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April
20,
2004
ERP KIM Newsletter
20-04-04
Devic
sisterhood returns to its burned out monastery - First Holy Liturgy served
in Devic one month after the pogrom
Devic nuns return to the ashes of their monastery -
Restoration of destroyed holy shrine begins - First Holy Liturgy served in
Devic - Princess Linda Karadjordjevic visits Kosovo's destroyed holy
shrines, takes Holy Communion with Devic sisterhood during
liturgy
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Devic nuns begin restoration of their destroyed holy
shrine - Mother Agripina
busily at work clearing the ruins
(Click on photo to
enlarge) | | ERP KIM Info Service
Gracanica-Devic, April 20,
2004
ERP KIM Info Service
correspondent Fr. Jezekilj Stakic visited the monastery of Devic on
Saturday, April 17, and together with photo reporters from "Glas Juga"
(Voice of the South) took photos to record the beginning of the
restoration of the monastery of Devic. With the photographs by "Glas Juga"
and the ERP KIM Info Service we are including an article published in
Belgrade daily "Politika" on April 17, 2004 which records in words the
moving story of the courage of the Devic nuns who, for the second time in
the past 100 years, have started to rebuild the monastery on its ruins.
Some of the older nuns were young novices after World War II when they
worked with the late Abbess Paraskeva on the restoration of their holy
shrine, burned down in 1941 by Albanian Balists. The Devic sisters
returned to their torched monastery on April 16, almost one month after
their exile subsequent to the destruction of the shrine by Kosovo Albanian
mob.
First liturgy on the ashes of Devic
Today on the ashes of the monastery
of Devic the first Holy Liturgy was served by Fr. Petar Ulemek, the abbot
of the monastery of Djurdjevi Stupovi near Novi Pazar, and Fr. Radivoje
Panic, the parish priest of the church of St. Aleksander Nevsky in
Belgrade, who for many years has been the serving priest of this
monastery.
ERP KIM Info Service, April
18, 2004
Today on the ashes of the monastery of Devic
the first Holy Liturgy was served by Fr. Petar Ulemek, the abbot of the
monastery of Djurdjevi Stupovi near Novi Pazar, and Fr. Radivoje Panic,
the parish priest of the church of St. Aleksander Nevsky in Belgrade, who
for many years has been the serving priest of this monastery. Fr. Radivoje
and Mother Makarija of Sokolica Monastery brought French KFOR to Devic in
June 1999 and saved the Devic sisterhood and hieromonk Seraphim, who were
being held prisoner by members of the Kosovo Liberation
Army.
In addition to the Devic sisterhood Holy Liturgy was
also attended by the nuns of the Pec Patriarchate and HRH Princess Linda
Karadjordjevic, who has recently been touring the ashes of destroyed
Orthodox shrines and expressing her great solidarity with the suffering
people. Princess Linda is the first member of the Karadjordjevic family to
visit Kosovo and Metohija after last month's pogrom and offer her support
and encouragement. In the last few days, Princess Linda has visited
Decani, the Pec Patriarchate, Gorazdevac, Prizren, Gracanica as well as
other destroyed Serbian churches and villages, calling on the people to be
courageous and determined in their desire to remain in their centuries-old
homes.
This noble gesture by the brave princess, who in previous
wars visited the victims of war with her late husband, HRH Prince
Tomislav, to deliver humanitarian aid, will be remembered in the hearts of
the Serbs of Kosovo and Metohija.
ERP KIM Info Service report
on the destruction of the monastery of Devic during the March pogrom: http://www.kosovo.com/devic_reporte.html
Photo gallery on the
destruction of Devic monastery in March pogrom:
http://www.kosovo.com/pogrom_march/devic1/page_01.htm
About the Devic monastry prior to its
destruction:
http://www.kosovo.com/edevic.html
Politika
daily, Belgrade
April 17, 2004
AFTER ALMOST
ONE MONTH IN EXILE
Sisterhood returned to Devic
Four more nuns expected to join them from Sokolica Monastery -
Restoration of the 15th century holy shrine begins
Accompanied
by a strong escort of French KFOR troops, four nuns from the monastery of
Devic were returned yesterday to the ashes of an Orthodox holy shrine
built in the 15th century which was completely destroyed during the
rioting of Albanian terrorists and then looted until March 21. The nuns of
this sisterhood who returned yesterday will be housed in two portable
containers received as part of a humanitarian shipment. Due to the fact
that connections with this monastery, located in the municipality of
Srbica, are very difficult and impossible, workers of the Belgrade
institute for the protection of cultural monuments have already begun
working on restoring this Orthodox shrine.
The eight nuns managed to
evacuate following the Albanian attack on March 17 with the help of French
KFOR and were subsequently lodged in the monastery of Sokolica near
Zvecan, whose sisterhood refused to leave their monastery despite direct
danger from Albanian extremists.
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Elderly
nuns of Devic before the ruins of their holy shrines
whose
walls have been covered with KLA
graffiti | |
March
rampage
According to Abbess Makarija from the monastery of
Sokolica, telephone service with the sisterhood of the monastery of Devic
is interrupted; there are still four more nuns in the monastery of
Sokolica waiting for French KFOR to transport them to Devic.
We
remind that the terrorists completely destroyed and set fire to the
monastery, as well as the church of the Dormition of the Theotokos (Mother
of God), the chapel of St. Joanikije (Ioannichus) and all the residence
quarters. The tomb of St. Joanikije was desecrated; it was opened by force
and filled with garbage.
This is only one of 30
monasteries and churches that have been destroyed during the March
rampage by Albanian terrorists. The monastery of Devic was the last
remaining Serbian holy site out of 13 formerly in the region of Drenica.
All of the others were destroyed in the period since 1999 and the arrival
of KFOR and the UN mission in Kosovo.
Tradition states that the
monastery of Devic was built in the location of a hollow beech tree where
Joanikije of Devic, the saint to whom this holy shrine is dedicated, lived
in his ascetic labors. He built the church dedicated to the Dormition of
the Most Holy Theotokos. Later the church, as well as the other monastery
buildings, were restored by Despot Djuradj Brankovic out of gratitude
after he cured his seriously ill daughter in the monastery. The monastery
was destroyed during the Turkish occupation and remained desolate until
the restoration of the Pec Patriarchate in 1557.
The monastery of
Devic suffered its greatest destruction at the beginning of World War II.
Nevertheless, the nuns continue to maintain it; the greatest thanks go to
Abbess Paraskeva who worked for 30 years on the restoration of this
Orthodox holy shrine.
However, in 1999 Albanian extremists again
attack the monastery, looting it, breaking the cover on the sacrophagus of
St. Joanikije and mutilating the icons by inscribing on them the acronym
UCK (KLA). Upon the departure of the Serbian Army and police the same
year, the nuns of Devic left the holy shrine. Soon afterward members of
French KFOR assumed control of the monastery, and the nuns returned.
However, attacks and rampaging by Albanian terrorists from the
municipality of Srbica were continuous. On several occasions the Albanian
extremists looted and attacked the nuns, the French KFOR troops barely
managed to defend them from such attacks.
The monastery complex includes
about 100 hectares of meadows and forests. In one of the attacks and break
ins into the monastery estate, the Albanians first killed all the
watchdogs on the property and then looted it, taking all the agricultural
machinery. They also stole the livestock from the barn on that
occasion.
Return to the
ashes of Devic
http://www.kosovo.com/povratnici/devic/page_01.htm
Photos: Glas Juga and ERP KIM Info Service (Click on any photo to
enlarge)
The photographs show the ashes of the monastery of
Devic which the Albanians looted and set on fire on March 17-18,
2004 after KFOR troops forced the sisterhood to evacuate. We also
see pictures of the sisterhood as they begin to clear the ruins,
photos of the portable container and tent where they are lodged and
the ruins of the residence quarters and church. In the end, as a
sign of hope, we see flowers on the graves of nuns where Albanian
vandals have broken all the crosses.
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Miracle-working waters
According to
tradition the spring water from the spring located some 50 m. from the
monastery has healing properties. For centuries this monastery was
visited by numerous pilgrims of all confessions and creeds for whom this
monastery represented the same thing in this region as the monastery of
St. Basil of Ostrog in Montenegro. However, this did not prevent the
Albanian extremists and terrorists from constantly attacking on the
helpless nuns, who determinedly resisted their daily
disturbances.
It should also be
said that the monastery of Devic was a meeting place for Serbs from
remaining nearby Serb villages near Srbica. They would come here with
strong KFOR escorts to seek salvation and cure themselves with the
miracle-working waters and its healing properties. This included Serbs
from Suvo Grlo, Crkolez and Banja, as well as returnees from Osojane some
30 kilometers from Devic. Since 1999 the monastery complex is extremely
difficult to access. Serbs from northern Kosovo, as well as all others in
the province, can come here only escorted by armored transporter since the
road leads through exclusively Albanian villages and settlements as well
as through Srbica itself and the notorious village of Lausa nearby, to get
to Devic, located only 25 kilometers from Kosovska
Mitrovica.
B. Radomirovic
http://www.politika.co.yu/juce/tekst.asp-t=3913&r=40.htm
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Mother
Anastasija, the abbess of Devic (right) and young nun Efimija
in front of the ashes of their monastery on March 23, shortly
after it was torched by Albanian mobs from nearby Lausa,
Ludovic and other villages. (Click on
photo to
enlarge) | | TOP
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