Page 564 - Kosovo Metohija Heritage

The First Charter
of the Dečani Monastery
The first Charter of Dečani was kept for centuries in the treasury of the monastery with other valuable man- uscripts and precious things The current situation at
the monastery is worse than ever For centuries it was known that this is a holy place and the Serbs guarded it By driving the Serbs from their ancient homeland, by falsifying histori- cal data and by propagating shameless lies that the Dečani monastery is Albanian and that the Serbs are occupiers on this territory, the Albanian ethnic community is sending anti-civilization messages to Europe and to the world from
this part of Europe, which is also known as “the Serbian Je- rusalem”
Due to the contents of the First Dečani Charter published in 1330, the language in which it is written, and especially because of the names of people and places mentioned in it, it is clear that the Dečani monastery is a part of the Serbian cultural and spiritual heritage which was built by King Ste- fan of Dečani of the Nemanjić dynasty on the territory of Serbia, for the Serbs who lived there on their own land and safeguarded Christianity, the faith of their forefathers In
addition to this founding Charter, there are two oth- er versions of it in the form of manuscript books Three decades ago, Pavle Ivić and Milica Grković
put together and had printed all three versions of the Dečani Charter
This charter was safeguarded for centuries in the monastery itself, and today it is stored in the Archive of Serbia
Translation of the First Dečani Charter
The almighty Lord and Creator of all, He who holds all creation under His rule, the Only One in eternal Light, He who abides in Three Persons,
God of God, Light of Light, the Life and Giver of life, pre-eternal wisdom and power, who mother- less being in the heavens for the sake of our re- demption by a mother was born on earth with- out a father, the God-Man who endured all things in His earthly life to save mankind and bring heavenly joy to paradise primordial. The Ruler and Lord of the angels and archangels and all heavenly hosts, blasphemed and cursed, ridiculed, crucified; accepting a shameful death and rising from the dead, led human nature out from Hades, ascended to His Father in heaven, while the apostles and His disciples looked on and sorrowed for parting with Him. He prom- ised them that He would send the Holy Spirit and teach them all truth, and not only His dis- ciples but also all who believe in His name, be- cause instructed and taught, all saints attained glory which the eye cannot see, nor can the ear
hear, nor can it enter the heart of man.
Who is able to speak of the might of God? For us also it is meet, turning toward Him the eyes of our heart and the eyes of our soul, to
The Charter of Dečani Monastery, 1330