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The Heavenly Kingdom in Serbia’s Historic Destiny The Heavenly Kingdom in Serbia’s Historic Destiny Bishop Atanasije Jevtić he Serbian people began to formulate their spiritual This preference for spiritual values became an insepa- identity during the era of the Holy Brothers Cyril and rable part of the Serbian national soul, as well as its life- Methodius (9th century), and their five disciples who blood in the early stages of its history. The first evidence of Tfollowed (10th century). They are considered the first bap- this appeared among the Serbian saints, who through their tizers and enlighteners of the Serbs, as well as the other asceticism, virtues, and suffering were constructing a spir- Slavs. The fruit of their work, harvested for some two cen- itual ladder to the Kingdom of Heaven for their people and turies from Byzantium and Bulgaria to the Adriatic, includ- who exemplified through their lives the manner in which ed the gradual Christianization of the Serbs both nation- the world, the path of history, and man’s deeds within it ally and individually, the appearance of the first ascetics should be evaluated. and saints among the Serbs, and the first monuments of Thanks to the extraordinary personhood of Saint Sava Serbia’s spiritual and secular cultures. (1175–1235) and his labor among the Serbs, this Orthodox Starting with the time they accepted Orthodoxy and Christian choice became the inherent self-identity of the considering the subsequent history and behavior of the Serbian people. Saint Sava has been rightfully called the Serbs, it is easy to discern the basic nature of their spiritual all-Serbian “enlightener, the first enthroned, the Teacher of identity. This fundamental ethos especially manifested it- the Way which leads into the Life”—into the true, spiritual, self from the time of Saint Sava (12th–13th centuries) and was and eternal life—as expressed by Hilandar’s poet and biog- revealed in its fullness at the Battle of Kosovo in the Ser- rapher Teodosije in the troparion to Saint Sava. In addition bian spiritual and historic decision to choose the Kingdom to the opulent spiritual, cultural, and linguistic treasure of Heaven. Mention here is made not only of the complete which he left behind, Saint Sava initiated the organization inner and intangible acceptance, but also of the historically of the autocephalous Serbian Orthodox Church, which con- tangible and concrete obedience to Christ’s Gospel words: tributed in an essential way to the guardianship of Serbia’s See ye first the kingdom of Heaven and His righteous- national independence. In this way the Christian faith and ness, and all these things shall be yours as well (Mt. 6:33). Church united themselves with the people, and the truths 269 Bishop Atanasije Jevtić of the Gospel became the ethics of the nation as a whole. Heaven. It is in this spirit that Saint Sava was biographi- This development fatefully marked the course of the na- cally praised foremost for his personal acceptance of spiri- tion’s history for centuries to come. tual values and for his selfless service to God, neighbor, In the history of the Serbs religious and national toler- and nation. The same is true of the Serbian kings and rul- ance, as well as broad-mindedness, was well-known and ers, none of whom were praised in their biographies for attested to even before Saint Sava during that time in which warfare and conquest, but primarily for their piety, benefi- the Christian Church of East and West was for the most cial endowments, and especially for their zadužbinarstvo. part one. This was especially so in Duklja and the sea coast. It is important to point out that a significant character- The religious tolerance of the Serbian rulers was verified by istic of Serbian hagiographical literature is that “service to the interesting fact that their wives and mothers came from the people of one’s homeland” is always understood to equal the dynasties of other confessions. service to “God’s people,” a phrase which is not defined by The Nemanjić were builders and benefactors of church- nationality but rather by eschatology and the Bible—i.e. a es and monasteries belonging to other Christian confes- phrase which focuses on the elevation of a people into a sions, but they always remained firm in the faith of Eastern “covenantal” unit which does not strive for conquest and Orthodox Christianity. domination in the world, but rather strives for self-denial The spiritual transfiguration of Serbia in the era of Saint and lasting spiritual values. This rendered understandable Sava and the other members of the Nemanjić dynasty was the fact that in the conscience and living tradition of the multifaceted. Because of the creative genius of the Church Serbian people the ideal heroes were holy men, emulated and state, it was enriched by the inclusion of folk culture by the rulers themselves. (the patron saint’s day celebration, Christmas customs, the In this spirit Stefan Nemanja followed his son Saint Sava cult of ancestors, etc…), as well as the organizational cul- in forsaking the throne to enter a monastery. They were ture and art of society at large (communes, Church-people followed by the entire “Holy Dynasty” of Serbian rulers assemblies, communities, etc…). The highest architectural from the Houses of Nemanjić, Lazarević, and Branković, and artistic accomplishments in hundreds of Serbian as well as a multitude of Church leaders—archbishops and churches and monasteries, the biographical literature, the patriarchs, many of whom are venerated as saints and some liturgic-monastic literature, and the state constitutional of whom died as martyrs. These holy persons left the Serbs literature have made and are making Svetosavlje to be un- the legacy and historic identity of enduring allegiance to derstood as the authentic Christian experience of the Ser- Svetosavlje—the already accepted Gospel ethic of justice bian nation, or, put another way, as Orthodoxy realized in and Christian character, and the ideals of liberty and love. the historic experience, one nation as a whole. Among the All of this is corroborated by the entire Serbian folk tradi- many forces which contributed to the making of the na- tion—both written and oral—folk poetry and stories, prov- tion’s spiritual life were the Serbian hagiographies (the erbs and sayings, customs and heroic deeds, and typically Lives of Saints) of the Middle Ages. The first to pen one of selfless decisions made by individuals and their greater com- the biographies was Saint Sava, who wrote a life of his fa- munities, the whole nation, in certain critical moments of ther, Stefan Nemanja—Saint Simeon the myrrh-flower. At their history. These are the distinctive Christian and hu- the same time his brother, Stefan “the First Crowned,” also mane qualities of our people’s soul—readiness for self-de- wrote about the life of their father Nemanja. Other written nial, sacrifice, suffering, endurance, forgiveness, and im- works followed. They include the life of Saint Sava by his prisonment for the sake of justice and freedom. disciples Domentijan and Teodosije, several biographies of Another component of the Serbian spiritual identity is Serbian archbishops and kings, life stories about holy wom- zadužbinarstvo (the erection of churches and monasteries en (St. Anastasia, St. Helen of Anjou, St. Paraskeve, St. Eu- for the sake of one’s own salvation, as well as for the lasting phemia), the lives of Serbian hermits (St. Prohor, St. Peter benefit of one’s people, a beneficial endowment), which is of Koriša, Isaija of Hilandar), as well as the lives of Serbian a further indication of both the direction and the degree of martyrs (St. John Vladimir—as early as the 11th century— the people’s spiritual growth. The origins of zadužbinarstvo St. Lazar of Kosovo, the New Martyrs for Christ, etc…). In can be traced to the Serbs even before Saint Sava (the church all of these hagiographical texts, which are concurrently in Ston, built by Mihailo, king of Zeta, in the 11th century, or historical, one finds the common theme of the opting for the cave-churches of the first Serbian hermits), but it espe- spiritual freedom and ethical values which transcend the cially developed since the time of Stefan Nemanja, Saint bare historic level of this world and life in it to penetrate Sava, the other members of Nemanjić family, and their heirs metahistory and eschatology. The historic notables are both within the Church and in the state. The zadužbine portrayed in a drama with a distinct purpose, the resolu- were not only built by the Serbian rulers and archbishops, tion of which is found in the freedom to choose in self-de- but also by dukes, priests, monks, and the common people. termination. The only true choice is one which, through All of them built churches, monasteries, and other chari- personal self-denial and sacrifice, aspires to higher, ever- table institutions as their own, as well as for the nation— lasting aims—a choice which aspires to the Kingdom of they were works done for both the glory of God and for the 270 The Heavenly Kingdom in Serbia’s Historic Destiny cultural benefit of the world. Nonetheless, these works and the intent behind them outgrew history to meaningfully The Serbs did not surrender to the Ottomans point to the Heavenly Kingdom’s enduring spiritual values. in 1389, nor did they accept the status of vassals. The Serbian people’s spirit of endowment (the spirit of They instead chose to fight, since they, as a peo- zadužbinarstvo) is well-attested to by the great wealth of churches and monasteries preserved throughout the Ser- ple, had well-developed spiritual values in all bian lands.

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