Lazardan

Jun 28, one of the most holy and patriotic day in Serbia. To those who don't know how Prince Lazar became a saint, I'll be glad to tell.

Lazar is said to have been visited the night before battle by a grey hawk or falcon from Jerusalem who offered a choice between an earthly kingdom—implying victory at the Battle of Kosovo—or a heavenly kingdom—which would come as the result of a peaceful capitulation or bloody defeat. "...the Prophet Elijah then appeared as a gray falcon to Lazar, bearing a letter from the Mother of God that told him the choice was between holding an earthly kingdom and entering the kingdom of heaven..."

Of course, Prince Lazar opted for the heavenly kingdom, "We die with Christ, to live forever”, he told his soldiers. That Kosovo's declaration and testament is regarded as a covenant which the Serb people made with God and sealed with the blood of martyrs. Since then all Serbs faithful to that Testament regard themselves as the people of God, Christ's New Testament nation, heavenly Serbia, part of God's New Israel. This is why Serbs sometimes refer to themselves as the people of Heaven.

In Kosovo alone, the blood of the Serb soldiers still remains and through the recovered relics of Prince Lazar has miracles, he was canonized by the Srpska Pravoslavna Crkva and his feast day falls on June 28(June 15 on the Old Calendar). His headless incorrupt body are inside Manastir Ravanica.

Ever since my conversion in 2015 and starting to celebrate Lazardan by 2016, I feel God is near me, protecting me from every attacks of the devil and brings me more closer to God and his church. I feel more strong emotionally and it's my strength. God is with us, never forget him and the saints that fought for an heavenly kingdom than an earthly kingdom like Saint Prince Lazar.

Celebrating Lazardan

This was my first time celebrating Vidovdan or specifically, Lazardan or the Feast day of Sveti Knez Lazar/Saint Prince Lazar, the Great martyr of Serbia that protected Kosovo till the very end against the Ottoman empire. It wasn't an earthly defeat but it was God's victory.

It wasn't easy though because of time constraints and it fell on a Tuesday but to commemorate his martyrdom and holiness, I bought a bread and a candle, have it blessed to the priest the night before. I have to wake up very early to say the prayers for Lazardan/Vidovdan and the desk. I placed the bread, wine, candle, Sv. Knez Lazar's ikone in the desk and start immediately.

The prayers I mentioned were:

"In the name of the Father and of the son and of the holy spirit. AMIN".

"Oče Naš"

"Christ among us! He is and he shall be."

"I raise this glass and drink the Holy Slava!"

"To Saint Prince Lazar"

"Let Slava save us all, and let us celebrate it as we have done it so far!"

"Whoever drinks wine on this Slava-day, may God help him!"

"O Lord and the Holy Slava, my patron saint Sveti Knez Lazar, you can help me, so help me!"

I was filming myself but forgot to cross the ikone with the incense, even if it was running. But the important thing is that I commemorated how my patron saint sacrificed his life for God's heavenly kingdom than an earthly one. May the next celebration of Krsna Slava, I will have friend here or my own family.

Srećan Slava!

God willing

Such a blessing for me. It took me five years and I was able to put through everything despite my current issues. Regardless of those issues, one of my goals in life was met. November 7, 2015, I got baptized, taking the name Lazar, in honor of the Saint Prince of Serbia, who defended Serbia against the Ottoman Empire in Kosovo to the end. He lost his life and the Serbs lost but it delayed the Ottoman advance through another 50 years.

I was a bit nervous before my conversion but it went smoothly. I didn't expected it to be that smooth but it was worth the 5 years of patience. Now, I have a lot to do more. Being baptized in the Japanese Orthodox Church, this is one of the first step of my new life. I told myself, life starts at 23. I told myself since I live alone and going through a lot of challenges along the way. I know it is rough but with God's presence, nothing is impossible.

Finally, I am partaking with other people and the saints, in a holy liturgy that is passed down through generations, unchanged and firmly holding the teachings of the apostles that spread the Christian faith from the 1st Century AD to this day through the missionaries.

Never forget their sacrifices

1389. Battle of Kosovo. Sveti Knez Lazar. Vidovdan. These are just the words people never knew about the heroic martyrdom of Saint Prince Lazar. He gave us what is the true meaning of sacrifice for our God and our homeland. People should never forget what he gave us. The sacrifice of keeping the Turkish Ottoman troops away from the rest of Europe despite losing his life and his soldiers on that fateful day.

Never a man like him shall do these heroic and holy deeds of having a divine liturgy before defending their homeland against the Ottoman menace. He is so unique that he is the well known gatekeeper of the Balkans. Serbia survived for 50 years after his death as an Ottoman vassal until the Turks decided to attack Srbija and it was not until the 19th century that the Serbs finally united to repel the Ottoman invasions after more than 400 years of tyrant Ottoman rule.

Srpski:
Ko je Srbin i srpskoga roda,
i od srpske krvi i kolena,
a ne doš'o na boj na Kosovo,
ne imao od srca poroda,
ni muškoga ni devojačkoga!
Od ruke mu ništa ne rodilo,
rujno vino ni pšenica bela!
Rđom kapo dok mu je kolena!

English:
Whoever is a Serb and of Serb birth,
And of Serb blood and heritage,
And comes not to fight at Kosovo,
May he never have progeny born from love,
Neither son nor daughter!
May nothing grow that his hand sows,
Neither red wine nor white wheat!
And may he be dying in filth as long as his children are alive!

Ravanica

Ravanica (Serbian Cyrillic: Раваница) is a Serbian Orthodox monastery on Kučaj mountains near Ćuprija in Central Serbia. It was built in 1375–1377 as an endowment of prince Lazar of Serbia, who is buried there. The Ravanica church is called the birthplace of the new artistic movement "Morava school" because of architectural and artistic features. It is original blend of the Mount Athos and the cross-in-square five-domed model that became standard in the time of King Milutin.

I want to go here in the mere future with my future wife. It is one honor for me to visit here. Of course i choose the name Lazar when i would be baptized in the future. I saw in this saint that he desired a heavenly kingdom than an earthly one. No one can make that desire but in our small ways, we can.

For example, i desire to have a heavenly family and even if i am not that of an angel, i will make that promise of teaching my wife and children what a true and happy family would mean. I may be idealistic but no one can deny this heavenly promise. It makes me think more of my desire to achieve what God really taught us. Humans do make mistakes but those who desire a happy family and a true Christian one would mean God is with us through every hardships we experienced.

My supposed birthday wishlists

As my birthday is coming near, all i wish above the wishlist i will mention is having a girlfriend that will be my future, love and what i will fight for. I am a bit sad and i felt my life is wasted for others all the time but if someone will give me back my hope, i will hope more.

I wish i can assemble a 1/100 like this, just like my Destiny Gundam.

Nirvash Neo. Where can i find this toy here in Japan? :(

My favorite UVERwworld Album. Contains some song i want to sing every time i step inside a Karaoke.

Someone from Srbija send me this one? Or any other versions?

A mini icon of Sveti Knez Lazar

A girlfriend although i hope it would be a Srpkinja. Which is why i am too tired to find but i am still wanting to find that woman that i will truly have kids with regardless if she is a Filipinka, Japanci or Srpkinja as long as she will lead me to God and the promised future i desire through the years.

Danas Vidovdan

I will always remember this date. Vidovdan. It is not just the political celebration of the but also the Slava of St. Vitus as well and the memorial day of Saint Prince Lazar and his soldiers during their sacrificial battle at Kosovo.

Many events that occured coincidentally from the sacrifice at Kosovo to the Montenegrin independence happend all throughout history. If I would be asked why in the future, i would celebrate Vidovdan, one thing is what i would amswer. The feast day of Saint Prince Lazar according to the Srpska Pravoslavna Crkva, marked this day if the Julian Calendar would be used but if i prefer June 15, i may as well.

I may ask my Srpski prijatelji more when i get there to properly celebrate Vidovdan in honor of my future patron saint. Despite my turbulent week and emotional distress, i pray continually to God for Saint prince Lazar's intercession and to give me strength throught the many challenges that will unfold in my life. If there would be a one time i may visit Srbija, i hoped it will be Vidovdan week and go on a pilgrimage that will make me a strong person by heart. By all means, Vidovdan is not just a political but more on religious celebration as well. We have options but i will prefer the religious one.

May this day as a whole be a source of strength to the Serbian people and to those who looked upon their medieval heroics and spiritual strength all through out the years.

The importance of relics

                  (Sveti Knez Lazar)

  (Sveti Jovan Zlatousti/John Chrysostom)

        (Sveti Dimitrije/Saint Demetrius)

     (Sveti Jovan Maksimović/Saint John Maximovitch)

As i start this entry, i was thinking more about what are relics? I known them in a while but this is my true chance to share my thoughts about it.

This ia from the Wikipedia article to summarize about relics:

A strong element in favor of glorification can be the perceived "miraculous" condition of physical remains (relics), although that alone is not considered sufficient. In some Orthodox countries it is the custom to re-use graves after three to five years due to limited space. Bones are respectfully washed and placed in an ossuary, often with the person's name written on the skull. Occasionally when a body is exhumed something believed to be miraculous occurs to reveal the person's sainthood. There have been numerous occurrences where the exhumed bones are said to suddenly give off a wonderful fragrance, like flowers; or sometimes the body is said to be found incorrupt despite having not been embalmed (traditionally the Orthodox do not embalm the dead) and having been buried for three years.

For the Orthodox, body and soul both comprise the person, and in the end, body and soul will be reunited; therefore, the body of a saint shares in the holiness of the soul of the saint.

Orthodox venerate saints and ask for their prayers, and consider them brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. Saints are venerated and loved and asked to intercede for salvation, but they are not given the worship accorded to God, because their holiness is believed to come from God. In fact, anyone who worships a saint, relics, or icons is to be excommunicated. As a general rule onlyclergy will touch relics in order to move them or carry them in procession; however, inveneration the faithful will kiss the relic to show love and respect toward the saint. Every altar in every Orthodox church contains relics, usually of a martyr. The Church building interiors are covered with the icons of saints.

In one part of the stanzas, there is no EMBALMING to be performed. Strictly. And it should not be worshiped. They are asked for their intercession for our salvation. I wish one day that, i may go to Ravanica, where the relics of my future patron saint, Saint Prince Lazar's headless incorruptible remains are continually reposing and a source of miracles by God for the people to know what we should do while we have life.

Everytime that, something bad happens, some of the relics will make some miracle, like glowing of Saint Prince Lazar before the Balkan flooding of 2014 and others. It means we should return to God's way and not of anti-religious way. It is clear for us who believe in God that, miracles will happen anytime as long as we believe.

I want to feel Vidovdan festivities in the future

I won't keep this a secret. I want to celebrate Vidovdan or St. Vitus's day. But to Serbs, both spiritual and national day of celebration for it symbolizes the martyrdom of Saint Prince Lazar in the battle of Kosovo and thousands of Serbs for protecting Kosovo and Serbia from waves of Turkish invasions. Not to mention some events that occured on the same date.

• on June 28, 1389, according to the Serbian Orthodox religious tradition, and the Serbian romantic (19th century) national identity founding myth, the Ottoman Empire defeats Serbia in the Battle of Kosovo with Prince Lazar slain in battle. Ottoman Sultan Murad I is killed by Serbian knight Miloš Obilić on that day.
• on June 28, 1881, a secret treaty between Austria-Hungary and Serbia is signed with Serbia earning the right to be recognized as a monarchy in exchange of surrendering its independence to the Habsburg Empire.
• on June 28, 1914 the assassination by Gavrilo Princip of the Austro-Hungarian crown prince, Franz Ferdinand, triggers the First World War.
• on June 28, 1919, the Treaty of Versailles is signed ending World War I.
• on June 28, 1921, the Serbian King Alexander I proclaims the new Constitution of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, known thereafter as the Vidovdan Constitution (Vidovdanski ustav).
• on June 28, 1948, the Cominform publishes, on the initiative of its Soviet delegates Zhdanov, Malenkov and Suslov, in a "Resolution on the State of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia" their condemnation of the Yugoslavian communist leaders - this event is seen as the turning point that marks the final split between Stalin's Soviet Union and Tito's Yugoslavia.
• on June 28, 1989, on the 600th anniversary of the battle of Kosovo, Serbian leader Slobodan Milošević delivers the Gazimestan speech on the site of the historic battle.
• on June 28, 1990, an amendment is brought to the Constitution of Croatia changing the status of Serbs from constituent people (konstitutivni narod) of the Croatian nation to national minority.
• on June 28, 2001, Slobodan Milošević is deported to the ICTY to stand trial.
• on June 28, 2006, Montenegro is announced as the 192nd member state of the United Nations.
• on June 28, 2008 takes place the inaugural meeting of the Community Assembly of Kosovo and Metohija

Positives or negatives, it is an important day for Serbs. For me, i think that it represents the sacrifices and the consequences of Serbia as the Gatekeepers of Europe not just against Turkish but American, NATO, Roman Catholic and imperialist waves of invasion. It is important to say that, it represents what the Serbs will make for their future. May the Serbian people be blessed with a much better future than now.

Sprska Pravoslavna Duhovna Muzika Moja Ljubav +++

Oče naš sung by Divna Ljubojević

What i am rooting for in the Orthodox church is the chants. When i go every time in a divine liturgy, i feel blessed and like in heaven. Heaven as what God promised to us before Pentecost. I was educated in a Catholic school and knew the bible well even if i know only major ones. Since i knew the Orthodox church, i listened to an Arab orthodox at first. Then, Greek and Russian ones. I appreciated it but when i knew Serbian ones, i grow to like more every Orthodox chanting. It is sacred and what God taught us. It is not just by what us humans made but how God wanted to be represented always.

There is one saying, "life is nothing without music". This is not an exception, even in the very conservative Eastern orthodox church. It happened that everytime i listened to these chants, God is with me. Here in Japan, i know some keywords although i forgot it's exact verse since it is in Nihonggo and i am on a copycat mode often. Despite that i am a copycat if it not English, it is already on my heart. Everyone knows i am not a pseudo-Orthodox but an orthodox by heart and rooting for every single day that i can go there on a limited basis till my freedom comes.

I only know the Serbians ones as "Gospode Pomiluj" or "Blagosloven jesi Gospode" or easier ones. Every time i use my Youtube application on my iphone, i search for "srpska pravoslavna duhovna muzika" and there are a lot of videos. Maybe one day, i will be able to memorize the Srpski ones but also, Japanskog, Grčki and Ruski ones. Always remember, by memorizing every chants and prayers, it is like your heart is rooting for God and no one else and it is also a prayer in motion. No selfishness but expression of the heart for God. Nothing but his glory and our forgiveness.

Čudo od Sveti Knez Lazar

Gospode, Ja sam Plakao by Nana Peradze

Gospode Pomiluj

Serbs are allies and not villains!

 

Before, all i knew was anti-Serb propaganda, Kosovo independence, blah blah blah, American liberated the Balkans. Heck, when i knew more, something was completely wrong. I added up Serbs on my facebook account, and i knew, the western media,(CNN, Fox, MSNBC, etc....) made up stories of falsehoods. What the reasons may be is only to get what they want on this country that had done nothing to them. I maybe biased as a pro-Serb but this is what i am really. What is right.

I am fed up if someone will tell me that if i want to be in Siberia or Slobo's actions was the cause of their fall. I would answer them, Serbia or Srbija is a country in the heart of the Balkans that is surrounded by enemies but allies are very far(Greece, Russia) and that it is invaded by Americans who hypnotized Croats, Bosniaks and Albanians that will destroy it for geopolitical interests and not for their own ''genocide'' story.

In reality, what happened in the 1990's was purely American made so that they will get resources or destroying a harmonious coexistence of nations that was made possible by socialism and limited market economy. Preaching Democracy is actually destroying Democracy and America and the big Western powers is just using Democracy to get there and surround Rusija with hostile and nuclear armed states, tricking Mihajl Gorbačov into those treaties that lead to the imbalance of the world. If i would be a democrat by heart, i won't even rely on the big powers but on the will of the people on what kind of policy they like for their country or what will improve the whole country.

And, what i heard from the Serbs are mostly, their history and their current views. I love Srbija, their Orthodox faith, traditions, places, the people and what they truly fight for.

Hasn't the world knew of the story of the forgotten 500? Where the Allied airplanes got hit by the Nazis and made an emergency landing on the Yugoslav plains and they were rescued by the Četnici/Chetniks who was the Yugoslav Royal Army that was deemed as collaborators and yet, they managed to rescue them and prepare them for an Allied extraction.

Or, when Srbija was the Gatekeepers of Europe against Ottoman invasion. My future patron saint, Saint Prince Lazar defended Kosovo against the Turks to the end, getting captured and beheaded rather than to surrender without a fight and to show how patriotic and God fearing he and his army was.

How about Nikola Tesla's cheap AC current than the expensive and dangerous DC by Thoma Edison?

Wasn't the world grateful enough that the Serbs lost 1/5 of their population during WWI and almost 700,000-1,400,000 or more during WWII just to keep the world safe from foreign invasion and influencing internal division? Belgrade was razed a lot of times but it always rises up like a Phoenix because the people their are resilient and love their independence more than Americans do.

Whatever the case, i will continue writing on this blog and multiple entries that we should give Srbija a better economic and social life and not American backed government that will try to get the rich plains of Vojvodina and will leave Srbija empty! And while we have time, let's help Srbija retake Kosovo!

My favorite icons

When i will have that freedom i worked hard for, i will have an altar at my own home or appartment.

Sveti Knez Lazar(Saint Prince lazar)

Manastir Hilandar Ikone Isus Hristos(Jesus Christ icon from Hilandar Monastery)

Bogorodica Trojeručica(Three handed Mother of God)

Bogorodica Ljeviška(Our Lady of Ljeviš)

I am not really a religious guy before but when i discovered Orthodoxy, it made me felt that i must fight for what i believe in or to survive cleanly to prove to everyone that, God is with us even to our personal struggles. +++