The Walking Saint

While attending the Divine Liturgy at our local Serbian parish on November 15, it was announced by our priest that + Pavle, His Holiness, Archbishop of Pec, Metropolitan of Belgrade-Karlovac and Serbian Patriarch passed away. Although he was ill for years, you could feel the sense of loss among the people.

Founded by St. Sava, the Serbian Church traces its Apostolic roots to St. Andrew by its recognition in 1219, by the Church of New Rome (Constantinople). At the time, Medieval Serbia was arising as a powerful new country founded on territory that was given to migrating Slavs by the Roman Empire. Although deeply rooted in Roman culture and inheriting its Faith from the Roman (Byzantine) Empire, the establishment of a Serbian Church made it possible for the Serbs to properly embrace Orthodoxy by allowing the people to worship in their native Slavic language. This in turn enabled the Serbs to preserve this Faith through centuries of invasions and occupations by foreign enemies bent on destroying the Serbian nation.

Since then, the history of the Serbian people was a story of countless martyrs and persecution. In more recent modern history, the story has not been much different. However, after the disintegration of Yugoslavia in the 1990's began, Serbs found themselves ill prepared for what was awaiting for them. After decades of Communism, +Pavle was the spirtual counter weight to atheism and other post modern problems in Serbia. At at time when many Diaspora Serbs here in the United States were lamenting Serb losses during the 1990's and most recently Kosovo, +Pavle reminded us in one of his homilies, that more Serbs are lost to abortions than all the wars. His message was true. Only a true revival of Serbian Christianity can take Serbia into the 21st Century.

Just a few hours before the Church announced the loss of a great Patriarch, I received an email with the latest article written by Srdja Trifkovic called, "A Tale of Two Subversives Battling Christophobia in California and Serbia. The timing of his article could not be more relevant as we all discovered the next morning of the passing of the Patriarch. It is also now the beginning least officially, the process of who will fill the vacuum left behind to lead another generation of the Serbian flock.

Unfortunately the Serbian political elite are missing the boat. While they still chase the rainbows promised by European integration, Western civilization is being lost to the modern world, as the center of gravity shifts eastward towards Eurasia. The next Patriarch will have an undaunting task to lead the Serbian people spirtually. Already the acting Patriarch Amfilohije will give Serbs hope to continue in the right direction through his own wisdom and humility, but it is yet unknown as to who will assume this ancient throne after the elections. It would be a great disappointment if the next Church leader decides to follow the easy path of materialism and Euro "integration."

A friend of mine working at the Serbian Patriarchate once described to me the situation of the Patriarch who was beginning to fade. He told me it was like watching a candle when it burns to the end. The flames shoot higher just before the candle goes out. Let us hope that the next Serbian Patriarch can guide Serbs back to spirtual Salvation.