Serbian Orthodox Church

Information Service of
the Serbian Orthodox Church
March 18, 2005

SERBIAN PATRIARCH OPENS SALES EXHIBITION OF ICONS BY SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH ACADEMY – FOR KOSOVO AND METOHIJA
SVETIGORA REPRESENTED AT PARIS INTERNATIONAL BOOK FAIR

SERBIAN PATRIARCH OPENS SALES EXHIBITION OF ICONS BY SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH ACADEMY – FOR KOSOVO AND METOHIJA

Last night His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Pavle opened a sales exhibition of icons and fresco copies from Christian holy shrines in Kosovo and Metohija. In this manner, the Serbian Orthodox Church continues providing assistance to the victims of the March 17, 2004 pogrom in Kosovo and Metohija.

The sales exhibition was organized by the Serbian Orthodox Church’s Academy for Arts and Conservation. Senior students in Professor Goran Janicijevic’s class presented the domestic and foreign public with 40 new works so that they might continue to assist their brothers in Kosovo and Metohija in accordance with their abilities and unquestionable talent.

In addition to the Serbian Patriarch and Protodeacon Momir Lecic, the sales exhibition was attended by the minister for mining and energy, Mr. Radomir Naumov; Branko Krasojevic, the senior advisor to the minister for commerce, tourism and services; Dr. Aleksandar Lipovski, prorector of the University of Belgrade; the rector of the St. Sava Seminary, Protopresybter Dr. Dragan Protic; and numerous representatives of the Belgrade clergy.

At the very beginning, filling in for the dean of the Academy, Protopresbyter Dr. Radomir Popovic, Protopresbyter Dr. Dimitrije Kalezic addressed those present, emphasizing that this sales exhibition by the Serbian Orthodox Church Academy should be an example to all on how to help those closest to us. He then invited His Holiness to formally open the exhibition.

His Holiness the Patriarch blessed all the students and guests. He emphasized that he served as Bishop in Kosovo and Metohija for no less than 34 years and that he shared and continues to share today all the trials and the suffering of the people who live in that region. His Holiness then blessed all the purchasers of icons and frescoes and stressed that all those who participate in this evangelical campaign will help the suffering people of Kosovo and Metohija. “We pray to the Lord to help us endure on the long and narrow road to the end, to be and remain people of whom are forebears need not be ashamed. We also pray that what is happening to us never happen again to any people in the world.”

Professor Dr. Ljiljana Colic spoke after His Holiness about Kosovo and Metohija and her own difficult experiences there. Speaking first-hand, she emphasized that Kosovo and Metohija is the gravest wound of the Serbian people. This was followed by reading of parts of the book “Kosovo il Perduto?” (Kosovo lost?) by reporter Marilina Veca, who transformed her own experiences in Kosovo and Metohija into a moving account. This book was published thanks to the publisher IK Hristanska Misao (Christian Thought Publishing House). The program concluded with an address by Professor Dr. Ljubomir Panic.

Museum director Bojan Popovic then spoke about the Holy Virgin of Lyevish and Christian holy shrines in Kosovo and Metohija in front of the Serbian National Museum’s Gallery of Frescoes in Belgrade. The spiritual evening dedicated to Kosovo and Metohija was enriched by the Mixed Choir of the Theological Faculty of the Serbian Orthodox Church, headed by director Predrag Miodrag.

The first icon was purchased by the Ministry of Commerce, Tourism and Services. The sales exhibition will be open until March 24, 2005.

SVETIGORA REPRESENTED AT PARIS INTERNATIONAL BOOK FAIR

Svetigora, the publishing house of the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and Littoral, will in the near future have the opportunity, for the first time, to offer its publications to the general reading public and Serbs living in France at the Paris International Book Fair from March 18-24. During the past 10 or so years, Svetigora has been actively present in Europe through its books, magazines, lectures and public forums, transmitting God’s word and the truth of Orthodox teachings to all people of open mind and heart who wish to hear the truth, and then to accept is as their life philosophy.

Svetigora received the opportunity to exhibit in Paris through the Association of Libraries and Publishers of Serbia-Montenegro, thanks to the Ministry of Culture of Serbia, which paid for a stand for Serbian and Montenegrin publishers. Svetigora’s rich publishing activity will be represented at the Fair by its director, Protopresybter Radomir Nikcevic, and Mr. Miodrag Todorovic, professor of philosophy from Niksic.

As guests for the past several years at the Frankfurt International Book Fair and spreading their mission throughout Europe, America, Australia and Canada, the management of Svetigora has published a large number of books in the English language for readers in these regions who do not know the Serbian language. The latest addition to its published works is a collection of writings by children from Kosovo and Metohija called “I dream and yet look what is happening to me” has been translated to English and Greek, and a German language edition is in preparation. Written by children, this book is a great contribution to a truthful perspective on the Kosovo problem; like the famous “Dairy of Anne Frank”, it is a moving document about the suffering of children during war.

The masterpiece “The Mystery of the Ostrog Wonder-worker”, an illustrated monograph, has also been translated into English and is already carrying out its mission among the Christians of America.

“The Wonders of St. Basil” is a work that combines the experience of the people, their faith and love towards their Saint, as well as serving as a historical mirror of the trials and suffering through which the people from our lands have passed and are still passing.

Since its inception Svetigora has published books of spiritual content and universal Christian themes, as well as concerning itself with books addressing the Serbian national problem with the goal of correcting, to the extent that that is possible, the poor image we have in the world thanks primarily to the Communist regime and later the irrational policy we conducted as a people. “The Title Deeds of Kosovo”, currently in preparation, is another ambitious and serious effort with the same goal.

This year’s Paris Book Fair is another opportunity for the Svetigora publishing house, which is one of the most important Serbian publishers of spiritual books, to introduce its rich assortment to the general reading public.

M.T./Z.V.

[Serbian Translation Services]