Patriarch spends St. Vitus Day in Kosovo

Patriarch Irinej in Gračanica on Sunday

BELGRADE, GRAČANICA — Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Irinej is spending this Vidovdan (St. Vitus Day) with the people in Kosovo, said reports.

On Sunday, he attended ceremonies at the Serbian Orthodox monastery of Gračanica, near the Serb enclave.

According to the announcement from the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC), Irinej also will visit Gazimestan, the location of the Battle of Kosovo, and hold a memorial service for the Serb soldiers who died there fending off the Ottoman Turk invasion in 1389.

The Church and the Serbian Orthodox Christians are today continuing centuries-old tradition of commemorating Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović of Serbia’s medieval state, and other Serbian warriors who died in battle.

It is believed that Miloš Obilić, a Serb knight, ahead of the battle said, “Tomorrow is St. Vitus Day, and we shall see who is faithful and who is faithless”.

Ever since, the struggle for liberation of the country from the Turks has been rooted into the Serbian tradition and many believe that the centuries of resistance to the invaders have formed the Serb national identity.

Prince Lazar is not remembered only for his courage in the Battle of Kosovo, but also for building many monasteries and establishing other endowments during his life.

Prince Lazar is represented in the icons in Serbia’s churches in an imperial Byzantine robe, but without a crown on his head.

Vidovdan is marked as a somber holiday, dedicated to the remembrance of the fallen warriors, and visits to their graves and memorials.

“Serbs and Albanians have right to live in Kosovo”

Patriarch Irinej stated Monday in Gračanica that (ethnic) Albanians have an unquestionable right to live in Kosovo and Metohija, but that Serbs have the same right given that Kosovo is the land of their fathers.

During the Vidovdan liturgy, the patriarch expressed hope that a solution for Kosovo would be found to satisfy both Serbs and ethnic Albanians.

“A solution satisfying only one party is not a solution but rather a generator of disunity, and we and those who would like Kosovo to be their land and state do not want that to happen. This land has belonged to us throughout history but also to those who live with us here, and we hope for a solution that will be acceptable to all,” Irinej said.

According to him, those who “design the fate of the world should employ justice and truth” when deciding on the issue.

The liturgy in Gračanica was attended by Minister for Kosovo Goran Bogdanović, Serbian Minister of Religion Bogoljub Šijaković and Russian Ambassador to Belgrade Aleksandr Konuzin.

The central Vidovdan ceremony will be held on Monday at Gazimestan, near Priština, the site where the Serbian medieval state’s army led by Lazar Hrebeljanović clashed with the invading Ottoman Turks 621 years ago.

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