Further, we visited the ancient Church of St. Achillas in the Arilje Monastery. The Cathedral Church in this monastery was erected in the 13th Century and decorated with world-famous frescoes of astounding beauty. Here rest the relics of Holy Prince St. Stefan Urosh. Very little is known about this saint of Nemanije lineage. St. Stefan Urosh was the son of King Dragutin and Queen Katalina. Having first accepted monastic tonsure with the name Stefan, he departed to the Lord at a very young age, and was buried at the Monastery.
After we had looked around the monastery and had prayed before the relics, we were joyously received by the rector of the Church of St. Achillas Protostavrophor Milan Savic, who of course, treated us to Serbian raki and sweets.
We next stopped briefly in Karan, where we saw Bela Crkva, another ancient church, built in the 14th Century, as well as the town of Krusevac, at one time King Lazar's capital. The town suffered great damage by NATO bombing in 1999.
Holy Great-Martyr Prince Lazar's principal zaduzhbina (from "za dushu," "for the soul") was Ravanica Monastery, built in the years 1375-77. Continuing in the Nemanije tradition, Prince Lazar would send abundant gifts to the Serbian Monastery of Hilandar on Mt. Athos, and he made generous gifts to many monasteries in Serbia itself. In his own capital of Krusevac, he erected a church dedicated to St. Stephen the Protomartyr. The church is known as "Lazaritsa."
The next stop for the pilgrims was the Monastery of Resava - also known as Manasija - in Eastern Serbia, not far from the town of Despotovac. It was erected by Stefan Lazarevic in the years 1407 - 1418. All of these holy sites played an important role in the history of the Serbian Church and in the establishing of Serbian governance. It is a pity that we had too little time to become more thoroughly acquainted with these remarkably beautiful churches and holy places. We had but a few days left until our pilgrimage would come to an end, and we still were to see many other interesting things and to talk with other remarkable people…
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The last day of our pilgrimage was unusually busy. It began with a meeting with His Holiness, Patriarch Pavel of Serbia. The Head of the Serbian Orthodox Church received the group of pilgrims in his official residence, in the Patriarchate's reception hall. |
The Patriarch greeted us warmly, expressing his joy that a group of Orthodox Christians from far-off America had decided to visit his homeland in order to venerate Serbia's holy relics and places, and he shared with us his tribulations as head of the much-suffering Church. In my response, I assured His Holiness the Patriarch that since 1999, when NATO undertook its military campaign against Serbia, almost all of the churches of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad have constantly raised up prayers for our brethren, the Serbian people. The Patriarch thanked us for our spiritual support and asked that our prayers continue unabated. Then, His Holiness gave his blessing to each of the pilgrims, and gave each one an icon of the Mother of God as a memento. The audience concluded with the taking of a group photo.
Afterwards, we went by bus to the Monastery of Celije, in the Western Serbia. The road wound through the forested hills, with enchantingly beautiful vistas opening up before our eyes at every turn. There was a little medieval church dedicated to the Archangel Michael. Celije is a convent; the nuns paint icons, as well as publish books. In the second half of the 20th c. the convent had become the true center of Serbia, for between 1948 and the end of his days, the spiritual leader of the monastery was Venerable Justin (Popovic), a saint much-revered in Serbia and throughout the entire Orthodox world. Here he lived, wrote his theological works, and daily served the Divine Liturgy, praying for the salvation of the human race.
After venerating the holy relics in the church, we went to Fr. Justin's grave where we served a requiem litya, and read lists of commemorations. Those present experienced a truly mystical feeling, recognizing that before us, in the ground, lay the remains of a locally-venerated, and, God grant, soon to be universally venerated, saint. After our prayers, we pilgrims were offered traditional refreshments in the refectory. In the bookstore, I purchased an icon of Venerable St. Justin for our parish.
We thanked the nuns for their hospitality, and went on. Not far from Celije Monastery is the town of Lelic, where another great Serb, Holy Hierarch Nikolai Velimirovic had lived.
At the close of the 1920s, through the efforts of Vladyka Nikolai, his father Dragomir, and their compatriots, the Church of St. Nicholas was erected "To God's glory, and as a help to all the people." Now the parish church has been transformed into a monastery, where rest the incorrupt relics of Holy Hierarch Nikolai of Serbia. Vladyka Nikolai reposed on March 18, 1956 and was buried in the Serbian monastery in Libertyville, not far from Chicago. His relics were translated from America to Lelic on May 12, 1991, and are now in a reliquary next to the Southern wall of the church. This was a great feast for the Serbian people, and since then, Lelic has been a destination for Serbian Orthodox pilgrims.
Here we served a moleben and again read our commemoration lists. The faithful come from everywhere to venerate the holy relics, and they sing religious songs composed by Vladyka Nikolai. These songs are very popular among Serbs, both young and old, and are even performed by rock musicians. In our bus, we would listen to recordings of those songs constantly. Next to the monastery is a small museum to St. Nikolai of Serbia, and at the other end of the town is the house in which he was born and lived.
We were able to see that Vladyka Nikolai (Velimirovic) is revered everywhere throughout Serbia. In each church, in each bookstore, you encounter his books. However, we were all surprised and overjoyed to see that along the road there were shields bearing his portrait and quotations from his words. That road led to a mountain peak where there is a new monastery, the Monastery of the Dormition; we did not have enough time to visit it. We were told that a small church, a complex of cells, a refectory, and service buildings had been built there, and that there was even an observation deck from which one could view amazingly beautiful landscapes. This was all done according to a specific plan financed by a certain Mr. Velimirovic, perhaps a distant relative of Vladyka Nikolai, as a gift to his people.
In general, the building of churches or the making of large donations to the Church in someone's memory is something characteristic of the Serbian people. There is a Serbian saying, "Where there is a Serb, there is a zaduzhbina (from "za dushu," i.e. for the soul). The tradition goes back to the 12th c. It was then that the Serbian kings of the Nemanije Dynasty began to erect their zaduzhbiny, Orthodox churches built to the glory of God and to His Saints, enhancing them with frescoes and expensive liturgical vessels. In Serbia, both in the Middle Ages and today, one encounters more churches "for the soul of the populace" than anywhere else.
Following their national traditions, Serbs happily donate to churches. Every church has a Donation Book and anyone may enter his name in it. Donated money is placed right in front of icons, or on an analogion that also serves as a church collection basket.