Liturgies in the courtyard of the Gracanica Monastery and a memorial service for the „Fallen Kosovo heroes“ at Gazimestan marked Vidovdan today in Kosovo, commemorating the 636th anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo. The memorial service was led by several Serbian Orthodox bishops together with clergy of the Raška-Prizren Diocese.
Addressing the gathered faithful from Kosovo, central Serbia, the region, and beyond, Bishop Jovan of Slavonia emphasized the deep spiritual meaning of Gazimestan:
“Here we are — hearing the words of prayer, speaking of these Serbian military leaders, soldiers, and officers who now rest in the embrace of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob… This is our Mount of the Temple, this is the covenant shrine of our people,” he said.
Reflecting on Serbia’s spiritual struggles in the modern era, he reminded the audience of a period when, as he described, the Serbian people had abandoned their true faith:
“For 50 years we renounced the true God. For 50 years we bowed to idols. For 50 years we destroyed our own people. But we are a people who, like King David, return to God,” the bishop declared.
He drew parallels between the Kosovo epic and the Biblical heritage:
“What happened here? Just as Abraham saw God, as Jacob saw angels, so on this day Tsar Lazar saw the holy prophet Elijah, as the folk song says — ‘a falcon flew from the holy places, from Jerusalem, but it was not a falcon, it was the holy prophet Elijah,’ who brought him the book asking whether he would choose the heavenly or the earthly kingdom. And he chose, like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the true God — here, at this place where we would build our shrine, our Mount of the Temple.”
He warned that those who reject this “Mount of the Temple” will ultimately vanish:
“They disappear, just as so many of our people throughout history have disappeared when we were divided into those who believe in the holy places — Gračanica and Dečani — and those who do not. When we are divided, we perish.”
A stark message on Ukraine
Bishop Jovan also turned to the war in Ukraine, warning of the terrible price of „brother-against-brother“ conflict and spiritual division:
“Look at the terrible division and slaughter in Ukraine,” he said, blaming both communism and what he described as forces “at the gates of the Kremlin” for sowing spiritual destruction.
“Ukraine was not divided because one group followed one church and another group another church, nor because of which patriarch or which metropolitan. Ukraine was divided by the communists — those who believed in no one, nothing, no faith, only in evil itself and the father of every evil. They sowed division, belief in a false god who still lies at the gates of the Kremlin with his messengers. That is where this evil began. And look today, brothers — the most beautiful and at the same time the most terrifying image I have seen is two soldiers, one Russian, one Ukrainian, both wounded and on the brink of death, embracing one another and seeing Christ appearing to them. That is the image of our times, brothers and sisters.”
He continued:
“There can be no victory banners in a fratricidal war, no triumph where one Christian kills another.”
This, he concluded, should be a warning to Serbs as well:
“Do not forget what Prince Lazar did at the moment when the lords broke apart the empire. He stood with the Mount of the Temple, with the holy places, and thus was able to gather the knights and the entire people and lay down the covenant that still holds us together to this day. Whoever does not respect this covenant — he is lost, with no past, no present, and no future. But whoever respects it… may there be blessing forever, amen,” the bishop said.
Read more:
17 Detained During Vidovdan Commemorations in Kosovo
Vidovdan: Pristina warns of possible incidents, Belgrade sees threats; EU calls for restraint
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