serbs moved to Russia and established a military colony called “Novaya [new] Serbia” on its southern border. During the reign of Ekaterina II, the numbers of settlers to this colony increased to 150,000.
The Serbian Orthodox Church has always enjoyed the support of Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church, which would provide Serbian parishes with icons, service books, vestments, and church vessels. Serbs would study in its seminaries and theological academies, and some would be ordained in Russia and return to their homeland in priestly rank.
In 1914, the very existence of Serbia as an independent state was at stake. On July 11, 1914, Austria presented the Serbian government with an ultimatum, which was entirely unacceptable to an independent state. The same day, Emperor Nicholas II received a telegram from Prince-regent Alexander of Serbia. It said, “We cannot defend ourselves. We therefore implore Your Highness to render us assistance as soon as possible... We resolutely hope that this appeal will evoke a response in [His] noble Slavic heart.”
Three days later, the Russian Emperor dispatched his response to Serbia. He wrote, “As long as the slightest hope of avoiding bloodshed exists, all of our efforts should be directed toward that end. Your Highness may rest assured that if, despite our sincere wishes [in that regard], we should fail to meet with success, under no circumstances will Russia remain indifferent to Serbia’s fate.”
On July 15, Austria declared war on Serbia. Russia responded by announcing a limited mobilization, and several days later, a full mobilization. Austria had to transfer a large part of its troops to the Eastern Front, and Serbia was saved. The Serbian people refer to Emperor Nicholas II as its savior.
Only a few years later, it was Serbia’s turn to help its Russian brethren. Fleeing from the Bolsheviks, hundreds and hundreds of thousands of Russian people left their homeland and became refugees. Serbia was the first country in Europe to extend them charity. Bishops and priests, grand dukes and officers, Cossacks and counts, soldiers and cadets – all found refuge and hospitality in the Serbian land. King Alexander I of Serbia personally took the Russian refugees under his patronage.
At various times, from 70,000 to 120,000 Russian immigrants lived in Serbia. In addition to soldiers and officers of the White Army, there were hundreds of important figures in science and culture.
One cannot overestimate their enormous contribution to education. They taught in the University of Belgrade, established public libraries, and translated Russian literature into Serbian.
To this day, structures designed by Russian architects still grace the Yugoslavian capital. They include the Central Post Office next to the Parliament Building, the government complex on Prince Milosh Street, and churches. Our scholars also contributed to Serbian science.
In the early 1920s, the most accomplished Russian artists and directors became reformers of Serbian theater and founders of the first opera and ballet companies in the Balkans. Other Russian immigrants established musical societies, schools of vocal art, and both amateur and professional choral groups throughout Serbia. Having a shortage of pastors, the Serbian Orthodox Church eagerly accepted Russian priests into their parishes, especially into village parishes. Over the course of World War I, the Serbian Church had lost over 1,000 priests, i.e. more than one-third of the pre-war number.
At the Novo Groblje Cemetery, we visited the Church of St. Nicholas. There, painted on the wall of the choir loft, we found a wonderful icon of Holy Hierarch St. John of Shanghai, who is widely venerated in Serbia. Books in Serbian about him can be found in almost any church kiosk. Everywhere we traveled in Serbia, I would distribute little bottles of oil taken from the vigil lamps over St. John’s reliquary in San Francisco, as well as paper icons, which the faithful would receive with great reverence and thanks. On receiving an icon of Vladyka, one Serbian woman exclaimed, “And this was the same person who as a young man would sell newspapers on the streets of Belgrade!”
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