Church Slava with Prizren Seminarians at Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Fair Oaks, Ca

By the grace of God and the dedication of clergy and parishioners, the celebration of our Church Slava was remarkable! From vespers and the blessing of the five loaves on Saturday evening to the lenten luncheon on Sunday afternoon, we were able to participate in marvelous spiritual and cultural experiences.

We thank His Grace Bishop Maxim for his guidance, prayers, beautiful singing and chanting during vespers and the Heirarchical Divine Liturgy. His sermon on the Gospel reading Matthew 21: 33-42, the parable of the landowner and his vineyard, taught us to be grateful for the gifts of the Lord and to watch-over our liturgical and pastoral “vineyards.”

Serving with Bishop Maxim were Proto Dane Popovic, Proto William Weir, Deacon Dragan Stojanovich, altar servers Ethan and other young men and boys of our parish. As he approached the church on Sunday, Bishop Maxim was greeted with smiles and flowers by Sofia, Milena, Maya, Mariam, Maria, Sophia, Olivia and Sanja, girls from our parish that he in turn blessed.

Most remarkable during the church services were the liturgical responses sung and chanted by our dear special guests, seminary students from the Prizren Seminary in Kosovo and their teacher and mentor, Professor of Bogoslovija, Mr. Dejan Ristic. Our own choir, directed by Ms. Gorjana Zekic, joined in the singing of hymns and responses.

In addition to the Divine Liturgy, a pomen was served to remember parishioners and friends who have fallen asleep in the Lord. Our dedicated church steward, KSS and choir member Biserka Delich and her son Milan Delich were Kumovi for the Slava. Carrying the Slavski kolac and zito, they led the Litija procession three times around the outside of the church.

Many thanks to those who performed during the celebration, including Jovan Bosanac who played “Tamo Daleko” on the piano, and especially to seminarians Milan Kastic, Dimitrije Nikolic, Marko Strikovic and Prof. Ristic.

During Saturday dinner, prepared by Andja Cvjetkovic, Prof. Ristic told of the history of Prizren Seminary (“Bogoslovija”.) Founded in 1871, three years from now will be its 150th anniversary. Five Serbian Orthodox patriarchs studied there including current Patriarch Irinej. Our Proto Dane attended in 1975, 76 and 77.

But in 1991, the school was moved to the city of Nis, because of the war in Kosovo. In March 2004, fanatics burned the school and everything in Prizren that was Serbian. Of the town’s 10,000 Serb residents, all but one man fled. In 2011, the Assembly of Bishops gave Bishop Teodosije permission to re-open the school, which is now at capacity for students and workers. Professor Ristic, however, described living at the Bogoslovija like being in a ghetto, surrounded by those who would destroy it, and with little protection. Amazingly, the philosophy at the school is to be happy and positive, as was

demonstrated by the concert of traditional music of Kosovo our guests sang and played for us during the banquet on Sunday.

In our “vineyard,” we are grateful to those volunteers who cleaned our church, to Luba Karnaookh who made it sparkle with flowers, blue flounces and ribbons. She also made and distributed corsages to surprised and delighted parishioners. Many thanks to all those who organized the well-attended banquet, prepared and served our lenten dinner and desserts. We look forward to our Krsna Slava next year for which Ratko and Snezana Omcikus and family will serve as our kumovi.