Serbian holy places

SERBIAN ORTHODOXY, as such, begins with St. Sava, "the Light of Serbia," holy ascetic, founder of monasteries, hierarch, and scholar, who not only became the first Serbian Archbishop in 1204, but provided Orthodox Serbs with a holy example and left an imprint on their consciousness which is felt even today. Inspired by St. Sava and his father, the holy monk St. Simeon "the Myrrh-flowing," and under their heavenly patronage as well as that of the Most Holy Theotokos – Who, particularly under the aspect of Her grace-bearing Wonderworking Icon the "Troerouchitsa,"1 is the special Patroness of Orthodox Serbs – Serbia produced many great saints as well as a major Orthodox civilization permeated with Orthodox piety. Thus a fervent Orthodoxy was generated in Serbia which remained during the centuries of oppressive Turkish rule, and continues to exist even today. Throughout the length and breadth of Serbia, churches and monasteries were built in an almost dazzling profusion, many of which are still important holy places and centers of spiritual life. Actually, there are well over a hundred such holy places. Of these, only six will be included in this article Studenitsa, Zicha, Pech, Dechani, Ljubostina, and Ostrog. Other Serbian holy places as well as various Serbian saints, will be featured in future issues of The Orthodox Word.

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1. The "Troerouchitsa" or "She of the Three Hands" is the Miraculous Icon of the Mother of God which was in possession of St. John Damascene, through which the great miracle of the healing of his severed hand took place. Both It and the Wonderworking Icon known as the "Mlekopitatelnitsa" or "She Who is the Milkgiver" were closely associated with Mar Sabbas Monastery near Jerusalem and with St. Sava of Serbia himself to whom they were given at Mar Sabbas in accordance with a prophecy. Especially venerated by Orthodox Serbs, these two Holy Icons are today at the Serbian Monastery of Khilandar on Mt. Athos.

Hidden beneath the surface of appearances, spiritual connections and interrelationships are formed which often elude the outward eye. Thus, few persons realize that the roots of Orthodoxy in America, with the exception of Alaska, lead directly to the holy places of Serbia. In 19th-century San Francisco, which was the first center of Orthodoxy in the United States, although the clergy were mostly Russian, the faithful were almost exclusively Serbs from the Boka and Cherna Gora regions. Serbian Saints were among the first to be invoked in America, their icons among the first to be venerated, and their feast days among those celebrated with the greatest devotion. Consequently it might be said that the Serbian saints became the "spiritual ancestors" and patrons of Orthodoxy in America, a connection with them and the holy places of Serbia being established through the pious Serbian pioneers in 19th century America,1 and above all in the person of the American-born apostle of Holy Orthodoxy in America, Archimandrite Sevastian Dabovich of Eternal Memory, whose ancestors came from near Herceg-Novi, within the spiritual radius of the Savina Monastery, founded by St. Sava himself high on the cliffs above Boka Bay.

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1. As for Serbian Orthodoxy in America today, much is left to be desired, chiefly in regard to the lack of monastic life and the disappearance of traditional Serbian piety as well as the introduction of non-Orthodox customs such as the use of pews.


It hardly needs to be said that the general situation today in Jugoslavia, pertaining to religion as well as to other areas of life, is incomparably better than that prevailing in the USSR. Nevertheless, the Church suffered great tribulation in the early years of the present regime. A few churches were confiscated and some believers, such as the noted confessor of the Faith, Bp. Varnava Nastich, suffered imprisonment and much else.

Today, however, there is no religious persecution in Jugoslavia where, despite certain pressures and restrictions, the Church now possesses a sufficient degree of freedom to cause exiled King Peter recently to declare his full support of it, although some Serbian exiles still do not feel able to do so.

Atheist propaganda is still disseminated in Jugoslavia, but unlike the USSR the state strictly prohibits any blasphemous displays or writings offensive to believers; church services may be attended without fear of harassment; persons in hospitals, old people's homes, and other state institutions are permitted to follow the tenets of their religious faith, to be visited by priests, and to have rites performed; the Church prints books and icons; and in many areas there still exist roadside icon shrines.

The above examples as well as the fact that a convent, connected with the well-known Ravanitsa, is allowed to maintain a home for crippled children, raising these unfortunates in the full atmosphere of Orthodox piety, reveal the extent of the difference between the religious situation in Jugoslavia and that in the USSR,1 where such things would be unthinkable. Although among men, monastic vocations are fewer than ever before, there are many vocations to the married priesthood and, surprisingly, there are more Orthodox nuns in Jugoslavia today than at any time since the medieval period, many empty monasteries having been transformed into flourishing convents.

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1. In the USSR, where the Communist state demands infinitely more than "that which is Caesar's," where many of the bishops and other clergy are atheist agents of the Soviet secret police, and where the Church possesses no freedom whatever, the faithful continue to be persecuted and are subject to constant harassment and intimidation, while churches and monasteries continue to be closed down and sacred liturgical objects confiscated by the state. Likewise, monks and other believers in the Soviet Union often suffer incarceration in mental institutions where they are subjected to psychologistic harassment, children are forbidden to receive the sacraments or attend services, no religious books are allowed to be printed, and religious believers are deprived of the most elementary legal and other rights.


The greatest threat to Serbian Orthodoxy in Jugoslavia today comes not from the state or from Communist oppression--for by Soviet and other standards Jugoslavia can hardly be called a Communist country – but from the disease of ecumenism. Within the Serbian Church as elsewhere in the Orthodox world today since the dark forces of modernism and ecumenism were loosed, certain hierarchs unfortunately view ecumenism and the apostasy of Athenagoras with an undiscerning or even favorable eye. Needless to say, the recent formation of an "Ecumenical Council of Jugoslavia," with participation of the Patriarchate, is most deplorable. Happily, however, the monks and nuns as well as most priests and laymen remain strongly anti-ecumenist, and if some kind of "unia" took place with the Latins, there can be no question that in Jugoslavia no less than among Orthodox everywhere, a faithful remnant would reveal itself, preserving true Orthodoxy undefiled and refusing, even unto martyrdom, to accept any "unia" with the heterodox Church of Rome. After all, 800,000 1 Orthodox Serbs, including many priests and monks, were martyred by devout Roman Catholic Ustashi Croats only 25 years ago in one of the most astonishing and little-known"programs" of systematic atrocity and extermination in modern history, a "program" carried out with the blessing of many high-ranking Roman Catholic clergy, a "program" which had the singular aim of liquidating the Serbian inhabitants of northern Jugoslavia, and which may serve the salutary purpose of forever preserving a healthy antipathy towards the Latin Church among the overwhelming majority of Serbian Orthodox believers.

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1. This is the most conservative estimate; some claim the number exceeds one million.


STUDENITSA

STUDENITSA MONASTERY – the oldest, most important, and most frequented of all the major Serbian holy places – was begun in 1183 by Zhupan (King) Stefan Nemanja, who was not only the founder of the Nemanja Dynasty and earthly father of St. Sava, but under the name of St. Simeon Mirotochivi or "the Myrrh-flowing" is himself one of the most revered of all Serbian saints. When the founder's oil-flowing relics were brought to Studenitsa from Mt. Athos in 1208, it became the chief Serbian place of pilgrimage and remained such over the centuries, pilgrims coming from as far away as Russia to venerate the Saint's wonderworking relics. Just as Serbian literature is said to begin with St. Sava's Life of his father, so too Serbian sanctity itself begins with St. Simeon.

An exemplary Orthodox monarch who brought into being a united and independent Serbia, thus giving impetus to the development of the great Orthodox Serbian civilization of the next three centuries, St. Simeon as King Stefan Nemanja embodied in his person the wisdom, justice, benevolence, and piety of an ideal ruler. A zealot of Orthodoxy, an uncompromising opponent of the Bogomil heresy, and a generous patron of the Church, he built churches and monasteries throughout his realm, richly endowing them with royal gifts, thus setting an example that was to be followed by the whole succession of Nemanja kings who, living without ostentation themselves, lavished most of their wealth on the building and embellishment of innumerable monasteries and churches, erected to the glory of God and the Saints, in thanksgiving and penitence, to the end of their own salvation and that of their subjects.

Leaving the world in his old age, the great and righteous Zhupan Stefan Nemanja, receiving the name Simeon, was professed a monk on the Holy Mountain, where he helped St. Sava establish the Khilandar Monastery. Taking upon himself many ascetic austerities and devoting himself to constant prayer, St. Simeon became an exemplary monk. Above all he provides us a notable example of a holy death, painless, blameless, peaceful, and a good defence before the dread judgement-seat of Christ, his last words being the final verse of the Psalter Let every living creature praise the Lord, which he sang from his deathbed, full of joy, at peace with God and with himself, his loud, clear voice penetrating the very walls of the monastery. Shortly after his repose, as the words Glory to God on high were being sung at the Matins, holy oil began to flow from his tomb, filling the whole church with a sweet fragrance and later working many miracles. Returned to his native land, the grace-bearing relics of Saint Simeon were enshrined in a special chapel, later dedicated to him, within the main church of Studenitsa, which is consecrated to the Repose of the Most Holy Theotokos. Begun by Saint Simeon himself, the main church was completed by his son and successor, St. Stefan Prvovenchani, whose relics were also later enshrined at Studenitsa.

Not without interest is the fact that Saint Sava himself was for a while Abbot of Studenitsa, drew up the Rule of the monastery, and personally directed the painting of the frescoes, which include a prominent image of Saint Sava (Sabba) the Sanctified of Jerusalem, whose monastery he had visited and who was his own Patron. Also prominent, as in all Nemanja churches, is a fresco of Saint Stefan the First Martyr, who was the Patron of the Nemanja Family and thus became Patron of the Orthodox Serbian State.

Studenitsa not only became one of the largest Serbian monasteries, its abbot occupying an extremely important position in Church affairs, but the Wonderworking Relics of so important a saint as the great Simeon Nemanja made it the spiritual center of the whole country where the faith of all was strengthened with countless miracles and where many were drawn to become monks under the Heavenly Protection of Saint Simeon. And such it remained over the centuries.

Situated high in the mountains, about five miles from the river Ibar, Studenitsa is still a functioning monastery with fifteen monks, with vegetable gardens and orchards nearby. Although Studenitsa is not noted for ascetic rigors, it radiates a spirit of warmth and piety, reflecting on an earthly level the great mercy of God and His love for men. The Divine Services are celebrated by the monks with great care and beauty, and today as always the monks manifest an admirable kindness towards the many pilgrims and visitors. In this sinful age, holy myrrh no longer flows from the bones of St. Simeon Nemanja, but many miracles still take place through his intercession, and next to St. Sava himself, he unquestionably remains the most venerated of all Serbian Saints. On his Feast (February 13 O.S.), thousands of pilgrims still come to Studenitsa from all over Jugoslavia.

ZICHA

DEDICATED TO the Ascension of Christ, the rose-colored Zicha Monastery, reflected in the "quiet light" of the setting sun, is said to be a sight of indescribable beauty. Zicha – the very word evokes immediate response in the heart of the Serbian believer and brings to mind a wealth of historical-religious associations. Zicha means "golden thread," and it is indeed a "thread" linking the unseen world with our fallen world. It is a place intimately associated with St. Sava, who made it the Archiepiscopal See for all Serbia, and much there still evokes his presence.

Built by St. Stefan Prvovenchani or "the First-crowned," brother of St. Sava and second saint-king of the Nemanja Dynasty, who was crowned there by St. Sava in 1219, Zicha became the coronation church of the Nemanjas. In future years seven successive Nemanja kings were crowned there, and for each king a new door was cut in the rose-red walls, each of the doors leading as it were into a new chapter of dynastic, national, and religious history.

A monastery for over 700 years, Zicha is today a convent. On its grounds may be seen a small recently-built church dedicated to St. Sava, an offering on behalf of her son's soul, for whom the angel of death had come while he was still a youth, by a woman from Beograd who became a nun at Zicha. The fine frescoes of the interior, done in old Serbian style, testify to the fact that Serbian Byzantine iconography remains a living tradition. Shown prominently among the saints is the Blessed Nicholas II, Tsar and New Martyr of Russia, who is deeply revered by many Orthodox Serbs, among whom he has several times manifested his sanctity.

The nuns, who sing the full monastic services in the church, lead a life of quiet simplicity. Much of their time is taken up with tending the grounds and buildings as well as the cemetery, in which are buried many notable Serbian national figures, including the venerable Archimandrite Sevastian Dabovich, who was born in San Francisco in 1863 of Serbian parents and became the first American-born Orthodox priest and monk as well as the first great apostle of Orthodoxy in the English language. He died at Zicha in 1943 during the episcopate of the well-known Bishop Nicholai Velimirovich. The present Bishop of Zicha is Vladika Vasilije (Kostich), confessor of the Faith and esteemed spiritual director.

PECH

A LABYRINTH of separate yet connected churches dedicated respectively to the Holy Apostles, the Holy Virgin Hodigitria, St. Nicholas, and St. Dimitry of Salonika, the Pech Patriarsha lies in the foothills near the entrance to a mountain gorge, not far from the Albanian border. It is a veritable treasure-house of sanctity where the relics of innumerable Saints are enshrined. On its grounds are orchards, beehives, and everywhere a profusion of brilliantly-hued flowers.

In the darkness of its sepulchral interior, a few candles and hanging oil lamps burn around the tombs containing the holy relics of many sainted hierarchs, reflecting the marvellous colors of the numerous frescoes that cover the walls and embody the whole history of Serbian iconagraphy from the 13th to the 17th centuries. Also at Pech is the muchvenerated Wonderworking Icon of the Mother of God, the "Pechka."

Pech was founded in the first half of the 13th century by St. Arseny, who followed St. Sava as Archbishop of Serbia, at the request of St. Sava himself, who feared that Zicha was too exposed to foreign invasion. Thus Pech became the residence of the Archbishop and gradually became an important spiritual center. Designated by St. Arseny as his own last resting place, the Church of the Apostles at Pech became a place of pilgrimage after his canonization, which occurred soon after his death.

About 1290, after Zicha had been captured briefly and sacked by the Hungarians, the remaining treasures of that monastery, including the miracle-working relics of St Jevstatije, sixth Archbishop of Serbia, were transfered to Pech. Enshrined among the other holy hierarchs at Pech are St. Sava II as well as the tenth Archbishop of Serbia, St. Nikodim (1317-25), who was not only an extremely learned scholar, but also a podvizhnik who had taken upon himself many ascetic austerities and had lived for some time in the hermit cell of St. Sava on the Holy Mountain. During his episcopate at Pech, St. Nikodim, among other scholarly labors, translated into Slavonic the Typicon of Mar Sabbas Monastery near Jerusalem with which a close spiritual connection had been established by St. Sava, this translation being of immense importance for the entire Orthodox Slavic world.

In the 14th century, Pech became the center of the newly-formed autocephalous Serbian Patriarchate, and there the holy remains of the first Serbian Patriarch, the great ascetic St. Ioanikije, were entombed.

Although the Serbian Patriarchate was abolished by the Turks, and the Serbs once again spiritually subjected to Constantinople, the Patriarchate at Pech was restored briefly in the 16th century under Mehmed Sokolovich, a Serb who – although he may have remained a secret Christian all his life had been taken as a child and raised as a Moslem janissary by the Turks. Having attained the rank of Grand Vizier, he did all that he could to aid the Serbian people, even encouraging the restoration of an independent Serbian Church under the aegis of his brother, the monk Makary, who was raised to the rank of bishop and Patriarch in 1557.

Although today the Serbian Patriarchate is located in Beograd, it is not without interest that when it was finally restored in 1920, the Patriarch was consecrated at Pech, thus establishing a spiritual link with the past. Today Pech is no longer a monastery, but is looked after by a few dedicated nuns. And today as for the last 600 years, devout pilgrims come great distances to Pech to venerate the holy relics of the saints and attend Divine Services. Nearby are many caves, some still bright with holy frescoes, occupied some 400 years ago by hermit monks, including one of the greatest of all Serbian saints, the podvizhnik and wonderworker St. Efrem of Pech, who served briefly as Patriarch and then retired again to his cave when someone else could be found to occupy the Patriarchal throne. Perhaps someday, in a final lightning-flash of Orthodox piety prior to the consummation and judgement of this world, these caves will again become the abodes of hermit monks or nuns.


St. Stefan Dechanski


DECHANI

BUILT IN THE FIRST HALF of the 14th century by the righteous king and great martyr, St. Stefan Dechanski (Urosh III), the church and monastery of Dechani are situated not far from Pech in a quiet, wooded valley often described by visitors and pilgrims as "an enchanted place." Built of polished blocks of white, blue-gray, and rose-colored marble, the beautiful church contains a profusion of exceptionally fine frescoes, including an iconographic representation for each of the 365 days of the Church calendar, as well as for every known event in the life of the Saviour and every stanza of the Akathist to the Mother of God.


ST. SIMEON THE MYRRH-BEARER



STUDENITSA



PECH



The Mother of God TROEROUCHITSA, Patroness of Serbian Orthodoxy.



LJUBOSTINA CONVENT



DECHANI


Over the centuries the chief object of pilgrimage at Dechani has been the holy relics of its founder and builder, St. Stefan Dechanski, who is revered as a general wonderworker and great healer, especially of blindness and of eye diseases as well as of persons suffering demonic possession. Even many Moslems1 come to pray before and venerate his holy relics, which repose before the iconostas in a deep red wooden sarcophagus covered with intricately-carved intertwining vines and flowers in gold, before which the monks and pilgrims prostrate themselves on entering and leaving the church. Every year prior to the Feast of the Saint on November 11, O.S., his robes are changed in a special service performed by the local bishop.

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1. For a detailed account in Russian of three outstanding miracles at the Saint's relics in 1954, all involving Moslems, see Pravoslavnaya Zhizn, Nov., 1959.


St. Stefan Dechanski, termed in the services to him "the second Job," was a righteous sufferer of afflictions. A man of deep piety and patience, he was blinded with hot irons and banished to Constantinople on the orders of his father, King Milutin, who mistakenly feared his complicity in a plot to depose him. But on the night of the blinding, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker of Myra appeared to him in a dream, holding Stefan's eyes in his hand, and said: "Fear not! Your eyes are in my hands." In Byzantium, the kindly Emperor Andronicus received the blinded prince with every kindness and lodged him in the Monastery of Christ the Ruler of All, where he lived in great austerity and piety.

In accord with the miraculous appearance of St. Nicholas, his sight was indeed restored a few years later, when St. Nicholas on his Feast Day again appeared to him in a dream, this time blessing him. He awoke to find his sight restored, but fearing to let it be known, he stayed on at the monastery for some time in affected blindness, continuing to devote his time to prayer and the spiritual life. When he revealed to the Emperor the restoration of his sight, the latter advised him to keep the bandage on his eyes and tell no one. Only after many years, still feigning blindness, did he return to his native Serbia. King Milutin had by then repented of his terrible crime and gave his son a new principality. But only after his aged father died did the holy Stefan Dechanski dare to reveal that his sight had been miraculously restored by St. Nicholas.

Ascending the Serbian throne, St. Stefan reigned for a few years, and during that time, in thankfulness for the restoration of his sight as well as for the defeat of the Bulgarians, he built the Dechani Monastery, having it consecrated to Christ the Ruler of All, the same dedication as the monastery in Constantinople where he had spent such spiritually profitable years during his blindness. The Feast of the church is celebrated on the Ascension of Christ. And because of his great devotion to St Nicholas he also built, a short distance from Dechani, a church and dispensary for helpless sufferers, dedicated to St. Nicholas. There he himself often tended the sick when he was not secluded in a cave near Dechani, where he spent long periods of time in prayer and fasting, or ruling and defending his kingdom with wisdom and discernment.

The life of the "second Job" and "great martyr," St. Stefan of Dechani, ended in 1336 when he was strangled at the behest of his own son, Stefan Dushan, and his advisors, who not only coveted the pious and ascetic saint-king's royal powers, but did not wish to have so saintly a man in their midst. The holy and righteous Stefan, however, had long been ready to meet the angel of death and receive his reward. Indeed, just prior to his murder, St. Nicholas appeared to him for the third time and warned him of his impending death. The circumstances of his death, in which his own son was implicated, add a final touch to the almost epic details of his tragic yet holy life during which he had aquired such great spiritual treasure an insight, purification, patience, and refinement of soul which came to him through a long path of suffering which he humbly accepted as the Will of God. Not without interest is the fact that St. Stefan Dechanski was a zealous supporter of the hesychasts and opponent of the Latinizing Varlaamites. Thus, Dechani itself was quite likely a center of hesychast spirituality.

The main object of pilgrimage at Dechani is, of course, the holy relics of its founder. Other important shrines at Dechani include one containing the holy relics of St. Stefan's sister, the nun-saint, Helena, who prior to entering monastic life was the Tsaritsa Anna of Bulgaria, as well as those containing much-venerated icons of St. Nicholas and St. Dimitry of Thesalonica, to whom separate side altars are dedicated. The monastery also possesses portions of holy relics of Sts. Cosmas and Damian, St. Thomas the Apostle, St. Gregory of Nyssa, St. Theoktist, and St. Simeon the Stylite.

Today there is still a small monastic community of seven monks at Dechani who continue to live the same dedicated lives as their predecessors have for some six hundred years. Pilgrims and other visitors are always welcomed by the monks with a glass of the fine rose-colored wine for which the area around Dechani is famous. The life of the monks is simple and quite austere, the services long, and their food strictly meatless and monastic. The main support of the monastery, which today is quite poor, derives from the beehives kept by the monks. And today as always, the Saint continues to protect his monastery from the vicissitudes of history.


St. Nicholas leading St. Stefan.
Woodcut from a Serbian church service book of 1538, as is that on p. 117.


Still very much alive in the consciousness of the monks and local inhabitants is the great miracle by which the monastery was saved from desecration by the Turks. Once, several centuries ago, during the Turkish Yoke, there came to Dechani the Mufti or spiritual head of the Moslems, together with his mullas and their followers, with the intention of appropriating Dechani for use as a mosque. Throwing down his prayer rug outside the main entrance to the church, the Mufti began his prayers. But no sooner did he do so than the sky became dark, thunder was heard, and lightning struck the tower in which a quantity of gunpowder had been stored by the soldiers who had previously been stationed there, by special agreement between the Russian Tsar and the Sultan of Turkey, to protect the monastery. The tower was shattered and crumbled to the earth, the explosion felling many of the Moslems, while a stone lion above the doorway of the church fell on the Mufti and killed him instantly, as rain came down in such torrents that the church stood like an island in the midst of a stormy sea, surrounded by huge waves. In their confusion, a large number of the terrified Moslems were caught up in the swirling waters and drowned. In such an extraordinary way did the great martyr King Stefan of Dechani save his monastery. Thereafter the local Moslems stood in great awe of the Saint and made many gifts to the monastery, where today they are frequent and welcome visitors to the church and venerate the wonderworking relics of the Saint no less than the monks themselves.

In conclusion, it should be observed that St. Stefan Dechanski quite remarkably combined in his person many different aspects and types of sanctity which are rarely if ever combined in one individual Joblike sufferer and martyr, wise and pious king, ascetic, hesychast, and helper of the sick and afflicted. In St. Stefan Dechanski, the path of the much-suffering and righteous Job merges with the hesychast path of Mary and the active path of Martha.

LJUBOSTINA

POSSESSING WHAT IS unquestionably one of the most beautiful church buildings in existence, Ljubostina Convent with its elegant and refined beauty is an outstanding manifestation of the final flowering of medieval Serbian Orthodox culture. On the convent grounds, tubs of lemon trees exude the incense of their fragrant blossoms, a fragrance which itself seems to reflect the beauty of the church.

Ljubostina, which is dedicated to the Repose of the Most Holy Theotokos, was built under the patronage of Princess Militsa, wife of the righteous king St. Lazar. There, after the death of her husband at the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, which in effect marked the end of medieval Orthodox Serbia as a sovereign power, Militsa entered the convent and became Nun Evgenija. She was followed by many other widows of those killed on that tragic day of defeat. Kosovo, however, only meant the end of an earthly kingdom. The path to the Heavenly Kingdom remained ever open and beckoning in the numerous monasteries and convents which existed in profusion throughout Serbia, holy places of prayer and ascetic purification which at the same time never ceased to remind the people of the spiritual wealth and greatness of their Orthodox Serbian Byzantine heritage. Ljubostina, spiritually and aesthetically is a magnificent example of this heritage, like a jewel from heaven dropped into this sinful and often tragic world, evoking the tranquility of the heavenly world, testifying to an enduring spiritual beauty beyond, to the One God in Three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Soon after her repose, the pious Militsa was revealed as a Saint and Wonderworker, many miracles taking place through her intercession and fragrant myrrh-oil flowing from her holy relics, which were enshrined there at Ljubostina. The convent still possesses a valuable historical treasure in the large royal double-headed eagle emblem of the Saint-King Lazar, which was hidden from the Turks in the thick woods which still exist around the convent, and remained lost there for over 400 years. The true greatness of Ljubostina, however, does not lie in its rich historical associations or even in the outstanding beauty of its architecture, but rather in the fact that it is a holy place and has remained a living convent, its whole atmosphere permeated with many centuries of prayer, monastic life and spiritual vision. Ljubostina still contains a community of nuns, and like the 4th-century Desert Fathers of Egypt, the nuns of Ljubostina make baskets. They also weave rugs. These two tasks, besides prayer itself and the struggle of the spiritual life with its constant warfare against the demons, form their main labor.


St. Vasilije and Ostrog
A print appearing on packets of incense ("tamjan") sent today from Ostrog.


OSTROG

PERCHED LIKE an eagle aerie, high in the mountains of Cherna Gora (Montenegro) in a steep, craggy gorge, is one of the greatest holy places in Jugoslavia – the Monastery of Ostrog, built into the caves in the steep wall of a rocky cliff, a long path of stone steps leading up the side of the cliff to the entrance of the monastery (see cover photograph).


Not without reason has Ostrog been termed "the Jerusalem of Cherna Gora," for its style is not Serbian but rather is similar to that of the monasteries of the Holy Land, similarly built in caves and on steep cliffs. One feels that a spiritual kinship exists between Ostrog and the monasteries of the Holy Land, even Mar Sabbas itself, for both evoke the same spirit. And indeed, both encompass the caves of saints who dwelt there in prayer and podvig, with great effort ascending the spiritual ladder step by step, purifying themselves of every passion that they might reassume the primal Divine likeness, the image of God in which man was created.

For pious Serbs the name Ostrog immediately brings to mind the great Wonderworker, St. Vasilije Ostrozhsky, whose solitary cave is high above the main church and cells of the monastery and whose holy relics, which repose there, make Ostrog a major place of Orthodox pilgrimage. On April 29, O.S., the Saint's Feast Day, thousands of believers from as far away as Beograd come to venerate his miracle-working relics.

St. Vasilije was born in a village in Hercegovinia in the early 17th century of a pious peasant family. Extremely devout even from his childlhood, while still a youth he entered the Trebinsky Monastery of the Repose of the Most Holy Theotokos, and soon took upon himself the cross of many ascetic labors. But as the flame of a candle cannot be hidden in the darkness, his holy life could not remain hidden and, against his wishes, he was consecrated to the episcopacy and made Bishop of Zahum and Scanderia (Albania). He ruled his diocese from the Tverdosh Monastery, where he continued his strict ascetic life and, like St. Nicholas, became noted for his beneficent deeds and loving kindness towards his flock. And like St. Nicholas he embodied the very type of the holy hierarch who in every way set an example of holy life for his flock and was a champion of Orthodoxy against heretics and schismatics.

With holy zeal St. Vasilije opposed Roman Catholic attempts to introduce the Latin errors and draw the Orthodox flock away from Divine Truth into the trap-like Papal sheep-pens, everywhere warning the people against the heterodoxy of the Latins and their serpentine schemes.

Seeing in the great reverence of the people for St. Vasilije a possible threat to their own power, the Turks attacked and burned the Tverdosh Monastery, although they were afraid to harm the Saint himself. Thus, St. Vasilije, who longed for holy solitude, journeyed into the mountain fastnesses of Cherna Gora, finally choosing as his kellia a cave at Ostrog where he entered upon an especially strict ascetic life. And from this cave he ruled his diocese, and protected the Orthodox flocks from both Latin schemes and Turkish abuse through constant prayer and the spiritual fragrance of his holy life, becoming noted even during his lifetime for his miracles. Gradually many disciples gathered around him, and Ostrog grew into a flourishing monastery with many monks following the same strict life as their beloved spiritual father. Begun in 1665, the monastery was completed two years later. St. Vasilije died in 1671, and his holy relics, which emitted a sweet fragrance, soon became the object of pilgrimage among both Serbian and Albanian believers.

Still very much present in the spiritual consciousness of Serbian believers,1 St. Vasilije continues to be venerated as a great Wonderworker even by some nearby Moslems. Although Ostrog suffered a great loss when looted of its holy treasures by Roman Catholic Italians during World War II, today it is still a functioning monastery with a few monks. The main church is dedicated to the Entrance of the Mother of God into the Temple. There is also a cave church dedicated to the Raising Up of the Holy Cross. Not far away in the valley below is another branch of the Ostrog Monastery, called the Doni or "Valley Monastery" of Ostrog, which was built in 1820 by Archimandrite Josif and which is dedicated to the Feast of Pentecost. Recently a small monastic seminary was established at Ostrog.

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1. In America there are two Serbian churches dedicated to St. Vasilije, one dating from the turn of the century at Angel's Camp, California, and one at Chisholm, Minnesota.


Today as for nearly 300 years, every year prior to his Feast the relic-case of St. Vasilije is opened and the shoes changed. And just as always, they are found to be quite worn! Even in this godless age as man's flight from God and His Truth increases day by day, the Saint continues to work many miracles. In some respects St. Vasilije Ostrozhsky might well be called a Serbian St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, whose miracles are as numerous as the stars of the heavens. He heals the sick, protects from dangers, expels demons from the possessed, gives material help to those in need, and grants every type of help to his faithful suppliants. Also like St. Nicholas, who zealously opposed the Arian heretics, St. Vasilije is an opponent of heterodoxy. Thus, St. Vasilije is an important saint for our times, not only extolling the virtues of asceticism, solitude, and strict monastic life, but also exhorting believers to remain faithful to Holy Orthodoxy. And in these days of ecumania, St. Vasilije clearly warns us of the errors of Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, in a loud voice denouncing the dark schemes of "union" being formulated at the Phanar and elsewhere.

O All-hymned Mother, Most Holy Theotokos and Protectoress of the Serbian Lands, manifested to us through Thy Holy Image of the Three Hands, Troerouchitse, Save our Souls!

All Saints of Serbia, pray to God for us!

J.G.