Serbian History 101
with Baba Mim....
Check out my other website too: Not Retired From Learning! http://www.notretiredfromlearning.com
Serbian History 101
PA
United States
m
Kosovo, Serbia's Jerusalem.
Косово, Србија Јерусалим.
A Shameful Tale of Duplicity, Double Standards and Mismanagement
Click on rt. hand corner of photos to enlarge.....
KOSOVO: CAN YOU IMAGINE? <---Click here
| "Unfortunately for all those involved, the question posed in the title of the documentary Kosovo: Can You Imagine? is a resounding YES. Having covered much of the same ground and witnessed the same events myself over the past decade, I can attest to the accuracy of the film. As a young filmaker of Serbian origin, Boris Malagurski took considerable personal risk, and displayed exemplary courage to produce this work. He is to be commended for his efforts." | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SCOTT TAYLOR Canadian publisher, journalist | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kosovo is not just a piece of geography. It is the heart and soul of the Serbian nation, wherever the nation exists, no matter how great or how small.
Kosovo is like a mirror. It echoes the past and reflects the future, wherever one lives.
The Battle of Kosovo mirrors the SPIRIT of the people. The Battle of Kosovo is the KEYSTONE of Serbian history.
Many sacrifices were made by the Serbian heroes on Kosovo Polje or the Field of Blackbirds for the Serbian ideals of Liberty, Justice, Equality and THE CROSS!
Individual Serbs carry Kosovo with them wherever they are, just like they carry the image of the "White Angel" (Bjeli Andjel) with them wherever they travel.
If the icon of Christ on the Cross is reminiscent of the painting of The Maid of Kosovo, then the White Angel icon is representative of the hope, the freedom, the better tomorrow--- such as when the angel guarding Christ's tomb announces, "He is not here, He has Risen!"
People are forced to make hard choices every day in their lives, but the Serbs are fortunate in that they have a good example to follow. Follow the cross! Czar Lazar had to make a choice between an earthly kingdom or a heavenly one. Choose well.
Although the Serbs were vassals under the Turks for many centuries, called "dogs" and other derogatory terms, they were never slaves. There were always the resistance fighters, the ones who could never be shackled in thought and prayers.
This photo was taken in front of the Pec Monastery in Kosovo, in 2006, during a "Tour of Serbian Monasteries." Surely, this Serbian Monastery, the Seat of the Serbian Patriarchate at the time of the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, attests to the rightful heritage of this Holy Land, the Serbian Jerusalem!
600 years ago, Prince Lazar uttered this curse:
"Ko ne dodje na boj na Kosovo,
Od ruke mu nista se rodilo
Ni u polju psenica bjelica
Ni u brdu vinova lozica
Ne imao u kuci porode
Rdjom kap'o dok mu je kolena."
Translated, that means:
"Whoever comes not to Kosovo to fight
May no fruit come forth from his laboring hand
Neither the sweet white-kerneled wheat in his fields,
Nor yet the wine from his vineyards in the hills.
May there be no children born unto his house.
May he and all his live and die in torment."
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To learn more about the museum where the Serb National Federation's Museum collection is now housed, visit: http://www.pghhistory.org
Famous gusle right behind Mim. Banner, King Alexander painting, GI Joe doll of Mitchell Paige, Vinka's costume, a few other things to see. Mitchell Paige was a Congressional Medal of Honor winner. In his mother's kitchen in Charleroi, PA was always the painting of THE MAID OF KOSOVO.
The SRBORAN showed this photo of the men from Farrell donating the flag to the Serb National Federation, which is now at the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh. It's embroidered on BOTH sides, one in Serbian Cyrillic, and the other in English!
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Serbian Hero, Milosh Obilich, slew Sultan Murad in his tent, by pretending to be a turn-coat "traitor" to his people.
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In 1989, the Petar Krstich Serbian Choir of Steubenville, OH, performed "Kosovski Bozuri" as the main event of the Gala Banquet commemorating the 600th Anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo in Detroit's Hyatt Regency Hotel's Grand Ballroom. The cantata was set to music by Director Emeritus, Slobodan Zelich.
"Kosovski Bozuri" is the Serbian's beloved bright red Kosovo poppy (bozur), which according to tradition, sprang up from the precious blood of the heroes of Kosovo, and covered the "Field of the Blackbird."
(Tole Artwork by Billie Brnilovic & Georgette Osman)
For generations, Serbian poets, writers, artists and composers have created cultural flowers, spiritual Kosovo poppies.
Paul Bielich, wrote in the August 23, 1989 American SRBOBRAN, "These spiritual Kosovo poppies watered the soul with patriotism and faith. The spiritual bouquets trace the historical rise and fall of our people from Kosovo to the present day--- in which they still proclaim loudly,
"For the Honorable Cross and Golden Freedom!"
Za krst casni, i slobodu zlatnu!
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Rev. J. Popovich wrote about the Battle of Kosovo, and The Field of Blackbirds, printed in Milan Karlo's June, 1948 magazine American SERB LIFE.
Here's the bus from Pittsburgh in Washington, DC!
Around the world, people were quick to protest the unfair land grab from Serbia and recognition of Kosovo as an independent country. U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, stating the official U.S. position, stated: "It's time to drop centuries of grievance and sentimentality in the Balkans. I mean, after all, we're talking about something from 1389! Time to move forward."
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There's a beautiful song on YouTube about Kosovo.
It was translated here by
Nena Jovonovich & Ann & Voya Vitorovich
Kosovo je Duša Srbije <---- click to hear
Kosovo je duša Srbije
Sveto polje najSrpskije
Kosovo je Vera, Nada
Mesto gde se za krst strada
Kosovo je najSrpskije
Lice Božije
Tamo gde je duša ostala
Tamo je I naša sudbina
Tamo gde je srce bilo
Gde se Božje dogodilo
Tamo sto je, sve je Srbija
Jedno polje prelepo
Božurom se kitilo
Jedno polje presveto
U nebo se propelo
Jednu veru ćuvao
U krvi se kupalo
Kad se java razdeli od sna
I ostane samo ikona
I kad većnost broji dane
Nad Srbijom sunce grane
Kosovo je uvek Srbija
Uvek Srbija
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Kosovo is the soul of Serbia
Hallowed ground, most Serbian
Kosovo is Faith, Hope
Land of martyrdom for the cross
Kosovo is most Serbian
Face of the Lord
There where the soul remained
There too is our destiny
There where the heart remained Where God's will was done
All that is there, all is Serbia
All is Serbia
REFRAIN:
One most beautiful field
Adorned with poppies
One most sacred field
Has ascended to heaven
One faith safeguarded
Bathed in blood
When reality replaces the dream
Only an icon remains
And when Eternity counts the days
Above Serbia the sun shines
Kosovo is always Serbia
Always Serbia
In Cyrillic:
Косово је Душа Србије
Свето Поље најСрпскије
Косово је вера, нада
Где се место за крсту Страда
Косово је најСрпскије
Лице Божије
Где је тамо Душа Остала
Тамо ми је Наша Судбина
Где је Срце тамо било
Где се Божије догодило
Што је тамо, Све је Србија "
Једно прелепо Поље
Божуром себи китило
Једно Поље пресвето
У небо се пропело
Једну веру ћувао
У крви се купало
Кад себи Јава раздели од сна
Само да остане Икона
Кад сам већност броји Дане
СУНЦЕ гране над Србијом
Косово је увек Србија "
Увек Србија "
American SRBOBRAN headlines, Friday, June 25, 1943, Vol. XXXVII, No. 8368
These headlines say it all--- As long as there are people and as long as there is Kosovo.... and the two starring figures are Milosh Obilich & Draza Mihailovich in this 1943 issue of the SRBOBRAN above!
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$621.00 was raised quickly at the St. Sava's Day program 2007 in St. Elijah's to help buy firewood for the freezing Serbian children in Kosovo. (Even the young orchestra gave all their "tip" money to the cause!) The money was sent to V. Rev. Arch. Necatious Serfes of Boise, Idaho, immediately after his plea as administrator of the Decani Relief Fund. He can be contacted at frdmitri@connecttime.net or:
V. Rev. Arch. Necatrious Serfes
2618 W. Bannock St., Boise, Idaho 83702
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Sporting Events and Kosovo
Milorad Cavic, a young American Serb from California was swimming for Serbia when he won the Gold Medal for his Butterfly stroke in Europe, breaking all previous world records. However, one official complained about Milorad's shirt because it said in Cyrillic, "Kosovo is Serbia," and unbelievably, Cavic was fined over $10,000!
This was incredibly cruel, as (1) in America, we have freedom to express ourselves; (2) they displayed the wrong flag when he won the championship. Was that official biased or what?
Milorad Cavic sent all of you children greetings! He worked hard in preparation for the Beijing Olympics.
UPDATE:
CAVIC EARNS SILVER MEDAL AT OLYMPICS, but GOLD MEDAL in Serbian Hearts!
Read the Story here:
Cavic Already a Hero in Serbia by Andrew Dampf, AP Sports Writer AP, Beijing, China, August 16, 2008
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September 12, 2008
From our Detroit contributor, Pam, comes this news!
Imagine how THRILLED young American Serb Alexa of Dearborn Dolphins Swim Club was to actually MEET her hero, Milorad Cavic, at a swim camp in Florida! He encouraged her to keep pursuing her dreams of being in the Olympics someday too! Our eyes & hearts are upon you, Alexa! Keep on going and make us all proud like Mike has!
Everyone loves Milorad because of his kindness to others and desire to always do his best! There is even a FACEBOOK group you can join about the American/Serbian Champion Milorad Cavic.
Click here to another article from the NY Times about Cavic Finds Triumph in Narrowest of Defeats
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Make sure you check out the latest in Serbian tennis stars. They (Ana, Jelena and Djoko) are doing a tremendous job.
Isn't it telling that the French said the ceremonies were copyrighted and wouldn't let YouTube continue showing the playing of the Serbian National Anthem, "Boze Pravde" that proclaimed Ana's /Serbia's 1st place Championship at the French Open?
Perhaps those French officials aren't familiar with the English translation of "Boze Pravde"-God of Truth:
Here it is in Serbian Cyrillic
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Milosh Obilich is here promising Czar Lazar at their "Last Supper" that he is NOT a traitor. He proved it the next day by pretending he was ready to join the Turkish side. Once inside the Sultan's tent, he slew Murad I and ever since has been known as one of Serbia's greatest and bravest heroes!
Serbia has medals with images of Milosh Obilich.
Here is Czarica Milica and Czar Lazar. Note the crest in the middle. Czar Lazar is the one who added the 4 C's to the Serbian crest that you will find everywhere, even to his day!
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SONG TO SACRED SERBIA
by St. Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich
(Translation by Voya and Ann Vitorovich)
"Oh, Serbia, beloved mother!
May you always have good fortune,
Your children love you,
And for you they pray to God.
Land of our forefathers,
Knights, and saints.
For the honor of the cross, martyrs
For freedom, defenders.
Grave to grave -- holy cemetery,
There rest Serbian slaves.
And all altars to altars
The legacy of Serbian kings.
On Kosovo, Gracanica,
On the mountain, Studenica,
By the Morava, Ravanica,
In Krusevac, Lazarica.
From every battle to battle,
Before and after Vidov Dan,
You are everywhere poured out in blood,
Everywhere washed in tears.(or awash in tears)
There Kosovo sadly stands,
Counting five centuries of slavery,
Memorial of glory and heroism,
And discord and betrayal.
Fear not, beloved mother,
God will give to you good fortune.
And you will be most happy,
And of all, most praised, glorious.
Bishop Nikolai's poem appeared in the Sunday, August 3, 1958 dedication of St. Elijah's NEW church at 2200 Main Street, Aliquippa, PA
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I took the photo of this bombed-out Serbian home.
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Srpska Se Truba
Српска се труба с Косова чује,
Србина сваког да обрадује.
Трубите браћо, силније, боље,
опет је српско Косово Поље.
Српски јунаци, сунце вам сину,
осветисте се ви душманину.
Осветили сте Цара Лазара,
све Југовиће, Богдана стара.
Ивана, Милана, Милоша лава,
Српство им кличе хвала и слава.
Бановић Страхињу, Краљевић Марка,
све нас је српска родила мајка.
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Srpska se truba s Kosova cuje
Srbina svokog da obraduje
Trubite jace silnije bolje
Srpsko je opet Kosovo polje
Janci srpski sunce van sinu
Osvetiste se dindusmaninu
Osvetiti ste cara Lazara
Sve Jugovice Bogdana stara.
Ivana, Milana, Milosa-Lava
Srpstov vam klice slava i hvala. (2 times)
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From my Baba's diary in 1941.
Andja Mamula wrote right before I was born, "Rano sam ustala, idem raditi. Danas je mili Vidov Dan. Na taj dan propala je Srpska Carevina, ali dodje vreme da se povrati Srpsko Carstvo. To su Srbi svojom krvi povratili i nikada nisu popustili, nisu dok opet svoje ne dobishe Carstvo. To je bilo dugo cekati. Tu su se cekale stotine godina dalje. Srbin svoje pravo dobijo ali sad opet udari Prokleta izdaja sav narod. Sve porushi i ognjen popali prokletom seme i koljeno. Ovo pisem i suzom polevam. Idem u Mater Crkvu dase svi skupa Bogu pomolimo, za nashe umrele i izginule junake. Slava im!
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Bishop Artemije of Serbian Orthodox Church Rashka-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija Diocese, Interview to Glas Javnosti on 18 March 2008
“Others for whom also another, spiritual, criteria exist say that Kosovo gave us strength to endure five centuries of Turkish occupation and live to see the sun of freedom rise again from Kosovo and shine its light upon us.
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Four wonderful men of one mind @ Kosovo.
Kind and wonderful Princess Katherine distributes small gifts to children.
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Click the lower right hand corner to see this exciting poster about Vidovdan with the Serbian folklore group "Miroslav Bata Marcetich" celebrated on Friday, 26 of June, 2009 at 8:00 PM.
Near/Far, wherever they are:
Kosovo is Serbia!
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"What then is the earthly worth?
It is but a day, It passeth away,
And the glory of earth full soon is o'er,
But the glory of God is more and more."
Czar Lazar chose the Kingdom of the Lord rather than the worldly empire. And so indeed, do the Serbian people.
"There resteth to Serbia a glory,
A glory that shall not grow old;
There remaineth to Serbia a story,
A tale to be chanted and told!
They are gone to their graves grim and gory,
The beautiful, brave and bold;
But out of the darkness and desolation,
Of the mourning heart of a widow'd nation,
Their memory waketh an exultation!
Yea, so long as a babe shall be born,
Or there resteth a man in the land--
So long as a blade of corn
Shall be reapt by a human hand---
So long as the grass shall grow
On the mighty plain of Kosovo---
So long, so long, even so,
Shall the glory of those remain
Who this day in battle were slain.
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And doubt ye, doubt ye, the tale I tell?
Ask of the dead, for the dead know well;
Let them answer ye, each from his mouldy bed,
For there is no falsehood among the dead;
And there by twelve thousand dead men know,
Who betray'd the Tzar of Kosovo."
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Mark S. Kuhar, poet,
Cleveland OH
"Remembering the Bloody Spring of 1999: Serbia Burning" (May 10, 1999)
Excerpts as they appeared in the American SRBOBRAN Literary Supplement of 2001
Baba Anka is in Kosovo,
hiding in the root cellar.
She refuses to leave.
Militias set fire to farms
and raze villages,
and pilfer TV sets
from once proud suburban homes,
and rape teenage girls
in foul garages stinking of gas.
Baba Anka hides----
as she did in 1944.
In Belgrade
they hold hands and sing songs
with targets pinned to their backs.
They pick through the ruins of buildings
and as bombs fall,
another wave
of the deceased and deported
crosses over Albania's borer
with only the shirts on their back....
There are no new cars in Kosovo,
none in Belgrade.
The planes rain metal death
on convoys and columns
attacking mute targets
while soldiers cower in the forest....
Once the Turks
owned the dirt of Kosovo.
On the Field of Blackbirds
the Serbian army-
wiped out to the last dead man.
Kosovo is Gettysburg.
Kosovos is Normandy,
Kosovo is Waterloo,
Kosovo is Stalingrad,
Kosovo is Bunker Hill,
Kosovo is Atlanta burning.
That's what it means to the Serbs.
There is no Serbia without Kosovo.
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Branko Terzic
Former Federal Energy Regulatory Commissioner (FERC),
State Public Service Commissioner and Utility Chief Executive officer
Currently a Global and U.S. Regulatory Policy Leader in Energy & Reources for Deloitte Services LP.
Served as a regional managing partner for the Resources, Energy & Infrastructure practice group of Deloitte & Touche Central Europe (Prague, Czech Repubic).
For more, go to this Deloitte-Touche website:
Don't forget to come back!
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”Коме правда лежи у топузу, трагови му смрде нечовјештвом.” - Његош
He whose law is written by his cudgel (club) leaves behind the stench of inhumanity" --Njegos
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Noble Czar Lazar praying 
The choice Czar Lazar and his brave Serbian warriors made in the fateful battle of 1389 still help their descendants today make the right choices.
А НЕ ДОШО НА БОЈ НА КОСОВО
НЕ ИМАО ОД СРЦА ПОРОДА
НИ МУШКОГА НИ ДЕВОЈАЧКОГА
ОД РУКЕ МУ НИШТА НЕ РОДИЛО
РУЈНО ВИНО НИ ПШЕНИЦА БЕЛА
РЂОМ КАПО ДОК МУ ЈЕ КОЛЕНА !
The Kosovo cycle ends with two poems recording events after the battle. "The Maid of Kosovo" and "Death of the Mother of Jugovici."
Like the women in the Gospel, who, on "the first day of the week" at early dawn went to see the sepulchre where Jesus had been buried, so the maid of Kosovo arose early on Sunday to walk through the battlefield. The poem expresses the tragedy of defeat, the destruction of the hopes and dreams of the young people of Serbia. In "The Death of the Mother of the Jugovici," the most moving poem of the Kosovo cycle, the magnitude of the tragedy is revealed. News of the death of all her family stunned her into immobility. All about her widows and children were wailing and sobbing, the animals were neighing, squealing, howling. Fathers, husbands, sons, brothers, as well as the head of the nation, all had perished. But the mother did not cry. She was not beyond pain, but enveloped by it. It was too overwhelming to react to it. When in the morning two black ravens brought her the hand of her son Damian, a sign to her that the Kosovo heroes do not have even a grave, that their graves would not be known, the mother's heart burst for her nine sons and for old Jug Bogdan.
The Kosovo heroes were not only admirable for proficiency and valor; they are also martyrs, worthy of imitation. They are portrayed as people of high moral and spiritual qualities, who experienced Kosovo as their personal Golgotha. The bard presents the battle of 1389 as voluntary sacrifice, as the victory of faith over death. Thus the honor and holiness of that day, as well as its sorrow, was handed on to future generations. This poetry enshrines the Serbian historical memory, interprets what happened on Kosovo in the spirit of the Gospel account of the death and resurrection of Christ, and reveals an ultimate truth of human existence.
During these years of hasty analysis, pundits have often referred to the "Kosovo myth" as a morbid glorification of defeat and the very root of Serbian nationalism. But the Kosovo "myth" is a "Christian myth," which does not celebrate defeat but the victory of life over death, of hope over despair. It does not inspire hatred, nor does it demand revenge. The English scholar G. N. W. Locke protests that there is "no glorification of war---quite contrary, it honors only courage and fortitude. There is more jingoism, vainglory and xenophobic incitement to violence in the fourteen lines of the `Marseillaise' than in the entire body of the Serbian epics."
The poetry of Kosovo has cultural, religious and historical dimensions that transcend the boundaries of time and geography.
Look! In 1917, the Pittsburgh Serbian ladies of the church called themselves "Majka Jugovica"- Mothers of the Jugovic Brother heroes! Notice Czar Lazar's 4 C's! Only Unity Saves the Serbs! My Grandmother, Andja Mamula was President of this lodge.
AND notice the crossed flags. They were always proud to be AMERICANS first, but also proud to be Serbs.
These American Serb pioneers (ladies and men) wore their ribbons proudly for all special occasions on the front side. However, whenever anyone died, they turned it over and wore the black ribbon side to the funeral of the deceased lodge member to show mourning.
"Having Kosovo and Metohija in our hearts and our unceasing care for our brothers and sisters and all those that suffer there, having a living Kosovo and Metohija within ourselves day and night, no one will take them away from us. The Homeland is the heart of man, says one poet. Within our hearts we have placed Kosovo and Metohija. We call upon all Orthodox Serbs to fulfill the Kosovo covenant in full, and that is the Holy Lazar’s testament," the Easter message continued.
"If we complete that covenant no one will take Kosovo and Metohija away from us, neither in this nor that age, just as no one could have taken Holy Jerusalem from the Jewish people. We call upon all of you, beginning with politicians and scholars down to the most humble and youngest sons and daughters of our Homeland, that with their work and honorable lives we be deserving of and preserve Kosovo and Metohija before God," the patriarch wrote.
Kosovo, the message said, is an integral part of every Serb's life.
"Knowing this," it continued, "the creators of this historic injustice wished to inflict the deepest possible wound, and unspeakable pain and suffering on us".
"Let scholars with their scientific work defend Kosovo and Metohija; let artists with their creativeness express the beauty and the essence of our Kosovo and Metohija; let athletes vow their successes to Kosovo and Metohija; let every parent have Kosovo and Metohija be a first word to whisper in his newborn’s ears; let every farmer dedicate his first hour of labor to Kosovo and Metohija; let every worker dedicate his first hour of work to Kosovo and Metohija; let every politician dedicate his first political thought to Kosovo and Metohija, let every pastor offer his first prayer to God for Kosovo and Metohija!," the message said.
The National Geographic from May, 1970, vol. 137, no.5 on page 592, in a report by Robert Paul Jordan of the Senior Editorial Staff wrote in a section called "Freedom Lost-Freedom Regained" in his article entitled "YUGOSLAVIA: SIX REPUBLICS IN ONE":
Silver Coinage from Czar Lazar's reign, 1370-1389
Bog Cuva Srbiju
Signed in 1989-the 600th Anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo Celebration, in Detroit, Michigan, by their Royal Highnesses, Prince Aleksandar and Princess Katherine.
Serbian self-sacrificing is as puzzling today in our modern day world as the initial Christian sacrifices were to the Romans............
Fate has dealt the Serbian nation a day which is called Vidovdan. This is not just a date on a calendar but is rather a continuing day, from that fateful year, 1389, up to the present. It is the longest, most significant, most holy, most tragic and brightest day of the Serbian nation. It contains all the ideas of the Christian comprehension of life and living.
Prof. Bigovic has said: "Vidovdan has been up to recently, and, for some is even today, Good Friday, and yet at he same time, Easter. Those two events - Good Friday and Easter - merged into one indivisible whole and further understanding of Vidovdan."
Kosovo is Serbian Golgotha. It is the Cross through which one nation entered into eternity and uncovered the eternal and divine dimensions of its existence. For this reason, the Kosovo oath, by which Tsar Lazar chose a heavenly kingdom, is our only choice and path, at the same time both a victory and defeat. Defeat is transformed into victory.
Article beginning on p. 30, written by the SMITHSONIAN STAFF.
from the website
On Vidovdan, 1966
Today is Vidovdan! (1966!)
What good news, what Gospel is announced to us on today’s great, holy and terrible day? Behold, before all else, it brings us the magnificent God’s saint, the Holy Czar Lazar. He carries a platter with his head upon it. Wherefore Holy King? To the Kingdom of Heaven. The day has come when Nemanjić Serbia takes its horrific exam, the day when the Holy Gospel of St. Sava opens its heavy, frightful pages of Serbian Golgotha. The Holy King chose the Kingdom of God on behalf of the whole nation and with the whole nation, because the earthly kingdom is for naught and short-lived, and the Heavenly Kingdom is forever and unto the end of time.
The choice was to be made between the true God, Christ the Lord, and hordes from East which embodied a form of paganism. And the Holy King could not act otherwise. The Holy King could not have fulfilled the legacy of Holy Nemanjićs, but to step, along with his whole people, on the path of St. Sava’s Gospel — on the path of serving Christ the Lord, the road of forging the Holy Serbia. Yes, Holy Nemanjićs had one goal, one wish — to turn Serbia into a Holy Serbia. To turn all of Serbian land into God’s endowment, one big, huge monastery where only God will be served, only Christ the Lord.
If we wish to summarize that Holy Gospel of Holy Nemanjićs and express in few words the Gospel opened by St. Sava and his holy father St. Simeon, it says: Christ before all and above all! All for Christ, Christ [traded] for nothing! There, that is St. Sava Gospel, therein is the Gospel of Holy Nemanjićs, there’s the Gospel of the Holy King and Czar Lazar of Kosovo.
Therein lies the only Serbian Gospel that is building Holy Serbia, turning the whole land into a shrine, a shrine where God is served. And they, the Holy Nemanjićs, have made that Holy Serbia.
What is Holy Serbia? It is a miraculous Gospel proclaimed by the Lord Christ commanding all the men of all times: “Seek first God’s Kingdom and His righteousness, and all the rest will be added to you”. That is what Holy Serbia wants, and that alone. The Kingdom of God before else and above all, and His justice. These are the creative forces — God’s justice, God’s truth, God’s love — these are the holy forces which are shaping and building Holy Serbia. The whole Serbian nation in Kosovo is still laying down its lives for this eternal and holy God’s righteousness. For whom? For Christ the Lord, for Holy Serbia.
It chose the Heavenly Kingdom, because the earthly kingdom is for naught and fleeting. And the miracle happened. Holy Serbia did not perish in Kosovo. No! It carried on through a terrible enslavement, on a pathway of the holy Serbian Church — a martyr, a sufferer — who took this Holy Serbia in its arms and carried it through the history, bringing it to us, to our days. What does Holy Serbia live for? To serve Lord Christ, to serve the only true God, to reject all the fake gods. To serve the eternal Christ’s justice, to reject all the men’s fake so-called justices. To serve the Christ’s truth, the only eternal truth, the only everlasting truth, the only undying truth, and to reject and renounce the masked little crumbs of truth, the masked lies.
First, through the holy school. Because the Gospel education, education by Lord Christ, St. Sava [Svetosavsko] education gives one the knowledge about the eternal life, it gives knowledge about the only true God, it gives knowledge about the true man, it gives knowledge about the meaning and purpose of our earthly life. But not only the knowledge, it gives the holy power to transfigure this holy knowledge and transform it to life, to live by it in this world. The sacred school, that is the main minting workshop of Holy Serbia. The holy school, today, perverted into an ape wisdom. The holy school trampled over! There is no sacred knowledge, no such school. What are the people learning? What is that? What is that darkness billowing through our wee little schools?
And the Holy Nemanjić Serbia, St. Sava Serbia — what is it giving, what more does it want? The sacred family. Without the sacred family there is no progress in any land. That is what St. Sava w anted. St. King Lazar also wanted that. That is what the Gospel of St. Sava wants, to sanctify the family, so that relations within family, between the parents and children and all at home be the holy relations. To serve each other like the holy brothers, holy sisters. To serve Christ the Lord by serving each other. To have everything done for the glory of God. That is the sacred family, when all is done for the glory of God, when each dies and lives for Christ’s justice, for Christ’s truth, for Christ’s love, when the life is lead through Christ’s faith, when the family serves the Lord. By serving the Lord, we serve ourselves, we serve our eternity, we serve the holy Kingdom of God, because we serve the salvation of our souls. And there is no salvation beyond Lord Christ, and nowhere beyond His Holy Church.
Then, the agriculture. What is that? That is the sacred work. Sacred agriculture. That is what St. Sava wants. That is what Holy Serbia wants, to have the land tilled in God’s glory and for our benefit, because we know all the land is God’s property, entrusted to us. The sacred agriculture — there, that is what’s building Holy Serbia. And the sacred cattle breeding, beekeeping, every craft, all is the holy craft in Holy Serbia. The sacred craftsmanship! It is the craft-work which serves us, by serving God. The craftsmanship which is carried out to God’s glory, for the salvation of our souls and upkeep of our bodies. But all to God’s glory! That is what Holy Serbia wants. That is what the Holy Nemanjić Serbia wants, and what Kosovo Serbia of the Holy King wants, and what Heavenly Serbia wants. It is all one and the same Serbia, starting with St. Sava and his holy father, through all the centuries, up until the present day — all that is holy belongs to that Holy Serbia, Holy Nemanjić Serbia, earthly and heavenly.
But we, the present-day Serbs, what have we done, what happened to our Holy Serbia? We started burying it, we started deadening it on all sides because, by forcing Lord Christ out of our souls, we are persecuting her, the Holy Serbia. We are forcing out the true God, His justice from our lives by renouncing Christ the Lord, as many Serbs are doing today. What is that? They are trying to kill Holy Serbia. But behold!, they are killing themselves, for they cannot kill Holy Serbia, they cannot kill Christ’s immortals.
They cannot kill the Holy King Lazar, St. Sava, St. Simeon the Myrrh-Giving and countless Serb saints and countless knights and heroes who were laying their lives for the Honorable Cross and the Golden Freedom through centuries and ages.. They cannot execute the souls of those 700,000 Serbs who gave their souls, their lives, killed for Orthodox faith in a then-Croat state. It is an eternal Holy Serbia, indestructible, imperishable Holy Serbia no one can kill or harm her, because it is all Christ’s. And who will destroy the resurrected Lord Christ, who will kill Him?
The true Serb always stands by the Savior of his, Lord Christ, always firmly in Holy Serbia, defending its justice, living by its justice, defending its truth, living by that truth. There is no death that can separate him from them, no devil, nor the legions of devils, nor the armies of devils who can separate such Serb, Christ’s Serb, St. Sava Serb, from Holy Serbia. In it, he is among the Serb saints, those immortal victors on all the battlefields, those immortal heroes whom no death can harm.
We too, the present-day Serbs, should scrutinize ourselves, each to examine himself. Where am I? Am I in Holy Serbia? Am I really living by the live and holy Kosovo Gospel, St. Sava Gospel? Is Christ all and everything to me in this world? Is Christ my most important care in this world? Is Christ the only true God for me in this world, or am I slowly detaching from Him, running away from Him, and joining the false gods of this world, false teachings, false erudition? Each should examine himself.
Vidovdan 1389, Kosovo Battle
The verification is very easy both for me and you. If you are a true Serb, if the St. Sava Serbian heart beats in you, you are all by the Lord Christ’s side, all by His truth in this and that world. You are all by the Holy King Lazar, you are all in Kosovo, dying for the Honorable Cross and the Golden Freedom. Kosovo has been and had gone by, but Kosovo is today too.
There are such Serbs in the ground and above.
May the Kind Lord sanctify all the Serb hearts on earth today. May the Holy King, by his mercy, with all the Serb saints beseech the Lord to baptize again many de-baptized Serbian souls. May he bring them to Lord Christ, to Holy Serbia, Heavenly Serbia. For only Holy Serbia is the glory of each Serb in all the ages and times, especially ours.
Our time is the time when faith is tested. The Serbs are either standing in the true faith, St. Sava faith, or perishing as they are falling away from it — there is no third way. That is why we, the present-day Serbs, can overcome all the deaths, all the Christ-fighting of this world, all the false teachings only when guided and lead by the Holy King and Czar Lazar and the Holy Gospel of St. Sava, coming out as immortal victors from this world, into the eternal Heavenly Serbia, there! among all the righteous and holy Serbs, to serve Lord Christ and the Holy Heavenly Serbia as we have served in the holy earthly Serbia.
Amen.
Dr. Branko Terzic
Dr. Branko Terzic, U.S. Energy Expert and Kum to His Royal Highness Prince Aleksandar of Serbia, and officially Royal Adjutant, was kind enough to send (12/28/09) this WWI poem from ENGLAND, entitled KOSOVO DAY by Frederick William Harvey, 1888-1957
KOSOVO DAY
From this sweet nest of peace and Summer blue--England in June--a sea bird's nest indeed
Guarded of waves, and hid by the sea-weed
From envious hunter's eye, we send to you
Our flying thoughts and prayers, our treasure too,
Poor though it be to bandage wounds that bleed
For country dear beloved. There the seed
Of homely love and occupations grew
To wither in the flame of Godless might
Kindled by hands of treachery yet reeking
With blood of friends and neighbors, Serbia, thou
Has thought us careless and far off; know now
That name to us is sudden drums outspeaking
And tortured trumpets crying in the night!
Serbian History 101
PA
United States
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