voice winter 2009

THE VOICEOF ST. GEORGE

W I N T E R 2 0 0 9

ContentsA True Servant of Jesus Christ and a True Father of His Flock 3

Serbian Patriarch 4From the President 10

Quarterly Stewardship Meeting 12Church Family News 13

Vice Presidential/ MPC Report 14Continuing Our Legacy Pledges as of 12-11-09 15

Sunday School News and Announcements 16Kolo Sisters 18

Stole Report for Jan. 1 – December 15, 2009 19Choir Report 20

Visitor to St. George tells about Orthodox Mission in China 212010 Stewardship List As Of December 16, 2009 22

From the Stewardship Chair 22Vera Giles’ Receives Award 23

Concerto Given by Sasha Clines and Rada Neal 23Your Guide to an Orthodox Christian Will 24

Indiana Couple Leaves $1 Million To Church 25Yes, Children Should Be In Church 26The Germain Sisters Music Update 27

Another Incredible Story from WWII 28The Spiritual Meaning of the Badnjak 29

St. George Serbian Orthodox ChurchWestern American Diocese

of the Serbian Orthodox Church in North & South American

3025 Denver Street • San Diego, CA 92117telephone: (619)276-5827

web: http://saintgeorgeinsd.com

Church Officers & StaffPARISH PRIEST

V. Rev. Protopresbyter Bratislav Krsicemail: [email protected]

PARISH DEACON

Rev. Deacon Paul GermainPRESIDENT

Nemanja SelezanVICE PRESIDENT

Vladan Trifunovic2nd VICE PRESIDENT & 3rd VICE PRESIDENT

Dobrila Unheim & Simona TrifunovicSECRETARY

Tina ZivkovicTREASURER

Rev. Paul GermainFINANCIAL SECRETARY

Lindsay SelezanCORRESPONDING SECRETARY

Melanie MilicevicMEMBERS-AT-LARGE

Nada Pantovich, Vojkan Popovich, Sam Purlia, Vladan Vladisavljevic, Vecki & Miodrag Miljkovic,

Dragan & Sonja Radic, Marko & Vera RakicSTEWARDSHIP MINISTRY

Lydia Petric Rhoads, ChairAUDITING BOARD

Miro Copic, President; Sean Wright, Zeljko MilasinovicTUTORS/VESTRYMEN

Mico Lukic, Ladislav Tapavcevic, Pete Dopodja, Alex Sekanovic, George Skaljac, Marko Rakic, Vojkan Popovich, Miro Copic, Milan Miljkovic

S.S.S. ST. GEORGE CHOIR

Velimir Jovanovic, PresidentCIRCLE OF SERBIAN SISTERS (KOLO)

Sylvia Ivanovic, PresidentCHURCH SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT

Mira JovanovicMORAVA FOLKLORE ENSEMBLE

Maria (Draskovic) Milasinovic, DirectorADULT ORTHODOX FELLOWSHIP

Nemanja SelezanVOICE OF ST. GEORGE

Marsha Jovanovic, Editor(619)988-0650 • FAX (619)588-5767

email: [email protected]

His Holiness Patriarch Pavle. This issue is dedicated to the beloved Patriarch who passed away November 15, 2009. This great man led the church during the difficult days of the breakup of Yugoslavia, a vicious civil war, the infamous NATO bombings, and the problems in Kosovo. Strong but forgiving, the Patriarch always showed the love of Jesus Christ when dealing with friends and enemies alike. His death was marked by national mourning in Serbia that brought hundreds of thousands of people to the streets in his tribute. In a society in which only a few decades ago, religion was considered a joke and often atheism was the only attribute retained from the communist era, this turn toward spirituality is encouraging and inspiring. The entrance of the Patriarch into the Heavenly Kingdom during the Nativity season serves to make this season even more special. It reminds us of the true meaning of the birth of Christ—His death so we can have eternal life with Him in Heaven—Marsha Jovanovic

In this issue...

VOICE OF ST. GEORGE • WINTER 2009 3

Patriarch Pavle – A True Servant of Jesus Christ and a True Father of His Flock

And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. Colossians 3:23

The Serbian nation continues to mourn the falling asleep in the Lord of their beloved father, His Holiness Patriarch Pavle. With them stands the entire family of Orthodox Christians and many world-wide nations. The eyes of the world were on Serbia and the Serbian Orthodox Church as the earthly remains of His Holiness were laid to rest at the monas-tery Rakovica in Belgrade, Serbia.

It was on Sunday, November 15, 2009, that the news about the blessed repose of Patriarch Pavle reached the hearts of his children. They knew of his illness for the prior two years he was hospitalized. Yet even from his hospital bed he continued, as from the throne of St. Sava, to guide the Serbian Orthodox Church. The out-pouring of his spiritual children at his burial on Thursday, November 19, and in the days before as they came to the Bel-grade Cathedral to pay him tribute, was a testament to the enormous spiritual guid-ance and paternal love he had for his flock.

Hundreds of thousands of people drew together in Belgrade’s streets to express their love, respect and gratitude to the 44th Serbian Orthodox patriarch, His Holiness Pavle. He stands in a long line of Serbian patriarchs. Each one of them was given the cross of leading the church at a particular time, and each one of them served the Lord to the best of his ability. About them we can read in the Prologue or church historical books, while Patri-arch Pavle for us, his contemporaries, was a living book. Moreover, he was not just any living book, he was a living Gos-pel, i.e.., he lived according to the Gos-pel.

Though his biography continues to be written and we mourn his falling asleep,

we nonetheless do so with hope and trust in God that He will continue working through His servant, Patriarch Pavle.

Truly, he was first and foremost the ser-vant of God. Whatever he did, he was doing it as to the Lord. He was not look-ing for any rewards, but for the reward that comes from the Lord, the true inher-itance prepared for the servants of the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Colossians 3:23).

Because of this unshakable belief, Patri-arch Pavle aptly sailed the ship of the Ser-

bian Orthodox Church during the most tumultuous times in recent history. His guide was Jesus Christ and Him he served with every word and deed.

His Holiness will be remembered for his unshakable faith in God. He will be remembered as a true servant of Christ. He will be remembered for his humility and unsullied approach to life’s chal-lenges. Indeed, he will be remembered as a peacemaker. For us living in the Amer-icas his guidance and paternal love in bringing Serbian Orthodox brothers and sisters together after many years of sepa-ration will not be forgotten. As St. Sava reconciled his two feuding brothers, Ste-fan and Vukan, so did the Patriarch, by the grace of God, reconcile the Free Ser-bian Orthodox Church and the Serbian

Orthodox Patriarchate, thus making the Church indeed free of division and strife.

It is remarkable to hear the stories of vis-itors to the Patriarchate in Belgrade, of how His Holiness gave them a fatherly reception. His short and pure teachings still resonate in the hearts of his listeners. Life is not complicated at all so long as we love God and live as His children. “Budimo ljudi-let us live as people of God”, he is known to have repeated many times. During these trying times of the last two decades his message was that we must examine our own consciences, to ensure that perhaps tribulations are not inflicted upon us because of our own sin-fulness, and that we ourselves are found in a pure conscience before God. His call to prayer and fasting was the call of a true pastor and father of his flock. He knew that he was to present to God the people entrusted to him, and he wanted to do it in the only true way – according to the Gos-pel of Jesus Christ. Nothing else mattered to him; not the wisdom of this world nor the gimmicks of politicians. His answer to the late U.S. Ambassador Warren Zim-mermann in 1991, when the Ambassador asked the Patriarch what America could do to help him and the Church attests to that: “Your Excellency, the most you can do to help us is not to do anything to harm us!”

The throne of St. Sava indeed had in him yet another great spiritual giant. Patriarch Pavle was a true leader of his flock. He was a true father to his flock. Faithfully and without blemish he presented his flock to the Master and Lord whom he so devoutly served until his last breath.

We thank God for blessing us with His Holiness Patriarch Pavle. We are grateful for his ability to captivate, encourage and edify his listeners and beyond.

May we also do everything heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you (we) will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you (we) serve the Lord Christ.

Protopresbyter Bratso Krsic


The Archbishop of Pec, Metropolitan of Belgrade and Karlovac and Serbian Patriarch

Patriarch PAVLE was born on September 11, 1914, the Feast of the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, and was given the name of Gojko at his baptism. He was born in the village of Kucanci, district of Donji Milanovac, Slavonija to parents who were farmers. Gojko went to ele-mentary school in his native village, graduated from middle school in Tuzla and from high school in Belgrade. He completed a six-year course of studies at the Seminary in Sarajevo and received a graduate degree from the Belgrade Uni-versity School of Theology. At the onset of World War II, he was mobilized to serve in the Health Corps of the Yugoslav Army. Later, he succeeded in returning to his native Slavonia.

He was ordained to the priesthood as a hieromonk in 1954 and given the monas-tic name Pavle (Paul). He did post-grad-uate work at the University of Athens School of Theology from 1955 to 1957. During his studies he focused on the New Testament and liturgics. On his return home, he was elevated to the dignity of archimandrite. On May 29, 1957 he was consecrated bishop of Raska and Prizren. Bishop Pavle was enthroned on October 13, 1957 in the Cathedral of Prizren by the then Bishop of Zica and, subse-quently, Patriarch GERMAN and Bishop VLADISLAV of Zahumlje and Herze-govina, later Metropolitan of Dabar and Bosnia.

The new Bishop of Raska and Prizren became engaged in restoring old and par-tially destroyed churches and in advocat-ing the construction of new churches. He also took care of the ancient Prizren Sem-inary of Saints Cyril and Methodius founded by Sima Igumanov Prizrenac in 1871, where he lectured on Church Slavonic and liturgics.

In addition to his diocesan duties, Bishop PAVLE published a monograph on the Monastery of Devic consecrated to Saint Joanikije of Devic (1989). From 1972 to 1992 he also published numerous schol-

arly articles on liturgics in Glasnik Srpski Patrijarsije. These articles attracted the attention of notable scholars in the fields of liturgics, medieval studies, byzantol-ogy, philology and art history. He was in charge of the new and expanded edition of Srbljak (service book to Serbian saints), published by the Holy Synod in 1986. It was thanks to the efforts of Bishop PAVLE that we saw the Book of Needs and (for the first time in the Ser-bian language) the Liturgicon, Prayer-book and the Great Typicon, as well as other service books, published by the Holy Synod of Bishops.

As president of the Commission of the Holy Synod of Bishops on Translations, a Serbian version of the New Testament was published in 1984. He was also instrumental in having the first edition of this translation twice reprinted in an improved and expanded form. He was the president of the Editorial Board of the hugely important monograph Monu-ments of Kosovo. For his contributions to theology he received a doctoral degree honoris causa from the Belgrade School of Theology in 1988.

The Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church met on December 1, 1990 at the Patriarchate in Belgrade in order to elect the successor of the seriously ill Patriarch GERMAN. At the beginning of the session, Metropoli-tan VLADISLAV of Dabar and Bosnia acquainted the Assembly with the slate of candidates who had the qualifications required by the Statutes of the Serbian Orthodox Church. There were seventeen qualified candidates. The voting proce-dure was the following: each member of the Assembly circled the names of three candidates for the short list. In order to be placed on the short list, a candidate must receive the votes of more than half the members of the Assembly, which meant at least thirteen votes. The vote was taken nine times before the short list was com-pleted. On it were the names of Bishop SAVA of Sumadija, Bishop STEFAN of Zica and Bishop PAVLE of Raska and Prizren.

After preparatory prayers, the Most Ven-erable Archimandrite Antonije Djurd-

jevic, Abbot of the Monastery of Tronosa, entered the sanctuary of the Patriarchal Chapel consecrated to Saint Simeon the Myrrhobletes, prostrated himself before the altar and venerated the Gospel. Then he removed from the Gos-pel the three sealed envelopes containing the names of the three candidates on the short list. Selecting one of the envelopes, he gave it to the Metropolitan of Dabar and Bosnia VLADISLAV who opened the envelope and announced that the new Archbishop of Pec, Metropolitan of Bel-grade and Karlovci and the Serbian Patri-arch is Bishop PAVLE of Raska and Prizren.

Following the Service of Thanksgiving, Bishop STEFAN of Zica addressed the following words to the Assembly: "For the first time in the history of the Serbian Orthodox Church we have used the apos-tolic method for the election of the patri-arch. As you can see, it was very beneficial. I am crying with joy, because the most holy, the best and the most prayerful among us was chosen to sit on the Throne of Saint Sava. His coming to take the helm of the Serbian Orthodox Church at the time when prayers are so rare, although more needed than ever, is the expression of the will of the Holy Spirit that the Church of Saint Sava become spiritually strengthened."

The provision of this manner of electing the patriarch was added to the Statutes of the Serbian Orthodox Church by the Holy Assembly of Bishops in 1967. Although the reasons for the adoption of this procedure for the election of the patriarch were primarily ecclesiastical in nature, the political aspects of our deci-sion, must never be neglected. In other words, this manner of election protected the Patriarch from secular authorities who frequently meddled in the election. His Holiness Patriarch PAVLE was enthroned as the forty-fourth Serbian Patriarch on Sunday December 2, 1990 in the Cathedral of Belgrade and he ascended the ancient Patriarchal Throne in the Patriarchate of Pec on May 2, 1994.

With Patriarch PAVLE at the forefront, the Serbian Orthodox Church, while


being careful to remain outside of parti-san politics, played a major role in the recent changes in Yugoslavia leading to democratization. By appealing to the inner psyche of the Serbian people, Patri-arch PAVLE led the Church in calling for a peaceful resolution of conflict, recog-nition of democratic processes, and for the rule of law. When it became clear that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and his government would not recognize the Opposition victory, the Church weighed in at the crucial time by being the first to recognize Opposition candi-date Vojislav Kostunica as the “presi-dent-elect”.His Holiness Serbian Patriarch PAVLE fell asleep in the Lord on November 15th, 2009, at 10:45am, the local time in Serbia. His earthly remains are laid to rest at the monastery Rakovica on Thurs-day, November 19th, 2009.

MEMORY ETERNAL TO HIS HOLI-NESS SERBIAN PATRIARCH PAVLE!VJECNAJA PAMJAT NJEGOVOJ SVETOSTI SRPSKOM PATRIJARHU PAVLU!

Communique - December 23, 2009On Thursday, December 24, 2009 at the Saint Sava Memorial Cathedral on Vracar, beginning at 9:00am, the Divine Liturgy for the dead and forty-day memorial service will be served for Patriarch Pavle of Serbia of blessed repose. The memorial service will be served at the end of Divine Liturgy, about 11:00 am. After that, at the monas-tery Rakovica on Patriarch's tomb, a small commemoration will be served.

On that occasion and in prayerful remembrance of Patriarch Pavle, as well as of days from November 15 till 19, 2009 when hundreds of thousands of people participated in magnificent funeral procession of their First Hierarch - the Information and publishing institu-tion of the Serbian Orthodox Church, in cooperation with the Ministry of Faith, has published a photo album entitled From Death into Life.

As a little credit from the Church to its faithful people and to all those who rec-ognized in Patriarch Pavle the torch-bearer of the Resurrection of Christ, or as the people of faith or the people of good

will are ready to accept his brief, but wise message Let's be people! The Infor-mation and publishing institution of the Serbian Orthodox Church will give one copy of this photo album as a present to all faithful who will be on the day of the commemoration at the St. Sava Cathe-dral.

In following days through the competent institutions, this book of prayerful remembrance will be delivered to all Orthodox and other Churches and reli-gious communities, larger libraries in Serbia and Republic of Srpska, foreign statesmen and diplomats, as well as to Serbs in the diaspora, and then its elec-tronic edition will be put on the website of the Serbian Orthodox Church (www.spc.rs).

We take this opportunity to invite the faithful to participate prayerfully on Thursday at the St. Sava Memorial Cathedral in Divine Liturgy and forty-day memorial service of Patriarch Pavle of Serbia of blessed repose.

Bishop Irinej of Bachka

Massive crowd at funeral procession in Belgrade (by Radovan Drobnjakovic)


THE EUCHARISTIC FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH Excerpted from, Priest, Parish & Renewal, by Metropolitan Emilianos

The Eucharist as the Center of Parish Life Why do both ancient and contemporary ecclesiologies attach such importance to the Eucharist?It is because the Lord’s Supper is the backbone of each particular component of Christ’s bodyspread throughout the world. It is the true foundation of every parish. Parishioners living in different parts of the world meet together. They gather not merely to see each other, but in response to the true host. Christ is the host of the celestial banquet, offering amystical philoxenia in context of a eucharistic koinonia. We do not partake of a word un-incarnate and spoken, but the Word incarnate, who suffered for us, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven. We thereby receive Christ-God within ourselves, both his divinity and humanity. Hence, we livein Christ and Christ lives in us. Christ was very clear on the nature of the parish to beestablished after his departure, though it often escapes our attention. The year before his passion,the Jews of Capernaum asked Christ for a convincing sign of his messianic identity. It was thenthat Christ, showing himself to them all, solemnly said:

“I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the wilderness and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh which I shall give for the life of the world…Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed…(John 6.48-56). …all the early Fathers and writers in their own way refer to the same theme, stressing the centrality of the Eucharist as the foundation of the sacramental Synaxis, and source of their nourishment. In the catacombs, this Mystery was symbolized as the fish and the loaf to keep it from pagan discovery. Why? Gregory of Nyssa explains: “As a small piece of leaven leavens the whole loaf thereby identifying it with itself, likewise God’s body died coming to our body, entirely transforming our being, making it like his own…As a corrupt body is entirely changed when joined to a healthy body, so once the immortal body enters into ours, it is made according to his nature; it is completely remade.”


Dear Parishioners and Friends of St. George Parish:

Peace of God! Christ is Born!

By commemorating Christ’s Nativity we give unending glory to our Lord Who out of love for us came to earth, dwelled among us, suffered and died, but ulti-mately resurrected and gave us life eter-nal in the everlasting Kingdom. This everlasting life, full of joy, is our gift from God.

St. Gregory writes in the present tense…”Christ is Born”…He comes from heaven to us, being sent by the Father. He urges us “to go out and meet Him.”

To meet Christ is to get to know Him and to share Him with others; to tell the good news of this great and momentous Birth. The people in our country are hungry for God and a spiritual life. People want to know why they live. And the answer is Christ Who was born for us, Who died for us and Who resurrected.

Let us then, this Nativity season, share the good news of Christ’s Birth. Let us become ambassadors of the Orthodox Faith and the Good News and a good will among people in our parish, city and beyond.

May the Lord God grant that we continue to praise Him as “the Giver of all good things, Who comes to be born of a Vir-gin.” May we continue to “offer the ser-vice of loving hearts” to our Holy Orthodox Church and St. George parish here in San Diego.

I fervently pray that the new year of the Lord, 2010, be blessed for you, your loved ones, and our parish in every way, and that our Lord continues His guidance and blessings as we remodel and update our church buildings and property. Please know that your support and help are greatly appreciated.

Always in prayer and thanksgiving for you before the cradle of the Divine Infant Christ,

Father Bratso Krsic

Драги Парохијани и Пријатељи,

МИР БОЖЈИ! ХРИСТОС СЕ РОДИ!

Прослављајући Рождество Христово ми хвалимо и славимо вечног Бога који је из своје неизмерне љубави према нама и свету изволео да се оваплоти, живи међу нама, умре смрћу на крсту, али исто тако васкрсне и самим тиме победи грех, смрт, и дâ нам живот вечни пун неисказане радости и вечне хвале Божије.

Свети Григорије пише у садашњем времену...”Христос се Роди”…Господ долази са Неба послан од Бога Оца, каже Св. Григорије и позива нас да га сусретнемо и примимо у срца, душе и домове наше.

Сусрет са Христом је уствари заједничарење са Њим, али исто тако и активно ширење тог новог живота у Христу са делима и речима. Народ у нашој земљи тражи смисао живота; ми Православни Хришћани знамо да је једини смисао живота у Христу, у том смислу ми смо позвани да будемо путоказ онима који траже Христа и одговор на питање живота.

Нека би Господ дао да ми сви будемо весници рождества Христова, Његовог васкрсења и радости витлејемске коју анђели објавише пастирима и целоме свету.

Нека би Господ дао да Га ми и даље наставимо славити као Дараоца свих добара и да наставимо чинити добра дела у корист наше Свете Православне Цркве и парохије Светог Великомученика Георгија у Сан Дијегу.

Увек у молитвама пред колевком новорођеног Спаситеља са благодарношћу за дар који ми Он дате у свима вама, желећи вам благословену нову 2010 годину, поздрављам вас све са најрадоснијим речима које верујући човек може изговорити на српском језику,

МИР БОЖЈИ! ХРИСТОС СЕ РОДИ!

Искрено Ваш,

Протојереј Братислав Врацо Кршић

C E L E B R A T I O N * D E D I C A T I O N * P R O G R E S S * V I S I O N


Orthodox Christianity

Orthodox Christianity is the way of life initiated by Jesus Christ and a living organism composed of those who believe in Him. The Church is People - God’s People - Who • Gather together in His name, thereby calling

themselves Christian; • Share a common faith and hope based on the

love of God; • Affirm the truth, or orthodoxy, of their faith,

belief and experience; and • Proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to all.

An Orthodox Christian, then, is one who fully lives and proclaims God’s Truth as it has been revealed by Jesus Christ and experienced everywhere and at all times by His People, the Church.

The Orthodox Church

- began on Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles;

- subsequently spread to every corner of the world, and

- was established in North America in the late eighteenth century.

It is the second largest body in Christendom with 225 million people worldwide. But in the U.S. and Canada there are less than six million.


TEACHER AND SANCTIFIER

In Iconography, Jesus Christ is most commonly portrayed imparting a blessing while firmly holding the Scriptures in His left hand. This icon teaches us that Jesus Christ is: OUR TEACHER When Jesus was twelve years old, He accompanied Mary and Joseph to Jerusalem to celebrate one of the high Jewish holydays. Having been separated from Mary and Joseph, Jesus was later discovered in the Temple, teaching the teachers who were amazed by His wisdom and knowledge. Thus, long before He began His public ministry, Jesus revealed Himself as • The Teacher of all; • The Living Word of God, the very

embodiment of the Scriptures; and • The Way by which we know and

experience God.

OUR SANCTIFIER Jesus Christ came into the world to transform a fallen and sinful creation. God had created all things in order to eternally share in His boundless love. But humanity rejected God through sin, turning away from the Source of Life. Where there had once only been life with God, death became a dreaded part of humanity’s experience. By His resurrection, Jesus Christ reunited creation with its Creator and destroyed the eternal power of death. His mission on earth was to reveal God’s kingdom and to prepare us for it by • Calling us to personal holiness; • Destroying all that had corrupted creation while saving all that was worth being

saved; and • Sanctifying us so that we might rid ourselves of sin and corruption and clothe

ourselves in His very glory.


From the President

Dear Parishioners and Friends,

For days I continue to watch all of Serbia and the Diaspora mourn for their Patri-arch. From abroad news of condolences keep arriving. They are directed to the Church, the state, and to the Serbian peo-ple. He is respected by all, both in the Orthodox and non-Orthodox world.

Pictures after pictures show people standing for hours in order to make an obeisance to their Patriarch for the last time. It pains me to be away from my hometown of Belgrade to personally make a final salute to my spiritual leader. As was Patriarch Pavle, the Serbian nation is small in size but grand in spirit and conviction.

On the day of the funeral six hundred thousand souls paid their respects to his Holiness. It can be said that neither Bel-grade nor Serbia has ever witnessed such a scene. This is a powerful message to those that underestimate or doubt the degree of faith Serbian people possess. This is equally true for the doubtful at home and abroad. Let the entire world watch the devotion, love and humility of Serbian people to whom they respect and love. After such a sight we can only be proud of Serbia and of the Serbian peo-ple. Patriach Pavle has reposed in the Lord and to Serbs he left a legacy more powerful than any other leader and field marshal of our time. Just as he was, Serbs saw him out.

Nemanja Selezan, President of St George Parish

Mili parohijani i prijatelji,

Vec danima gledam kako cela Srbija, srpske zemlje i dijaspora zale za svojim patrijarhom. Iz inostranstva pristizu izjave saucesca upucene crkvi, drza-vnom vrhu i spskom narodu. Postoju ga svi sirom sveta, pravoslavne i ne pravo-slavne zemlje i narodi.

Slika nad slikama, narod satima stoji u redu ne bi li se po poslednji put poklonili svome Patrijarhu Pavlu. Zao mi je sto nisam u svom rodnom Beogradu da se licno poklonim svom duhovnom pogla-varu. Bas kao i sam Patrijarh Pavle, srp-ski narod je mali ali je velik sa svojim duhom i voljom.

Na dan sahrane sesto hiljada ljudi ispra-tilo je njegovu svetost. Moze se slobodno reci da u istoriji Beograd a ni Srbija nisu videli ovakvu sliku. Ovo je velika poruka svima koji potcenjuju i sumnjaju u snagu vere srpskog naroda, kako oni kod kuce tako i u inostranstvu. Neka gleda citav svet pozrtvovanje, ljubav i poniznost srpskog naroda prema onom koga ceni i voli. Nakon ovakve slike mozemo biti samo ponosni na Srbiju i na srpski narod. Patrijarh Pavle upokojio se u gospodu a srbima je ostavio zaostavstinu silniju od mnogih vodja i vojskovodja koje su je vodile. Onakav kakav je bio takvog su ga srbi i ispratili.

Nemanja Selezan, Predsednik uprave Svetog Velikomucenika Djordja


Schedule of Services for January 2010

Note: Sunday Divine Liturgy 10:30am; Saturday Vespers 6pm January 6 Wednesday: Christmas Eve 7:00pm Great Vespers; Blessing of Yule Log; Children’s Program/Arrival of Santa Clause; Dinner & Fellowship (Your dinner donations will go directly towards remodeling of the social hall) January 7 Thursday: Nativity of our Lord/Christmas 10:00 am Divine Liturgy, Lunch, Fellowship January 8 Friday: Synaxis of the Most Holy Theotokos 10:00 am Divine Liturgy January 9 Saturday: Holy Protomartyr Stephen 10:00 am Divine Liturgy January 10 Sunday: 20,000 Martyrs of Necomedia 10:30 am Divine Liturgy January 14 Thursday: The Circumcision of our Lord Jesus Christ, St. Basil the Great, Julian calendar New Year 10:00am Divine Liturgy January 17 Sunday: Synaxis of 70 Apostles 10:30 am Divine Liturgy and Parish Annual Assembly January 18 Monday: Holy Cross Feast Day 10:00 am Divine Liturgy and the Great Blessing of the Water January 19 Tuesday: Theophany 10:00 am Divine Liturgy and the Great Blessing of the Water January 20 Wednesday: St. John the Baptist 10:00 am Divine Liturgy January 24 Sunday: St. Sava Celebration 10:30 am Divine Liturgy and St. Sava Celebration (Blessing of the Kolach and Children’s Program) All are invited Please, visit our website for complete January 2010 calendar.

Распоред Богослужења за Јануар 2010

Пажња: Св. Литургија недељом 10:30 часова; Вечерње суботом у 18:00 часова 6. јануар Среда: Бадње Дан-Вече 19:00 Вечерње са петохлебницом; Освећење бадњака; Дечији програм; Долазак Деда Мраза-Св. Никола; Посна Вечера (Донације за вечеру ће ићи за реновирање црквене сале) 7. јануар Четвртак: Божић 10:00 Света Литургија Ручак у Сали са народним весељем 8. јануар Петак: Сабор Пресвете Богородице 10:00 Свете Литургија 9. јануар Субота: Св. Првомученик и архиђакон Стефан 10:00 Света Литургија 10. јануар Недеља: 20,000 Мученика у Никомидији 10:30 Света Литургија 14. јануар Четвртак: Обрезање Господње, Св. Василије Велики, Нова Година по Јулијанском Календару 10:00 Света Литургија и мало освећење воде 17. јануар Недеља: Сабор 70 Апостола 10:30 Света Литургија; Годишња Парохијска Скупштина 18. јануар Понедељак: Крстовдан 10:00 Света Литургија 19. јануар Уторак: Богојављење 10:00 Света Литургија и велико освећење воде 20. јануар Среда: Св. Јован Крститељ – Јовањдан 10:00 Света Литургија и велико освећење воде 24. јануар Недеља: Светосавска Прослава 10:30 Света Литургија; Светосавски Програм (Сечење Колача и Дечији Програм) Учтиво позивамо све парохијане да нам се придруже на прославу

Merry

Christmas

and Happy

New Year

from the

St. George

Church

Board


Quarterly Stewardship Meeting

St. George Stewards met on Sunday, December 6th, following the Liturgy to review the work of this God-protected parish. In addition to reviewing all the reports from the Church Board, Auxil-iary organizations, Master Planning Committee, the stewards also laid a foundation work for their parish annual assembly scheduled for Sunday, January 17, 2010.

Those considering positions on various parish boards and committees are encouraged to read the following guide-lines.

Parish Community/Parish Church Board. Membership in St. George Church Executive Board is a sacred trust. It carries responsibility not only for the mounting demands being made upon our parish, but also for the unending stream of challenges being faced by the Church-universal.

The team of leadership that directs each parish is the Priest and the Church Board. Just as the parish is a team, so is the entire Church a team working toward the goals set forth for us by our eternal leader, Jesus Christ. This leadership is best described by St. Paul to the Corin-thians (12:14-20):

For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the organs in the body, each one of them, as He chose. If all were a simple organ, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

So it is with our Holy Orthodox Church under the Divine leadership of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

A Parish Church Board is a body of prac-ticing Orthodox Christians elected by the members of a parish for the purpose of working together with the Priest in ful-filling the needs of that parish.

This brief description of a local govern-ing body also describes the fundamental structure of the Orthodox Church. That is, that we, as clergy and laity together, are the “People of God,” seeking, to the best of our human capabilities, to fulfill the mission ascribed to us by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

As a member of the Church Board it is important to remember that you have assumed a sacred office, one that demands total love, loyalty and dedica-tion to the Holy Orthodox Church. You are now an official representative of the Church, and as such are expected to exert every effort to exemplify its sacred char-acter and spirit. Upon being elected to the trusted office you assumed three basic obligations which will help guide you in making the many decisions and policies that will be your responsibility in the months to come.

These obligations are

• To uphold the Gospel, and the teaching and holy traditions of our Holy Orthodox Church.

• To abide by the by-laws and the constitution as set forth by the Serbian Orthodox Church in the North and South America.

• To utilize your God-given talents and energies for the progress and advancement of your parish.

Additional Thoughts to Consider. A Church Board membership is not an "honorary" position. Instead, board members are asked to be stewards over a ministry, and are expected to look to the Lord for wisdom as they consider such things as mission, resources, programs, goals and more. With that in mind, a pro-spective board member should be able to accurately "count the cost" of board membership before deciding whether to join the ministry.

To do this, he or she needs good informa-tion from current board members regard-

ing what will be expected. Below are some reasonable expectations, so that both the board—and prospective board members—can know in advance what it means to steward the ministry properly.• Pray and Participate in the Liturgical

Life of the Church.This is the most important calling we can have—to pray fervently for our parish ministries and to participate in the Liturgical Life of the Church. We want those to come on board who believe in prayer and the Liturgical Life and practice it.

• Attend. Our board places a high priority on attendance at meetings. We only miss if providentially hindered, as this is a calling we don't take lightly. We are looking for someone who thinks the same.

• Learn. We ask questions and seek to know as much as we can about the ministry. We look outside of ourselves for answers, knowing that God gives wisdom to others, our spiritual leaders, who have walked our path before. We're looking for someone who will read all correspondence and be prepared before the meeting begins.

• Lead. We are entrusted with expanding the mission of this ministry, and we look for those who are ready to lead as we go forward.

• Participate. When we have special events, board members need to be visible and active. Those interested in becoming part of the ministry will be looking to us for an example of what it means to be a participant. We need to be available.

• Advocate. We are the number one cheerleaders for the staff and volunteers of the ministry. Wherever we go, we represent their efforts and must be positive and encouraging as we talk about the ministry's activities.

• Invest. Each of us is expected to invest financially in the ministry, at a level that we believe God is calling us to. If we give, we then have a platform upon which to ask others to give.


Church Family News

New Baby. Congratu-lations to Vesna and Tomo Jovanovic on the birth of Baby Filip who came into the world on Saturday, October 24. He weighed 6 pounds 12 ounces and was 18.5” long. Both Filip and Vesna are doing well. Congratulations to uncles and aunts and most especially to baka and deka, Mira and Veljo Jovanovic.

Baptism. Marko Milicevic, son of Melanie and Jim Milicevic, was baptized on Octo-ber 24, 2009 at St. George Church.

Sv. Nikola Slava at the home of Branko and Ruza Vasic. Many families in the parish celebrate Sveti Nikola as their family saint day on the 19th of December, a day that in the middle of the Nativ-ity fast forshadows the Navitiy itself for Serbian families. The editor’s family has been attending this special event at Branko and Ruza’s home for a dozen years or more and have watched as the Vasic children, Vaso and Vesna, have grown from tiny tots to teen-agers.

Pilgrimage to Sweden. Editor Marsha Jovanovic and her young-est sister Leah Barnacle of Deephaven, Minnesota, traveled to Norrköping, Östergötland, in eastern Sweden, to meet 29 relatives from their father’s mother’s family for the first time. Grand-mother Beda Stenman emigrated to the US in 1905 and became a typical immigrant farmer’s wife in Iowa and Minnesota. Giving birth to 11 children, her firstborn was the sisters’ father John Ben-son. The only member of her family to leave Sweden, Beda was never able to return. In her honor, the two granddaughters visited the graves of her parents and sisters and brothers, carrying with them a small rug she made as a token of bringing her back to Swe-den, 124 years after her birth.


Vice Presidential/ MPC Report

By now many of you have already seen the construction that has begun on the social hall, for those who have not, please stop by and have a look. God has blessed us with this incredible opportu-nity to continue the legacy that was started some 40 years ago.

Today, as back then, it is by the hard work of fellow stewards and friends that we move forward to build and repair that which will let not only us but the gener-ations to come, enjoy the beauty of our Orthodox Faith and our Serbian culture.

As of this writing we have nearly all the new kitchen and bathroom wall and ceil-ing framed out, and most all of the under-ground plumbing has been completed. By Badnje Vece (Christmas Eve), the floor and footings will be poured. I am very proud to say that the people that have been working on the framing, Milan Djokic of North County Framers, have been not only doing the job that they have been contracted for, but have found so many other ways to help us, almost always without additional expense to the church. Slavko Jovanovic

has been on site regularly to help oversee any irregularities and our architects, David and Jasna Belanic have been more than gracious with their time by coming down to the job site and answering ques-tions and giving guidance as we deal with unexpected structural “adjust-ments”.

St. George is truly a blessed parish. I look around at all the people that have come forward to help, physically, finan-cially and most importantly spiritually. Your prayers and good wishes are so very much appreciated, I can only hum-bly say thank you, please don’t stop!

In the beginning of the year I am meeting with Tom Dyke to discuss future fund-ing. I had truly hoped I would be able to tell him that the Stewards of St. George found a way to self fund the construc-tion, and that his offer, though greatly appreciated, would not be needed at this time. Unfortunately that is not the case. I realize that we are going through some of the hardest economic times our genera-tion has ever faced, but is it really so much different than when the church founders came over from the old coun-try?

With little more than the clothes on their back, with the faith of God and the will to successes, they constructed this mag-nificent place of prayer/gathering place, not only for their families, but all of us, so fortunate to be here now. If they could do it with so little, so uncertain of a future, why can’t we? If we can loan money to our neighbors can’t we loan money to our Church?

To those of you who have found a way to give beyond yourselves, and I know there are many of you, Thank you! For those of you that may have concerns or doubts, please call me directly, I will do anything I can to help answer your ques-tions and concerns. Please, let us together with the help from God build our parish and ourselves.

May the Blessing of God be with you and your families now and throughout the New Year.

Peace from God! Christ is Born! Mir Bozji! Hristos Se Rodi!

Vladan Trifunovic


Continuing Our Legacy Pledges as of 12-11-09

SUPPORTER $1 — $999

• Andolsek, Tonska

• Barron, Zorka

• Cronemeyer, Jamie and Zorica

• DeGranda, Boris and Danila

• Denton, Natalie

• Drakulich, Persida

• Driscoll, Josephine

• Emery, John

• Frank, Nick

• Germain, Ann

• Hartwell, John

• Hess, Daniela Radovic

• Jedrysik, Ben and Kimberlie

• Jorling, Joe and Nina

• Jovanovic, Vuskovic, Natasa

• Jovanovic, Nenad

• Jovanovic, Marsha and Misha

• Jovanovich, Martha

• Kennedy, Ken and Sonia

• Koruga, Milenko and Jelena

• Kurkjian, Betty

• Leff, Craig

• Markovic, Predrag

• Medigovich, Milica

• Miladinovich, Ljubisav and Radmila

• Nedic, Ivana

• Nedic, Sava and Spomenka

• Nedic, Milosh and Karen

• Pavlovich, Maria

• Plavsic, Rade and Jelena

• Popa, Cornelia

• Purlia, Sam and Gloria

• Radich, Jovan

• Radojevic, Protinica Nada

• Radovanovic, Dragoslav and Ljiljana

• Serebryanova, Elena

• Sigmreanu, Valentin and Mariana

• Simikich, R and Cheryl

• Starr, Tatyana

• St. George Sunday School

• Sutter, Cameron

• Trifunovic, Jelena

• Trifunovic, Katarina

• Trifunovic, Stefan

• Undheim, Natasha

• Urosevic, Branko

• Vallin, Becky

• Vasilia, Laurentiv and Daniela

• Villa, Brian

• Vlasovich, Milanka

• Vukotich, Danica

• Vuskovic, Ivo

• Zivkovic, Jovan and Tina

FRIENDS $1,000 — $2,999

• Batinica, Boris

• Batricevich, Slobodan and Branka

• Belcevich, Milos

• Benesh, Kathryn

• Gavrilov, Gleb and Svetlana

• Germain, Deacon Paul and Natalija

• Jovanovich, Ratko

• Krsic, Proto Bratso and Protinica Lisa

• Kukich, Branislav

• Kukulj, Dragan and Lillian

• Kunac, Dusan and Maria

• Masic, Milenko

• Miladinovich, Miroslav

• Miller, Stephanie

• Morava – San Diego

• Nikolic, Dragan and Gordana

• Plavsic, Mara-Seja and D. Dee

• Popovich, Ella

• Radojevic, Dan and Vesna

• Ruzic, Stevan

• Selezan, Nemanja and Lindsay

• St. George Kolo

• Vukotich, Stefan and May

BENEFACTOR $3,000 — $4,999

• Copic, Miro and Laura

• Djujic, Donna

• Draskovich, Proto Bozidar and Protinica Bozana

• Irick, Olga

• Jovanovic, Drasko and Ranica

• Kinach, Alex and Seka

• McKenzie, Sally

• Milanovich, Jennifer

• Milicevic, Nikola and Nada

• Milicevic, Jim and Melanie

• Miljkovic, Miodrag and Vecki

• Milosevich, Alexsandra Babic


• Rakic, Marko and Vera

• Savchuk, Nikolai and Olga

• Thickstun, Kathryn

• Undheim, Robert and Dobrila

FOUNDER OVER $5,000

• Bosnak, Mara and Les Lambert

• Bozinovska, Jadranka

• Economy Restaurant Supply

• Goich, Mike and Mara

• Milasinovic, Zeljko and Marija

• Petakovich, Proto Velimir and Protinica Petakovich

• Rhoads, Howard and Lydia

• St. Angelina

• St. George Choir

• Trifunovic, Robert and Simona

• Trifunovic, Vladan and Milica


Sunday School News and Announcements

Thank you to our Sunday School Teach-ers: Deacon Paul Germain, Mira Jovanovic, Sandie Papac, Natalie Ger-main, Jelena Jovanovic.

Attention Parents: In preparation for the Nativity Program and Saint Sava pro-gram please bring your children to church every Sunday beginning with December 27, 2009. To receive a poem for St. Sava program, please see Mira Jovanovic or Jelena Jovanovic. Practices for St. Sava program will be on Sundays, Jan. 03, 10, 17, 2009.

Nativity Program/Play, Wednesday, Jan-uary 06, 2009, 7pm

St. Sava Program, Sunday, January 24, 2009, following the Liturgy.

Mark Your Calendars: January 24, Sun-day: St. Sava Celebration, 10:30 am, Divine Liturgy and St. Sava Celebration (Blessing of the Kolach and Children’s Program) All are invited.

St. Sava Summer Camp Scholarship: Please, keep in mind that students with regular Sunday School attendance get a full scholarship for St. Sava Summer Camp. We encourage all parents and chil-dren to come to the church regularly and attend the Sunday School.

Orthodox Christian Education - An Ongoing Activity of our Parishes and our Homes

Orthodox Christian Education is an ongoing activity that takes place every day in our homes and our local parishes. Yes, every community activity, e.g., lun-cheon, parish annual assembly, Sunday school, folklore practice, choir rehearsal, etc. is an educational activity.

Our communities and homes are the places for us to grow in holiness, to expe-rience spiritual healing, and the place where we are challenged to live our Orthodox faith as holy men, women, and children.

According to this understanding, every member of a local Eucharistic commu-nity is a life-long student and teacher. Of course, the same can be applied in our homes. The parents cannot teach their children if they themselves are not open to growing in faith and knowledge of Jesus Christ.

A delightful story on how to teach about God’s love and care for us. Here is a wonderful story that can teach children about God’s loving care for mankind. One family made their garden an oppor-tunity to talk about God. As the spring planting occurred in the small garden, the family members discussed what kind of sign to put over the garden. Ann, the six

year old, suggested they take the vegetable’s eye view and make a sign which said, “God watches over us.” Then, while inspecting the summer growth, they occasionally referred to their sign and talked about God’s role in nature. For them it was existential, that is, their own carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, and corn. They made the sign which became their cue to reflect upon God in their lives.

We teach by our example. All this is to say that children must be able to discover authentic Orthodox Christianity in their home. Children should be able to see their parents praying before their home altar or icon corner. They should see their parents burning incense before icons, and lighting the vigil lamp and candles. Ideally, every room in the house should have an icon hung on the wall. The icon corner or home altar should have a Bible, Cross, the prayer book, The Prologue1, an icon of

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the

Staff of the St. George

Church School

(color the icon sketches by Duck-

Marx)


Jesus Christ, an icon of their home patron saint, and a vigil lamp.

Evenings are an opportune time for the family to reflect on the day, pray together, read the lives of the saints, make the sign of the cross, read scripture, or simply to share a family story. Chil-dren love stories. They love to stand in front of colorful icons with the vigil lamps lit. They love to smell incense. This is an opportunity for children to discover religion through their senses.

The celebration of the major Feast days, such as Pascha/Easter, Christmas, etc., brings forth a special atmosphere with wearing festal clothing. Lenten seasons are times when families should spend more time together in prayer and contemplating the Word of God. Values and priorities are apparent in the way a home is decorated. Family meal times and fellowship at the dining table is another educational opportunity, as well as extending hospi-tality to others.

Parents, pray for your children; Children, pray for your par-ents. Parents should start praying for their children from the moment they learn of their conception. And they should never stop praying and talking to God about their children. Our homes are the primary schools of religious education, and we are teachers. We parents should never stop learning how to more effectively communicate love, self-esteem, respect, and the truths of our faith to our children. Most importantly, parents need to pray for their children and likewise children need to pray for their parents.

Keep in mind. Here is something that parents can keep in mind as they carry on the Christian education of their children:

• Let me do it myself and I will understand.

• You tell me and I will forget.

• You show me and I will remember.

The first tip reminds us of the fact that our children better understand the things that they do themselves. This is to say that our actions and faith expressions have to be genuine and faithful to our Orthodox Faith. Our children closely observe our actions and expressions, and they mirror everything that we do. This is no small responsibility. Studies indicate that children remember 90% of the things that they do.

The second tip tells us that it is not enough to just once orally communicate a certain truth. It has to be followed up many times, and if necessary demonstrated. Study shows that chil-dren remember only around 10% of the heard information.

The third tip is very much tied to the first one. It is necessary to demonstrate to a child how to make a prostration, the sign

of the cross, or how to venerate an icon, etc., but they should also be given an opportunity to do these things on their own. This way we build confidence and self worth. Study indicates that children retain 50% of the things demonstrated.

Final point. The primary ‘university’ of our Christian Educa-tion is our home and our parents are our teachers. The second-ary ‘university’ of our Christian Education is the community or parish. Parents, clergy and fellow parishioners have a great responsibility in utilizing all the available resources and adjust-ing the curriculum to their home and parish needs.

God and Church have to have priority in our lives. We need to make every effort in bringing our children to church regularly, but most especially to the Divine Liturgy. The services of the Holy Orthodox Church are great teaching tools. It is imperative to explain the meaning of each service as well as encourage more active participation.

Our Orthodox Church, aside from the Bible, has great spiritual wisdom deposited in the writings of the Holy Fathers, Her sacred history, the Lives of saints, hymnography, etc. All we have to do is dig deep with only one desire: to “seek the King-dom of God and His righteousness.”

May it be blessed. May the Lord bless our educational endeav-ors so that we may readily receive and pass on the teachings of our Lord and may everything that we do be for the building up of the Church, the Body of Christ, that we grow into infinite communion with the Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. May God grant it!

1. The Prologue is written by recently canonized St. Nikolai (Velimirovic) and contains lives of saints, Church Feast Days, scriptural reflections, homilies and hymns for each day of the year.


Kolo Sisters

Blessings to all! Here we are again about to celebrate another won-der season the birth of our Lord.

Sisters have been instra-mental in the restoration the church pews, we are now in the time saking process, and highly labor intense stage of restoring them. Please show your appreciation to Steve Basic who is a master carpenter/cabinet maker who has now taken on this proj-ect. It will take time, but we are not in any rush, you can see the beautiful results already with the first pews that have been restored. Vera Giles initiated this project, which was well overdue. There have been many others who put in long hours when this first began, and their time and efforts are much appreci-ated. Thanks be to God, for our wonder-ful parishoners.

We have made some contributions to Martha and Mary's House in Escondido, which is solely supported by donations.

This is operated by Sister Sarah and is where expecting mothers may find a safe haven in an Christian Orthodox environ-ment and to set up an open private adop-tion. They are always in need of support, so please feel free at any time to make a contribution of any kind. Clothing, food, money, time, talent. You can contact them directly or see me or Deacon Paul.

Here is a something to share. God cre-ated the world by speaking it into exsis-tance. The Word was made flesh, and the soul felt its worth. I love these two phrases. There is so much power in the spoken word, and when we pray out load positive vibrations fill the universe. Hav-ing faith in our prayers and that God will see us through the challenges we are fac-ing, this makes all the difference in how we get through our daily lives. Prayers are powerful.

I look forward to celebrate this beautiful season along with all of you, and I thank God for all He has blessed us with. May you and your families receive all of God's graces for good health and pros-perity.

Your sister in Christ

Sylvia Ivanovic, Kolo President

What is Kolo?

This adult organization of Orthodox women over 18 serves and supports the many ministries of St George and sur-rounding Orthodox communities. They support service in the kitchen, Sunday Luncheons, special events, charitable activities, and special church needs. The mission of the Women’s Auxiliary is to demonstrate God’s love for all people and to practice the inspiring message of the parable of the Good Samaritan. It is to heed the word of Our Lord, “For every-one to whom much is given, from him much will be required”. (Luke 12:48) The organization was formally founded in 1953. Our Slava is The Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos on September 21.

As always we are looking for new mem-bers, come join Kolo we extend our love in Christ to you and yours.

2009 Women’s Auxiliary/KSS Board

• President Sylvia Ivanovic

• Vice President #1 Vera Rakich

• Vice President #2 Mira Jovanovic

• Secretary Milica Trifunovic

• Treasurer Dusanka Urosevic

• Historian Ana Lazetich

• Auditors Stana Lazetich, Radmila Kasic, Maria Kunac

• Membership Linda Pantovich

• Sunshine Committee Nada Pantovich, Stana Lazetich, Protinica Lisa Krsic

• Church Hall Rental Tina Zivkovic

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

from the Kolo Circle of Serbian Sisters


The Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos on September 21 Stole Report for Jan. 1 – December 15, 2009

Baptisms-Chrismation. Servant of God____is baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit! God grant you many years!

• Nicholas Dorin Shaternik

• Daniela Eva Milicevic

• Maksim Svetlan Komatina

• Natalia Righellis

• Martin Ivan Gounev

• Mane Kaurin

• Adrian Nicholas Vasiliu

• Blake David Miller

• Mark G. Miller, Jr.

• Eric Dimov Deliivanov

• Nikolaj Daniel Krsic

• Damian Nicholas Slavkov

• Stefan Jeremiah O’Neill

• Elizabeth Maria Sighieranu

• Adrian Charles Briscoe

• Luka Jovan Draskovic

• Marko Milicevic

• Alexandra Pavlovna Shevelkina

• Julia Rose

• Izabella Danielle Slavkov

• Filip Marinkovic

WeddingsO, Lord our God, crown them with glory and honor! – God grant you many years!• Kiril Emilov Yanakiev and Daniela Huerta

Rodriguez

FuneralsGrant, O, Lord, Memory Eternal to:

• Olga Medigovich-Cox

• Tomislav Srdanovic

• Eleonora Maria Sekulovich

• Catherine N. Fish

• Angela Milic

• Svetislav Mihajlovic


Choir Report

Our Choir traveled to the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos Serbian Orthodox Parish in Irvine on Sunday December 13th and we sang the responses during the Liturgy together with their Choir, and we gave a concert afterwards. We sang three pieces about the Virgin Mary and three Serbian Christmas carols. We were very warmly received.

Prota Blasko thanked us for our singing and he remembered that our Choir came to sing at their very first service some ten years ago. Prota Blasko described our Choir's concert at his parish as a "very memorable and spiritually uplifting event and that he is truly hoping that such visits will happen on a regular basis in future between our sister churches." Our Choir member Richard Tiles sang in Handel's Messiah oratorio in a concert on Sunday December 13th in Carlsbad.

A lunch followed. Their Choir is coming to our Church on January 3rd. Our Choir member Diana Coso and her sister sang Christmas carols at he annual Festival of Lights at Balboa Park. Our Choir had the annual meeting in November (we did it earlier this time to avoid the rush and conflicts with other meetings and activi-ties) and the same board was re-elected for the next year except for the Treasurer, where Slavka Kljajich asked to be relieved of her duties because she could not come to our Liturgy very often.

The following officers were elected:

• President: Velimir Jovanovic

• Vice President: Sylvia Ivanovic

• Secretary: Marija Milasinovich

• Treasurer: Mira Jovanovic

• Sunshine Committee Chair : Seka Kinach

Velimir Jovanovic, St George Choir President

Mir Bozji, Hristos se Rodi! Vaistinu se rodi!

МИР БОЖИЈИ, ХРИСТОС СЕ РОДИ!

Peace of God, Christ is born! Indeed he is born!

Season’s Greetings from the St. George Choir


Visitor to St. George tells about Orthodox Mission in China

Frequently, the St. George parish receives visitors. Some of them are Orthodox Christians while others are typically Roman Catholics or Protes-tants. Occasionally, even unbelievers come to attend services at St. George parish. We extend a warm welcome to all of them and pray that they too come to know the Faith proclaimed by the Holy Fathers, the Orthodox Faith.

On Sunday, November 29th, our parish had four visitors, Nelson Mitrophan Chin, his wife Michelle and their two sons, Tobias Nikolai (whose patron saint is St. Nikolai of Zicha) and Joachim Ivan (whose patron saint is St. John of Shang-hai). Mitrophan and his family made California their vacation destination and San Diego was one of the stops that they made. Prior to coming to San Diego they contacted Fr. Bratso to find out about the schedule of services and to announce their visit.

The Chin family lives in the Cambridge, MA area and they are members of St. Mary’s Antiochian Orthodox Church. Prior to their joining St. Mary’s parish

the Chins were Protestants. In search for a True Church and authentic Christianity, they surfed the internet and came across many websites offering information on Orthodox Christianity. Now, the Chins are happy to be “home” – a part of the Orthodox family – One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

What is remarkable about their journey is that the Chins are of Chinese descent and they are active within the pan-Ortho-dox 501(c)(3) non-profit religious corpo-ration called Orthodox Fellowship of All Saints of China (which was started up with a grant by The Order of St Ignatius three years ago). OFASC primarily over-sees the Chinese Translation Projects of Orthodox texts including St Nikolai of Zicha's Prologue from Ochrid. OFASC was actually initiated by Mitrophan as a part of his thesis project.

Mitrophan gave an inspiring talk during a luncheon covering topics such as reli-gious life in China, Orthodox mission activity and translation activity of OFASC.

It was inspiring and moving to see parts of the Prologue translated in Chinese. Mitrophan showed parts of the Prologue

already published in Chinese. St. Nikolaj of Zicha is called a Serbian Chrysostom (Chrysostom means golden mouth; it is an epithet given to those with excep-tional writing and oratorical gifts).

For those wishing to visit the website of the Orthodox Fellowship of All Saints of China, to read more about their work and to find out how to become a supporter, please go to http://orthodox.cn/index_en.html

We wish many years to Mitrophan and his family!

Father Bratso

Book recommendation

First Do No Harm: Humanitarian Inter-vention and the Destruction of Yugosla-via, David N. Gibbs, 2009, Vanderbilt University Press. As most of us are pain-fully aware, the 1991-1999 breakup of Yugoslavia was the beginning of a new policy of so-called “humanitarian inter-vention,” which in addition to the hor-rendous destruction of a sovereign nation, ushered in our endlessly prob-lematic incursions into Iraq and Afghan-istan. Gibbs makes strong, well-researched arguments for how this policy produced negative effects in Yugoslavia, especially from a humanatarian perspec-tive (remember how we had to figure out ways to get food to our relatives?!) For those of you desiring a rational discus-sion and explanation of this unpleasant period of history, this book is recom-mended. It is not light reading; but its pages will have you shaking your head in aggreement throughout. Finally, some-one is getting the story straight.

Editor

http://orthodox.cn/index_en.html

http://orthodox.cn/index_en.html


2010 Stewardship List As Of December 16, 2009

• Aud, Matthew and Laurie

• Belcevich, Milos

• Connor, Thomas and Evelyn

• Copic, Miro and Laura

• Cronemeyer, Jamie and Zorica

• Draskovich, Proto Bozidar and Protinica Bozana

• Germain, Deacon Paul and Natalija

• Grba, Svetozar and Christine

• Freeman, Lillian

• Jovanovich, Dejan

• Jovanovich, Martha

• Kinach, Alex and Seka

• Krsic, Proto Bratso and Protinica Lisa

• Lambert, Les and Mara

• Markley, Scott and Nada

• Miljkovic, Milan and Diane

• Milovancev, Miroslav and Mira

• Mrja, Millie

• Nedic, Sava and Spomenka

• Petakovich, Proto Velimir and Protinica Ljubinka

• Plavsic, Milan and Ljubica

• Popovich, Dolly

• Popovich, Ella

• Pugh, Zachary and Milica

• Rhoads, Howard and Lydia

• Rhoads, Michael

• Radomirovic, Vladimir and Sanja Zlatanovic


• Rakic, Marko and Vera

• Serdar, Sophie

• Srbich, Dr. Alexander and Mrs.

• Vasich, Branko and Ruja

• Wright, Sean and Svenja

• Zivkovic, Jovan and Tina

Why we want you to sign Stewardship & Continuing Our Legacy Cards

Our Church Executive Board has established two programs for which we ask you to sign a committment card: 1) St George Stewardship and 2) the Con-tinuing Our Legacy Capital Campaign.

Here are reasons this is important:• When we sign the stewardship card and

bring it to the church on Stewardship Sunday, the act itself becomes a spiritual endeavor. It is no longer just another thing we do; but rather it is an act of worship and I would even say a liturgical act of offering ourselves to God. This is one of the beautiful realities of our Faith—looking at our life and eveyrthing we do as as a way of sanctifying our life and the life of those around us.

• And on a practical level, if a parishioner signs a card, it makes tracking/recording donations easier for the church treasurer and it makes keeping track of committments easier for the stewardship chair.

Also, please earmark your dona-tions—tell us how you want the dona-tion to be allocated. On an envelope or check (in the memo area), for example, mark stewardship, candles, bookstore, memorial, Legacy fund, etc. If neces-sary, we can contact parishioners to clarify a particular donation, but that makes extra work for our already busy volunteers.

Thank you all very much and God bless you as you prayerfully pledge yourself as a St George Steward and/or pledge support to the Continuing Our Legacy campaign.

Father Bratso Krsic

From the Stewardship Chair

To those of you that you have made your 2010 stewardship pledge, I thank you for your commitment to the continued growth our parish.

In 2009, the total amount pledged for stewardship was $63,782. As of Novem-ber 23, 2009, $55,063 was received. As I have mentioned before, the operating bud-get for St. George is approximately $140,000. We don’t anticipate a “bail out” any time soon other than to hope that you, the parishioners of this church, will make the spiritual and financial obligation required to keep St. George operational.

Thank you for your support in 2009.

Lydia Petric Rhoads, Stewardship Chairperson

Continuing Our Legacy Pledges

See page 15 for a list of those who have committed to our captial fund raising program.


Vera Giles’ Daughter Awarded “Women Who Mean Business 2009 Award”

On Tuesday, October 27, 2009, Gina Giles-Oas, daughter of Vera Giles Negovanovic, received a special recognition for her business professionalism and management skills. It was a 16th regular annual event at the Town and Center Resort and Con-vention Center titled Women Who Mean Business 2009 Awards. San Diego Business Journal (October 26, 2009) fea-tured a story on Gina Giles-Oas. Gina is an anaslyst in respira-tory care at the UC San Diego Medical Center.

In 2004, Gina transitioned to her current position as an analyst in respiratory services. She has developed numerous “first” pro-grams as well as demonstrated a remarkable commitment to making UC San Diego a better place for patients and staff. In her current role, she gets the first call from patients who are looking for help, from staff members who may be calling the department for extra help, and from doctors and nurses looking for respiratory care help. While Gina made her transition to Hillcrest to serve primarily as the administrative assistant for respiratory care, she quickly rose to the challenge of supporting respiratory care at both Hillcrest and Thornton, as well as pul-monary function, rehabilitation and TB control. She helped build a great team for all of respiratory services and promotes a spirit of teamwork through her responsiveness to staff, patients and extending herself to lead activities outside the department.

Congratulations to Gina and her proud mom, Vera Giles.

Mother – Daughter Concerto Given by Sasha Clines and Rada Neal

On Friday, October 23, 2009, the former choir director of St. George, Rada Neal, and her daughter Sasha Clines, gave an out-standing opening concert for J Crivello Hall at Francis Parker School. Rada is a former Francis Parker Lower School music teacher, (1980-2002) and Sasha is a member of the Parker Alumni Council and was trained vocally in opera.

Both Rada and Sasha attended the Divine Liturgy at St. George church on Sunday, October 18. Currently they live in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, but we hope that they will return back to San Diego.

Rada is a daughter of Marija known as Bolnicarka (her maiden name was Baljak) who fell asleep in the Lord in 1974. Rada’s mom Marija, like many immigrants after the WW II came to America through Italy where she spent some time in camp in the city of Eboli.

We wish Rada and Sasha God’s blessing and many years!


Your Guide to an Orthodox Christian Will

Another way to support the Saint George Serbian Orthodox Church in San Diego, California

When you make a Christian will, you are planning for the future of the people you love while helping the Saint George Serbian Orthodox Church in San Diego, California, which you support. A will can be written to accomplish a variety of needs, such as benefiting family and friends. It can also fulfill your desires to support a particular mission or program through a charitable bequest.

Start At the BeginningMany people put off making a will because the task seems over-whelming. The process is not really that difficult, yet each will is unique, and must be structured to fit the particular needs and estate plans of each individual and the laws of the state in which they live. For this reason, you should consult a lawyer to assist you in drawing up your will and estate plans.

AssetsFirst, list everything you own – money, property, life insurance, pension, investment – and how your property is owned, either individually or jointly.

BeneficiariesNext, identify and list the people, organizations and causes that mean the most to you. Try to determine how you would like to divide your possessions among those on this list.

ExecutorsOnce you have reviewed your assets and listed your beneficia-ries, it is important to name the person(s) who will see that your wishes are carried out. The executor may be a friend, relative, attorney or representative from a bank or trust company. An alternate to your first choice should always be named.

Plan Your Charitable BequestThere are three important considerations in planning your char-itable bequest to achieve your goals: will your gift be restricted in use, what will be the amount of your gift, how will your gift be distributed?

You Can Make ChangesThe benefits of having a Christian will can be most desirable, both spiritually and financially. And, as with all wills, nothing is “carved in stone.” You can change your will at any time for whatever reason you want – births, deaths, changes in marital and financial status, the choice of a new executor, etc. Your will can be changed by an amendment called a codicil. It, too, is easy to do with a lawyer’s assistance.

Formalizing Your WillOnce you have made the decisions about how you would like your assets distributed, and to whom, you are ready to formalize your will.

This should be done by an attorney, so that the proper language and legal terms can be used. Employing an attorney will ensure that your intentions are clear and concise. This prevents the possibility of misunderstanding and delay in probating your will and ensures your will complies with the specific require-ments of your state.

WordingI hereby give, devise, and bequest to the Saint George Serbian Orthodox Church in San Diego, California, a not-for-profit organization in the state of California, with a present address of 3025 Denver St., San Diego, CA 92117, and its successors for-ever, $__________________ and/or ___________________percent of my estate.

I______________________hereby give, devise, and bequest to the Saint George Serbian Orthodox Church in San Diego, Cali-fornia, a not-for-profit organization in the state of California, with a present address of 3025 Denver St., San Diego, CA 92117, and its successors forever, $__________________ and/or ___________________percent of my estate.

Witness _____________________

Witness______________________

Date_________________________

Procession for The Nativity of the

Most Holy Theotokos on September 21


Indiana Couple Leaves $1 Million To Church

MERRILLVILLE, Ind., Nov. 10 (CBS) ― Mile and Ella Kosanovic left St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church more than $1 million through their trust after they passed away.

In these tough eco-nomic times, imagine learning your church has been given more than $1 million. Well, that's the reality for a place of worship in Merrillville, Indiana. CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot reports on the unexpected windfall.

"It's definitely confirmation for their true love, for God, our holy church and for this parish of St. Sava," said Rev. Marko Matic of St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church in Merrillville, Indiana.

Rev. Matic is talking about the tremen-dous generosity of Mile and Ella Kosanovic. Through their trust, the cou-ple left St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church more than $1 million.

"Never did we anticipate a donation of this magnitude. We were so taken aback," said Dennis Svilar, Executive Board President of St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church.

"Although the Kosanovics were not blessed with children, they were truly

blessed with an inexhaustible love for each other," Svilar said. "It was truly a love story, and that carried over to their church."

Mile died at the age of 92, in March of 2008. Ella died at the age of 91, in March of 2009.

Ella developed Alzheimer's before she passed away. Mile had to put her in a nursing home. When Mile knew his end was near, he slept at the nursing home with Ella each night, until he died.

Through their trust, he made sure

Ella was given the best care until she passed away.

The Kosanovics were lifelong members of the parish. They started attending ser-vices at St. Sava in 1948, after moving from Leka, Serbia to Gary, Indiana.

"They lived a simple life. Lived in a small house in the Hobart area. Drove old cars, dressed up simply. But at the same time, they were very, very active at church, in all events," Rev. Matic said.

Mile Kosanovic made his fortune through wise investments, primarily in real estate.

St. Sava Executive Board president Den-nis Svilar says in their will, the couple

asked parishioners to donate a half mil-lion dollars, following their gift.

"Asking our membership to match it, that ultimately enhances this donation, and that was their goal and we're hoping that happens. We know it will happen," Svilar said.

Svilar says the church relies heavily on contributions. This generous donation is an opportunity for St. Sava to ensure its future. The church board will be decid-ing how to use the financial gift.

The couple also left money to 23 rela-tives and friends in Serbia.

St. Sava is the same church where actor Karl Malden and his parents left a half million dollars, too, several years ago.

Pan-Orthodox Community Advent Gathering

On Saturday, December 5th, 2009, San Diego Pan-Orthodox Community gath-ered at St. George church for children's educational activities and Vespers Ser-vice. For this occasion they formed a Pan-Orthodox Adult and Children's Choir. The activities started at 3:30pm with children’s arts & crafts, a Pan-Orthodox adult choir practice and the meeting of San Diego Clergy Brother-hood.

It was a joy to see brothers and sisters working together, celebrating and liv-ing one Faith – The Orthodox Faith.


Yes, Children Should Be In Church

Below are some points taken from the article, Should Children be in Church?, written by Joan Teebagy, which provides ideas that may be helpful in bringing your children to Church. The title we gave to this selection is affirmative answer to the question posed by the author. Enjoy reading it!

Sit as close to the front as possible. Children need to see what is happening. This also helps with their attention and eventual understanding of the service. Don’t expect young children to sit still for the whole service or stay quiet. This is unrealistic and counter-productive. I never say to my young children, “Don’t talk” but rather “Whisper.” Movement can be restricted but not prohibited. My five year old is expected to sit on the pew and stand with minimum of movement while my younger ones move around a little bit more.

Bring materials for the children. This can be children’s liturgy books, picture books and crayons. Let the children know what is acceptable and what is not-this will change as the children get older.

Prepare your children for the Liturgy. Try to read the Gospel reading for the day to your children on Saturday night.

Explain to the children that they will hear this in the church and have them listen for key words during the Gospel. During church, whisper to them to remind them to listen to the Gospel story. On special days, such as Elevation of the Cross or Orthodoxy Sunday, have them bring in their own cross or icon so they can par-ticipate in their small way. Have chil-dren prepare an offering envelope that they can place in the collection baskets. Children as young as two can recite the Lord’s Prayer. Teach it to your children and encourage them to recite it during church. As your children grow older, encourage them to participate in the Divine Liturgy and the life of the com-munity by singing in the choir and serv-ing in the altar.

Ignore comments that belittle your effort to make your children part of the church life. People who make these comments about behavior of children have little understanding of what the Church is about or Christ’s acceptance and welcome of little children. Don’t let “bad” day discourage you. Evaluate what has happened, change expectations if necessary and try again. You are not alone so seek advice from other parents as well.

Make the Church an important part of your life. Your own spiritual life is an important role model to your children. If the children see that God and the Church

are an important part of your life, this will make a great impact as children grow older and one day, accept this faith as their own. Pray at home, read the scriptures, and involve your children in good works. Your own spiritual strength will also give you that extra strength to tolerate those less than perfect but child-like behaviors in church and to bring your children on a regular basis to the Liturgy, even during those summer months when there is no Church School. Parents who bring their children just to Church School, whether it is before or after church, do not realize that the real class is in CHURCH. The other class is only reinforcement. It is only an enrich-ment of what is being taught at home and what is being absorbed through all five senses in church.

Attend special services with your chil-dren. Make an effort to attend weekly Vespers and other special services with your children. Although it is not always possible with young children to attend all the special services during Great Lent, attending a few extra services including Presanctified Liturgies, special Divine Liturgies, and Akathist exposes the chil-dren to the cycle of services. Again, learn about these services and prepare your children to know what they will see and hear.


The Germain Sisters Music Update

This fall, Oksana was blessed to partici-pate in her first piano masterclass, which was held in LA. She was invited by her piano teacher, Professor Vitaly Margulis, to participate among college level stu-dents in his annual masterclass held at UCLA, where he teaches. For ten days, ten young pianists from around the world studied with the esteemed Professor of Piano. The masterclass included lessons with Professor Margulis, sitting in on other student’s lessons and, of course, many hours of practicing. The master-class culminated in a concert held at UCLA, where the students performed one of the pieces they had been preparing with the professor. It was very inspiring for Oksana to study so intensely with Prof. Margulis, as well as to watch and learn from the older, more experienced pianists. She made many new friends and hopes to be able to participate again next year. It was a wonderful and fruitful experience for Oksana.

Kaija shared some of her violin music at the Sretenje Monastery picnic in November. She and Oksana were also asked to perform at the Kolo Sisters Slava at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in December. They love visiting our sister churches, participating in their liturgies, enjoying fellowship with their brothers and sisters in Christ, as well as sharing their love and gift of music.

Germain family

Oksana performing in the Vitaly Margulis Masterclass Concert at UCLA

Kaija sharing some music at a picnic at Sretenje Monastery in Escondido

Badnjace, Badnjace

Oj Badnjace, badnjace, ti nas stari rodjace,

Dobro si nam doshao, i u kuchu ushao

Mili Srpski badnjace, ti nas stari rodjace

Badnjace, badnjace, rodjace, rodjace.

Saint Sava Children’s ProgramJanuary 24, 2010

Don’t miss this special event


Another Incredible Story from WWII

After seeing items in the Voice and The American SRBOBRAN about the Forgotten 500 and other war-time recollections, long-time St. George member-at-large and steward Sam Purlia contacted the Voice editor to mention his own particular experience. In addition, Milanka Vlasovich brought Sam’s story to the editor’s attention. The following put in Sam’s voice was abstracted from the original article.

I belong to an organization called “US Army Air Corps Pilot Classes of WWII,” and they published my story in their newspaper.

My story is not about heroism, bravery, or any other wartime happenings but about two brothers who found each other after 11 years: myself and my older brother Vaso Purlia.

Vaso got out of high school in 1934. He was Valedictorian of his high school class and was sponsored along with ten others by the Serb National Federation with a scholarship to attend the Univer-sity of Belgrade in Yugoslavia. Vaso chose to study medicine.

In April 1941 the Nazis invaded and con-quered Yugoslavia, and our family had no further contact with Vaso.

I, myself, was drafted on January 25, 1943, and sent to Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, in the Field Artillery. As I was finishing basic training, I noticed a Quonset hut with a sign saying: “Aviation Cadet Recruiting.” I signed up, took and passed all of the tests, and was transferred to the Army Air Corps. I got my wings in 44F out of Williams. I was in photo recon training and was sent to England. I com-pleted 28 missions over Germany before the war ended in May 1945. The base was going to close, and we were sup-posed to go back home and get started in jet trainingin the P80 and then on to Japan. But the bomb was dropped, and the war ended.

Before I left London, I had received a let-ter from my father telling me that Vaso was alive and in Belgrade (Tito had

taken over). I went to London to get a visa to go there, but I had no luck.

My orders were to go to Frankfurt to wait for the flight home. Before leaving for Frankfurt, another pilot from the quad-ron and I walked into a Red Cross club for coffee and donuts. While sitting there, I saw two men in military officer uniform enter with a woman. As the three sat down, I said to my friend that one man looked like he could be my brother. I had an old picture of Vaso, and I decided to go to their table and ask.

“Are you Vaso?”

The man answered, “Sammy?”

I said “yes!” And we hugged and kissed and shed a few tears. The woman was Vaso’s wife Koka whom he had married five years previously.

Vaso told how in December 1941 the German Gestapo arrested and put him in prison simply because he was an Ameri-can. Koka bribed the German guards to allow her to bring him food, which kept him alive during the ordeal.

Two of the original ten students Vaso had been in school with had completed their schooling and returned to the US, joining the OSS. They parachuted into Yugosla-via, and somehow they arranged for Vaso’s escape. He was one under house arrest at the time. Because he was a doc-

tor, he was needed for treating other pri-sioners. They hid Vaso and Koka in oxcarts and transferred Vaso and Koka to an area where General Draza Mihailovich had rescused more than 500 American airman who had been shot down. They were all from the crews that were on their way to bomb the Romanian oil fields. The entire group, including Vaso and Koka, were then secretly flown out by C47 to Bari, Italy.

After the war was over, Vaso and Koka returned to Belgrade, and he was given a commission as a 1st Lt. with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. They had been in Lon-don for a week trying to contact me at the old air base, which they found out had been closed.

So among ten million people in London, we accidentally found each other!

I was only ten years old when I had last seen my brother, and when we finally met each other in London, I was 21 and he was 28. Now I am 85, and Vaso is 92!

The picture below is of the three of us in London, November 1945. Vaso is on the left, I am on the right, and Koka is in the middle.

Sam Purlia, St. George Member-At-Large


The Spiritual Meaning of the Badnjak

Have you ever brought a Badnjak into your home? Do you know that the Badnjak is the finest and foremost custom of all the many traditions by which our people enhance the Christmas celebration? The Serbs begin the celebration of Christmas with the solemn cer-emony of bringing in a young OAK tree to the house. An OAK is usually the most solid tree and produces the most heat.

Have you ever anointed the Badnjak with honey? Have you rejoiced with your children watching its light emitted in a swarm of sparks? Have you enjoyed its heat? The Bad-njak is the tree of happiness and sweetness, the tree of health, strength and youth, the tree of life and love. Is there a tree of happiness in this world? Is the Badnjak that tree or is it a semblance and symbol of that tree? Yes, it is only the symbol and semblance. The real tree of Happiness is HE Who was born on that radiant day.

The bringing of the Badnjak into the house represents Christ's coming into the world and His coming into our homes and our souls! What a glorious custom and marvelous scene!

The Badnjak represents Christ. As a young and powerful tree the King of Love gave Himself to be slain in order to rejuvenate the world by the fragrance of eteral youth; to thaw a frozen mankind by the fire of His love; to enlighten and bring joy to all men by the flame of His Divine Revelation; to annihilate the false Gods on earth by the sparks of His words; to sweeten the bitter waters by the sweet juice of His blood.

Having brought the Badnjaks into your homes, have you brought Christ into your homes and your souls? A picture is only a pic-ture, but Christ is the reality. The Badnjak is a picture of the tree of happiness and as a pic-ture is a warning and reminder that you should bring into your homes and your souls the real tree of Happiness, the Son of God, our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Bishop Nikolai Velimirovic, Serbian bishop who spoke out against Naziism, was arrested and taken to Dachau.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from Morava Soccer

"Stari” team

Standing: Misha Jovanovic, Lazo Simovski, Dragan Jelic, Iraj Asgharzadeh, Isaac Izadi, Rade Kasic & Gregory Diaz Kneeling :Mehdi Rastakhiz, Vladimir Medenica, Vlatko Varagic, Drasko Draskovic & Milan Stevanovic

"Mladi" team:

Standing: Luiz Campagnolo, Misha Jovanovic, Milan Misic, Aleksandar Zivkovic, Milanko Popovic, Greg Montgomery, Dragan Vuletic & Luka Stevanovic

Kneeing: Dusan Stevanovic, Milan Popovic, Nikola Ilic, Robert Simovski, Waad Gorges & Rodrigo Serzedello


Take Advantage of Our Rates

And Lower Your Phone Bill!

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Serbia & Mn 6.9¢ Bosnia 12.9¢ Croatia 4.9¢ Macedonia 12.9¢ Slovenia 5¢ Bulgaria 5.6¢ Russia 8¢ Germany 3¢

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Info: 858-552-1360

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Fr. Bratso encourages you to:

• Send your e-mail address to: [email protected] if you would like to be placed on a church information email list so that you get updated announcements of important changes or events during the month between monthly and quarterly mailings.

• Let him know when people are sick so that he can call or visit them if they want him to do so, and add their names to the weekly prayer list.

• Call him at any time; with questions, with concerns, with suggestions. If it’s important to you, it’s important to him!

Our Bookstore has many items on sale! Don’t forget to shop in our church bookstore. We have many items: gold crosses, gold chains, prayer books, books on various topics, tapes, video tapes, DVDs, icons, prayer ropes, etc.

Stewardship PledgesDid you forget to submit your stewardship card or perhaps misplaced it somewhere, or do you sim-ply need some more offering envelopes? Call our church office 619-276-5827 and we will immedi-ately send you a stewardship card/s and enve-lopes.

Thank you, everyone!Fr. Bratso would like to thank all of our stewards, Executive Church Board members, and supporters for the many ways you bring Gospel values into your homes, workplaces, and civic communities. “Well done good and faithful servant…” God bless you all! We appreciate you all!


Misha JovanovicFirstworld Travel & Misha Tours

130 East Main Street * El Cajon, CA 92020619-588-5811 or 619-588-4644

Srecan Bozic

iNova

Godina

Merry Xmas

& Happy

New Year

voice winter 2009

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