Information Service of REMINISCENCES: THROUGH THE ANNALS The Serbian Orthodox Church is the inseparable part of our society. As such, it bears all the positive and negative blows of a specific moment, which implies that it has the right to react to them. The introductory part of the “Annals and Calendar of the Serbian Orthodox Church” from 1933, written by the Serbian Patriarch Barnabas of the blessed memory testifies it has been so from the mists of time. Christ’s servant is both a friend and a father to the nation, so that he cannot be unfamiliar with social, political and economical issues relating to the welfare of the people. The relations between the Church and the State, the Church and the people, the Church and literature, the Church and art, the Church and school, obligations and rights of citizens, evils stemming from bribe and usurping, mutual rights and obligations of work and capital, ethics in trade and traffic, socialism and anarchy – these and other similar things are so essential for everyday life, that the general peace and general safety turn around them. Clergyman is a reformer both in the social and religious field; at the same time he is a patriot and a preacher. He equally strives for both earthly and eternal bliss of the souls entrusted to him. All the daily issues are of interest for God’s achievers, whose spirit of tradition opposes sudden changes, and whose Christian mercy urges them to accept heartily each fair new measure and implement it only if it is going to help the suffering brothers, brothers in misery and poverty. Christmas, 1933 BARNABAS |
