Serbian Orthodox Church

Information Service of
the Serbian Orthodox Church
Avgust 9, 2004

PATRIARCH PAVLE SERVES HOLY LITURGY IN KALEMEGDAN

His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Pavle served Holy Hierarchal Liturgy on the feast of St. Paraskeva Trnovska on Sunday, August 8, 2004 in the Ruzica Church in Kalemegdan with the concelebration of church elder Protopresbyter Radomir Popovic and all the priests and deacons of this Belgrade holy shrine. In his sermon His Holiness reminded those present of the spirituality and faith of this saint, who is highly revered by our people. Patriarch Pavle led a special prayer for peace, justice and freedom for all, including us. He also prayed for the salvation of the Serbian people, especially those in Kosovo and Metohija.

REPORT ON DESECRATION OF ST NICHOLAS CHURCH IN RELJEVO

On the evening of Thursday, August 5, 2004 someone broke into and demolished the interior of the church of St. Nicholas in Reljevo.

The perpetrator, whose name was withheld because he is a minor, was caught in the act by members of the ministry of internal affairs of the Canton of Sarajevo, who informed the priest of the incident at about 9:00 p.m.

During the break in all movable objects inside the church were scattered everywhere, the icons destroyed, the candles thrown all around... In the altar section (sanctuary) all the items were turned upside down, the priests’ vestments thrown to the floor, and the covers from the Holy Table removed. There was even an attempt made to remove the holy relics, which are built into the Holy Table.

The church of St. Nicholas in Reljevo was built in 1886 and served as a school chapel for students of the Reljevo Seminary until 1911, when it became the parish church. In the year 2000 a total of 27 extremely valuable icons were stolen from the church. The theft has not been resolved to this day. The church was completely renewed in 2003.

Deacon Mitar Tanasic

CHILD HEALED BY PRAYER IN DECANI MONASTERY

Decani Monastery for centuries has been a place where people have sought and found physical and spiritual healing. Only God knows how many poor unfortunates of all nationalities has sought help in the monastery next to the sarcophagus of Holy King Stefan of Decani. Old annals record many testimonials and there are many people alive today who are witnesses either because they themselves or one of their close relatives has been healed. The Holy King has helped both Serbs and Albanians when they approached his sarcophagus with firm faith and hope in God's mercy.

Today Decani Monastery exists in an unfriendly environment. Italian KFOR protects it around the clock. The faithful are rarely able to come to the monastery and then only with a KFOR escort. No Albanians have come here for a long time but when the need arises they turn to the Decani monks for help. At the beginning of March of this year, a few days before the huge pogrom by the Albanians against the Serbs on March 17-18, the monastery received a telephone call from an Albanian man begging for permission to visit the monastery with his family. He explained that his daughter was ill and that he wanted to bring her before the sarcophagus of the Holy King Stefan of Decani and prayers read for her. It is difficult to imagine the terrible despair this poor parent must have felt when he decided to appeal for help to Orthodox monks even though today Albanians in Metohija who have any sort of contact with Serbs are endangered from their own compatriots.

As they have done so many times in the past, the Decani monks did not think twice about granting the man's request. He arrived with his wife and nine-year old daughter, who was seriously ill with depression. The child would not speak with anyone and constantly cried. She had not slept for months and stopped going to school. All attempts by parents and physicians to establish any sort of contact with her were unsuccessful. Completely shut into her self, the child was simply waning and disappearing right before the eyes of her parents. They took her to various physicians, hospitals but despite all the medications they prescribed her condition grew worse. Her parents then decided to seek help where their forefathers used to go when they had a problem: to the Serbian Orthodox monastery of Visoki Decani. Traditionally hospitable, the Decani monks welcomed the Albanian family when they came. They took them to the church and read prayers next to the open sarcophagus of the Holy King.

After the prayers the family left. Only a few hours later the overjoyed father called and in an excited voice through tears of joy told the monks that his little girl had begun to speak, laugh and act completely normally. A week later, the child returned to school. The thankful parents expressed the desire to return to the monastery, this time with rich gifts of thanks. However, the monks replied that they were welcome to come and express their thanks but not to bring any sort of gifts. "The child has been cured by the will of God and prayer to the Holy King. Our payment is in heaven and not in material gifts. After this conversation the family did indeed return to the monastery to express its thanks for the daughter's recovery. The little girl behaved completely normally; she was happy and spoke like any other nine year-old.

CELEBRATION OF THREE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY
OF SERB RETURNS TO OSOJANE

His Grace Bishop Artemije of Raska and Prizren, His Grace Bishop Teodosije of Lipljan and the clergy of the Diocese served Holy Hierarchal Liturgy on Sunday, August 8, the feast of the Holy Maccabees, in the village of Osojane near Djurakovac on the occasion of the three-year anniversary of the return of Serb refugees to this Metohija village.

After the NATO bombing campaign and the arrival of NATO-led KFOR in the province, the Serb population of the Osojane Valley fled from Albanian extremists who torched the village and dynamited the church of St. Gabriel the Archangel. Two years after the exodus, on August 8, 2001, the first Serb families returned to Osojane. Three years after the initial return some 70 Serb households in Osojane continue to live in complete isolation and under the constant protection of Italian KFOR. In the meanwhile, the Serbs have restored most of their homes and this year completed the restoration of the church of the Holy Archangel Gabriel with the help of Greek Orthodox Church and other donors.

After the service Bishop Artemije and Bishop Teodosije cut the slava cake. Bishop Artemije addressed the faithful in attendance, calling on them to repent and demonstrate firm faith, the only firm support during times of persecution that have been ongoing for years in Kosovo and Metohija. Since the very beginning the Diocese of Raska-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija has invested great efforts into enabling the return of the Serbs to Osojane, as well as to the neighboring Serb villages of Bicha and Grabac. There are ongoing plans for returns to other Serb villages in this part of Metohija as well.

After liturgy and the consecration of the slava cake in Osojane Bishop Artemije visited Velika Hoca, the only Serb town in the municipality of Orahovac. In the yard of the ancient Serb cellar Bishop Artemije viewed exhibited works created by participants in the artists' colony during their stay in Velika Hoca. This international artists' colony included artists from Serbia as well as Israel, Bulgaria and Denmark. The artists' colony concludes on Tuesday, August 10.

The artists' colony was also visited today by representatives of KFOR from Multinational Brigade South-West, Italian general Danilo Errico and German colonel Erhard Buehler, who briefly chatted with Bishop Artemije while enjoying the traditional hospitality of the Serb people of Velika Hoca. General Errico expressed his deepest gratitude to Bishop Artemije for the recent high honor awarded by the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church to the Italian Folgare Parachute Brigade for its contribution to the protection of Serbian holy shrines in Kosovo and Metohija.

NEW CHURCH IN MT TREBOVAC REGION

His Grace Bishop Vasilije of Zvornik and Tuzla consecrated the bell and crosses of the newly built church dedicated to the Ascension of Our Lord in the Mt. Trebovac region village of Gornji Rijecani near Modrica. In the presence of local residents and numerous guests the consecration ceremony was preceded by the traditional selection of kumovi [sponsors] for the crosses and bell. Mr. Vlado Djukic from Rijecani was selected as the kum of the crosses and Mrs. Smiljka Lazic from Tolisa was the kuma of the bell. Locals donated most of the construction material and volunteer labor for the building of the church, while most of the funding came from the municipality of Modrica and its oil refinery.

CHAPEL OF HOLY GREAT MARTYR PANTELEIMON
CONSECRATED IN ARANDJELOVAC

On Tuesday, August 3, 2004 His Grace Bishop Jovan of Sumadija consecrated a new chapel dedicated to the Holy Great Martyr Panteleimon in the Arandjelovac Health Center. After serving Holy Hierarchal Liturgy with the concelebration of the Orasac deputy’s office and the participation of health center staff and faithful gathered for the occasion.

Following this spiritual joy Bishop Jovan presented his own bishop’s gramate to the director of the Arandjelovac Health Center, Dr. Vladimir Katanic for his support and efforts with regard to the establishment of the chapel in the health center, as well as expressing thanks to Dr. Nebojsa Mrljesa, the head of operations at the health center, who provided the most support to Dr. Katanic in fulfilling this long-term plan and need. Bishop Jovan appointed Fr. Nikola Milovic to serve in the new chapel, where he will be conducting Holy Liturgy once a week.

The existence of an Orthodox chapel in the hospital is of exceptional importance both for the hospital staff and for all the faithful who in the future will be able to receive spiritual guidance as well as medical care at the Arandjelovac facility. The chapel of the Holy Great Martyr Panteleimon is the first hospital chapel in the Diocese of Sumadija and one of the few in the Serbian Orthodox Church where religious services will be conducted regularly.

The large congregation present during Holy Hierarchal Liturgy in the newly consecrated chapel filled not only the moderately sized chapel but also the hallway and the area in front of the entrance door, which best attests to the significance of this chapel’s existence as well as the desire and need for it among the faithful of Arandjelovac and vicinity.

In his sermon and later in discussion with the physicians and other hospital staff, Bishop Jovan emphasized the importance of the existence of an Orthodox chapel in the hospital. He reminded of the Holy Unmercenary Physicians Cosmas and Damian and numerous other healers of the weakness of the human spirit and body who healed by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit through living faith in the name of the Resurrected Christ. Bishop Jovan also pointed out the need for cooperation and synergy between medicine and the Holy Sacraments brought closer to the world by the Orthodox Church as the treasury of the Holy Tradition, existing for the sake of the salvation of humanity and the world for the past two thousand years.

Upon his departure Bishop Jovan thanked everyone who contributed to the establishment of this chapel dedicated to the Holy Great Martyr Panteleimon to serve God and offer salvation to all who visit it. Offering hierarchal blessings the Bishop then said goodbye to the present faithful.

By Zoran Aleksic

[Serbian Translation Services]