Nikolaj Velimirović

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Nikolaj Velimirović
Saint, Holy hierarch
Born January 5, 1881, Lelich, Serbia
Died March 18, 1956, Libertyville, USA
Venerated in Eastern Orthodox church
Canonized May 24, 2003 by Serbian Orthodox Church
Major shrine Celie Monastery, Serbia
Feast March 18
Attributes Vested as a bishop

Saint Nikolai Velimirovich of Ohrid and Zica or Nikolaj Velimirović (Serbian Cyrillic: Николај Велимировић) (December 23, 1880 - March 5, 1956 (Old Style); January 5, 1881 - March 18, 1956 (New Style)) was bishop of Ohrid and of Zica of the Serbian Orthodox Church, an influential theological writer and an very gifted orator, therefore also known as The New Chrysostom.[1]

He was a political emigrant after the Communist takeover of Josip Broz Tito in Yugoslavia.

He strongly supported the unity of all Orthodox churches and established particularly good relations with the Anglican and Episcopal Church.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Childhood

Nikolaj Velimirović was born in the small village of Lelić in Western Serbia, on the day of the feast of Saint Naum of Ohrid, whose monastery will later be his bishop See. He was the first of nine children to the family of pious farmers, and being very weak, he was baptised soon after his birth in the Celije monastery, where his relics are now placed. He was given the name Nikola, because Saint Nicholas was the family's patron saint.

The first lessons about God, Jesus Christ, the lives of the saints and the holy days of the Church year were provided to him by his mother, who was also regularly taking him to the Celije monastery for prayer and Holy Communion.

[edit] Education, First and Second Doctor Degree

His formal education also began in the Celije monastery, and then continued in Valjevo. Nikola applied for entrance into the Military Academy, but was refused because he didn't pass the physical exam. He was accepted in the Seminary of St. Sava in Belgrade, where he - apart from the usual subjects - was studying many significant texts of both Eastern and Western authors. He graduated in 1902 with great success.

As an excellent student, he was chosen to continue his studies in Russia or Western Europe. He chose to study in Europe, in the Old Roman Catholic Theological Faculty at the University of Berne. He received his doctorate in Theology in 1908, with the dissertation entitled Faith in the Resurrection of Christ as the Foundation of the Dogmas of the Apostolic Church. This original work was written in German and published in Switzerland in 1910, and later translated into Serbian.

His doctor's degree in philosophy was prepared at Oxford and defended in Geneva in 1909, in French. The the title was Berkeley's Philosophy.

[edit] Monastic life

In the autumn of 1909, Nikola returned home and became seriously ill with dysentery. He decided to become a monk and devote his life to God if he stayed alive.

At the end of 1909 his health got better and he was tonsured a monk, receiving the name Nikolaj. He was soon ordained a hieromonk and then elevated to the rank of Archimandrite.

[edit] Studies in Russia

Archimandrite Nikolaj was chosen a professor in the Seminary of St. Sava in Belgrade. It was decided that he needed to accomplish Orthodox studies before becoming a teacher, and was therefore sent to Russia.

After his return to Belgrade, he was appointed a professor in the Seminary, teaching philosophy, logic, history and foreign languages. One of his students was in Belgrade was Justin Popović.

[edit] Missions during World War I

As the first world war started, Nikolaj was sent in an official diplomatic mission to England in order to obtain support from the British government for the Serbian kingdom. His success was such, that not only he fulfilled the mission, but was also awarded a Doctorate of Divinity honoris causa from the University of Cambridge.

In 1915 he continued his mission to the United States where he held numerous lectures, fighting for the union of the Serbs and South Slavic peoples. This mission was also successful and America sent over 20,000 volunteers to Europe, most of whom fought on the Salonika Front.

In 1916 he returned to Britain. In 1919 he received another Honorary Doctorate of Divinity from the University of Glasgow. He returned to Belgrade in April 1919.

[edit] A Bishop

In 1919, Archimandrite Nikolaj was consecrated Bishop of Žiča. In 1920 he was transfered to the diocese of Ohrid and Bitola, in Macedonia.

In 1935, he reconstructed the cemetery of the fallen German soldiers from WWI in Bitola.

[edit] Detention and Imprisonment in World War II

During World War II in 1941, as soon as the German forces occupied Yugoslavia, Bishop Nikolai was arrested by the Nazis in the Monastery of Žiča, after which he was confined in the Monastery of Ljubostinja. Later he was transferred to the Monastery of Vojlovica (near Pančevo) in which he was confined together with the Serbian Patriarch, Gavrilo Dožić, until the end of 1944.

On September 15, 1944 both Patriarch Dozic and Bishop Nikolai were sent to the Dachau concentration camp, which was at that time the main concentration camp for priests arrested by the Nazis. Both Velimirovic and Dozic were held as 'special prisoners' (Ehrenhafling) imprisoned in the so-called Ehrenbunker (or Prominentenbunker) separated from the work camp area, together with high-ranking Nazi enemy officers and other prominent prisoners whose arrest has been dictated by Hitler directly.[2] In December 1944 they were transferred from Dachau to Slovenia, together with Milan Nedic, the Serbian collaborationist PM, and German general Hermann Neubacher, the first Nazi mayor of Vienna (1938-1939),[citation needed] as the Nazis attempted to make use of Patriarch German's and Nikolai's authority among the Serbs in order to gain allies in the anti-partisan movements.

Later, Patriarch Dozic and Bishop Nikolai were moved to Austria, and were finally liberated by the US 36th Infantry Division in Tyrol in 1945. Afterwards, they both went to England, where they separated: Patriarch Gavrilo returned to Yugoslavia, while Nikolai emigrated to the United States.

Contrary to claims of torture and abuse at the camp, Patriarch Dozic testified himself that both he and Velimirovic were treated normally.[3]

[edit] Immigration and Last Years

After the war he never returned to the Communist Yugoslavia, but after spending some time in Europe, he finally immigrated as a refugee to the United States in 1946.

There, in spite of his health problems, he continued his missionary work, for which he is considered An Apostle and Missionary of the New Continent (quote by Fr. Alexandar Schmemmann), and has also been enlisted as an American Saint[4] and included on the icons and frescoes All American Saints.[5][6]

He taught at several Orthodox Christian seminaries such as St. Sava's Seminary in Libertyville, Illinois, Saint Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary and Monastery in South Canaan, Pennsylvania St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary now in Crestwood, New York (associated with Columbia University).

In June 1946, he was awarded for his an honorary Doctorate of Sacred Theology from Columbia University for "demonstrated compassion, holiness and great spiritual strength".

He was elected elected a dean and rector of the St. Tikhons Seminary where he spent the last years of his life as an example in humility being an elder to the students and monastics at St. Tikhons Monastery.

He died on March 18, 1956, while in prayer before the Liturgy.

[edit] Canonisation

On May 19, 2003, the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church recognized Bishop Nikolai (Velimirović) of Ohrid and Zicha as a saint and decided to include him into the calendar of saints of Holy Orthodox Church (March 18 and May 13).

[edit] Controversies
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[edit] Anti-semitism

Some of Velimirovićs writings are viewed as anti-semitic.[7][8] He has been criticized for his writings in the book "Through the Prison Window", written while he was a prisoner in the Dachau concentration camp:

“[Europe] is presently the main battlefield of the Jew and his father, the devil, against the heavenly Father and his only begotten Son. […] [Jews] first need to become legally equal with Christians in order to repress Christianity next, turn Christians into faithless, and step on their necks. All the modern European slogans have been made up by Jews, the crucifiers of Christ: democracy, strikes, socialism, atheism, tolerance of all faiths, pacifism, universal revolution, capitalism and communism… All of these are invention of the Jews and their father , the Devil.[9]

Similar, although less violent remarks can be found in New Speeches under the Mountain[10], The Ohrid Prologue[11] or Indian Letters[12].[13]

In his "Through the Prison Window", he was puzzled why the Europeans showed so much tolerance to the Jews and could not see through their "ploys". He also criticized European scientific achievements in the field of particle physics for being anti-Chrtistian and possibly introduced by Jews. Further, he criticized the "mania for cleanliness" as being introduced by the Jews.[14]

Despite the Anti-Semitism accusations, it is recorded that he protected and helped escape from Nazi-occupied Serbia one Jewish family. Ela Trifunovic, born Neuheus, wrote to the Serbian Orthodox Church in 2001, claiming that she had spent 18 months hiding in Ljubostinja monastery where she was smuggled by Velimirovic, guarded and later helped move on with false papers.[15]

[edit] Velimirovic and Hitler

Adolf Hitler decorated Nikolaj Velimirovic in 1935 for his contributions to the restoration of German military cemetery in Bitola in 1926.[16] Contrary to some claims that the order was returned in protest at German aggression in 1941,[17] some of Velimirovic's supporters mentioned it as a way of pacifying Germans after Velimirovic's arrest.

In a treatise on Saint Sava in 1935, he supported Hitler's treatment of German national church[18] and is quoted as saying:

However, a due respect is to be to the current German Leader, who being a simple craftsman and a man from the people, realized that nationalism without faith is an anomaly, a cold and insecure mechanism. And so, in the XX century, he came to the idea of Saint Sava, and as a layman undertook among his people that most important work, befitting a saint, a genius and a hero. And for us that work has been accomplished by Saint Sava, the first among the saints, the first among the geniuses and the first among the heroes in our history. He accomplished it perfectly, he accomplished it without fight and without blood, and he accomplished it not yesterday or the day before, but 700 years ago. [19]

[edit] Velimirovic and Ljotic

Velimirovic had high opinion of Dimitrije Ljotic, a Serbian right-wing politician and German collaborationist.[20] In an interview given in the United States in 1953, Velimirovic claimed that he was the spiritual gray eminence behind the nationalist and collaborating extreme-right Zbor organization.[21] The military arm of that organization (SDK - Srpski Dobrovoljacki Korpus - Serbian Volunteers' Corps) was fighting against both Partisans and Chetniks in WWII and was responsible for numerous civilian executions in Serbia of both Serbs and other nationals (Jews, Roma, etc.) When the leader of Zbor, Dimitrije Ljotic, got arrested in 1940 by old Yuogoslav government, Velimirovic wrote a letter to the PM, Dragisa Cvetkovic, protesting this.[22] Velimirovic attended Ljotic's funeral in 1945 and spoke very positively of him even though it was already known that Ljotic was collaborating with the Germans. He spoke of Ljotic as of "ideologue of Serbian nationalism".[23]

[edit] Velimirovic and Germans

In spite of accusations of collaboration leveled during Communist times, some of Velimirovic's actions and writings were directed against the Germans who got suspicious of him when he supported the coup in April 1941.[24] They suspected him of collaborating with the Chetniks and formally arrested him and kept him first in Ljubostinja Monastery and then in 1944 in Dachau concentration camp. In Dachau, he was imprisoned in Ehrenbunker, together with other clergy and high-ranking Nazi enemy officers, and was allowed to wear his own religious clothes, having access to officer's canteen. It is claimed that he was never tortured and had access to officer's medical services. Contrary to the reports that Velimirovic was liberated when American 36th American division reached Dachau, both he and Patriarch Dozic were actually released in December 1944, having spent three months in the camp.[25]

[edit] Literary Criticism

Velimirovic is universally recognised and affirmed among Orthodox theologians.

Writers often point out that part of his success lies in his high education and ability to write well and his understanding of European culture.[26]

He is viewed as less original by non-theological writers. Literary critic Milan Bogdanovic claims that everything Velimirovic wrote after his Ohrid years did nothing more than paraphrase orthodox canon and dogma. Bogdanovic views him as a conservative who glorifies church as an institution and its ceremony.[27] Others have noted that Velimirovic brought little novelty into orthodox thought.[28]

[edit] Partial bibliography

[edit] References

  1. ^ Life of St. Nikolai Velimirovich, The New Chrysostom, Bishop of Ochrid and Zhicha
  2. ^ Leisner, Karl "Priesterweihe und Primiz im KZ Dachau", LIT Verlag Berlin-Hamburg-Münster, 2004, ISBN 3825872777, 9783825872779, page 183
  3. ^ Glasnik Pravoslavne Crkve, July 1946, pages 66 and 67. Also in Dožić G., Memoari patrijarha srpskog Gavrila (Beograd: Sfairos 1990), entries for December 1944.
  4. ^ Orthodox Wiki - List of American Saints
  5. ^ All American Saints Icon
  6. ^ All Saints of North America
  7. ^ Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia, Report on Antisemitism (Belgrade, 2001); Sekelj, L., "Antisemitism and Jewish Identity in Serbia" in Analysis of Current Trends in Antisemitism (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1997), acta no. 12; Byford, J., "From ‘‘traitor’’ to ‘‘saint’’ in public memory: the case of Serbian Bishop Nikolaj Velimirovic´", Analysis of Current Trends in Antisemitism (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2004), acta no. 22
  8. ^ Kostic, S., ”Sporno slovo u crkvenom kalendaru”, Vreme, No. 647 of 29 May 2003, available here [1]; David, F. in “Puzeci i otvoreni antisemitizam”, B92, 24. March 2005, available here [2]; Lebl, A., “Antisemitizam u Srbiji”, (2007) Hereticus, Vol. 2, available here [3]; Sejdinovic, N., “Antisemitizam u Srbiji: od Vozda, preko Nikolaja, do Grafita”, 26 March 2005, available here [4]; Helsinski odbor za ljudska prava, “Antisemitizam, posledica velikodrzavnog projekta”, available here [5]; List Danas, 13. April 2005, “Kanonizacija "proroka" antisemitizma”, available here [6]; Samardzic, P, “Episkop Nikolaj i Novi zavet o Jevrejima” (Hriscanska misao, Beograd 2004); Lazovic, K, “Antisemitizm as a Contest of the Other”, available here [7]; Tomanic, M, “Srpska crkva u ratu i ratovi u njoj”, (Belgrade 2001), p. 44
  9. ^ Chapter LXXVII, Bishop Nikolaj Velimirovic: Addresses to the Serbian People–Through the Prison Window. Himmelsthur, Germany: Serbian Orthodox Eparchy for Western Europe, 1985, pp. 161-162). See also Biling, M., "The emergence of antisemitic conspiracy theories in Yugoslavia during the war with NATO", Sociology (XLVII No 4/2005), p. 307 et al.”
  10. ^ Velimirovic, N, Selected Works, Vol. 6, Part I (Glas Crkve, Valjevo 1996), especially Chapter "Devojka Ispod Zakona". Electronic edition here: [8]
  11. ^ Velimirovic, N, Complete Works, Vol. 7 (Srpska Pravoslavna Eparhija Zapadnoevropska 1976), Section "`Beseda", available here: [9]
  12. ^ , Velimirovic, N, Indian Letters (Janus, Belgrade 2001), especially letters 3, 6, 9, 20, 44, 45, 53, electronic edition here: [10]
  13. ^ Byford, J. (2006). 'Teorija Zevere: Srbija protiv ‘novog svetskog poretka’. [Conspiracy theory: Serbia vs. the New World Order]. Belgrade: BG Centar, chapter on "Ratne godine u zatočeništvu",p. 78; Byford, J, "Potiskivanje i poricanje antisemtizma", Helsinski odbor za ljudska prava, Beograd, Ogledi, Br. 6, p.31.; Byford, J., "From ‘‘traitor’’ to ‘‘saint’’ in public memory: the case of Serbian Bishop Nikolaj Velimirovic´", Analysis of Current Trends in Antisemitism (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2004), acta no. 22, p. 6
  14. ^ (Bishop Nikolaj Velimirovic: Addresses to the Serbian People--Through the Prison Window. Himmelsthur, Germany: Serbian Orthodox Eparchy for Western Europe, 1985, pp. 161-162).
  15. ^ Свети Владика Николај Охридски и Жички, (Holy Bishop Nikolaj of Ohrid and Zica)(Zica Monastery, Kraljevo 2003), p. 179
  16. ^ Byford, J, "Denial and Repression of Antisemitism: Post-communist Remembrance of the Serbian Bishop Nikolaj Velimirovic" (CEU Press, 2008), p. 47.
  17. ^ See letter 'Poveli ste se za mišljenjem Filipa Koena' in Danas, 27 July 2002
  18. ^ Radic, R. Drzava i verske zajednice 1945-1970 (Institut za noviju istoriju Srbije; Beegrad 1970), p. 80
  19. ^ See "Nationalism of Saint Sava", in Collected Works of Nikolaj Velimirovic (Vladimir Maksimovic: Belgrade 1996), page 36.
  20. ^ Subotic, D., Episkop Nikolaj i Pravoslavni Bogomoljacki Pokret (Nova Iskra, beograd 1996), p. 195 et al. Also Byford, J, "Potiskivanje i poricanje antisemtizma", Helsinski odbor za ljudska prava, Beograd, Ogledi, Br. 6, p. 33 and Martic, M., 1980, "Dimitrije Ljotic and the Yugoslav National Movement Zbor, 1935-1945" in "East European Quarterly," Vol. 16, No. 2, pp. 219-239.
  21. ^ Popov, N. (1993) Srpski populizam od marginalne do dominantne pojave. (Serbian populism from a marginal to a dominant phenomenon). Vreme 133:1–35. More on Velimirovic and Ljotic also in Cohen, P., Riesman, D, Serbia's Secret War: Propaganda and the Deceit of History (Texas A&M University Press 1997), Chapter I, page 21 (also note 95), page 26, page 59
  22. ^ Janković, M., Vladika Nikolaj: život, misao i delo, (Bishop Nikolaj: his life, thought and work). 3 vols. (Valjevo: Eparhija Šabačko–Valjevska 2002)
  23. ^ Kostić, B. (1991). Za Istoriju Naših Dana: Odlomci iz zapisa za vreme okupacije (For the history of our days: extracts from a diary at the time of the occupation). Beograd: Nova Iskra and Subotić, D. (1993). Pravoslavlje između Istoka i Zapada u bogoslovnoj misli Nikolaja Velimirovića i Justina Popovića [Orthodoxy between East and West in the religious thought of Nikolaj Velimirović and Justin Popović]. In Čovek i Crkva u Vrtlogu Krize: Šta nam nudi pravoslavlje danas? [Man and Church in the vortex of crisis: What can Orthodoxy offer us today?], ed. G. Živković. Valjevo: Glas Crkve.
  24. ^ Jevtic, A, "Kosovska misao i opredeljenje Episkopa Nikolaja", Glas crkve, 1988, No. 3, p. 24
  25. ^ "Sveštenici u koncentracionom logoru Dahau", Glasnik Srpske pravoslavne crkve - Serbian Orthodox Church Official Gazette, volume XXXVII, July 1946, p. 66-67. See also Serbia's Secret War: Propaganda and the Deceit of History (Texas A&M University Press 1997), p. 58-60, 105-107
  26. ^ Radvovic, A. "Bogocovjecanski etos Valdike Nikolaja" in Jevtic, A., Sveti Valdika Nikolaj Ohridski i Zicki (Kraljevo, Zica 2003)
  27. ^ Bogdanovic, M, Knjizevene Kritike I (Beograd 1931), p. 78.
  28. ^ Djordjevic, M, "Povratak propovednika", Republika No. 143-144, July 1996

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