Our St. George Savindan Celebration was a WONDERFUL day!  On Sunday, January 31, Divine Liturgy was celebrated by our host priest, V. Rev. Dobrivoje Milunovic, and we were honored to have the V. Rev. Tom Kazich as our guest priest.  Fr. Tom is the director of Religious Education for our diocese and gave an inspiring sermon. Our church was filled with our faithful parishioners.  Following Liturgy, we all gathered in our church hall for the blessing of the Slavski Kolac.                   

Nikola Tepsic and Sasha Cucuz were our wonderful KUMOVI for the celebration.  All of our children gathered around the Slavski kolac, and together with Fr. Dobrivoje and Fr. Tom, turned the slavski kolac in honor of our dear St. Sava, Serbia’s first Archbishop, Enlightener and Teacher.  The banquet was loved by all, as our chef Nevenka Kesic and her crew, always do a fabulous job on preparing a delicious menu. 

Our Church School program started out with our traditional procession with the icon of St. Sava, the flags and our children with big smiles on their faces.  The audience was SO PLEASED to see how many children we had up on stage.  The children sang the Serbian and American anthems, the St. Sava hymn, and Kasno Marko Stize na Kosovo (which they seemed to really like).  Our program continued with the reciting of St. Sava poems, folklore performances, piano talents, and a power point presentation on St. Sava.  Our program is put on by our children to show the love they have for Saint Sava, our Holy Orthodox faith, and our Serbian heritage.

Our parish also paid tribute to our upcoming high school seniors who will be graduating in June.  Fr. Dobrivoje presented our seniors with an Orthodox Study Bible and expressed to them that he hopes they will remember the teaching of the church as they will now be moving on to take on different challenges.

The program concluded with Moravac Kolo.  We are blessed to have our children and as Fr. Dobrivoje spoke in the church and during the banquet, “the children are our future”.   We are so proud of our children and most importantly they loved being together and enjoyed the day.  We hope that the love of Sveti Sava and the view of the stage full of our children will be an inspiration to continue coming and participating in the life of the church.  May God bless you!

У недељу, 31-ог јануара, храм св. великомученика и победоносца Георгија у Шерервилу, Индијана, прославио је школску славу – Светог Саву, првог Архиепископа и Просветитеља српског. Свету Литургију, у храму препуном верних, служили су архимандрит Тома Казић, директор хришћанског образовања епархије новограчаничко-средњезападноамеричке и домаћи парох, прота Добривоје Милуновић.  

Отац Тома одржао је садржајну и поучну проповед, да би потом причестио велики број школске деце. Прота Добривоје је изразио задовољство због великог броја парохијана, нарочито младих, нагласивши да је управо Св. Сава тај који нас, благодаћу Светога Духа, окупља, сабира и сједињује у тако великом броју. Он је такође истакао да „милионску“ вредност цркве не чини ни имање ни грађевине, већ свако наше дете које својом боголикошћу превазилази сва блага и богатства овога света. Зато је подизање деце у Православном и Светосавском духу најважнији задатак родитеља и наше свете Цркве.

Свечаност је настављена у српском културном центру благосиљањем славског колача и кољива, које је обавио наш гост о. Тома. Кумови овогодишње славе били су Саша Ћућуз и Никола Тепшић. За време трпезе љубави, млади кумови су поздравили присутне, честитали славу и изразили захвалност ради части која им је овим чином указана. Гостима су се затим обратили о. Тома, г. Рајко Вукас, председник црквено-школске општине, г. Џејсон Вукас, председник школског одбора и прота Добривоје.

Најлепши и најсадржајнији део свечаности уприличила су наша деца својим програмом који је успешно припремила протиница Јелена уз помоћ учитељица црквене школе и фолклорних група, као и бројних родитеља. У славу и част светог оца нашег Саве, радосна деца декламовала су рецитације, певала песме, говорила монологе, свирала на клавиру, играла кола.

При крају програма, у име црквене школе, прота Добривоје уручио је на поклон свој деци која ове године завршавају средњу школу Библију (Orthodox Study Bible). При том их је подсетио на речи Господње Исусу сину Навиновом: „Нека се не раставља од уста твојих књига овог закона, него размишљај о њему дан и ноћ, да држиш и твориш све како је у њему написано; јер ћеш тада бити срећан на путевима својим и тада ћеш напредовати... Не бој се и не плаши се, јер је с тобом Господ Бог твој куда год идеш.“ (Исуса Навина 1: 8 -9)

Да живимо сви у слози, Свети Саво ти помози!

On January 27 the Serbian Orthodox Church celebrates the day of St. Sava, its first archbishop, statesman, famous monk, church builder, diplomat, writer, traveler… On that day many churches, schools and associations organize celebrations and receptions on this occasion. Children are especially joyful about this holiday as it is a school patron saint day, so they give performances in churches and schools and receive presents on St. Sava’s day. The report of Ljiljana Sindjelic-Nikolic.

Rastko Nemanjic was a son of Serbian grand duke Stefan Nemanja, born in 1169. While yearning for spiritual life, he joined some Russian monks and went with them to the Holy Mount, where he became a monk named Sava. Although very young, he understood that it was important for his people to have their own church, so he gained its independence with the Byzantine emperor and patriarch, thus becoming the first Serbian archbishop. Along with his father, Sava built the Chilanadari Monastery on the Holy Mount of Athos, as well as Studenica and many other monasteries and schools in the Serbian land. On two occasions he went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in Sinai, where he took many gifts to churches over there. Sava also reconciled his quarreling brothers, as well as Serbs with their neighboring countries, all the while establishing the Serbian state and church. He spread peace among all the Balkan nations and worked for everybody’s benefit, thus becoming respected and loved among all Balkan peoples. Also, he wrote religious books for churches, built hospitals and orphanages for people, advised on how to act in the church and at home, among one’s neighbors, to earn a place in Heaven.

St. Sava died in the Bulgarian town of Trnovo. Later, his remains were transferred to the Monastery of Milesevo by King Vladislav, but Turkish ruler Sinan pasha took him to Belgrade and burnt his mortal remains on April 27, 1595, in the attempt to erase his significance and memory in the Serbian people, because of the great respect that he enjoyed. For that reason, the late Serbian Patriarch Pavle underlined the following on many occasions: “Even after his death, St. Sava does not forget his faithful people, who turn to him as a spiritual father in times of need and challenges of life, while asking for help”.

Soon after his death, a service to St. Sava was established in churches, and the cult of his personality and respect have been preserved to this day. Sava lives in people, who respected him even during his lifetime, and even nowadays they gather in churches for prayer, consolation and encouragement, but also to pay respect to his deeds.

Monasteries of Chilandari, Studenica and Mileseva are centuries-old witnesses of Sava’s work and achievements, which could be a model to modern people as well, regardless of all the centuries that have gone by. A testimony to the love that the Serbian people feel for St. Sava are many stories and myths about him, the name that they give to their children, rivers, villages. Also, there is a coined word Svetosavlje, which means a specific Serb path and approach to the Orthodox Christianity. It is the memory of St. Sava that shows best how the memory of great people and their deeds represent not only the expression of gratitude of one generation for their inherited material and spiritual goods, but also proof of their wholesome spiritual power, good reasoning and a just judgment of events gone by a long time ago and persons that created them.

On Sunday, January 24, our St. George church-school congregation held its annual meeting. A new church board was elected:

President - Ray Vukas
Vice-President - Milan Momcilovic
2nd Vice-President - Mara Dobrijevich
Secretary - Dan Dukic
Treasurer - Mike Radjenovich
Financial Secretary - Jason Vukas
Members at Large - Joe Kosanovic, Jovica Tica, Bobby Uzelac, Milorad Vajagic, Mike Wuchenich, Tom Nikolich, Dragan Vjestica, Bo Cucuz, Momir Keric
Auditing Board - President: Marjia Tatic, Members: Mirko Marich, Ratko Drljaca
Tutori - Uros Lakic, Jovo Uzelac, Vojin Kesic, Nikodin Dobrijevich

Congratulations and Best Wishes to our newly elected board!