At the time the earliest Serbian immigrant stepped ashore in the New World – in America – that Statue of Liberty, torch in hand, was not there in the New York docks to illuminate the way for the newcomers. The Serbs were received and welcomed by none other than Saint Sava. Who else could it have been? Whom else did they have over there? Saint Sava needed no kind of torch. He is the light and the fire, the lodestar every Serb holds close and dear to heart. And it is no coincidence that the very first Serbian Orthodox Church, erected in California’s city of Jackson in 1894, bears his name.
Hagia Sophia became a mosque, before the eyes and ears of the whole world sitting in the front and the last row. And she cries – where are my children?
Where are the monarchs that I raised? Where is the clergy that adorned me with the blessed beauty? Where are the soldiers who defended me? Where are the prayers of the holy who transformed me into Heaven?
Where are the deaf and the blind who received healing inside me, the lame who stood up, the mute who spoke?
O, my children, of Christian and Orthodox stem, again you are left without spiritual lighthouse, surrendering me to desolation.
Where are my Easter and Christmas Liturgies, mosaics that lifted the earth to Heaven? All gone in a blink of an eye, turning me into a widow.
Where are the Patriarchs to announce the Blessed Kingdom? Where are the countless choirs that overtoned the angelic? Where are the repenters, ascetics and the contrite hearts who found solace here?
O, my heart is filled with sorrow, for those that seek God are gone. Within me no longer is celebrated Hagia Sophia, without whom the universe is ruled by madness. Where to now, and how?
Desolate and solitary I stand, clothed in dark robes, grieving for children who are gone, who no longer walk the manifold trails and sail the sundry seas to reach me, and be raised to Heaven by my magnificent domes.
An interview with His Holiness Patriarch Pavle of Serbia († 2009)
—How do you, our archpastor, the head of our Church, see the future of Orthodoxy in the so-called New Times?
—Christ said that the further it gets, the harder it will be for us. There will be wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, famines and pestilences; that lawlessness will increase, the love of many will grow cold, one person will rise up against another and one will betray another. However, Christ says in another place, we need to prepare ourselves to withstand it to the end.
The Church calls St Constantine (306-337) “the Equal of the Apostles,” and historians call him “the Great.” He was the son o the Caesar Constantius Chlorus (305-306), who governed the lands of Gaul and Britain. His mother was St Helen, a Christian of humble birth.
At this time the immense Roman Empire was divided into Western and Eastern halves, governed by two independent emperors and their corulers called “Caesars.” Constantius Chlorus was Caesar in the Western Roman Empire. St Constantine was born in 274, possibly at Nish in Serbia. In 294, Constantius divorced Helen in order to further his political ambition by marrying a woman of noble rank. After he became emperor, Constantine showed his mother great honor and respect, granting her the imperial title “Augusta.”
Once when I'm gone a new dawn awaken out of night will blossom in the daylight, permeating with life all the creation with joy and breeze and roses of salvation.
A great attention has been paid to an exceptional video material put on the YouTube in the form of conjoint video "We won’t give up our shrines! - support from over 30 countries around the world", which was initiated by a Serbian theologian Krsto Stanisic, and realized by a team of young people led by Georgina Stanisic. Krsto Stanišić, a PhD student in theology in Germany, is talking for the Radio “Slovo ljubve AEM” about the recording and realization of this very demanding project and the response to it.
He says that support comes from many people around the world, regardless to their nationality and religion: "They are honest people and they all share the admiration for the prayer procession for protecting the shrines and to the people of Montenegro. There are many more than 30 countries from which people are interested in what has been happening in the Montenegro. The people have recognized the meaning of the prayer procession. The profoundness of the prayer procession is a global meaning. The message - We won’t give our shrines- is a global message. The biblical scenes have been taking place in Montenegro. The prayer procession is something truly universal in the world. It is something that Montenegro has to offer not only to Europe but to all the humanity as well!”
Hagia Sophia
An interview with His Holiness Patriarch Pavle of Serbia († 2009)
The Church calls St Constantine (306-337) “the Equal of the Apostles,” and historians call him “the Great.” He was the son o the Caesar Constantius Chlorus (305-306), who governed the lands of Gaul and Britain. His mother was St Helen, a Christian of humble birth.
