Spoken at Vidovdan Liturgy, at Holy Trinity East Brunswick church, Melbourne, 28 June 2020.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen.
God help us, Serbian kin,
All of us, who were able to come to this holy temple, who are helpers here; and all of us, facing our Patron icons, in front of our candlelights, in our homes due to this evil in the world1 - God help us!
It is always a great responsibility and great challenge for the priest on this day; a day that a certain Bishop compared thus: that the Serbs have two Good Fridays - one before the Passion of the Christ, and another is Vidovdan.
We are the descendants of all the Kosovo martyrs, who sacrificed themselves for the Cross of Honour and Freedom Golden. These are our grand-grand fathers. The Kingdom of Heaven, chosen by Knights of the Cross, our ancestors and forefathers, is giving strength to us today, gathered in our St Sava temples, and in our homes in front of our Patron Saints icons.
Remembering them today, brothers and sisters; let us receive them in our hearts, in our prayers, as we are the body of that Body, and we are the bones of the Bones of Kosovo Martyrs, and we keep that spirit in ourselves - the spirit of Kosovo Heroes and Martyrs to this very day.
Our ancestors have seen Kosovo as the mountain from which they drank the clear, life-giving water. With that water, they washed their wounds, and swept their tears, and left the water as a legacy to us.
Our ancestors endured because they watered their souls with the spirit of Kosovo and St Sava. Hence, brothers and sisters, let us look up to Milosh2, and Lazar3.
The Serbian history recorded the names of the traitors too. In a deciding moment, they revealed themselves as cunning foxes. The people remember the names of Vuk Brankovich4, and Vukan5, and Vuyica6… and all of them bear the name Vuk, somehow. God forbid that the holder of that surname7 today betrays us too.
I don’t believe there are deliberate traitors among Serbian kin today. But I’m afraid there are those who are conscienceless.
They are those who want to renounce, to cut the string of the Kosovo Battle and Kosovo Idea - but that string and that vein connects us with the Kingdom of Heaven. Those who tear the Kosovo Book and trample the Kosovo Covenant. Those who lack the fear of God, who divide people, so they presumably distinguish themselves as judges, for vain glory and rotten gains.
Let us not be as such, brothers and sisters. Instead of self-idolatry, let us have love toward our Serbian kin, toward Serbian fatherland; so the Holy Cross is not too heavy a burden, and freedom remains dearer and more important than all the gold and silver.
Let our schools and education of our descendants be in the spirit of Kosovo, of Lazar, of Milosh. Let our beauty and greatness be, brothers and sisters, in our modesty. Many will be among the last, but the last one at Lazar’s feast was Milosh; and today, brothers and sisters, he is the first, at Feast in Kingdom of Heaven.
Grant us God to be with him, and by his side, on the right; amen, so grant us God.
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Churches are currently closed in Australia for public attendance. ↩︎
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Milosh Obilich, the legendary Serbian knight who slayed Sultan Murad during Battle of Kosovo. ↩︎
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Tsar Lazar, the Serbian ruler who perished in the Battle of Kosovo. ↩︎
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Vuk Brankovich, the Serbian nobleman accused of betraying Lazar by withdrawing his forces. ↩︎
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Vukan, Serbian Prince, who converted to Catholicism and accepted Hungarian principality in order to become king, overthrowing his brother Stephan the First-Crowned. ↩︎
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Vuyica Vulichevich, 19th century Serbian commander, who betrayed and killed Karadjordje, the Leader of First Serbian uprising against the Turks. ↩︎
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Potential reference to Aleksandar Vuchich, current Serbian President, who has a history of ambiguous statements about Kosovo significance for Serbian identity. ↩︎