A great missionary and preacher of the twentieth century, the “Serbian Chrysostom”, Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich: Serbia’s New ChrysostomWhile the mere facts of Bishop Nikolai’s life inspire awe, such a skeletal portrait does not explain his spiritual magnetism and the soul-penetrating power of his writings. These were the fruit of his life-long striving to know and to serve the Truth, which, in turn, kindled a habit of ceaseless prayer and a practiced consciousness of continually abiding in the presence of God.
“>St. Nikolai (Velimirovic) was born on December 23, 1880 in the village of Lelic into the family of ordinary peasants Dragomir and Katarina.
Icon of St. Nikolai of Zica Little Nikolai turned out to be an extremely talented child. If God gives a person creative gifts, it doesn’t matter what environment he was born in; the most important thing is his own efforts to develop the talent he has been endowed with. Seeing such diligence, the Lord will surely help him put his creative gifts into practice so that they may serve for the joy and benefit of people.
The future saint was not only a gifted, but also hardworking child. Thus, after graduating from a monastery school he continued his studies at a high school in the city of Valjevo. Then he entered the Belgrade Theological Seminary. After that he worked as a village teacher, but soon received a scholarship from the Minister of Education to continue his studies in Switzerland, at the University of Bern. There, having mastered German, he defended his thesis in this language on the subject, “Faith in the Resurrection of Christ as the Foundation of the Dogma of the Holy Apostolic Church.” Next, he went to the UK, learned English quickly and graduated from the Department of Philosophy at the University of Oxford. He defended his doctoral thesis, George “Berkeley’s Philosophy,” in Geneva in French.
In 1909 St. Nikolai took monastic vows at Rakovica Monastery near Belgrade, became a hieromonk and returned to teach at the Belgrade Theological Seminary.
St. Nikolai (Velimirovic) in his student years
In 1910, Fr. Nikolai was sent to study at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy in Russia. At a spiritual and literary evening there, Hieromonk Nikolai so impressed the teachers and students with his knowledge and preaching talent that Metropolitan Anthony (Vadkovsky) of St. Petersburg and Ladoga asked the Emperor to grant him the right to travel all over Russia for free.
During his pilgrimage to the holy sites of Russia, the saint came to love this country with all his heart, and he retained this sincere feeling for the rest of his life.
During the First World War, the Serbian Government sent the by then famous preacher Fr. Nikolai to the UK and the USA. Between 1915 and 1919 he spoke at various meetings, universities, and churches, explaining the reasons of why the Serbian people were fighting so resolutely for the unity of their Motherland. A British army commander later stated that “Father Nikolai was Serbia’s third army” fighting for the Serbian and Yugoslav national cause.
In 1920, Hieromonk Nikolai was consecrated Bishop of Ohrid. Vladyka traveled around the diocese every day, preaching and restoring churches destroyed by the war. To counter sectarian propaganda, he founded an Orthodox movement called “Bogomoljacki Pokret” (meaning “the movement of those who pray to God”), which spread throughout Serbia. This popular religious movement produced many ascetics, renewed faith among the ordinary people, and strengthened the Serbian Church.
In 1934, Bishop Nikolai was transferred to Zica Monastery. Through his efforts, many monasteries were restored, first of all, those of Zica and Studenica, which also supported Serbian Orthodoxy spiritually.
During the Second World, War Hitler ordered to “destroy the Serbian intelligentsia, to behead the Serbian Church, and above all to murder Patriarch Gavrilo Dozic, Metropolitan Petar Zimonjic of Dabar-Bosnia [now he is venerated as a hieromartyr.—Trans.], and Bishop Nikolai Velimirovic of Zica.” Vladyka Nikolai and Patriarch Gavrilo of Serbia were the only European hierarchs to end up at the Dachau death camp, but God preserved the righteous men—on May 8, 1945, They were liberated by the 36th American Infantry Division.
Patriarch Gavrilo (Dozic) After escaping the death camp, Bishop Nikolai could not return to Yugoslavia, which was already under Tito’s rule. The saint continued his activities in Europe and America, writing extensively and giving lectures. In emigration he was drawn to the Russian environment and taught at Russian theological educational institutions.
St. Nikolai spent his final days at the Russian Monastery of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk in Pennsylvania. It was there that the holy bishop fell asleep in the Lord during prayer on March 18, 1956. He was buried in the cemetery of St. Sava’s Serbian Monastery in Libertyville, Illinois. In 1991 his holy body was transferred to his native Serbia. In 2003, at a meeting of the Bishops’ Council of the Serbian Orthodox Church, St. Nikolai of Ohrid and Zica was canonized.
The words of St. Nikolai (Velimirovic)Nikolai (Velimirovic), Bishop of Ohrid and Žiča , St.
“>St. Nikolai of Zica are spiritual poetry in prose. When reading his Prayers by the Lake, you cannot help but recall the Psalms of King David, the poems of St. Gregory the Theologian, and the hymns of St. Simeon the New Theologian.
It should be said that the sermons and letters of St. Nikolai, as well as his diaries, reflect not only his contemporary life, but also the future life. Reading the excerpts below, taken from St. Nikolai’s various works, one is amazed at how close his remarks are to our time—he wrote as if looking at modern life. His diary entries were written in the Dachau concentration camp, but in them we will not find any reflection of the terrible reality surrounding Vladyka and his personal suffering. He was able to rise above the inhumane conditions of life, and his writings are imbued only with “sorrow over the moral state modern humanity is in—life without purpose and death without hope.” St. Nikolai writes especially about the apostasy and, consequently, the God-forsakenness of Europe, which had led it to such a monstrous war.
St. Nikolai’s works are notable for their poetry, imagery, and at the same time by the depth of their reflections on the essence of things, on what attitudes man should have towards God, himself, others, and nature. We can only marvel at how he manages to convey sublime theological and dogmatic truths through artistic images. After reading St. Nikolai’s writings, the dogma of the Most Holy Trinity becomes clear to everyone: “The immense sun in the firmament of heaven represents the Trinity in Unity, the Sun constituted by the inseparable unity of flame, light and heat. Every atom on earth is a trinity. The human soul, this image of the Triune God, consists of three main inseparable forces—the feelings, the mind and the will. This triplicity however does not divide the soul into three souls. The soul is one whole; its three forces constitute a unity and remain in unity. However, the world knows God as the Trinity not through images of nature, not through shadows and symbols, but through the Heavenly revelation declared by Our Lord Jesus Christ. From Him the human race learned about the parenthood of God the Father, the sonship of the Son of God and the procession of the Holy Spirit. He brought us, wandering in the darkness of night, to the eternal Divine light, and we began to see and distinguish the Three in One—the Three miracles in one Mystery, the Three Hypostases in the One Deity.”1 Or the essence of Orthodoxy in very simple words: “A faith tested both in a thunderstorm and in the clear sun, faith shameless, Orthodox and saving. Truly, this is the faith of people who bear the image of God in them. They will be called blessed on the Day of the Last Judgment of Christ” (cf. Mt. 25:34).
As we read St. Nikolai’s writings, it becomes clear that God Jesus Christ is love (cf. 1 Jn. 4:8) and the true meaning of human existence.
“Christ was not afraid of defamed people, but we are. Christ was not afraid that the vices of sinners would tarnish His virtue, but we are. His virtue was built on an indestructible rock, but ours is built on sand, so He was not afraid, but we are. Christ was in marketplaces, at crossroads with dishonored people, with rejected sinners and despised harlots, to the great temptation of the Pharisees. The Pharisees were even afraid of meeting sinners, but Christ would come to meet them and look for them. The Pharisees did not want to cross the threshold of the publican’s house, while Christ ate and drank together with tax collectors. The Pharisees were ready to stone any sinner, but Christ was ready to stop every stone thrown and save a sinner’s head. The Pharisees trampled underfoot and dragged through the mud anyone who fell in order to disgrace them even more, but Christ held out His hands to them, lifted them out of the filth and put them on their feet, saying, Arise, go thy way (Lk. 17:19). The Pharisees deemed it beneath their dignity to walk amid the common people and care about their lives, while for Christ it was His treasure. That is the difference between Christ and the Pharisees.”
“You know the words of the Lord Jesus, For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light (Mt. 11:30). Truly, faith in God is easier than disbelief. Fasting is easier than overeating, and sobriety is easier than drunkenness. Life is easier with prayer than without it, forgiveness is easier than resentment, and giving alms is easier than taking away someone else’s. To support is sweeter than to humiliate. Mutual love is more joyful than narcissism and hatred. The path of truth may seem hard, but it must be taken into account that the path of untruth is much harder.”
Relics of St. Nikolai (Velimirovic)
“When Christ comes again to judge the world, He will ask us how we have used the talents given to us. How have we used the time of our lives? Have we succumbed to the temptations of this age and sold our souls for the sweetness of earthly bitterness, or have we sacrificed everything for the sake of our souls? Therefore, fulfill the commandments of Christ every day. Thus you will cherish the days that God has given you.”
Vladyka’s reflections on contemporary people are filled with love and sadness. Sometimes it seems that, foreseeing the coming consumer society, he writes about you and me. “My brethren, what a tragedy lies in man’s fear of great heights and bottomless depths! Lowlands and shallow water are more appealing to him. The heights and depths cause him dizziness, so many deny the divinity of Christ and the existence of the devil. Man wants equality and simplicity. But once people attempt to simplify something, they complicate everything. If human beings were to create the world, they would create only cabbage beds and knolls for picnics. And they keep wondering why they should need Divine heights and infernal depths!”
“Even when he is crawling, a proud person believes he is flying, despising both people and God in his complacency. But the poor in spirit are humble, always dissatisfied with themselves, shy before people and fear God. Therefore, they are perfected and spring like a living seed from the ground until they grow to the heights of the Heavenly Kingdom, which belongs to those like them.”
Man—the crown of Creation—must love and cherish nature, which is fully dependent on his life. Therefore, “nature is a friend, not an enemy. It was created to be man’s friend and helper, not his slave or executioner. People who make nature into a slave make it an enemy and an executioner. There are still some vestiges of the former respect and mercy for nature in the Balkans. There is still a custom in the Balkans—when a peasant wants to cut down a tree, mow grass or slaughter cattle, he makes the sign of the cross and says: ‘God forgive me!’ The nations that have declared a life-and-death war on nature, invented and mercilessly used the cruel expression ‘exploitation of nature’, have brought endless troubles on themselves. For he who breaks off friendly relations with nature inevitably breaks them off with God.”
Vladyka Nikolai wrote extensively about the outward splendor and inward poverty of European life, especially when he was in Dachau. As we read his notes, it seems to us as if they had been written today: “What is Europe? It is lust and rationalism. Both are human. Human lust and human rationalism…”
Paris in the 1930s
“One of the main causes of the current discords and disasters of the European continent is double morality. One morality is applied in private life, and the other in public life. The fact that double morality does not lead to good is evidenced by the attitude of the Israeli elders towards Christ and the subsequent history of the people of Israel. While executing false witnesses among their people, the high priests themselves sought false witnesses for the trial of Christ. They would say among themselves that He supposedly sided with the Romans (cf. Jn. 11:48); but they argued before the Roman Pilate that Jesus was supposedly against the Romans and Caesar, because He had called Himself king of the Jews (cf. Jn. 19:12), adding hypocritically: We have no king but Caesar (Jn. 19:15). That is double morality. This is the political morality that Jewish politicians applied to destroy their people. Seeing all these intrigues, all these immoral Pharisaic maneuvers around Him, the Lord prophesied, Behold, your house is left unto you desolate (Matt. 23:38). Here is the fruit of political morality. Here is a terrible lesson for all the people’s leaders who tear morality in two, moving away from the popular axiom that the earth stands by the truth.”
Vladyka Nikolai loved Russia until his last breath. It was he who initiated the canonization of the martyred The Holy Royal Martyrs
“>Tsar Nicholas II and his family. St. Nikolai wrote about our holy sovereign: “The Russian Tsar and the Russian people, who went to war in order to defend Serbia, entered it unprepared, knowing full well that they were facing death. But the love the Russians have for their Serbian brothers was not afraid of death and did not retreat before it. Can we ever forget that the Russian Tsar, endangering his children and millions of his brothers, who went to his death for the sake of the Serbian people, for their salvation? How can we not acknowledge before Heaven and earth that our freedom and statehood have cost Russia more than us?” And about Russia: “Look at Russia. It is the most spacious country in the world. And it is a country of meek people. The greatest country of our age belongs to the meekest nation of the globe. Here is an obvious proof of the truth of Christ’s words: Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth (Mt. 5:5). Truly, we do not need any more obvious and clearer evidence than Orthodox Russia and the Orthodox Russian people. Endless invaders had controlled the lands that the meek people inherited.”
Vladyka Nikolai’s words about prayer remain as a testament to those living in this tough and joyless age: “Each one of you can do something to save your people and the world. If only one prayer a day, a single giving of alms, and one sigh to the Savior—let all this become a mite that He will see and not reject. The happiness of the world is built within the human soul. Peace in the world is established by the rebirth of the soul of everyone who knows God. Perform the ascetic labor that is determined by the Law of Christ, and when happy and peaceful days come, you will be able to say that each one of you has made a contribution to this.”
